Fox News 2025-03-11 00:09:51


Why Trump’s new initiative could have illegal migrants deporting themselves

EXCLUSIVE: The Trump administration is rolling out a new app to replace the controversial CBP One app with the new replacement designed to facilitate the self-deportation of illegal immigrants.

The Department of Homeland Security is announcing the CBP Home app — which will launch with a self-deportation reporting feature for those in the country illegally. 

It replaces the CBP One app, which was expanded by the Biden administration to allow migrants to schedule appointments at ports of entry to be paroled into the U.S. Hundreds of thousands were paroled into the U.S. as a result. The Trump administration has ended the ability to use the app for that purpose. 

All CBP One apps will update to the new CBP Home app.

NEARLY 17 MILLION ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS LIVING IN THE US, 16% INCREASE SINCE 2021: ANALYSIS 

“The Biden Administration exploited the CBP One App to allow more than 1 million aliens to illegally enter the United States. With the launching of the CBP Home App, we are restoring integrity to our immigration system,” DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said in a statement.

The app allows aliens to “Submit Intent to Depart” and submit information regarding their intent to leave the U.S. They can also provide information to verify they have left the U.S., a function limited to those who were paroled into the U.S.

“The CBP Home App gives aliens the option to leave now and self-deport, so they may still have the opportunity to return legally in the future and live the American dream. If they don’t, we will find them, we will deport them, and they will never return,” Noem said.

NOEM ENDS BIDEN-ERA USE OF CONTROVERSIAL APP TO ALLOW MIGRANTS TO BOARD FLIGHTS, EXCEPT TO SELF-DEPORT

The Trump administration has moved rapidly to expand deportations and also cut the number of migrants entering the U.S., including via humanitarian parole, which dramatically expanded under the Biden administration.

Trump ended the use of the CBP One app to parole migrants on his first day in office. His administration has also paused applications for parole programs, and allowed ICE to cancel parole statuses of migrants.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE IMMIGRATION COVERAGE

Last month, Noem ended the use of CBP One to allow migrants to board domestic flights, unless it is being used for their self-deportation. The administration has also canceled extensions for Temporary Protected Status for some nationalities.

Meanwhile, the administration has touted a sharp drop in migrant crossings at the southern border. 

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

“They heard my words, and they chose not to come, much easier that way,” Trump told a joint session of Congress last week.

Newsom’s alleged deep ties to communists in China exposed in new book

FIRST ON FOX: A new book sounding the alarm about corruption in California spends a chapter focusing on Gov. Gavin Newsom’s history with a nonprofit organization that the authors say served as a major “gateway” for corrupt CCP-aligned corporations to flood into the state. 

In their book, “Fool’s Gold: The Radicals, Con Artists, and Traitors Who Killed the California Dream and Now Threaten Us All,” authors Jedd McFatter and Susan Crabtree write extensively about Newsom’s relationship with the Chinese community in the Bay Area and his ties to CCP businesses. 

The book explains that Newsom came into office as San Francisco’s mayor in 2004 after receiving strong support from Chinese voters, enough so that he celebrated his victory in Chinatown and the authors write that from an early point in his tenure he was ready to “go full steam ahead with Chinatown’s interests.”

One of those interests, according to Chapter 3 of the book, was a nonprofit organization initiative started by Newsom called ChinaSF that the book argues served as a gateway for CCP officials and Chinese criminals to exploit California.

CHINA’S BELT AND ROAD INITIATIVE PLAGUED BY CORRUPTION AND POLITICAL BACKLASH: REPORT

The book describes a Newsom trip to China, where he was hosted in a Shanghai “clubhouse” by Vincent Lo, a Chinese businessman with deep ties to the CCP. 

“It was during this meeting that Newsom and Lo hatched a long-​term plan to turn San Francisco into the premiere gateway through which Chinese companies could invest and expand their businesses in the United States,” the book says. “Upon his return from China, starry-​eyed Gavin told his staff that he was going to set aside a couple of million dollars to set up a public-​private partnership called ChinaSF that would open the floodgates to Chinese money and business like never before. It turns out the young mayor wasn’t just blowing smoke: three years later, Newsom and Lo joined forces in Shanghai to co‑launch ChinaSF.”

The book says that ChinaSF impacted the Bay Area arguably “more than any other” program that Newsom created as mayor and that the initiative hauled in almost $5.5 billion of economic impact to San Francisco from 2008 to 2018 while recruiting 108 Chinese companies into the city. 

The book alleges that during this time period, ChinaSF “helped several corrupt Chinese corporations come to America.”

One of the several companies discussed in the book was Suntech, a Chinese solar company developed by the CCP that was personally recruited by Newsom into the United States, and he publicly praised the company’s CEO, Dr. Zhengrong Shi, multiple times, and made him an advisory board member for ChinaSF. 

In addition to green energy companies who streamed through ChinaSF, real estate companies were also involved, and the book alleges that Newsom received over $23,000 in anonymous contributions from Chinese real estate company Z&L, whose billionaire owner was criminally sentenced for bribing a San Francisco government official. 

Chapter 3, titled “Feeding the Dragon,” goes into detail about a variety of potential red flags on Newsom’s ties with China, including ChinaSF being used as a “tool to build San Francisco into a global hub for biotechnology and pharmaceutical science.”

“Dozens of Chinese biotech companies were drawn to the Bay Area with huge tax breaks and other incentives, but it appears that there was very little vetting,” the book states. “One of ChinaSF’s most concerning recruits is the biotech company JOINN Laboratories, which has close ties to China’s military.”

NEW REPORT WARNS OF GROWING NATIONAL SECURITY THREAT TO U.S. AS CHINA BUILDS AI: ‘SIGNIFICANT AND CONCERNING’

Fox News Digital reached out to Newsom’s office for comment and received a response pointing to an article about conspiracy theories with the headline, “Conspiracy theorists really do see the world differently, new study shows.”

The book goes on to discuss ChinaSF’s involvement with biotechnology and pharmaceutical science companies that were “drawn to the Bay Area” with tax breaks and “little vetting” along with a liquor company called Kweichow Moutai, which has a history of “several major corruption scandals involving bribery by CCP officials.”

The book also alleges that as California’s lieutenant governor, Newsom trademarked wines he owns in China and poured them for CCP elites at a lavish Shanghai tasting. 

The authors also drew attention to the controversial connection between ChinaSF and Huawei, a company that has been involved in a myriad of questionable practices that have drawn scrutiny from U.S. presidential administrations, resulting in restrictions. 

“However, no one seemed to notice when an infamous Chinese company became their top financial sponsor in 2016,” the book says. “This might be because the U.S. government has long identified that company, Huawei Technologies, as one of China’s most dangerous tech companies. According to an internal report, ChinaSF hosted two events in 2016, headlined by Huawei, which led to Huawei establishing a new research and development office in San Francisco. The amount of money Huawei funneled to ChinaSF is unknown, but it’s worth noting that in 2016, Huawei generated more than $75 billion in revenue, so they had plenty of cash to flash around.”

ChinaSF once described itself as a nonprofit, including on its now defunct website, the book explains, but between 2009 and 2014 it was a limited liability corporation whose only member was the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce. 

“In other words, for a period of time, ChinaSF was a private entity embedded in a local chamber of commerce,” the book says.

SCHUMER SPOTTED POSING FOR PHOTO WITH CCP OFFICIAL AS WARNINGS SWIRL ABOUT CHINA INFLUENCE

The chapter closes with a summary of why ChinaSF’s influence in the state deserves more scrutiny.

“Close analysis of available data reveals that most descriptions of ChinaSF by government and media have been vacuous and misleading,”: the book says. “Essentially, ChinaSF is the branded name of a complex bureaucratic mirage used as cover to legitimize the massive transfer of Bay Area technology, property, and wealth to China while streamlining the establishment of Chinese business in the United States. It’s the secret elixir Newsom concocted to help transform San Francisco into the primary entry point and hub of China’s BRI in the United States.”

“On the surface, the flurry of MOUs, press conferences, ribbon cuttings, and so forth – propped up by reassuring proclamations from chambers of commerce and government officials like Newsom – cohere into what may look like an innovative job-​generating public-​private partnership. But the deeper you probe into who’s funding ChinaSF, who’s failing to vet all the Chinese companies coming in, and who’s making money off the deals – you discover there’s no reasonable public accountability structure in place, not enough records for the public to review, and no clear explanations for why the San Francisco mayor’s office has a right to engage in risky subnational business schemes in some cases with People’s Republic of China criminals and shady Chinese firms who have exploited and damaged the US economy and fleeced American citizens with their fraudulent schemes.”

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP 

“San Francisco is proud of its long-standing relationship with China and its sister city, Shanghai,” Newsom said in 2008.  “ChinaSF builds on this history of shared cultural and economic ties, and strengthens future economic prosperity through enhanced relationships between San Franciscan and Chinese businesses.”

Former Obama advisor exposes the dirty little secret of the ‘screwed’ Democratic Party

Former Obama advisor Van Jones declared that the Democratic Party was “screwed” and trapped between two deeply unpopular factions.

The CNN commentator couldn’t help but laugh at the “nightmare” Democrats were in when asked about the ongoing friction between party members.

“Look, man, we’re screwed,” Jones said on “CNN Newsroom” Sunday. “I mean, Democrats don’t know what to do. This is a nightmare. You know, somebody like Donald Trump, we thought we’d at least have Hakeem Jeffries in the Speaker’s chair to hold him back if we didn‘t have Kamala in there to do the right thing.” 

CNN HOST DOESN’T UNDERSTAND WHY ‘FOR SOME REASON’ PEOPLE BELIEVED TRUMP OVER DEMOCRATS

Jones commented on how the party continues to be caught between the establishment members and the more progressive members with no clear path moving forward.

“Listen, the Democratic Party is going through a massive set of internal crises. You have a party that got trapped two ways,” he said. “One, defending a broken status quo that nobody likes because they thought that Donald Trump was going to make it worse. But when you’re defending the status quo, you’re going to lose.” 

“And then offending most people in the country, calling everybody sexist and racist and transphobic and every other name, and then saying, ‘please follow us.’ That’s not a good strategy, folks. Defending a broken status quo and offending most of the country, turns out, is not as popular as my party thought it was going to be. And so it’s going to take a while for people to get it figured out,” Jones added.

The Democratic Party has largely struggled since Trump’s election in 2024. In a Quinnipiac University survey conducted during Trump’s first week in office, only 31% of respondents had a favorable opinion of the Democratic Party.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE COVERAGE OF MEDIA AND CULTURE

The party continued to face low approval ratings after Democratic Rep. Al Green caused controversy for shouting and interrupting President Donald Trump during his address to Congress on Tuesday. A CNN instant poll found that 80% of respondents thought Green’s behavior was inappropriate. 

Green was later censured by the House of Representatives with 10 House Democrats voting in favor of the measure.

A report released on Thursday also suggested other disruptive Democratic members of Congress were reprimanded by party members behind closed doors.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

MLB owner facing increased pressure to sell team as drama over stadium deal boils over

Tampa Bay Rays owner Stu Sternberg is reportedly facing increased pressure to sell the franchise from MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred and other owners, according to The Athletic. 

MLB could even try to take away part of the Rays’ revenue-sharing income to try and force a sale, per the report. The Rays get $60 million in revenue sharing currently. The reported reason for the pressure is related to Sternberg considering backing out of a stadium deal

CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM

Sternberg has until the end of this month to decide whether to continue with the new stadium deal in the Historic Gas Plant District in downtown St. Petersburg, Florida. 

The Rays have been trying to build a new stadium for 17 years, and urgency to address the issue rose this past fall after Hurricane Milton ripped the roof of their current venue, Tropicana Field. The team is set to play their 2025 home games at the spring training facility of the rival New York Yankees. 

TRUMP TO PRESIDE OVER HISTORIC SPORTING EVENTS — WHICH TEAMS AND STARS COULD SKIP WHITE HOUSE VISITS?

The Rays and Sternberg previously planned to contribute $700 million to a new stadium. However, a delayed county vote led to a holdup in construction and therefore, increased costs, so Sternberg does not believe he and his team should have to cover the subsequent costs. 

The Pinellas County Commission postponed a vote on its share of the new stadium bonds in November, leaving that project in limbo.

Potential candidates to purchase the Rays if Sternberg is pushed to sell include former Yankees minority owner Joe Molloy. 

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Molloy confirmed his interest to the Tamp Bay Times. 

“Yes, I’m leading a group of prominent Tampa Bay-based investors who are interested in acquiring the Tampa Bay Rays. We have assembled an incredible team that shares our vision,” Molloy told the outlet. 

Tampa businessman Dan Doyle Jr. is also part of another group interested in the Rays, according to the report. 

Meghan Markle sends message across the pond with new rebrand after royal exit

Meghan Markle’s name rebrand is said to be sending a message across the pond.

The Duchess of Sussex sparked both confusion and curiosity when she made a revelation about her royal title in her Netflix series, “With Love, Meghan.”

In the second episode, the “Suits” alum bonded with Mindy Kaling in the kitchen and described how she was a “latchkey kid” who “grew up with fast food and TV tray dinners, microwavable kids’ meals.” She also noted that she “grew up with that and watching ‘Jeopardy!’ and having a lot of fast food – Taco Bell, Jack in the Box.”

MEGHAN MARKLE CORRECTS MINDY KALING AFTER AWKWARD SLIP-UP IN NETFLIX SERIES: ‘YOU KNOW I’M SUSSEX NOW’

Kaling exclaimed, “People wouldn’t believe that Meghan Markle ate at Jack in the Box.”

The 43-year-old corrected the 45-year-old, stating, “It’s so funny, too, that you keep saying Meghan Markle. You know I’m Sussex now.”

Fox News Digital reached out to Archewell, which handles the offices of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, for comment.

Kinsey Schofield, host of the “To Di For Daily” podcast, told Fox News Digital that she believes the awkward exchange was no accident.

“Aside from being another branding or rebranding opportunity for Meghan… I think this is her stubborn way of trying to tell the royal family she will go around them and legally change her name if she has to in case they ever take away her title. I also think it’s an effort to distance herself from her past and her DNA relatives.”

“Technically, she can be [styled as] Meghan Sussex, but it’s rare that someone who was not born into the family takes a title as a surname,” Schofield claimed.

WATCH: MEGHAN MARKLE WILL NEVER WIN OVER UK PUBLIC AGAIN, AUTHOR CLAIMS

“A young Prince Harry was Harry Wales, as his father was the Prince of Wales. Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie were the York girls because their father was the Duke of York. But Princess Diana was never Diana Wales. Catherine was never Catherine Cambridge.”

Schofield is also adamant that Meghan’s title is essential to the royal, who is attempting to make her mark as an entrepreneur in California. Her lifestyle brand, As Ever, will have products available for purchase later this year.

“The royal family’s traditional surname is Mountbatten-Windsor… and Meghan knows this, or she wouldn’t have put it on the birth certificates of [her children] Archie and Lili,” said Schofield. 

“It was Meghan and Harry who briefed the press in 2019 that their son was not going to have a title. Meghan then accused his lack of title on racism during the Oprah interview [in 2021]. Lo and behold, today, her American children… have titles.”

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex stepped back as senior royals in 2020 and moved to the wealthy, coastal city of Montecito. They cited the unbearable intrusions and racist attitudes of the British media for their royal exit. 

Following their royal exit, the couple went on to air their grievances in televised interviews. Harry also wrote a memoir, “Spare,” in 2023, where he described his struggles with royal life.

CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR THE ENTERTAINMENT NEWSLETTER

During the couple’s sit-down with Winfrey, Meghan claimed to the media mogul that the palace decreed Archie wouldn’t have a title, a move she described as “different from protocol.”

“They didn’t want him to be a prince… which would be different from protocol, and that he wasn’t going to receive security,” she claimed to Winfrey. “We have in tandem the conversation of, ‘He won’t be given security. He’s not going to be given a title.'”

When Archie was born in 2019, he was entitled to the “courtesy title” Earl of Dumbarton, People magazine reported. According to the outlet, the couple announced shortly after his birth that they had not given their son a courtesy title and, instead, he would be known as Archie Mountbatten-Windsor.

“Meghan Markle has a real issue with coming across as a hypocrite or a contradiction. When Meghan appeared on Oprah… she claimed she almost lost her name to the British royal family. Now a… title given to Prince Harry and his wife by the family has become her whole identity.”

— Kinsey Schofield

The outlet pointed out that, according to royal guidelines, great-grandchildren of the monarch, who was Queen Elizabeth II at the time, are not princes or princesses, except for children of the eldest son of the Prince of Wales. That’s why Prince William and Kate Middleton’s children are Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis.

King Charles III, Harry’s father, ascended to the throne in 2022 upon the death of his mother, the queen. As currently listed on the royal family’s website, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s children are now styled as Prince Archie of Sussex and Princess Lilibet of Sussex.

Royal expert Richard Fitzwilliams told Fox News Digital that Meghan isn’t breaking royal protocol in styling herself as “Meghan Sussex.” But after “Megxit” and the tell-alls that came with it, he was surprised that she was adamant on keeping her royal title.

LIKE WHAT YOU’RE READING? CLICK HERE FOR MORE ENTERTAINMENT NEWS

“It is interesting to see how they use Sussex, which is theirs to use, as their royal status is the one thing they have to offer,” said Fitzwilliams. “As ‘With Love, Meghan’ proved, there isn’t much else!”

Royal expert Ian Pelham Turner also told Fox News Digital that the former American actress is attempting to rebrand herself after struggling to win back the public. He noted that the name itself is the rebrand.

“She’s using the Sussex suffix to show a distinction from Meghan Markle,” Pelham Turner explained. “I think she is under tremendous strain right now. She is obviously a perfectionist.”

Kaling had to address the exchange during her appearance on “The View” after it sparked backlash on social media.

“You know, I had a great time,” said Kaling. “I noticed that whenever I do something, anything related to Meghan, it becomes like… big news.

“We were making sandwiches and, you know, then they’ll push in on my face on TikTok, and they’ll be like, ‘Look at this emotion you felt,’ and I honestly didn’t even remember, ’cause we shot it, like, nine months ago.”

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

 “I loved my time with Meghan,” Kaling added.

Meghan was born Rachel Meghan Markle. People magazine noted it’s unclear when or why she began using her middle name. However, she was known as Meghan throughout her school years and acting career.

After she married Harry in 2018, the couple was granted the royal titles of Duke and Duchess of Sussex by the queen, Harry’s grandmother. Despite not being working royals, they’ve retained their titles, which are reflected on the royal family’s website, in the credits of the Netflix series and Meghan’s lifestyle brand, As Ever.

People magazine also reported that Archie, 5, and Lilibet, 3, use Sussex as their surname, a tradition within the royal family, as Schofield pointed out.

“When William and Harry were in the army, they both used the surname Wales,” said Fitzwilliams. “Prince Andrew’s daughters, Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie, used York before they married, as their father is the Duke of York. The royal family’s official surname is Mountbatten-Windsor, but members of the royal family and the aristocracy often use their title as a surname.”

“Harry and Meghan were made Duke and Duchess of Sussex by Queen Elizabeth when they married,” he said. “Therefore, their children use Sussex as a surname. So, Meghan is behaving in accordance with royal tradition.”

Royal expert Hilary Fordwich told Fox News Digital that only Parliament, not the British royal family, can strip a member of its title.

MEGHAN MARKLE’S HALF-BROTHER SLAMS DUCHESS AFTER ‘POOR’ CHILDHOOD CLAIMS ON NETFLIX SHOW

“It would take an Act of Parliament to remove their Sussex title,” she said. “A potential sanction might be explored if any further bombshell interviews or books are released. Then, Parliament would need to take action… If they were to ever lose their titles, they would be known as Prince Harry and Princess Henry [as Harry was born with the name ‘Henry’]. King Charles III does not have all the authority required.”

“It has become a greater issue allowing Meghan Markle to feed off her title for this show,” Fordwich claimed. “But, while their Duke and Duchess titles can be removed, ‘Prince’ can’t be removed from Harry.”

For Schofield, the name change makes Meghan appear inauthentic.

“Meghan Markle has a real issue with coming across as a hypocrite or a contradiction,” she claimed. “When Meghan appeared on Oprah… she claimed she almost lost her name to the British royal family. Now a… title given to Prince Harry and his wife by the family has become her whole identity.”

Fitzwilliam doesn’t believe the name will stick – just as Princess Catherine is still referred to as Kate Middleton both online and by many in the public.

“I don’t expect that will change soon,” he said.

High school track star bashed in head by opponent with baton: ‘I was just in disbelief’

A Virginia high school track and field star’s attempt to get into first place during a race last Tuesday led an opponent to hit her with a baton, causing head injuries. 

According to Brookville High School junior Kaelen Tucker, she’s still waiting on the opponent from I.C. Norcom High School to apologize. 

Tucker had just set a new Virginia High School League (VHSL) Class 3 State Indoor Championships record in the 55-meter race on Monday, and she was hoping to help her school win the 4x200M relay final on Tuesday as well. 

CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM

However, the heat of competition got carried too far by one opponent, as clear video evidence of the race shows Tucker getting struck in the head by a baton-wielding runner from Norcom, who also threw it in Tucker’s direction after being passed. 

Tucker immediately ran off the track and fell down, holding her head. 

TRANS ATHLETE SADIE SCHREINER NOT COMPETING FOR RIT WOMEN’S TRACK TEAM AFTER TRUMP’S EXECUTIVE ORDER

“So, on the back curve, I kind of got cut off, and I tried to pass her the first time, so I let her go ahead,” Tucker said to WSET ABC 13 in an interview posted on Friday. “I knew when I got fully on the curve that I was just going to have to push through past her. So, as we were coming up in the middle of the curve, we were bumping arms a lot. So, I got a little more on the outside of the curve to go around her.”

“When I finally pushed through to get in front of her, that’s when she hit me in the head with the baton.”

Bumping during races is very normal on the track, but not how Tucker’s opponent reacted at that moment during the second leg of the race. 

“The whole section just gasped,” Tucker’s mother, Tamarrow, said about those around her in the bleachers. “We had family come from out of town, her godparents were here from Myrtle Beach. Everybody just gasped. When I saw her go down, all I could do is run out of the bleachers. I just knew I had to get to her.”

“She was kind of hysterical because she just couldn’t believe that’s what had happened.”

Race judges immediately disqualified the Norcom team for “contact interference,” according to WSET ABC 13. 

Tamarrow said a medic was already with her daughter when she got down on the track, though what baffled the entire family was the lack of accountability for what occurred.

As of Friday, they still haven’t heard from the runner or her coaches, she said.

“My whole thing was no apology,” Tamarrow said. “No coaches, no athlete, no anything. Even if it was an accident, which I don’t believe it’s an accident, but nothing. It’s been more than 24 hours now, so I guess that was the major thing. My child was hurt and nobody came to check on her.”

WSET ABC 13 asked the Tuckers if criminal charges would be pressed, and without giving a definitive yes-or-no answer, Tamarrow explained their point of view.

“Of course, everybody gives their opinion on what they think you should do, but that’s also somebody else’s child,” she said, referencing the assailant. “I want to take that into account as well. Yes, she definitely struck my daughter more than once, but she is somebody else’s child as well.”

The family said a doctor’s visit on Friday revealed concussion symptoms as Kaelen continues to deal with headaches. There was also swelling around the area where she was struck and a possible skull fracture.

Kaelen isn’t allowed on the track until she recovers from her injuries, her mother said.

The Tucker family reached out to the VHSL and said they received a call-back explaining that an investigation was underway and both high schools were cooperating. No discipline has been announced for the incident, according to the Tuckers. 

The VHSL issued a statement to Fox News Digital on the matter. 

“The VHSL does not comment on individuals or disciplinary actions due to FERPA,” the league’s statement read. “The actions taken by the meet director to disqualify the runner were appropriate and correct. We thoroughly review every instance like this that involves player safety with the participating schools. The VHSL membership has always made it a priority to provide student-athletes with a safe environment for competition.”

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Kaelen was asked at the end of the interview from their home what she wished to say to the opponent who struck her, if anything. 

“Why did you do it? And why haven’t you apologized yet?” she said. 

FOX News mourns beloved cameraman Craig Savage after courageous health battle

Beloved, longtime Fox News Channel cameraman Craig Savage died at 61 on Sunday after a courageous battle with cancer.  

Savage joined Fox News on October 3, 1996, four days before the network launched, and has played a key role in its success. FOX News Media CEO Suzanne Scott and President and Executive Editor Jay Wallace shared the heartbreaking news in a memo to staff on Monday morning, calling Savage a “pioneering force” at the network. 

“Shortly after joining the network, Craig’s exceptional skills and creative eye were quickly recognized by our then-Washington bureau chief Kim Hume, who assigned Craig to the White House unit, a role he honorably fulfilled throughout his career here,” Scott and Wallace wrote. 

“An integral part of numerous pivotal events in FOX News Channel’s history, he helped shoot our first presidential interview with then-President Clinton and was subsequently involved in nearly every presidential interview thereafter,” Scott and Wallace continued. “He also ran the FOX floor camera at the 2000 and 2004 presidential conventions — an extremely challenging job that he truly relished.”

FOX NEWS’ TREY YINGST HONORED AT FIRST AMENDMENT AWARDS, STRESSES IMPORTANCE OF ‘UNFLINCHING’ JOURNALISM

Scott and Wallace noted that Craig’s versatility was critical as part of the White House unit. 

“He was at the forefront of the industry’s evolution from analog to digital, mastering complicated transitions to LED lighting. There, he continued his reputation as an award-winning photographer and was dedicated to perfecting the images he produced for news programming, encompassing everything from elections to wars and natural disasters. He often invested countless hours learning the latest technologies, only to turn around and generously share that knowledge with colleagues,” they wrote. 

“It was his troubleshooting prowess in particular that made him the go-to person for any complex challenge, mainly when it came to ensuring flawless live shots from the White House,” Scott and Wallace continued. “In one notable instance, Craig chose to act as an engineer during a major pool trip for FOX News when then-President Clinton visited Africa, deciding to help our very young team accomplish a huge assignment instead of traveling in his traditional role, which would have allowed him to go on a safari and have a front row seat to an historic event in Africa.” 

FOX NEWS CHANNEL HAS BEST FEBRUARY IN NETWORK HISTORY, CRUSHES CNN AND MSNBC

Savage was also crucial during then-President George W. Bush’s secret 2003 trip to Iraq to visit the troops there for Thanksgiving and was assigned to President Trump’s covert trip to Afghanistan for Thanksgiving with the troops in 2019. 

“His stealth and proficiency in delivering footage under the most stringent conditions were a testament to his skill and dedication,” Scott and Wallace wrote. 

In recent years, Craig embraced the skies as a drone pilot, contributing hundreds of flight hours to Fox News’ news-gathering efforts on stories that ranged from the southern border to natural disasters.

“He truly left an indelible mark on Fox News and shaped the careers of many,” Scott and Wallace wrote. 

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Savage is survived by his wife, Fox News senior producer Anne Marie Riha, his sons Jake, Andrew and Maxwell, daughter-in-law Alexa, his stepchildren Zachary and Carly Norins and his grandchildren Sloane and Evander Savage.