Final House race called as GOP, Dems know their power when Trump returns
Democrat Adam Gray has won California’s 13th Congressional District race by a mere 187 votes, defeating incumbent Republican Rep. John Duarte, according to The Associated Press.
California’s 13th Congressional District was the last seat to be called, with the district being one of the most competitive races in the Golden State. Republicans maintained the majority with 220 U.S. House seats, and Democrats at 215.
Gray was the ninth Democrat to flip a House seat in the 2024 election, while the GOP flipped eight seats – slipping the Republican majority. Three Republican members – Elise Stefanik, Michael Waltz and Matt Gaetz – were picked for the incoming Trump administration, though Gaetz withdrew his name from consideration, and it may take several months to fill those seats.
Gray, a former state legislator who represented California’s 21st Assembly District from 2012 to 2022, is considered a centrist Democrat who focused on key concerns for farmers in the Central Valley like water shortages. He also campaigned on renewable energy solutions.
HOUSE DEM MOVES TO FORCE VOTE ON RELEASING GAETZ ETHICS REPORT
In a statement on X, Gray wrote that the long-awaited results were confirmation that residents were ready for “independent and accountable leadership.”
“I’m honored to become the Congressman-elect for California’s 13th Congressional District. The final results confirm this district is ready for independent and accountable leadership that always puts the Valley’s people ahead of partisan politics,” he wrote. “But the work has just begun.”
SINGLE HOUSE RACE STANDS BETWEEN REPUBLICANS AND 1-SEAT MAJORITY
“In Washington, I’ll work everyday to deliver the resources that the Valley needs: clean water, better educational opportunities, stronger infrastructure, and more good-paying jobs,” he wrote. “And you can count on me to build bipartisan relationships to accomplish these goals.”
The race has been characterized as one of the tightest in the country. In 2022, Duarte narrowly defeated Gray by just 564 votes.
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Duarte, a businessman and farmer, focused on issues like inflation, crime and agricultural issues during his campaign.
The first target for Trump’s Department of Gov Efficiency to save US taxpayers’ wallets
In the search to eliminate waste and unaccountable spending, a $20 billion annual savings plan is immediately available to incoming President Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE): American taxpayer dollars flowing to the United Nations.
Each year the U.S. provides nearly a quarter of the U.N.’s total expenses, including assessed or mandatory “regular” funding of more than $3 billion and voluntary contributions that have vacillated between $10 and $15 billion in each of the past two years. Taking into account in-kind support services, the total is likely even higher. U.N. demands and U.S. subsidies have ballooned, with U.S. payouts almost doubling over the last decade.
Alarm bells ought to ring out for Americans both because of how the money gets spent and where it is going.
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION COULD LEAD TO BUDGET CUTS, LEADERSHIP SHAKEUP AT UN
Here are a few of the rabbit holes where your money ends up. U.S. taxpayers pay for U.N. tax-free salaries; for U.N. lounges set up for watching sports games with bargain prices for food and drink; for media campaigns and other festivities to celebrate the “International Day of Neutrality” invented by Russia, Afghanistan and friends, and the “International Day of Banks.”
U.S. dollars for peacekeepers include the blue helmets in southern Lebanon (UNIFIL) who have kept busy observing Hezbollah rearm, build terror tunnels, take up positions among Lebanese civilians, and fire at Israelis.
The surging expenses of the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights – from your wallets – have included staffing and support for a Chinese “Independent Expert” on “international financial obligations of states on the full enjoyment of all human rights,” an “expert” on “a democratic and equitable international order” who advocated that the International Criminal Court tackle American crimes against humanity, and an “expert” on “International Solidarity” created at the behest of Cuba.
FORMER HIGH-LEVEL UNITED NATIONS OFFICIALS TO LAUNCH ‘DOGE-UN’ TO HIGHLIGHT AGENCY INEFFICIENCIES
Congress has long been skeptical about U.N. uses of American money, so much so that they have insisted upon an annual report on “United States Participation in the United Nations.” The most recent report during the Biden administration was published in March 2024 and covered the year 2022. Here is its astonishing conclusion:
“It is increasingly challenging for the United States to identify cost savings at the U.N. given the growing demands that U.N. member states place on the organization.”
DOGE can respond to this apparent brain-freeze with the proper course of deserved financial oversight. The U.N. budget, which covers everything from well over 100,000 long-term employees, administrative costs, peacekeeping, and a broad range of agencies and subsidiary bodies, deliberately lacks the transparency necessary to end misuse and corruption.
The General Assembly, for instance, is nonplussed about breaking its own elementary rule that no new activity will be approved without the cost being calculated and presented before the vote.
Sign now and squeeze member states later is familiar practice, as is tapping unused resources in one corner to satisfy unfilled appetites in another.
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At the heart of the U.N. financial structure lies the bad idea that the United States must pay for whatever abomination it votes against. Fans call it burden-sharing. We pay for what we don’t like, and other countries help pay for our priorities. The truth is that the end product doesn’t shake out on the plus side either for American national interests or taxpayer pocketbooks.
A 2005 Task Force on the United Nations, initiated during the George W. Bush administration and headed by Newt Gingrich and George Mitchell, voiced concern about insufficient supervision and talked a lot about reform. As it turns out, the watchword of “reform” in U.N. circles has been a euphemism for “keep on keeping on” until somebody notices, again.
Congress has also come up with other formulas for withholding money from the U.N., like refusing to fund a tiny list of U.N. projects dedicated to the destruction of the state of Israel. However, the U.N. has invented more such projects and Congress has taken years, if at all, to add to the withholding list and to confront the fundamental moral rot epitomized by the U.N.’s systemic demonization of Israel.
DOGE creates an opportunity to clean house.
They can anticipate at least two rejectionist camps. Democrats who flog the erroneous idea that multilateralism begins and ends with the U.N. And New Yorkers who figure they benefit from U.N. diplomats wining, dining, and hanging out in their neighborhood, whether or not they are hosting entourages of terrorists and criminal masterminds. Not only should the material and spiritual benefits of otherwise developing the prime real estate of midtown Manhattan be factored in for the sake of the locals, but the rest of the country also deserves a voice.
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A long overdue tally of American U.N. expenditures versus American needs is not a call to end American generosity or compassion beyond our borders. It is a call to protect the American goose laying the golden eggs from an avaricious and dangerous United Nations.
The Biden administration thought that finding savings for U.S. money filling U.N. coffers was a challenge. To which DOGE can be all set to reply: challenge accepted.
Illegal immigrant charged in cheerleader’s murder slammed for latest legal maneuver
The mother of slain 16-year-old Lizbeth Medina, who was allegedly murdered by an illegal immigrant from Mexico in December 2023, says the suspect’s request for an insanity evaluation only “adds to the pain.”
Rafael Govea Romero, 25, is charged with capital murder after Lizbeth was found dead with stab wounds on Dec. 5, 2023, in the bathroom of the Edna, Texas, apartment she shared with her mother.
“I broke down. I completely broke down,” Jacqueline Medina, Lizbeth’s mother, told Fox News Digital of her reaction to seeing his request for an insanity test, as local newspaper The Victoria Advocate first reported.
“For me, there’s enough evidence that is obviously determining the fact… he knew what he was doing,” Medina said. “One of the police officers said he seemed to be professional.”
TRUMP WIN MOVES SLAIN CHEERLEADER’S MOM TO TEARS AS ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT SUSPECT FACES MURDER TRIAL
Medina had left their apartment for work early on Dec. 5, 2023. Her daughter typically left for school shortly afterward, but that day she did not make it to school or the Christmas parade that her cheer team was supposed to be practicing for.
Medina returned home that evening after no one had heard from or seen Lizbeth and found her dead in the bathtub of their apartment. Edna police arrested Romero in Schulenburg, Texas, five days after Lizbeth’s death.
TEXAS TEEN LIZBETH MEDINA MURDER: WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT MURDER SUSPECT RAFAEL GOVEA ROMERO
The murder suspect was reportedly on probation for a 2022 burglary in Schulenburg, about 60 miles from Edna, the Fayette County Record first reported. Edna police said Romero may also be tied to a burglary that occurred at Lizbeth’s home about a month before her killing.
“The insanity plea just adds to the pain and to the hurt that we’re already going through,” Medina said. “And I was looking forward to this trial, and now it’s being pushed back.”
Romero was initially scheduled to stand trial in December, but it has been rescheduled for February, and Medina said she is not receiving updates from the court regarding developments in the case.
“[H]e came in and violated her rights… yet they want to talk about his rights, and that infuriates me.”
‘All I want… all I am begging for is justice for my daughter. That’s all I want. And the fact that this case will be pushed back and pushed back – it hurts me because I ask myself: Did my daughter get that chance? Did she get that chance? Did he give her that mercy? Or that chance to live?” Medina said. “She had the right to live. She had the right to be safe in her home.”
Medina said she is eagerly awaiting answers in her daughter’s case, including why a judge previously released Romero on parole in his prior burglary case.
Neither Medina nor Lizbeth knew Romero, but Medina noted that their house had been burglarized on Nov. 13, about a month before the teenager’s murder. Edna police officers believe Romero may have been involved in the burglary and may have stalked Lizbeth before allegedly attacking and killing her.
MOM OF TEXAS TEEN ALLEGEDLY KILLED BY ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT SUSPECT CALLS FOR CHANGE AFTER LAKEN RILEY MURDER
The grieving mother also said she stands with others who have lost their children to illegal immigrant suspects this year, including the family of Laken Riley. The suspect in Riley’s murder, Jose Ibarra, of Venezuela, was convicted on 10 counts and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole on Nov. 13. Lizbeth, Riley, Rachel Morin of Maryland, Jocelyn Nungaray of Texas, Ruby Garcia of Michigan and Maria Gonzalez of Texas are women and girls allegedly killed by illegal immigrants over the past two years.
“[The] Biden and the Harris administration failed us completely.”
“I stand with all the mothers and fathers who are going through this like and Riley’s family and Jocelyn Nungaray’s family – all of them,” Medina said. “We are all united by the same tragedies. I have recently seen Laken Riley’s outcome. And like I said, they will never get to have her back. But that could have been prevented. [The] Biden and the Harris administration failed us completely, and now I’m losing hope.”
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Romero’s defense team also filed a motion to suppress certain evidence, arguing Edna Police Department officers searched and detained Romero without reasonable suspicion, and they searched his apartment without consent from the suspect, the Advocate reported.
The suspect’s defense attorney, Ross Reifel, did not immediately respond to an inquiry from Fox News Digital. Romero is currently being held on $2 million bond in Jackson County.
How a 34-year-old Republican ousted a six-term Democrat to flip a crucial swing state seat
Voters in Pennsylvania’s 8th Congressional District gave six-term incumbent Rep. Matt Cartwright, D-Pa., the boot last month in favor of a young, energetic and successful businessman who says he’s ready to defend their interests in the nation’s capital.
Republican Rep.-elect Rob Bresnahan, 34, tells Fox News Digital in an interview that “kitchen table issues” helped him connect with northeastern Pennsylvanians and oust Cartwright, a progressive who had served in Congress for more than a decade.
“When we were knocking on doors and talking to people every single day over a period of 13 months, the first thing anyone had to say was, ‘I can’t afford my bills. I can’t afford rent. I can’t afford my mortgage. I can’t afford school property taxes. I can’t afford groceries,'” Bresnahan said.
Rising prices for food and gas have made living costs unaffordable for Pennsylvanians, he explained. And as voters have watched illegal immigrants overrun the southern border and be provided free food, housing and benefits, while billions in foreign aid flows out from the U.S. to other countries, they felt that foreigners were being treated better than Americans by their government, said Bresnahan.
PENNSYLVANIA DEMOCRAT REP. MATT CARTWRIGHT CONCEDES RACE TO GOP CHALLENGER
“We’re looking around at our neighbors saying, ‘hey, what about us here?’ And they couldn’t help but feel that they have been put second for a long time.”
Bresnahan was a success story before he won election to the House of Representatives. A fifth-generation native of Luzerne County, at just 19 years old he was entrusted to be CFO of his grandfather’s construction company, which builds electrical infrastructure for municipalities and highways throughout Pennsylvania.
He spent his college years at the University of Scranton dashing back and forth between the office and class as he worked to help the business recover from the global financial crisis. His hard work paid off, the business grew and Bresnahan became CEO after graduating in 2013.
“I was still living at home with my parents and I was in and out of a dorm room and running a company with 58 employees even though I couldn’t legally drink a Coors Light yet,” he told the Citizen’s Voice in 2021. “The combination was a heavy workload but it was a sacrifice that I would make again in a second.”
But as the years passed, Bresnahan, like many Americans, felt the country was headed on the wrong track. The decisions coming from Washington, D.C., were bad for his business, his employees and the people they serve. And so, he decided to enter politics to make a difference.
“I felt that the country was not heading in the right trajectory with what is happening on our southern border. We had life essentially unaffordable for the average person. And I’ve always been a person to roll up my sleeves and throw myself into fire,” Bresnahan said.
PA DEM IN DISTRICT THAT VOTED FOR TRUMP SAYS HE’S A MODERATE, BUT VOTING RECORD TELLS ANOTHER STORY
His winning congressional campaign focused on securing the border, cutting taxes and trimming government spending, creating “family-sustaining jobs” in the Keystone State and supporting law enforcement. In April, Bresnahan received an endorsement from President-elect Donald Trump.
“A successful Businessman, Rob has worked hard to Create Jobs and Grow the Economy, unlike his opponent, Matt Cartwright, who is completely beholden to Nancy Pelosi and the Radical Left,” Trump posted on Truth Social.
With the campaign behind him, Bresnahan says he and the other members of the incoming Republican majority in Congress are ready to hit the ground running with a pro-growth agenda in January.
“Securing the border. That needs to be done day one, Jan. 3 at 12:01 p.m., the day after we are all sworn in,” he told Fox News Digital. “I think there’s going to be a big playbook, but that is a tangible win right off the bat.”
SINGLE HOUSE RACE STANDS BETWEEN REPUBLICANS AND 1-SEAT MAJORITY
On inflation, Bresnahan says Congress and the Trump administration can tackle unaffordable prices by lowering energy costs. “Talking about just Pennsylvania alone, 52% of homes are heated from natural gas. $45 billion a year are generated from the natural gas industry, and $76 billion in GDP comes out of the fracking and natural gas industry,” he said, insisting that policymakers must stop “vilifying natural resources.”
The rising national debt, at $36 trillion, is another burden on the economy Bresnahan says Congress must address. “We’re spending more on debt servicing – just our national debt and the interest – than we are on our national defense budget.”
The young lawmaker said there will be “tough votes” on discretionary spending when Congress convenes in January. But two of the largest contributors to the federal debt and deficit will remain untouched.
“Obviously, we can’t cut Medicare. We can’t cut Social Security. We have to preserve that for our current generation, and we have to find ways to preserve it for our generation and the next generation. But I don’t believe that there’s a one-size-fits-all policy on any circumstance, let alone the national debt and the expenditures of the federal government,” Bresnahan said.
However, he added that illegal immigrants should not benefit from programs that Americans have paid in to, including Social Security and Medicare.
REPUBLICANS PROJECTED TO KEEP CONTROL OF HOUSE AS TRUMP PREPARES TO IMPLEMENT AGENDA
Republicans are expected to extend the 2017 tax cuts that became law during Trump’s first term in office. Bresnahan says he supports those tax cuts and insists that economic growth spurred by deregulation and investments in infrastructure and American jobs can make up for any potential revenue losses.
“We have to get people back to work,” he said. “We have to create economic climates that are conducive to the American people to incentivize them to go to work.”
Part of that is to support jobs that don’t require a college degree, such as carpenters, plumbers or electricians. “These are great, family-sustaining careers with annuities starting on day one, with health insurance for your family, and you’re earning while you learn.”
Turning to foreign policy, Bresnahan said the United States must remain a global superpower and pursue “peace through strength.”
“But we have to be strong as the United States,” he added. Asked about growing GOP opposition to foreign aid, including to Ukraine, Bresnahan emphasized that he supports efforts to push back against Russian aggression – but he wants to do so responsibly.
YOUNGEST HOUSE REPUBLICAN-ELECT REVEALS HOW GOP WON BACK AMERICA’S YOUTH
“Putin is a war criminal and needs to be stopped,” he said. “I am all supportive of providing weapons, missiles, rockets – actually, there’s a big manufacturing facility inside of my district. But where I do want accountability is the raw, hard dollars that have been sent. I want audits done on those to ensure they’re going to the right causes.”
Echoing Trump’s beliefs about putting America first, Bresnahan said there is a point where “enough is enough” and that Europe has to match U.S. contributions to foreign aid.
“Again, I’m looking at, you know, 25% of my bridges are structurally deficient. We have aging infrastructure levees that protect over $1 trillion of property here in the United States. You’re talking about power distribution grids that haven’t been re-invested in since the 1950s with 50 years of usable life. And, you know, we were without power for multiple days now, going on which could possibly be a week (). Europe didn’t come and send over trucks to help us rebuild our grids.”
“Ukraine obviously has a lot going on, but we need to take care of our own people. We have to take care of our own Americans. And I believe Donald Trump had that narrative and that’s why he just won an election in a landslide, because it’s about us,” he added.
Bresnahan hopes to bring “common sense” solutions to the complex problems facing Americans. He has pledged to work with whomever has a good idea, Republican or Democrat, and has earned endorsements from both No Labels and the moderate Problem Solvers Caucus. Though he calls himself a “fiscal conservative,” he rejects political labels because “I don’t think confirmation bias is the right way to solve any issue.”
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“I believe most challenges can be overcome through healthy and solid debate,” he added.
And what about those issues that inflame passions on both sides? Before this interview, Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., made national headlines after she put forward a resolution that would bar Rep. Sarah McBride, D-Del., a transgender lawmaker who is biologically male, from using the women’s bathrooms in the Capitol.
Bresnahan said that while he believes biological men should not play in women’s sports or use their facilities, the flare up between Mace and McBride distracts from other important issues facing Americans – like crumbling infrastructure and expensive living costs.
“I don’t want the 119th Congress to be hijacked by what bathrooms we should be using when we have been elected to provide real solutions for the real American people. And that’s what I’m going down to Washington, D.C. to do.”
Lead Daniel Penny prosecutor secured light sentence for thug who killed 87-year-old
Assistant Manhattan District Attorney Dafna Yoran, who urged jurors at Daniel Penny’s subway chokehold trial to convict him of manslaughter on Tuesday, once sought reduced punishment for a Manhattan mugger who killed an 87-year-old over $300 in 2019 under the concept of “restorative justice.”
Matthew Lee, 57, snuck up on the victim, a former Lehman College professor named Dr. Young Kun Kim, from behind at a Citibank ATM on Broadway on May 13, 2018, video shows. The fatal blow, a punch to the head from behind, appears to have occurred off-camera.
Kim was hospitalized and later died from his injuries. Police eventually identified Lee as the suspect and arrested him within a week.
DANIEL PENNY JURORS BEGIN DELIBERATIONS IN JORDAN NEELY SUBWAY CHOKEHOLD TRIAL
Kim survived the Japanese occupation of Korea and the Korean War, the New York Post reported in 2019. His son forgave the killer at sentencing in a Manhattan courthouse.
Under a 2020 policy introduced by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s predecessor, Cyrus Vance Jr., Yoran “saw an opportunity for a transformative outcome,” according to Gothamist, a New York City news site. It was the first use of the program in a homicide case.
“It is just a continuance of the soft-on-crime policies that have permeated our big cities,” said Louis Gelormino, a Staten Island defense attorney who has said the case against Penny should never have been filed.
Kim’s son and daughter-in-law, Jinsoo and Julia Kim, agreed to meet with Lee, his sister and a social worker for 90 minutes, according to contemporary reports. The couple could not immediately be reached for comment Tuesday.
TRAIN HERO ALEK SKARLATOS ON DANIEL PENNY TRIAL: ‘THIS COULD HAPPEN TO YOU’
“I can’t choose how much I hurt, but I can choose how much I hate, and I choose to not hate you anymore,” Jinsoo Kim told Lee in his victim’s impact statement, preserved online in the Post report. “I forgive you, not just for your sake but for mine as well. There is no healing where there is hate.”
After the meeting, Lee was charged with manslaughter instead of felony murder, reducing his potential sentence from 25 years to life to 10 years.
Felony murder charges are usually filed when someone dies as the result of another felony committed by the suspect. Manslaughter charges involve reckless behavior that results in death.
Lee is currently being held in a medium-security state prison in Otisville, New York, and is eligible for parole in 2026.
DANIEL PENNY PROSECUTOR DANGLES RACE CARD AGAIN OVER DEFENSE OBJECTION DESPITE NO HATE CRIME CHARGES
Penny, 26, faces a maximum of 15 years in prison if convicted of the top charge he faces, manslaughter.
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Jurors began deliberations on Tuesday.
“The defense here has blamed the system, the police response, everyone is responsible for Jordan Neely’s death except the defendant,” Yoran told the jury as her closing arguments wound down. “The only thing you need to determine here is that the evidence has proven beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant had killed Jordan Neely.”
Trump floats DeSantis as potential replacement for defense secretary
President-elect Donald Trump is considering nominating Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida as defense secretary to replace Pete Hegseth, Trump’s embattled current pick to steer the Pentagon, multiple sources confirm to Fox News.
DeSantis, a bitter Trump rival last year and early this year during the GOP presidential nomination battle, made peace with Trump after the primaries and helped raise funds for Trump during the general election.
The popular conservative governor, a Navy veteran who served in the Iraq war, was re-elected in a landslide in 2022 but is term-limited and cannot run for re-election in 2026.
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DeSantis is “very much” in contention to replace Hegseth, multiple sources told Fox News.
One source added that it was the president-elect himself who floated the governor’s name, and that Trump and DeSantis discussed the idea as they met Tuesday while appearing together in Florida at a memorial service for fallen law enforcement officers in Palm Beach County.
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The reporting from Fox News and other organizations comes as Hegseth on Wednesday returns to Capitol Hill to continue meeting with Republican senators as he makes his case for confirmation as defense secretary.
Hegseth, an Army National Guard officer who deployed to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and who previously was a Fox News host, is facing a series of drinking and sexual misconduct allegations.
WHY BIDEN’S PARDON OF HIS SON IS A POLITICAL GIFT FOR TRUMP
Hegseth has denied allegations that he mistreated women.
“I spoke with the President-elect this morning. He said keep going, keep fighting,” Hegseth told reporters as he arrived on Capitol Hill.
“Why would I back down? I have always been a fighter,” he added.
Hegseth also made his case in a social media post Wednesday morning, writing “I’m doing this for the warfighters, not the warmongers.”
But a top Trump ally in the Senate is concerned.
“He obviously has a chance to defend himself here. But some of this stuff is – it’s going to be difficult,” Sen. Lindsey Graham, a longtime military veteran and South Carolina Republican, told reporters on Tuesday.
Among the senators Hegseth was meeting with on Wednesday is GOP Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa, a military veteran and sexual-assault victim whose support would be crucial to his Senate confirmation.
Ernst told reporters on the eve of the meeting that she would likely have a “frank and thorough conversation” with Hegseth.
Hegseth’s mother, Penelope Hegseth, appeared Wednesday on Fox and Friends to defend her son and “set the record straight.”
“I am here to tell the truth. To tell the truth to the American people and tell the truth to senators on the hill, especially female senators. I really hope that you will not listen to the media and you will listen to Pete,” she added.
If Trump moves ahead and nominates DeSantis and the governor is confirmed by the GOP-controlled Senate next year, it would lead to the ascension of Lt. Gov. Jeanette Nuñez. She would make history as Florida’s first female governor – and the first of Cuban descent.
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The Wall Street Journal was first to report the news that Trump is considering DeSantis for defense secretary.
64-year-old Valerie Bertinelli strips down in vulnerable moment with fans online
Valerie Bertinelli continued to win over fans and followers on social media with a vulnerable post showing off her figure.
Bertinelli, 64, fully embraced her body as she peered into her bathroom mirror for a moment wearing only a black bra with a matching set of underwear before snapping a selfie using her black and white checkered phone case.
The Food Network star embarked on a journey of self-love and healing throughout the last year and has since drawn the support of millions of fans as she shares relatable anecdotes online of her everyday life.
VALERIE BERTINELLI SUFFERS NASTY INJURY AFTER FALLING OFF STAGE
Standing in a hallway bathroom wearing nothing but her undergarments, Bertinelli admitted she felt content despite having a lot on her mind.
“At some point I will talk about the madness my body has been through this year,” she wrote on Instagram.
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“But right now every lump bump wrinkle and saggy part of me just feels acceptance and simple appreciation to be standing in front of a mirror in a hotel bathroom in downtown Manhattan ready to color my roots late on a Monday night.”
Her journey toward acceptance hasn’t been an easy road, though. Earlier this year, Bertinelli chose to abstain from alcohol and focus more on her future and less on her past.
“Right now every lump bump wrinkle and saggy part of me just feels acceptance and simple appreciation to be standing in front of a mirror in a hotel bathroom in downtown Manhattan ready to color my roots late on a Monday night.”
VALERIE BERTINELLI CELEBRATES FRESH START, NO LONGER GOING TO BE ‘JUDGE, JURY AND EXECUTIONER’ OF HER LIFE
She’s shared videos and inspirational messages encouraging followers to “never forget the miracle of being here.”
In one message, Bertinelli wrote, “I’ve always been really good at beating myself up about my past and how I could’ve done better. I became a master at judging myself. Judge, jury, and executioner.
“I don’t wanna do that anymore. I want to lead a full authentic life, with my heart open to experiencing everything. No more judging. Accepting who I am, flaws and all. What makes me, me.”
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Bertinelli addressed her followers, encouraging them to consider coping mechanisms or unhealthy habits, like drinking or binge eating, that they might have developed that “can prevent us from opening our hearts fully.”
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“I think we’ve built a really lovely community here and I love when you all talk amongst yourselves, the last post being a great example of everyone sharing their journey. It’s been inspiring. When we work together and share our stories, we can lift each other up. Let’s keep inspiring each other,” she wrote.
Part of her “intentional” healing journey was through working on her latest cookbook, “Indulge.” She told People the process of healing wasn’t linear and included “a lot of therapy sessions, a lot of learning that I deserve to feel good.”
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“First came the work,” she said. “Why I thought I didn’t deserve to be loved. Why I was using food to numb my feelings. All the drama and trauma I hadn’t dealt with — with Ed and my last marriage.
“The cookbook was an offshoot of the emotional and mental healing I‘ve been doing,” she said. “I know we’re talking about a cookbook, but this cookbook got me through all of it.”
“Ed” refers to late musician Eddie Van Halen, her first husband and the father of her only child, Wolfgang Van Halen. Her last marriage was with financial planner Tom Vitale, whom she divorced in 2022.
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“The more I let myself cry, the better I felt. I wasn’t trying to be happy or sad or thin. I wasn’t trying to be anything other than who I was,” she wrote in the book.
While the Emmy Award-winning actress found love again in the arms of writer Mike Goodnough, the couple called it quits in November after 10 months of dating.
King Charles excluded Prince Harry from Christmas over ‘too many demands,’ expert says
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle reportedly weren’t invited to spend Christmas with the royals – and for one expert, it’s easy to see why.
Ingrid Seward, editor-in-chief of Majesty magazine and author of “My Mother and I,” claimed to Fox News Digital that extending an invitation to the Sussexes was “too much” for King Charles.
“No, I’m not a bit surprised they weren’t invited,” said Seward. “I think the general feeling is that it would’ve just created an unwarranted atmosphere, and Christmas isn’t about that. Christmas is about everybody being happy and getting on with each other. And… I just think that King Charles just couldn’t deal with the [drama].”
PRINCE HARRY, MEGHAN MARKLE DON’T GET ROYAL CHRISTMAS INVITE AS KATE MIDDLETON POSTS HOLIDAY MESSAGE: REPORT
“He’s exhausted by his year,” Seward claimed. “He’s exhausted by his cancer, and he’s a workaholic, so he doesn’t really rest up. And the thought of having Harry and Meghan was probably a bit much. He thought it would be a bit much over this period.”
A source told People magazine that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex haven’t received an invitation to this year’s gathering at Sandringham, the royal family’s country estate. According to the outlet, the couple haven’t taken part in Christmas with the royal family since 2018, the year they married.
Harry and Meghan are expected to spend the holidays in the U.S., the outlet shared. They reside in California with their two children: Prince Archie, 5, and Princess Lilibet, 3.
“It doesn’t mean he doesn’t want to see his grandchildren,” said Seward about the monarch, 76.
“I think he’s desperate to see his grandchildren,” she claimed. “But Harry won’t come here unless he has this, that and the other. And he wants an armed escort, and he’s making too many demands. And I completely understand. [But] Charles [is saying], ‘Look, I’m just not going to ask them this yet.’”
Insiders previously told People magazine that Harry wants to reinstate his security to allow more flexible visits to the U.K. for himself, his wife and their two children.
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The sources claimed that the issue plays “a crucial role” in his ongoing estrangement from his father. Sources claimed that the monarch has stopped taking his son’s phone calls and has not responded to his letters.
For more than four years, Harry has been fighting in court over his security in the U.K.
The Duke of Sussex lost his taxpayer-funded personal protective security after he gave up his status as a working member of the royal family in 2020.
“I think [the king] is desperate to see his grandchildren. But Harry won’t come here unless he has this, that and the other. And he wants an armed escort, and he’s making too many demands.”
The Telegraph reported that when Harry was visiting the U.K. in May for the 10th anniversary of the Invictus Games, he turned down an invitation from the king to stay at a royal residence.
The Duke of Sussex reportedly turned down the offer because it did not come with any security arrangements, which, according to The Telegraph, would have meant staying in a location with public entrance and exit points and no police protection.
Instead, Harry stayed at a hotel, as he had during previous visits.
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Representatives for father and son didn’t immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s requests for comment at the time.
On May 8, Harry marked the milestone anniversary of the Invictus Games with a service of thanksgiving held at St. Paul’s Cathedral. Charles and other senior royals attended a garden party at Buckingham Palace two miles away.
A spokesperson for Harry, 40, confirmed to Fox News Digital that the king was too busy to meet with his son.
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Seward is hopeful that the king and his younger son will make amends in the future.
“I think the children will eventually bring them together, hopefully,” she said. “Charles very much wants to see his son as any father would… and he wants to see his grandchildren. He’s only ever met them once or twice, and they’re growing up. But I just don’t think it’s going to happen because the life of a royal is so busy. The king’s life is so incredibly busy. He… has appointments every 20 minutes of the day. And so, Harry really has to fit in with him.”
“When Harry came over here, his father didn’t have time to see him, which to you and I sounds awful,” Seward explained. “But if you’ve got 20-minute appointments, you can’t just slot someone you haven’t seen for a few months into 10 minutes. It’s probably better just to be too busy.”
“It is difficult,” Seward admitted. “But I don’t think it’ll last forever. I really don’t and I hope not…. You’d think that Charles’ cancer scare might have pulled the family together, and Catherine’s cancer scare might’ve pulled the family together. But if that hasn’t, I’m not quite sure what will.”
Harry and Meghan, 43, weren’t invited to Trooping the Colour in June. The event marked the annual birthday celebration for Charles.
People magazine reported that Prince William, his wife Kate Middleton and their three children will be spending Christmas at Sandringham. Both Buckingham Palace and Kensington Palace, which handle the offices for the Prince and Princess of Wales, declined to comment on the Christmas guest list.
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It is understood that Harry’s relationship with William, 42, continues to be strained.
Charles and Harry met in February shortly after Buckingham Palace announced his cancer diagnosis. However, communication between father and son has deteriorated, People magazine reported.
“He gets ‘unavailable right now,’” a friend of Harry’s told the outlet. “His calls go unanswered. He has tried to reach out about the king’s health, but those calls go unanswered too.”
Harry has had a strained relationship with his family since he and his wife quit royal duties. At the time, the couple said the unbearable intrusions and racist attitudes of the British press were what prompted them to step back as senior royals.
The father of two has since detailed his rocky relationship with his family in TV interviews, a documentary and his memoir, “Spare.”
A pal told People magazine that the couple “didn’t feel they had a choice” when it came to making their royal exit.
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“The only option was to leave – for their sanity,” the source claimed. “I do think they thought if they got out of this bubble, there would be less focus on them.”
The insider added that the couple stepping away from royal duties shouldn’t be a factor in having security.
“Working royal or not, this is the king’s son,” said the source, noting that nothing “would give [Harry] more happiness than being able to rekindle his bond with his father.”
“At the end of the day, you can’t undo bloodlines,” the insider added.