Tech titans praise President Trump’s Stargate project: ‘Impacts all of humanity’

The three tech CEOs who have joined forces in President Donald Trump’s multi-billion dollar artificial intelligence infrastructure project defended the venture as an investment that “impacts all of humanity.”

“This is a very large investment that affects all of humanity,” Oracle founder Larry Ellison told Fox News chief political anchor Bret Baier on “Special Report” on Tuesday.

President Trump unveiled a massive AI infrastructure project from the private sector on the first full day of his second term in office on Tuesday.

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During a speech at the White House, Trump announced that Softbank, OpenAI and Oracle have joined forces for a project called Stargate to build data centers in the U.S. for powering AI. 

Ellison emphasized the Stargate investment could bring a “revolution” in healthcare and other industries. 

“It’s really a revolution in medicine. But it’s a revolution in many other industries as well. Medicine just touches us all,” he said. “Yes, it takes a huge investment, but the result of the investment will be vaccines that prevent cancers, personalized medicinewhere we never again run into a problem like COVID-19 before because we get an early warning. We know when COVID starts, when there are a handful of patients, rather than having to wait until it’s become an epidemic and very difficult to control.”

The initial investment for the project will be $100 billion, with plans to expand to $500 billion over the next four years. The first data center built under the initiative will be in Texas, and it will eventually expand to other states. 

A LOOK AT PRESIDENT TRUMP’S FIRST FULL DAY IN THE WHITE HOUSE

“This means we can create A.I. and A.G.I. in the United States of America. {it] wouldn’t have been obvious that this was possible,” OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said. “I think with a different president it might not have been possible. But we are thrilled to get to do this, and I think it’ll be great for Americans, great for the whole world.”

Altman conceded A.I. pioneers need to be “responsible” and develop the technology “carefully.” 

“I think people are really good, and people will do, on balance, incredible things with this technology. The scale of this investment obviously is huge. And what I think that says about the likely progress of the technology, at least what all of us believe, is correspondingly huge. But I have enormous faith will figure it out,” he said. 

Trump was working to drum up private business investments in the U.S. prior to his second term. Last month, Son joined Trump in announcing Softbank’s plans for a $100 billion investment in America aimed at generating 100,000 new jobs.

“For the better humanity of our future, we need big capital to invest into the project. We cannot do it with a small money. We have to do the big investment for the good of humanity,” SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son said, touting Trump’s vow to usher in a golden age in America.

A White House official told FOX Business that post-election, Trump has now secured $1 trillion in private investment for the U.S. in various projects.

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Dems abandon party after AOC, Jeffries say trans athlete bill empowers child predators

Democrat lawmakers in Washington, D.C., pushed back against the GOP-led Protection of Women and Girls in Sports act last week with unsubstantiated arguments that the law would enable sexual predators to give genital examinations to young girls. 

This argument was not rooted in any language within the bill, as Republicans insisted that no genital inspection would ever be necessary and that proof of birth gender could simply be determined with a birth certificate. 

Still, many prominent Democrats, including House Minority Leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., used the sexual predator argument in statements and during testimony on the House of Representatives floor. 

This tactic has alienated some of the party’s loyal voters, who have unregistered as Democrats in response.

Prominent Rutgers law professor Gary Francione has been a lifelong Democrat dating back to the 1960s. In November’s general elections, he voted for Vice President Kamala Harris and Rep. Chrissy Houlahan, D-Pa., who was one of 206 Democrats to vote against the bill last Tuesday.

But Francione, who is an advocate for LGBTQ rights, abortion rights and even a vegan and animal rights abolitionist, said he was so offended by the Democrat representatives who tried to tie the bill to empowering child predators that he unregistered as a Democrat after last Tuesday’s hearing.

“That just made me very upset because it screamed out lack of integrity, lack of honesty,” Francione told Fox News Digital in an exclusive interview. “This is the way you fight battles? By trying to insult other people who oppose you and disagree with and insinuate that they’re child molesters or pedophiles? It seems to me you’ve lost the game. … I don’t know how they’re ever going to come back from this.” 

Francione has a lifelong network of other Democrats in the field of law and other industries, and he says many of them share his beliefs and will also be unregistering from the party. 

“I can say confidently of the people I know who are Democrats who I’ve spoken to, the vast majority of them are very unhappy about all of this stuff and feel that the party has lost its way,” Francione said. “I know a couple who said they are going to [unregister].” 

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Francione initially announced his departure from the party in a viral post on X over the weekend. Many of his thousands of followers replied insisting they would follow his lead in unregistering from the party in response to the congressional representatives’ attempt to tie the bill to empowering sexual predators.

“This is what I have done. That is when I drew the line and swapped registration,” one user replied. 

“I know the feeling. They drive you to it. Welcome to the club,” another wrote. 

Francione said the premise of allowing trans athletes to compete against females is “discriminatory” against girls and women, and he went so far as to call the Democrat argument against the bill “insane” and “irresponsible.” 

“I thought it was very unfair to the large number of very decent people who are concerned about fairness and safety in women’s sports,” he said. “These young girls, they train hard, they work hard, and then they get things taken away from them by men!”

Even former U.S. Olympic cyclist Inga Thompson admitted in a recent interview that even though she’s a lifelong Democrat, she was hopeful for President Donald Trump’s incoming presidency because of his stance on protecting women and girls in sports.

Multiple Democrat congressional representatives have chosen to refer to the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act as the “House GOP Child Predator Empowerment Act.” These individuals include Jeffries, Ocasio-Cortez, Rep. Bobby Scott, D-Va., Rep. Suzanne Bonamici, D-Ore., Rep. Maxwell Frost, D-Fla., Whip Rep. Katherine Clark, D-Mass., and many of the other 206 Democrats who voted against the bill.

Ocasio-Cortez dismissed the fact that there is no language in the bill that suggests any child would be subject to genital inspections during her argument. 

“The majority right now says there’s no place in this bill that says it opens up for genital examinations. Well, here’s the thing, there’s no enforcement mechanism in this bill. And when there is no enforcement mechanism, you open the door to every enforcement mechanism!” Ocasio-Cortez said.

Ocasio-Cortez later proclaimed, “Trans girls are girls!”

But many Democrats who opposed the bill strictly opposed it based on the unsubstantiated premise that it would empower sexual predators without even advocating for the right of trans athletes to compete in women’s sports, as enabling trans inclusion became a widely unpopular stance in November’s election.

Rep. Seth Moulton, D-Mass., was one of those who took that stance. Moulton previously said that he believed Democrats advocating for trans inclusion was an issue that cost them in November, and he repeatedly defended his stance of opposing trans inclusion despite backlash from those in his own party and state in the weeks that followed President Donald Trump’s victory and Republican majorities in the House and Senate. 

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But Moulton still voted against the bill on Tuesday, saying he does not want children to be “subjected to the invasive violations of personal privacy this bill allows.”

Just two Democrats joined the Republican majority in voting in favor of the bill: Reps. Henry Cuellar, D-Texas, and Vicente Gonzales, D-Texas. Their decision to defect from the rest of the party and vote for the protection of women and girls in sports reflects a growing widespread position of many voters in their party and independents, according to recent data. 

A recent New York Times/Ipsos survey found the vast majority of Americans, including a majority of Democrats, don’t think transgender athletes should be permitted to compete in women’s sports. Of the 2,128 people who participated, 79% said biological males who identify as women should not be allowed to participate in women’s sports. Of the 1,025 people who identified as Democrats or leaning Democrat, 67% said transgender athletes should not be allowed to compete with women. 

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Shortly after November’s election, a national exit poll conducted by the Concerned Women for America legislative action committee found that 70% of moderate voters saw the issue of “Donald Trump’s opposition to transgender boys and men playing girls’ and women’s sports and of transgender boys and men using girls’ and women’s bathrooms” as important to them. 

And 6% said it was the most important issue of all, while 44% said it was “very important.”

Francione is one of the many longtime Democrat voters who believe the lawmakers in his party have failed in carrying out the will of their constituents on this issue.

“Progressives have failed,” he added. “Progressives have created a grievance Olympics … and it doesn’t work.” 

Coast Guard taking immediate action to support executive orders signed by Trump

The U.S. Coast Guard on Tuesday announced the deployment of personnel and equipment to various maritime borders in the United States, a day after President Donald Trump dismissed the military branch’s leader. 

In a statement, Coast Guard Acting Commandant Adm. Kevin Lunday said coast guardsmen would work to detect and deter illegal migration in support of Trump’s executive orders issued this week. 

“The U.S. Coast Guard is the world’s premiere maritime law enforcement agency, vital to protecting America’s maritime borders, territorial integrity and sovereignty,” Lunday said. “Per the President’s Executive Orders, I have directed my operational commanders to immediately surge assets—cutters, aircraft, boats and deployable specialized forces—to increase Coast Guard presence and focus…”

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Key areas where authorities will focus their efforts include the waters off Florida to deter and prevent migrants from Haiti and Cuba from entering the U.S., and maritime borders around Alaska, Hawaii, as well as the U.S. territories of Guam, Puerto Rico, American Somoa and the U.S. Virgin Islands. 

Lunday also wrote in the release that the agency would target the “maritime border between Texas and Mexico in the Gulf of America.” 

On Monday, Trump signed an executive order renaming the Gulf of Mexico. In the federal executive order: “Restoring Names That Honor American Greatness,” Section 4 rebrands the “area formerly known as the Gulf of Mexico… an integral asset to our once burgeoning nation …and an indelible part of America” – as the “Gulf of America.”

The reference appears to be the first time a federal agency has acknowledged the name change.

The Coast Guard said it would also target the Bahamas and South Florida, and between the U.S. and Mexico in the Pacific Ocean. 

In addition, the Coast Guard will support U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) authorities on maritime portions of the southwest U.S. border.

“Together, in coordination with our Department of Homeland Security and Department of Defense teammates, we will detect, deter and interdict illegal migration, drug smuggling and other terrorist or hostile activity before it reaches our border,” a news release states. 

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On Monday, Trump also issued a flurry of executive orders cracking down on illegal immigration. 

Among the many charges was the termination of Adm. Linda Lee Fagan, 61, who was fired by Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Benjamine Huffman.

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Huffman didn’t cite a reason for the dismissal, but a senior DHS official told Fox News that Fagan was removed for failure to address border security threats, insufficient leadership in recruitment and retention, mismanagement in acquiring key acquisitions such as icebreakers and helicopters, excessive focus on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives and an “erosion of trust” over the mishandling and cover-up of Operation Fouled Anchor, which was the Coast Guard’s internal investigation into sexual assault cases at the Coast Guard Academy.

Senior DOJ officials reportedly moved to different positions amid department shakeup

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) reportedly reassigned multiple senior officials across various divisions ahead of the anticipated confirmation of President Donald Trump’s nomination for U.S. attorney general, Pam Bondi.

Fox News is told that multiple career staffers in the criminal and national security divisions at the DOJ were removed from their current posts and reassigned.

While it is difficult to fire a career person “just because,” reassigning is possible, and that appears to have happened.

Of those who were moved to other positions within the DOJ was Bruce Schwartz, head of the office of internal affairs, which handles extradition matters, a person familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity told The Associated Press. The same person reportedly told the wire service that about 20 officials had been reassigned.

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Also, reportedly moved was George Toscas, a veteran deputy assistant attorney general in the national security division who not only helped oversee major terrorism and espionage investigations but also was a key figure in politically motivated probes over the last 10 years.

Toscas was involved in the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s handling of classified information as well as the investigation into Trump’s possession of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago in Florida.

Toscas’ reassignment was confirmed to The Associated Press by another person familiar with the matter.

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“He has seen everything in both counterterrorism and counterintelligence,” a former colleague of Toscas’ who spoke on condition of anonymity, told The Washington Post. “There is no one in the department who knows as much about prosecuting and investigating terrorists and spies as George Toscas.”

The Washington Post also learned from sources familiar with the matter that Eun Young Choi, another deputy assistant attorney general in the national security division, was reassigned within the department, and was notified of the change by way of email on Monday afternoon.

The DOJ declined to comment on the changes.

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Hours after Trump took the oath of office, the DOJ removed at least four senior officials from the division that operates the nation’s immigration courts, which are currently backlogged.

The Washington Post reported that there is a 120-day moratorium on some staff reassignments after newly confirmed leaders begin their appointments, under federal guidelines. Bondi has not yet been confirmed; therefore, the moratorium is not yet in effect in the DOJ.

Currently, James McHenry is running the DOJ as acting U.S. attorney general after Merrick Garland left the department on Friday. 

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The reasons for the moves were not immediately known, though it is common for a new administration to appoint its own hires to lead the DOJ.

The moves could also foreshadow additional changes, given Trump’s interest in the department, which investigated him during his first term and indicted him twice last year in separate cases that never reached trial and were withdrawn after Trump’s election win in November.

Commentators shred Harris for another ‘word salad’ during LA fire department visit

Former Vice President Kamala Harris inspired some ridicule online after she offered a “word salad”-esque statement about the nature of “community” as she spoke to firefighters in California.

After her tenure as vice president ended Monday, Harris visited the Los Angeles Fire Department in Altadena and spoke to the media.

“As I said to these courageous and extraordinary firefighters, you know moments of crisis really do reveal the heroes among us,” she said. “We went and visited World Central Kitchen. I mean, the volunteers who were there, some of them who lost their own homes, are there doing the work of taking care of perfect strangers, who, in the face of that stranger, they see a neighbor.”

She went on to say, “These are folks who understand the strength and the value of community, which is everyone coming together with a shared sense of purpose and identity as a community of people.”

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Harris was mocked numerous times during her time as vice president for her penchant for repetitive statements or “word salads,” such as declaring, “I grew up understanding the children of the community are the children of the community.” In a similar statement at another event, she noted, “community banks are in the community.” 

Her critics across social media. were quick to mock her once again for her latest world salad.

“A community is a community. Of people. Write that down, please,” author Rob Jenkins quipped sarcastically.

Paul A. Szypula, a former U.S. Senate candidate and conservative commentator, tweeted, “Kamala is reminding America why she is now unemployed.”

“She might be gone from DC, but remember: Somewhere in the world, someone is being subjected to Kamala’s ‘Deep Thought’ word salads,” radio host Jay Weber joked.

Wall Street Journal film critic Kyle Smith wrote, “unemployed person has thoughts on a matter that happened 3000 miles from where she was.”

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“She’s not dealing with this too well,” political commentator David Freeman suggested. “In a short time she will be completely irrelevant.”

Townhall columnist Derek Hunter asked, “Haven’t these people suffered enough?” 

Editor-in-chief of liberal news outlet admits Trump may be among greatest presidents

Politico global editor-in-chief John F. Harris argued in a new piece that President Donald Trump’s second victory proves that he has dominated American politics so thoroughly that he will likely be counted among the country’s most consequential leaders.

Harris clarified that he was not describing Trump as a righteous or evil character, nor was he saying that Trump has been a successful president, but he reiterated that his impact is monumental either way.

“He is a force of history,” Harris declared in his column published Tuesday.

TRUMP’S SECOND INAUGURAL ADDRESS A TRIUMPH FOR HIM, HIS SUPPORTERS

The editor-in-chief said Trump’s second inauguration on Monday puts the president in an “entirely new light” – he is now “holding power under circumstances in which reasonable people cannot deny a basic fact: He is the greatest American figure of his era.”

Harris explained that assessment of Trump is “an objective description about the dimensions of his record,” noting how the president began by “dominating” the GOP nearly a decade ago and now dominates “every discussion of American politics broadly.”

He noted that Trump’s second victory proves he is “not a fluke” despite his opponents in the media hammering his flaws for almost ten years. “He is someone with an ability to perceive opportunities that most politicians do not and forge powerful, sustained connections with large swaths of people in ways that no contemporary can match,” the editor-in-chief stated, adding that he himself has been “slow” to see this power.

Harris went to say that Trump’s political opponents must do away with their strategy to paint Trump as a political aberration. “They cannot push Trump to the margins, by treating him as a momentary anomaly or simply denouncing him as lawless and illegitimate,” he stated.

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“Opponents have no choice but to acknowledge he and his movement represent a large historical argument — and then rally similarly large arguments to defeat it.”

Harris continued by comparing Trump’s individual traits to those marking “the most consequential presidents.”

“Like influential predecessors, his arguments have shifted the terms of debate in ways that echo within both parties — in this case, on issues such as trade, China, and the role of big corporations,” he said, adding, “Like other large presidents, Trump has been a communications innovator and exploited technological shifts more effectively than rivals.”

The author also pointed to Trump’s “uncommon psychological toughness” as a “signature shown by the most consequential presidents.” 

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“Imagine running for president amid huge civil suits, criminal prosecutions, and even felony convictions — then emerging from this morass as a larger figure than before. No one needs to admire the achievement to recognize that Trump is possessed by some rare traits of denial, combativeness and resilience.”

Harris noted several of the great unifying presidents of American history were also seen as controversial and somewhat divisive in their day, suggesting that Trump could also be cast in this light in the years ahead. 

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Trump has yet to prove he can be the unifier, he added however, writing, “What he didn’t show in his first term, or on his improbable pathway to a second, was an ability to bring these conflicts to resolution, to unite the country on a new level of understanding. This would require Trump revealing a new understanding about himself and how to use the next four years.”

Country music star explains inaugural ball performance that concerned fans

While Billy Ray Cyrus‘ performance at the Liberty Ball Monday sparked concern among fans, the veteran musician says the mishap is all just part of “rock ‘n’ roll.”

On Monday, the 63-year-old took the stage to sing hits like “Old Town Road” and “Achy Breaky Heart” in celebration of President Donald Trump’s inauguration, but Cyrus experienced some technical difficulties along the way. 

“Check? Is anybody awake?” Cyrus, whose guitar seemed to be unconnected after a shaky performance of the Lil Nas X song, asked. “Y’all want me to sing more, or you want me to just get the hell off the stage?”

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As a backstage aide came to assist, Cyrus said, “In life, when you have technical difficulties, you just gotta keep going, or as President Trump would say, ‘You gotta fight.'”

With the issue not being resolved, Cyrus decided to sing “Achy Breaky Heart” a cappella, while snapping his fingers and attempting to engage with the crowd. 

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People were quick to voice their opinions of the moment on social media, with one X user describing it as “possibly the cringiest few minutes in entertainment history,” and another labeling it “a crime.”

In a statement to People magazine Tuesday, Cyrus said, “I wouldn’t have missed the honor of playing this event whether my microphone, guitar and monitors worked or not. I was there because President Donald J. Trump invited me. I had a ball at the Liberty Ball last night, and I’ve learned through all these years when the producer says, ‘You’re on,’ you go entertain the folks even if the equipment goes to hell. I was there for the people, and we had a blast. That’s called rock n’ roll!!!”

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The mishap came just hours after Carrie Underwood experienced her own technical difficulties during her performance at Trump’s swearing-in ceremony. 

As she geared up to perform “America the Beautiful,” the country star made a game-time decision to sing the song a cappella after the instrumental track failed to play. 

WATCH: CARRIE UNDERWOOD PERFORMS ‘AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL’ AT PRESIDENT TRUMP’S INAUGURATION 

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The performance was followed by a round of applause from the crowd.