Those charges fell apart in the opening months of the trial as one prosecution witness after another exposed the emptiness of Israel’s Netanyahu-hating prosecutors’ indictments against the country’s longest-serving and most successful leader. All the same, the Netanyahu-hating judge presiding over the trial is now requiring Netanyahu to appear in court three days a week for a total of 24 hours a week to testify.

U.S. President Donald Trump greets Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as he arrives at the White House for a meeting on April 7, 2025, in Washington, D.C. (Chen Mengtong/China News Service/VCG via Getty Images)

Leftists in Israel dominate the country’s media and legal fraternity, much as they do in America. And they were incensed that President Trump dared to interfere in Israel’s “internal affairs.” One anchorman referred to Trump’s call for a pardon as “disgusting, and revolting.”

But the truth is that by asking Israel’s left-leaning president to put an end to Israel’s Deep State’s assault on Netanyahu, Trump was defending America’s national interests.

‘VIEW’ CO-HOST PRAISES FORMER BOSS TRUMP FOR ‘MASSIVE DIPLOMATIC ACHIEVEMENT’ IN HOSTAGE DEAL

This is true for two reasons.

First, the corrupt legal authorities involved in the trial are abusing their power over Netanyahu in a way that undermines American interests.

On Wednesday, just two days after President Trump gave his address, Netanyahu was back in the courtroom in Tel Aviv. He had asked the judges to let him delay his testimony so that he could hold certain meetings. The judges and prosecutors demanded to know what meetings could possibly justify delaying his testimony. He explained one was highly classified, and they demanded to know what it was about.

Within hours of the exchange, the story leaked that Netanyahu was scheduled to meet secretly with the president of Indonesia. The leader of the largest Muslim state in the world, President Prabowo Subianto, was scheduled to pay a top-secret trip to Jerusalem as a step toward opening diplomatic relations with Israel. This was to be one of the most important fruits of Israel’s U.S.-supported victory in its seven-front war against Iran and its axis of terror. But thanks to Israel’s corrupt legal fraternity, the meeting leaked to their press allies, and President Subianto stayed away.

President Trump made clear in his speech that expanding the circle of peace between Israel and the Islamic world is a chief U.S. goal. Israel is America’s most powerful ally in the troubled Middle East. Trump sees it as an essential U.S. interest that the Arab and Islamic world accept Israel as a permanent entity and an allied state. But for Israel’s politicized Deep State, undermining and humiliating Netanyahu by chaining him to a courtroom and subverting his diplomatic actions is apparently more important.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks to the audience at a conference in Jerusalem, Sunday, July 27, 2025.  (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

These radical jurists must be stopped, not only for Netanyahu to be able to devote himself entirely to serving his country — they need to be stopped to enable President Trump to secure America’s goals in the Middle East.

WITH HOSTAGES FREED, TRUMP THANKS OTHERS IN ISRAEL SPEECH BUT IS TOO QUICK TO DECLARE WAR IS OVER

The second reason that ending this farce of justice against Netanyahu is in the United States’ interests is that there is a link between the forces of political warfare and lawfare in Israel and the U.S. If you scratch just beneath the surface, you’ll doubtlessly find that for the same billionaire agents of anarchy, who funded and brought the unprecedented lawfare against both President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu, working to undo Israel as a key way to unravel American society. For example, the Tides Foundation funds radical groups, including pro-Hamas protesters in America, and it funds groups involved in the protests and riots and political violence in Israel.

Tides is one of several foundations whose actions in the U.S. and Israel are the subject of multiple congressional investigations. One of the investigations focuses on well-documented claims that the billion-dollar, multi-year effort to criminalize Netanyahu that engulfed Israel in political instability for years, was funded in part by the Biden administration. That investigation must continue and the U.S. government officials who funded and facilitated political chaos in Israel should be forced to account for their actions.

President of State of Israel Isaac Herzog speaks during United Nations General Assembly Holocaust Memorial Ceremony at UN Headquarters in New York on January 27, 2025.  ( Lev Radin/Sipa USA (Sipa via AP Images))

Even more importantly, the IRS should investigate how U.S. non-profits groups that enjoy U.S. tax exemption valued at millions of dollars have abused their status to fund political violence, insurrection, and mayhem in Israel. In some cases, according to Hamas’s own internal documents, these U.S.-based non-profit-funded groups’ campaigns convinced the genocidal terror group that Israel was ripe for annihilation on October 7, 2023.

TRUMP CALLS FOR NETANYAHU PARDON AFTER HAILING SWIFT REMOVAL OF LEFT-WING LAWMAKERS BY SECURITY

In his historic speech in Jerusalem, President Trump laid out great plans for building a new Middle East that will join Israel’s genius and power to the oil-wealth of its neighbors and transform the Middle East into a driver of global prosperity under American leadership. Trump would have been hard-pressed to lead this momentous undertaking if the Deep State were still persecuting him, his top aides and his children.

Netanyahu has miraculously been able to lead Israel to one of the most important military victories in its history. With Trump’s assistance, Israel destroyed Iran’s axis of terror across seven fronts. Netanyahu achieved this while forced to spend days on end in a courtroom answering asinine questions from shameless prosecutors before brazen judges.

Imagine what Netanyahu and President Trump would be able to do together if Netanyahu doesn’t have to spend 24 hours per week in a courtroom.

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President Trump was right to ask President Herzog to put an end to the madness that is Prime Minister Netanyahu’s trial. And he would be right to order the IRS to start investigating the role American non-profits have played and continue to play in destabilizing Israel and corrupting its legal system. Israel’s leftists, like their American funders, may not like President Trump for doing it, but generations of Americans, Israelis, and peoples of the wider Middle East will thank him.

Mike Davis is the founder of the Article III Project.

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The White House confirmed that Trump will meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping Thursday during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit.

The meeting comes amid escalated tensions between the two countries on trade after Beijing announced Oct. 9 it would impose export controls on rare-earth magnets, which are used in a host of products ranging from electric cars to F-35 fighter jets. In response, Trump announced the U.S. would impose a new 100% tariff on all Chinese goods, which is slated to take effect Nov. 1.

Even so, Trump sought to diffuse tensions and has routinely touted his relationship with Xi in recent weeks. Additionally, he has voiced confidence both parties will walk away from the summit pleased and that a deal will be made.

TRUMP THREATENS ‘MASSIVE’ CHINA TARIFFS, SEES ‘NO REASON’ TO MEET WITH XI

The White House confirmed that President Donald Trump will meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping Thursday during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit. (Jonathan Ernst/Reuters)

“I think we are going to come out very well, and everyone’s going to be very happy,” Trump said Thursday.

The summit between Trump and Xi will mark the first time they’ve met in person since Trump took office in January. The two previously met in person in June 2019 in Japan.

Trump’s meeting with Xi will come on the tail end of a larger trip to the region. Trump is first headed to Malaysia to meet with Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim Sunday afternoon before participating in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) dinner in the evening.

NORTH KOREA LAUNCHES BALLISTIC MISSILES DAYS BEFORE TRUMP’S VISIT TO THE PENINSULA

Xi Jinping, China’s president, during a news conference with Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Brazil’s president, not pictured, at the Alvorada Palace in Brasilia, Brazil Nov. 20, 2024.  (Ton Molina/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

While in Malaysia, he will also meet with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet and Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul.

Trump will then head to Tokyo Monday and is slated to meet on Tuesday with Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, who was just elected earlier in October. Takaichi is the first woman to serve as the prime minister of Japan.

Trump will then close out his trip heading to South Korea, where he will meet with the South Korean President Lee Jae Myung and will deliver keynote remarks at the APEC CEO lunch.

TRUMP ANNOUNCES MEETING WITH XI JINPING AT SOUTH KOREA APEC SUMMIT SCHEDULED FOR NEXT MONTH

President Donald Trump, right, and Xi Jinping, China’s president, greet attendees waving American and Chinese national flags during a welcome ceremony outside the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, Nov. 9, 2017.  (Qilai Shen/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Trump is scheduled to return to Washington Thursday.

Meanwhile, North Korea has upped its aggression in recent days, firing off multiple short-range ballistic missiles Wednesday, the first one Pyongyang has launched since May. Meanwhile, North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un showed off a new intercontinental ballistic missile at a military parade in front of Chinese, Russian and other top officials Oct. 10.

“We are aware of the DPRK’s multiple ballistic missile launches and are consulting closely with the Republic of Korea and Japan, as well as other regional allies and partners,” U.S. Indo-Pacific Command (INDOPACOM) said in a statement on Wednesday.

“The United States condemns these actions and calls on the DPRK to refrain from further unlawful and destabilizing acts,” INDOPACOM said. “While we have assessed that this event does not pose an immediate threat to U.S. personnel, or territory or to our allies, we continue to monitor the situation.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Diana Stancy is a politics reporter with Fox News Digital covering the White House. 

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Chung Dong-young made the remark as Trump is set to leave Friday night for a five-day trip to Malaysia, Japan and South Korea, Reuters reported.

“The leaders of North Korea and the U.S. must not miss this chance,” Chung was quoted by Reuters as telling South Korea’s Yonhap news agency. “They need to make a bold decision.”

“It would help North Korea’s international standing and improve its people’s lives … and for that, peace and stability need to be guaranteed and that’s only possible by meeting President Trump,” Chung reportedly added.

TRUMP TOUTS KIM JONG UN RELATIONSHIP AMID SOUTH KOREA SUMMIT

North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un and President Donald Trump shake hands during a meeting on the south side of the Military Demarcation Line that divides North and South Korea, in the Joint Security Area (JSA) of Panmunjom in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) on June 30, 2019.  (Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images)

A White House official noted that Trump and the North Korean leader met during his first term in office.

“President Trump in his first term held three historic summits with North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un that stabilized the Korean Peninsula, the officials said in a statement to Fox News Digital. “U.S. policy on North Korea has not changed. President Trump remains open to talking with Kim Jong Un, but such a meeting is not currently on the schedule for this trip.”

The last time Trump and Kim met was on June 30, 2019, at the Demilitarized Zone between North and South Korea.

NORTH KOREA LAUNCHES BALLISTIC MISSILES DAYS BEFORE TRUMP’S VISIT TO THE PENINSULA

President Donald Trump shakes hands with North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un before a meeting in Hanoi, Vietnam, on Feb. 27, 2019.  (Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images)

Earlier this month, a White House official told Fox News Digital that, “President Trump remains open to talking with Kim Jong Un, without any preconditions.”

“President Trump in his first term held three historic summits with North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un that stabilized the Korean Peninsula. U.S. policy on North Korea has not changed,” the official added.

In late September, Kim said he has “good personal memories” of Trump from their first meetings and there is “no reason not to” resume dialogue with the U.S. if it “abandons its delusional obsession with denuclearization,” according to The Associated Press.

President Donald Trump, left, meets with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at the North Korean side of the border at the village of Panmunjom in the Demilitarized Zone, on June 30, 2019.  (Susan Walsh/AP)

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North Korea later test-fired multiple short-range ballistic missiles on Wednesday ahead of Trump’s departure to Asia.

Fox News Digital’s Jasmine Baehr, Morgan Phillips and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Greg Norman is a reporter at Fox News Digital.

The post Trump and Kim Jong Un should make 'bold decision' to meet during his Asia trip, South Korean official says appeared first on My Blog.

“I’m going to have to know that we’re going to make a deal,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One after taking off from Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, when asked about arranging a meeting with Putin. “I’m not going to be wasting my time. I’ve always had a great relationship with Vladimir Putin, but this has been very disappointing.”

He said he thought the war in Ukraine would have been resolved “long before” the peace deal between Israel and Hamas.

“We have Azerbaijan and Armenia. That was very tough,” Trump added, referring to the peace summit he hosted at the White House between the two countries.

TRUMP FREEZES OUT PUTIN FOR LACK OF ‘ENOUGH ACTION’ TOWARD PEACE — FUTURE TALKS UNCERTAIN

President Donald Trump speaks with reporters aboard Air Force One at Al Udeid Air Base in Doha, Qatar, Saturday.  (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

“In fact, Putin told me on the phone, he said, ‘Boy, that was amazing,’ because everybody tried to get that done, and they couldn’t. I got it done. You had others. If you look at India and Pakistan, I could say almost any one of the deals that I’ve already done, I thought would have been more difficult than Russia, than Ukraine, but it didn’t work out that way.

“There’s a lot of hatred between the two, between [Ukrainian President Volodymyr] Zelenskyy and Putin, there’s tremendous hatred.”

President Donald Trump, right, shakes the hand of Russia’s President Vladimir Putin during a joint press conference at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, Aug. 15, 2025.  (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)

Earlier this week, Trump said he had called off a planned meeting with Putin in Budapest to discuss the war because he saw it as a “waste of time.”

Trump announced the Budapest meeting last week, saying it could happen within the next two weeks.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks with President Donald Trump before a lunch in the Cabinet Room of the White House Oct. 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

He also announced sanctions against Russia this week.

Trump and Putin last met in Alaska in August, but no deal was reached following the summit.

Trump met with Zelenskyy last week at the White House, where he seemingly denied Ukraine’s request for Tomahawk long-range missiles.

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The president also said that, in his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping next week, he wants a “complete [trade] deal.”

“I want our farmers to be taken care of, and he wants things also,” Trump said. “We’re going to be talking about fentanyl, of course. Fentanyl is killing a lot of people, a lot people. It comes from China, and we’ll be talking a lot about that. We’ll be talking about a lot things. I think we have a really good chance of making a very comprehensive deal.”

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Three suspected narco-terrorists were killed, according to Hegseth. The strikes were ordered at the direction of President Donald Trump.

Hegseth said the Pentagon conducted “yet another lethal kinetic strike on a vessel operated by a Designated Terrorist Organization (DTO). Yet again, the now-deceased terrorists were engaged in narco-trafficking in the Eastern Pacific.”

TRUMP APPROVES MILITARY ACTION AGAINST LATIN AMERICAN CARTELS CLASSIFIED AS TERRORIST ORGANIZATIONS

(Secretary of War via X)

“The vessel was known by our intelligence to be involved in illicit narcotics smuggling, was transiting along a known narco-trafficking route, and was carrying narcotics,” he continued. “Three male narco-terrorists were aboard the vessel during the strike, which was conducted in international waters. All three terrorists were killed and no U.S. forces were harmed in this strike.”

This is the ninth vessel strike since September and the second strike reported in the Eastern Pacific. A total of 37 have reportedly been killed while two survived and were later repatriated to their home countries.

TRUMP UNLEASHES US MILITARY POWER ON CARTELS. IS A WIDER WAR LOOMING?

A U.S. military drone strike ordered by President Trump destroyed a vessel in the Eastern Pacific on Oct. 22, 2025, killing three suspected narco-terrorists, according to the Department of War. (Department of War)

“These strikes will continue, day after day,” Hegseth said on Wednesday. “These are not simply drug runners—these are narco-terrorists bringing death and destruction to our cities. These DTOs are the ‘Al Qaeda’ of our hemisphere and will not escape justice. We will find them and kill them, until the threat to the American people is extinguished.”

The Pentagon has refused to release the identities of those killed or evidence of drugs on board.

The Trump administration has been scrutinized in recent weeks over the strikes, including by Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., who raised concerns about killing people without due process and the possibility of killing innocent people.

A U.S. military drone strike ordered by President Trump destroyed a vessel in the Eastern Pacific on Oct. 22, 2025, killing three suspected narco-terrorists, according to the Department of War. (Department of War)

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In a recent interview, Paul cited Coast Guard statistics that show a significant percentage of boats boarded for suspicion of drug trafficking are innocent.

The senator has also argued that if the administration plans to engage in a war with Venezuela, as it has targeted boats in recent weeks it claims are transporting drugs for the Venezuela-linked Tren de Aragua gang, it must seek a declaration of war from Congress.

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The president has issued a full-throated endorsement for Attorney General Jason Miyares’ re-election bid but has stopped short of doing so for Earle-Sears or lieutenant governor nominee John Reid.

He has notably endorsed New Jersey Republican gubernatorial nominee Jack Ciattarelli as a “winner” with a “complete and total endorsement” – and that “after getting to know and understand MAGA, [Ciattarelli] has gone all-in.”

At a White House event in which he hosted outgoing Gov. Glenn Youngkin, Trump wished him “good luck with the upcoming election” and said the fellow former business executive has been “working very hard” for the candidates.

JAY JONES INVOKES TRUMP NEARLY 50 TIMES DURING VIRGINIA AG DEBATE, TIES MIYARES TO ‘MAGA’

Virginia Lt. Gov. Winsome Sears, left; President Trump, right. (Al Drago/Getty Images; Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

“He wants to see that young woman win,” Trump said of Youngkin, appearing to refer to Earle-Sears.

“And the attorney general who I endorsed.”

After the Jay Jones murder-texts scandal broke, Trump called on the Norfolk Democrat to drop out “immediately” and said Virginia must “continue to have a GREAT (sic) attorney general in Jason Miyares who by the way has my complete and total endorsement.”

SPANBERGER USES SPONGEBOB TO MOCK SEARS-TRUMP RELATIONSHIP, AS PRESIDENT PRAISES GOP NOM

“Jason will never let you down,” Trump said.

When asked in June about appealing to moderate voters while running in Trump’s party, Reid told the Hampton Roads’ ABC affiliate that he is running his own race.

“Donald Trump’s in D.C. John Reid’s in Richmond, and I’m looking to help Virginia, and so, if you love Donald Trump, awesome. If you hate Donald Trump, I really don’t intend to argue with you. I want to save Virginia and that’s why I’m running,” Reid said.

TRUMP NOT ON BALLOT, BUT PRESIDENT FRONT AND CENTER IN 2025 ELECTIONS

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This week, Trump again obliquely complimented Earle-Sears while speaking to reporters on Air Force One – but declined again to issue a Miyares-type “total endorsement.”

TRUMP VOICES SUPPORT FOR GOP GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE, ADMITS SHE HAS ‘TOUGH RACE’

“I haven’t been too much involved in Virginia — I love the state; I did very well in the state … I think the Republican candidate is very good, and she should win because the Democrat candidate is a disaster,” he said.

He warned that both Virginia gubernatorial candidate Abigail Spanberger and Rep. Mikie Sherrill, D-N.J. – the Democratic nominee in the Garden State – will preeminently be bad for the current U.S. energy dominance agenda.

“Both the Democrats are going to drive the energy prices through the roof,” he said.

Trump also faulted Spanberger for refusing to directly call for Jones’ ouster.

THE ONLY GOP GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATES RUNNING IN 2025 ELECTIONS LEAN INTO TRUMP’S MAGA CAMPAIGN TACTICS

Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for clarity on whether Trump’s comments thus far have equated to an endorsement or whether he plans to offer one in the closing days, but did not receive a response.

When reached as well, the Republican National Committee indicated they were not at liberty to discuss the presidential prerogative in endorsements.

Earle-Sears, however, said she looks forward to working with Trump as governor to continue Republican policies focused on public safety, energy costs to Virginians and conservative values – and that Trump has indeed been supportive of her bid.

“I am deeply grateful for President Trump’s support and his direct encouragement to voters in Virginia to vote Republican,” she said.

“We must ensure Virginia is the best place to live, work and raise a family and, with President Trump, I’ll fight to keep energy costs low, keep our families safe and defend our commonsense values.”

Sources have pointed to Youngkin’s own success brought on by keeping Trump at arm’s length during his own hard-fought campaign against Terry McAuliffe in a closely-divided state.

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Youngkin’s messaging in predominantly Democratic northern Virginia and the I-95 corridor focused on issues like biological males in girls sports and parents’ rights that could and did draw crossover votes from Virginia voters not inclined to support someone associated with Trump.

Meanwhile, on the other end of the state, Youngkin campaigned on broader conservative or Trumpian tenets and successfully ran up the score in friendlier southside and southwest Virginia, where turnout in those less-populated counties was elevated.

Charles Creitz is a reporter for Fox News Digital. 

He joined Fox News in 2013 as a writer and production assistant. 

Charles covers media, politics and culture for Fox News Digital.

Charles is a Pennsylvania native and graduated from Temple University with a B.A. in Broadcast Journalism. Story tips can be sent to charles.creitz@fox.com.

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“The Federal Government was preparing to ‘surge’ San Francisco, California, on Saturday, but friends of mine who live in the area called last night to ask me not to go forward with the surge in that the Mayor, Daniel Lurie, was making substantial progress,” Trump wrote on Truth Social on Thursday. “I spoke to Mayor Lurie last night, and he asked, very nicely, that I give him a chance to see if he can turn it around.”

San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie also confirmed the move. He said Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem reaffirmed that direction in a morning conversation, FOX 2 San Francisco reported.

SAN FRANCISCO MAYOR REJECTS TRUMP’S NATIONAL GUARD DEPLOYMENT PLAN OVER DRUG DEALER ARREST AUTHORITY

President Donald Trump on Thursday called off a plan for a “surge” of federal agents and troops in San Francisco over the weekend to combat crime and illegal immigration.  (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

“I am profoundly grateful to all the San Franciscans who came together over the last several days,” Lurie said. “Our city leaders have been united behind the goal of public safety. And our values have been on full display — this is the best of our city.”

Lurie said he will monitor the situation and remain “prepared for any scenario.” Fox News Digital has reached out to the White House and the Department of Homeland Security for comment.

Trump said he told Lurie that he thought the mayor was making “a mistake, because we can do it much faster, and remove the criminals that the Law does not permit him to remove.”

“I told him, ‘It’s an easier process if we do it, faster, stronger, and safer but, let’s see how you do?’” Trump wrote. “The people of San Francisco have come together on fighting Crime, especially since we began to take charge of that very nasty subject.”

TRUMP’S IMPENDING SAN FRANCISCO CRACKDOWN SPARKS BACKLASH FROM NEWSOM, MAYOR

A split image of San Francisco and homeless people on city streets, a problem that has persisted for years.  (Getty Images)

He said that internet entrepreneurs like Jensen Huang and Marc Benioff called him to say “the future of San Francisco was bright.”

“They want to give it a ‘shot,’” Trump said. “Therefore, we will not surge San Francisco on Saturday. Stay tuned!”

FOX 2 initially reported that roughly 100 U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents were conducting an operation with “pre-identified” targets, which could include visiting Home Depot locations around the Bay Area.

Meanwhile, about 200 to 300 protesters were seen singing and chanting Thursday morning in front of the entrance to Coast Guard Island in Alameda.

Trump had threatened to send federal agents and National Guard troops to San Francisco to conduct immigration enforcement operations similar to missions in Los Angeles, Portland and Chicago.

The move was heavily criticized by California officials, including Gov. Gavin Newsom, who threatened to sue the administration if Trump followed through with his plans for San Francisco.

Video

“Donald Trump, himself a convicted felon who pardoned felons convicted of assaulting federal law enforcement officers, is misleading the public with his false narrative that America, and especially California, is some lawless wasteland,” Newsom said Tuesday. “But California is proving him wrong — in the courts and on the facts.”

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“The notion that the federal government can deploy troops into our cities with no justification grounded in reality, no oversight, no accountability, no respect for state sovereignty — it’s a direct assault on the rule of law,” he added. “We’re drawing a line: California will always defend the Constitution, our people and our values from authoritarian overreach.”

Louis Casiano is a reporter for Fox News Digital. Story tips can be sent to louis.casiano@fox.com.

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“[Rep. Jeffries], making sure U.S. troops get paid while Democrats keep the government shut down for free healthcare for illegal aliens — that’s called putting America First. But you wouldn’t know about it,” the White House wrote on X in reference to Jeffries’ criticism of the Shutdown Fairness Act.

The legislation was introduced by Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., and states that its goal is to “appropriate funds for pay and allowances of excepted Federal employees for periods of work performed during a lapse in appropriations, and for other purposes.”

HAWLEY VOWS TO HOLD DEMOCRATS’ ‘FEET TO THE FIRE’ WITH NEW GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN FUNDING BILLS

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., holds a press conference on the 14th day of the U.S. government shutdown on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., Oct. 14, 2025.  (Elizabeth Frantz/Reuters)

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., added the bill to the calendar last week, positioning it for a potential vote this week, according to Axios. The outlet noted that House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., told reporters he would bring the bill up for a vote in the House if it passes the Senate.

Jeffries echoed one of Democrats’ concerns about the legislation, which is that it does not help furloughed employees.

“My understanding is that that is not a comprehensive bill that actually is designed to reopen the government while at the same time addressing the issues that need to be confronted on behalf of the American people, which include lowering the high cost of living and decisively addressing the Republican healthcare crisis,” Jeffries told reporters on Monday.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., talk with reporters following their meeting with President Donald Trump and Republican leaders on the government funding crisis at the Capitol Sept. 29, 2025.  (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

MIKE JOHNSON FIRES BACK AT HAKEEM JEFFRIES’ ‘DESPERATE’ CALL FOR TELEVISED SHUTDOWN DEBATE

“So, it’s not legislation that I support because it appears to be more like a political ploy to pick and choose — giving Donald Trump discretion — which employees should be compensated and which employees should not be compensated. All employees should be compensated, and that will happen when we reopen the government.”

The White House appeared to take issue with the “political ploy” remark, posting a screenshot of a headline from The Daily Caller highlighting that part of Jeffries’ remarks and its criticism of the congressman.

President Donald Trump speaks to senior military leaders at Marine Corps Base Quantico Sept. 30, 2025, in Quantico, Va.  (Alex Wong/Getty Images)

TRUMP INSTRUCTS PENTAGON TO ENSURE TROOPS ARE PAID DESPITE GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN

President Donald Trump recently bypassed Congress and signed a directive ordering the Department of War to ensure that U.S. troops are paid despite the ongoing shutdown.

The White House said the move is necessary to protect “military readiness” as the budget standoff continued. The order, issued as National Security Presidential Memorandum-8 (NSPM-8), directs the department to use available fiscal year 2026 funds to cover military pay and allowances. Though it is unclear how the Pentagon is reallocating funds to comply with the order.

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While Democrats objected and said the president overstepped, Trump cited his Article II powers as commander in chief in issuing the order, which covers active-duty troops and reservists on service orders.

Fox News Digital reached out to Jeffries’ office for comment but did not immediately receive a response.

Fox News Digital’s Elizabeth Elkind contributed to this report.

Rachel Wolf is a breaking news writer for Fox News Digital and FOX Business.

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While all the living hostages have been returned from Gaza, the remains of 13 deceased hostages have not been handed over by Hamas.

“Some of the bodies are hard to reach, but others they can return now and, for some reason, they are not,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post. “Perhaps it has to do with their disarming, but when I said, ‘Both sides would be treated fairly,’ that only applies if they comply with their obligations. Let’s see what they do over the next 48 hours. I am watching this very closely.”

Hours before Trump’s post, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee met with the families of Itay Chen and Omer Neutra, two U.S. citizens who were killed in the Oct. 7, 2023 attacks.

President Donald Trump poses with a signed agreement during a world leaders summit focused on ending the Gaza war in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, Oct 13. (Suzanne Plunkett/Getty Images)

TRUMP THANKS GROUP REPRESENTING FAMILIES OF HOSTAGES FOR NOBEL PEACE PRIZE APPEAL

Their bodies are among those still being held by Hamas.

“We will not forget the lives of the hostages who died in the captivity of Hamas,” Rubio wrote in an X post. “We will not rest until their—and all—remains are returned.”

Authorities believed Chen, a 19-year-old dual U.S.-Israeli citizen, was kidnapped by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023, but was later declared dead by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).

President Donald Trump signs the agreement at a world leaders summit on ending the war in Gaza amid a U.S.-brokered prisoner-hostage swap and ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, Oct. 13. (Reuters)

TRUMP SAYS HAMAS MAY RELEASE 20 HOSTAGES ‘A LITTLE BIT EARLY’ AS HE HEADS TO MIDDLE EAST

Neutra, 21, an American-Israeli from New York, was killed in battle on Oct. 7, 2023.

Huckabee noted Rubio’s visit to Israel was “very productive in moving forward” the U.S.-brokered Gaza peace plan, adding the plan cannot work until all hostages, living and deceased, are released.

While traveling to Asia Saturday, Trump met with Qatari leaders aboard Air Force One while refueling at Al-Udeid Air Base.

People wave Israeli and American flags in Hostages Square during a rally supporting hostages and missing families following the Israel-Hamas peace deal. (Dana Reany/Hostages and Missing Families Forum)

TRUMP ON WHAT IT WILL TAKE TO BRING ISRAELI HOSTAGES HOME: HAMAS MUST BE ‘CONFRONTED AND DESTROYED’

Qatar has played a significant role in efforts to negotiate peace and ceasefires in Gaza.

After a meeting with Qatar Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani, Trump said “The Emir is one of the great rulers of the world … and the Prime Minister has been my friend.”

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Referencing the peace deal, the president said, “What we’ve done is incredible — peace in the Middle East.”

Fox News Digital’s Rachel Wolf contributed to this report.

Alexandra Koch is a Fox News Digital journalist who covers breaking news, with a focus on high-impact events that shape national conversation.

She has covered major national crises, including the L.A. wildfires, Potomac and Hudson River aviation disasters, Boulder terror attack, and Texas Hill Country floods.

The post Trump gives Hamas 48 hours to return all deceased Gaza hostages, or 'other countries will take action' appeared first on My Blog.

The measures, announced Wednesday, target Rosneft and Lukoil, key pillars of Russia’s energy sector, and mark the administration’s most significant sanctions package since Trump returned to office. But they also come after years of similar Western actions that have failed to slow Moscow’s military campaign.

“We canceled the meeting with President Putin. It just, it didn’t feel right to meet. It didn’t feel like we were going to get to the place we have to get,” Trump said Wednesday. “So I canceled it, but we’ll do it in the future.”

“Every time I speak to Vladimir, I have good conversations and then they don’t go anywhere. They just don’t go anywhere,” Trump added. Asked why he had chosen to impose sanctions on oil majors Lukoil and Rosneft now, he said, “I just felt it was time, we’ve waited a long time.”

WITKOFF SCRAMBLES FOR PEACE DEAL WITH RUSSIA AS SANCTIONS LOOM TARGETING INDIA, CHINA

Last week, Zelenskyy visited Washington hoping to secure a deal on Tomahawk missiles. But Putin got ahead of the meeting with a two-and-a-half-hour phone call with Trump one day earlier — and the Tomahawk deal was no more. ( Ukrainian Presidency / Handout/Anadolu via Getty Images)

The Treasury Department announced the designations under Executive Order 14024 for operating in the energy sector of the Russian Federation economy. The sanctions freeze all U.S.-linked assets belonging to Rosneft and Lukoil and prohibit American entities from doing business with them. Dozens of subsidiaries are also affected, effectively extending the restrictions across much of Russia’s global oil and gas network.

“Given President Putin’s refusal to end this senseless war, Treasury is sanctioning Russia’s two largest oil companies that fund the Kremlin’s war machine,” said Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. “Treasury is prepared to take further action if necessary to support President Trump’s effort to end yet another war.”

China’s state oil giants have already begun suspending purchases of seaborne Russian crude following the U.S. sanctions. According to multiple trade sources cited by Reuters, PetroChina, Sinopec, CNOOC and Zhenhua Oil have halted short-term deals with Rosneft and Lukoil, citing compliance concerns.

The pullback — along with reports that Indian refiners are sharply cutting imports from Moscow — is expected to strain Russia’s oil revenues and tighten global supply, driving up prices for non-sanctioned crude from the Middle East, Africa and Latin America.

Chinese embassy spokesperson Liu Pengyu told Fox News Digital in response to the report: “China’s normal energy cooperation with other countries in the world, including Russia, is legitimate and legal, and China opposes any form of unilateral sanctions and economic coercion.”

TRUMP AND PUTIN’S RELATIONSHIP TURNS SOUR AS PRESIDENT PUSHES FOR RESOLUTION WITH UKRAINE

The sanctions were announced just days after Trump abruptly canceled plans for a trilateral summit in Hungary with Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy — a meeting that had been billed as a potential breakthrough in efforts to end the conflict. The reversal continues a pattern that has defined Trump’s approach to Russia since returning to office: alternating bursts of engagement and confrontation that make it difficult for allies and adversaries to predict his next move.

President Donald Trump, Russian President Vladimir Putin, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy were on track for a historic summit in Hungary — until the plans were abruptly scrapped. ( REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque)

Last week, Zelenskyy visited Washington hoping to secure a deal for Tomahawk long-range missiles. But Putin preempted the meeting with a two-and-a-half-hour call with Trump the day before — and the missile deal evaporated.

“Now is the time to stop the killing and for an immediate ceasefire,” Bessent said in announcing the sanctions. “A permanent peace depends entirely on Russia’s willingness to negotiate in good faith.”

Analysts say the sanctions are aimed at regaining leverage and forcing both Moscow and Kyiv back to the negotiating table after months of stalemate. Trump would often meet with one side or the other and come out more sympathetic to the viewpoint of whoever he’d just met with.

An unnamed diplomat told Fox News Digital, “It’s fundamentally making both sides think they can manipulate him. Which doesn’t make either side want to negotiate, because both believe they can still rally Trump to their side.”

Now, Trump says he doesn’t want to “waste time.”

TRUMP DEMANDS NATO ALLIES HALT RUSSIAN OIL PURCHASES BEFORE NEW US SANCTIONS

Andrew D’Anieri, associate director of the Atlantic Council’s Eurasia Center, said the sanctions are a welcome step but only part of a broader effort required to curb Russia’s war financing. “The Trump administration’s decision to sanction Russian oil majors Rosneft and Lukoil is a welcome move to make it more difficult for Russia to continue its war on Ukraine,” he said. “It’s significant that these designations come just a week after the U.K. sanctioned the same entities; sanctions have a greater effect when Western countries work in concert.”

He cautioned, however, that implementation will determine the outcome. “Enforcement of these sanctions will be the key to cutting into Moscow’s oil revenues,” D’Anieri said. “Those who do purchase Russian oil will demand a steep discount for evading U.S. sanctions, which itself will hurt Russian revenues.”

War in Ukraine has dragged on for over three and a half years.  (Vladyslav Ukolov/Suspilne Ukraine/JSC "UA:PBC"/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images)

“If Trump truly wants to end the war, he should continue to ratchet up the pressure on Moscow, including the threat of secondary sanctions and further military aid to Ukraine,” he added. “This one move alone won’t be enough to get Putin to negotiate in good faith, but it’s a step in the right direction.”

Former National Security Council official Jason Israel described the difference between the Biden and Trump approaches as one of philosophy, not objective. “Both want to help Ukraine negotiate from strength and avoid direct NATO involvement,” he said. “But Biden worked through European partners to uphold the rules-based order. Trump has taken a more transactional approach — selling weapons to Ukraine funded by European partners — with the goal of speeding negotiations and shifting more of the cost to allies.”

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Trump has long emphasized that he wants to end the war and avoid indefinite U.S. involvement. “Let it be cut the way it is,” he said earlier this month, referring to Ukraine’s divided territory. “It’s cut up right now… They can negotiate something later on down the line. But for now, both sides of the conflict should stop at the battle line — go home, stop fighting, stop killing people.”

The sanctions, coupled with the canceled summit, suggest a new phase in Trump’s balancing act: applying economic pressure while leaving the door open to a future deal. “I don’t want to have a wasted meeting; I don’t want to have a waste of time,” Trump told reporters Tuesday.

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