AP, Reuters furious with Trump White House for making major press access change

The Associated Press and Reuters released sharply critical statements of the Trump White House this week in response to news that it was cutting traditional wire service slots in the rotating pool.

“We are deeply disappointed that the administration has chosen to restrict the access of all wire services, whose fast and accurate White House coverage informs billions of people every single day, rather than reinstate The Associated Press to the wire pool,” AP spokesperson Lauren Easton said, according to reports.

“The wire services represent thousands of news organizations across the U.S. and the world over,” Easton added. “Our coverage is used by local newspapers and television stations in all 50 states to inform their communities. The administration’s actions continue to disregard the fundamental American freedom to speak without government control or retaliation. This is a grave disservice to the American people.”

Wire services are outlets like the AP, Reuters and Agence France-Presse that provide news reports to news outlet subscribers. It is common to see AP and other wire service stories reprinted in other publications.

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The New York Post reported Tuesday that the White House had stripped wire reporters of their guaranteed daily access to the president, following the AP winning in court after being excluded from the press pool for defying the administration’s renaming of the “Gulf of Mexico” as the “Gulf of America.”

In its report about the decision, the AP said it was “the latest attempt by the new administration to control coverage of its activities.” 

Reuters was also harshly critical of the change.

“Reuters news coverage reaches billions of people each day, mostly through the thousands of news organizations around the world that subscribe to Reuters services. It is essential to democracy that the public have access to independent, impartial and accurate news about their government. Any steps by the U.S. government to limit access to the President threatens that principle, both for the public and the world’s media,” a spokesperson told Fox News Digital on Wednesday.

“We remain committed to covering the White House in an impartial, accurate and independent way, in keeping with the Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.”

“We deeply regret the decision to remove that permanent level of scrutiny and accountability,” Bloomberg editor-in-chief John Micklethwait said, according to the New York Times.

Now, the White House will instead set aside a second slot for “print” outlets that also includes wire services, as part of the rotating pool covering Trump for limited-space events, the New York Post reported. It has been traditional for either the AP, Reuters or Bloomberg News to have a guaranteed spot in limited pool events covering the president because of their expansive readerships.

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It’s the latest tension to emerge between the communications office, led by press secretary Karoline Leavitt and communications director Steven Cheung, and the AP. Earlier this week, the AP accused the White House of violating a court order after its representatives were once again banned from an Oval Office event.

This decision came despite U.S. District Judge Trevor N. McFadden ruling last week that the White House had violated the Constitution by blocking the longtime publication’s access to press events.

The White House has touted that President Donald Trump has been far more accessible than predecessor Joe Biden in terms of taking questions from the media during his brief time in office.

A White House official shared a memo with Fox News Digital about Leavitt’s criteria for selecting the White House press pool. It consists of one print journalist to serve as the “print pooler,” an additional print journalist, a television network crew (ABC, CBS, CNN, FOX, NBC), a secondary television network or streaming service, a radio journalist, a “new media” or independent journalist, and four photojournalists.

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Wire services like the AP and Reuters will be eligible for selection as part of the daily print journalist rotation, the official said. Also, outlets will be eligible for participation regardless of “the substantive viewpoint expressed by an outlet.”

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Fox News Digital reached out to the AP and Reuters for additional comment.

Trump admin considering cutting one department’s budget nearly in half

The Trump administration is mulling a proposal that would slash the State Department budget by $27 billion – nearly in half – and shutter smaller embassies and consulates across the globe. 

The proposal calls for the elimination of funding for more than 20 international organizations, including the United Nations, NATO and the Organization of American States, a diplomatic source in possession of the document told Fox News Digital. 

The U.S. contributed around $13 billion to the United Nations in 2023 and around $3.5 billion to NATO. The proposed budget calls for allocating $2 billion for “America First” priorities. Those coffers could be used for “specific partners” like India and Jordan, according to the document, or broader priorities, like the South Pacific Tuna Treaty. 

However, a State Department spokesperson said Tuesday, “there is no final plan, final budget.” 

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The proposal is an early draft and has to pass layers of approval within the administration before it even gets to Congress. Congress can then take it as an outline but ultimately draw up its own budget figures. 

The foreign service travel budget and benefits would be scaled back, and the Fulbright scholarship program would be eliminated.

The document calls for a 2% reduction in diplomatic security, cuts to the inspector general’s office and the closure of smaller embassies in countries such as the Maldives, Malta, Luxembourg and the Central African Republic.

It also proposes a 54% cut to global public health funding, with carve-outs for malaria, HIV, and tuberculosis, and a complete elimination of international peacekeeping funds.

When asked about the budget plan during a State Department briefing, spokesperson Tammy Bruce said, “Throughout the history of the United States, everyone has a budget plan and everyone has ideas for budgets. And every president has a budget plan and sends it to Congress. And then Congress either accepts it or they have their own ideas, which happens more often than not.”

“There is no final plan, final budget,” she emphasized. 

The Trump administration has moved quickly to dismantle foreign aid, eliminating nearly 90% of USAID projects and merging the agency with the State Department and defunding “soft power” institutions like Voice of America, Radio Free Europe, Radio Free Asia and Middle East Broadcasting networks. 

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The White House budget is set to be transferred to Congress next month before the Republican-led House and Senate get to work on passing appropriations bills for each agency of government. 

Meanwhile, agencies are expected to present their own plans for reorganization to the White House this week, outlining what cuts they believe are necessary to further shrink the federal government. The State Department has not yet publicly detailed its plans for downsizing. 

As reports of the cuts emerged, Democrats warned that U.S. adversaries would fill the vacuum left by America around the world. 

The cuts “would leave our country alone and exposed and allow China and Russia to fill the vacuum made vacant by this administration,” according to Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, N.H., top Democrat on the Foreign Relations Committee. 

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“Why in the world would we cut funding for NATO at a moment when war is raging in Europe and security threats on the continent grow?” she added.

It is not clear whether Secretary of State Marco Rubio endorses the initial proposal. “I want to hear from Secretary Rubio directly,” said Sen. Brian Schatz, Hawaii, top Democrat on the Senate Appropriations subcommittee that handles State funding, calling the reports “deeply troubling.”

UK Supreme Court issues landmark ruling on legal definition of woman

The Supreme Court of the United Kingdom unanimously ruled Wednesday that a woman is someone born biologically female, a move that now excludes transgender women from the legal definition of a woman.

Trans women can be excluded from some single-sex spaces and groups under the U.K. Equality Act, the five judges of the top court ruled. These spaces and groups include changing rooms, homeless shelters, swimming areas and medical or counseling services provided only to women.

The ruling means that even a transgender person with a certificate that recognizes them as female should not be considered a woman for equality purposes.

But Justice Patrick Hodge said its ruling “does not remove protection from trans people,” who are “protected from discrimination on the ground of gender reassignment.”

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“Interpreting ‘sex’ as certificated sex would cut across the definitions of ‘man’ and ‘woman’ … and, thus, the protected characteristic of sex in an incoherent way,” Hodge said. “It would create heterogeneous groupings.”

Women’s rights groups celebrated the ruling outside the court.

“Everyone knows what sex is and you can’t change it,” said Susan Smith, co-director of For Women Scotland, which brought the case. “It’s common sense, basic common sense and the fact that we have been down a rabbit hole where people have tried to deny science and to deny reality and hopefully this will now see us back to, back to reality.”

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Hannah Ford, an employment lawyer, said that while the judgment will provide clarity on the controversial issue in the U.K., it would be a setback for transgender rights and there would be “an uphill battle” to ensure workplaces are welcoming places for trans people.

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“This will be really wounding for the trans community,” Ford told Sky News.

JD Vance blasts Zelenskyy’s ’60 Minutes’ comments about Trump and the White House

Vice President JD Vance attacked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s “absurd” comments on “60 Minutes,” saying they were “not productive” for war discussions.

Zelenskyy referenced the vice president during an interview on the CBS program Sunday night where he reflected on the explosive Oval Office meeting between him, President Donald Trump and Vance in February.

He claimed “Russian narratives” were “prevailing” in the room and added Vance was defending Russia in what he called a “shift in reality.”

“First and foremost, we did not launch an attack to start the war,” Zelenskyy said. “It seems to me that the vice president is somehow justifying Putin’s actions. I tried to explain, you can’t look for something in the middle. There is an aggressor, and there is a victim. The Russians are the aggressor, and we are the victim.”

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In an interview with the British site UnHerd on Tuesday, Vance responded, “I think it’s sort of absurd for Zelenskyy to tell the [American] government, which is currently keeping his entire government and war effort together, that we are somehow on the side of the Russians.” 

UnHerd added that Vance called Zelenskyy’s rhetoric “certainly not productive.”

Vance cited his past condemnations of Russia and defended his stance on the war.

“I’ve also tried to apply strategic recognition that if you want to end the conflict, you have to try to understand where both the Russians and the Ukrainians see their strategic objectives,” Vance said. 

“That doesn’t mean you morally support the Russian cause, or that you support the full-scale invasion, but you do have to try to understand what are their strategic red lines, in the same way that you have to try to understand what the Ukrainians are trying to get out of the conflict.”

In a comment to Fox News Digital, Vance’s press secretary Taylor Van Kirk gave a similar critique of Zelenskyy’s comments.

“The Vice President has repeatedly said that this war was not justified to begin with and is the product of Joe Biden’s weakness and incompetence. Instead of mischaracterizing Vice President Vance’s rhetoric, President Zelenskyy should be focused on bringing this conflict to a peaceful conclusion. His comments are counterproductive to the goal of achieving peace for his country,” Van Kirk said.

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Van Kirk also gave examples of Vance criticizing Russian President Vladimir Putin for his role in starting a war against Ukraine, including as an Ohio Senate candidate on Fox News. Putin launched the invasion in February of 2022, the same year Vance was elected to the U.S. Senate.

“The only responsible thing to do is try to bring this conflict to an end before it gets to the point of nuclear weapons,” Vance told Fox News’ Martha MacCallum in 2022. “You can believe, as I do, that Ukrainians are brave people and that Vladimir Putin is a bad guy, without pushing the United States to the brink of nuclear war.”

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Trump’s tariff gamble put to the test as China chokes off critical supplies

U.S. industry will soon feel the “squeeze” as China halts exports of rare earth minerals – key components in weapons systems, electric vehicles and consumer electronics – in direct retaliation for President Donald Trump’s sweeping 145% tariffs.

Shipments of magnets from China have ground to a halt, the New York Times reported on Sunday, as Beijing tightens export controls in a direct strike on U.S. manufacturing and defense supply chains. While the move is intended to pressure the White House, industry sources say its impact will be global, with exports halted to all foreign buyers, not just the United States.

National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett acknowledged the growing alarm on Monday, telling reporters at the White House, “Rare earths are a part of lots of the economy. The rare earth limits are being studied very carefully, and they’re concerning, and we’re thinking about all the options right now.”

After Trump’s tariff announcement, China hit back with its own 125% tariff on U.S. goods and imposed new export restrictions on seven rare earth materials. Exporters are now holding back shipments as they navigate a potentially lengthy licensing process. Overseas deliveries of magnets – vital for assembling cars, robotics and defense systems – came to a halt on April 4 as the new rules took effect.

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The ban doesn’t apply to finished products containing rare earths, potentially undercutting Trump’s tariff strategy. U.S.-made goods that rely on imported materials could face production delays, while goods produced and manufactured in China would still be available for import.

China produces around 60% of the world’s critical mineral supply but processes even more, up to 90%. 

For years, the U.S. and much of the world enabled China’s dominance in mineral mining and processing, drawn by its lower costs driven by lax environmental rules, cheap labor and heavy government subsidies.

But China’s dominance has also given it enormous leverage: the power to deliver a crippling blow to global industry in the technological age.

“This is a wake-up call now where we don’t have a choice anymore,” said Pini Althaus, a mining executive and managing partner at Cove Capital.   

The world beyond China is already entering a tungsten supply crisis. The mineral – essential for solar panels, electric vehicles and defense systems – is 80% sourced from China, which imposed export controls in February.

Josh Ballard, CEO of USA Rare Earths, predicted the defense industry would feel the effects first.

“That has to be shipped here and done here in the U.S.,” he said.

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“I’m betting it affects a lot of the auto manufacturers fairly quickly. Anybody who’s doing their assembly manufacturing here, there will be a knockdown effect,” Ballard added. 

Products like iPhones, which come into the U.S. fully assembled, won’t feel the effects as quickly despite containing dozens of chemical elements. 

Trump exempted electronics from his 145% Chinese tariff scheme, though the White House has said those exemptions are only temporary. 

The president has moved to counter China’s grip on the critical minerals market through a range of efforts, from a push to buy Greenland, to mineral talks with Ukraine, to executive action streamlining the U.S. mining process. Smaller nations in Central Asia and Africa have taken notice, and they’re seeking favor with Washington by showcasing the mineral resources they can bring to the table.

Trump envoy Massad Boulos recently traveled to the Congo to strike a deal that would allow U.S. industry access to Congo’s mineral resources. 

And Trump is now drawing up an executive order to trigger strategic stockpiles of deep sea metals mined off the Pacific to counter 

As the U.S. rushes to stockpile critical minerals, it’ll be competing with allies like the European Union, Korea and Japan, which have also been cut off from China’s resources. 

“It’s going to be a competition now as to who can start stockpiling these materials, who can enter into offtake agreements with mine owners, with downstream the companies that are manufacturing some of the downstream products, like magnets, lithium batteries, etc.,” said Althaus. 

“We’re going to start seeing a lot more urgency.”

It takes an average of 29 years to build a new mine for critical minerals in the U.S., where there is almost no infrastructure to process such mines once they’re taken out of the ground.

To shore up U.S. supplies, industry experts say they need the government to ease the permitting process and offer tax incentives for mineral exploration. 

Early stage exploration is both risky and expensive, according to Althaus: “The very few projects that are ready to go into production, for the most part, can obtain financing, but in order to build a long-term domestic supply chain, you have to start with the exploration projects as well.”

He said the U.S. could launch an initiative similar to Canada’s flow-through shares for mining that would make exploration costs tax-deductible.

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“I think it has to be a public-private partnership, both in terms of at the mine level but also the downstream processing.”

“Private capital isn’t going to take that risk as quickly as we need it to be taken,” said Ballard. “Where the federal government could help the most is being that catalyst to bring capital into the industry.”

Common medical test linked to 5% of cancers, study suggests: ‘Use them wisely’

CT scans, or CAT scans, are widely used to get internal images of the body and diagnose dangerous medical conditions — but they could pose a hidden risk.

A new study from the University of California – San Francisco found that CT (computed tomography) scans could be responsible for 5% of all cancer diagnoses each year, according to a press release.

“While some uncertainty exists, it doesn’t significantly affect the core conclusion: A small but meaningful percentage of cancers are linked to CT scans, and this number can be reduced,” first author Rebecca Smith-Bindman, MD, a UCSF radiologist and professor, told Fox News Digital.

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The researchers’ estimates show that the ionizing radiation exposure from CT scans is comparable to other significant risk factors, such as alcohol consumption and excess body weight.

To predict how many future cancers could result from current CT scans, the researchers updated a previous analysis of 2023 data on scan volumes, scan types and radiation doses, according to Smith-Bindman, MD.

“We used a well-validated model to estimate cancer risk and conducted sensitivity analyses to confirm the robustness of our findings,” she said.

“This is a modeling study, meaning our conclusions depend on the accuracy of the data used.”

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Based on the review, the researchers estimate that approximately 103,000 future cancers will be caused by CT scans performed in 2023 in the U.S., with the highest number of cases affecting adults aged 50 to 69.

Individual cancer risk is highest for babies and children, with babies under 1 year old 10 times more likely to develop the disease compared to others in the study.  

Adults, however, account for the majority of scans, which drives the overall cancer burden, Smith-Bindman noted.

“CT doses are sometimes higher than necessary.”

The most common cancer types resulting from CT radiation, according to the study, include lung cancer, colon cancer, leukemia and breast cancer. 

The study, which was published on April 14 in JAMA Internal Medicine, received funding from the National Institutes of Health.

“In many cases, CT is the most appropriate test for achieving rapid and accurate diagnoses,” Smith-Bindman told Fox News Digital.

“However, the use of CT continues to rise, including a concerning increase in imaging that is performed without a justified medical reason — often referred to as ‘low-value scanning.’” 

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Based on the findings, the researchers recommend avoiding unnecessary CT scans to avoid potential harms. 

Another risk-reducing approach is to lower the radiation dose per scan.

“CT doses are sometimes higher than necessary, so patients are encouraged to ask their healthcare providers or technologists to use the lowest possible dose for their scan,” Smith-Bindman advised.

Ultimately, the researcher said, patients should have informed conversations with their healthcare providers about the necessity of a CT scan and whether alternative imaging options — like ultrasound or MRI — might be more appropriate. 

“If CT is clearly indicated, the benefits far outweigh the risks,” she said. “But if not, it’s best to avoid the scan altogether.”

“Less can be more when it comes to good patient care.”

Dr. Nicole Saphier, board-certified radiologist and Fox News medical contributor, was not involved in the study but commented on the risks and benefits of CT scans.

“I have long advocated for the judicious use of medical imaging, often citing that less can be more when it comes to good patient care,” she told Fox News Digital.

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“The recent study linking the ionizing radiation from CT scans to an increased risk of cancer underscores what many in the medical community have understood for years: while imaging is a powerful diagnostic tool, it is not without risk.”

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Saphier said the study may even underestimate the total number of cancers attributable to medical imaging. 

“Many cases of medical intervention-induced cancers may go unrecognized due to long latency periods, the complex interplay of contributing factors and the fact they omitted radiation from image-guided procedures, x-rays and other forms of medical radiation from this study,” she noted.

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“As imaging use and medical interventions continue to rise — especially in younger populations — the cumulative radiation exposure over a lifetime becomes an increasingly important consideration.”

That said, Saphier went on, CT scans and other medical imaging modalities — which are “fast and cheap” — save lives every day.

“The key is balance. Physicians must remain vigilant in weighing the benefits against the risks, and should always explore alternative modalities when appropriate, such as ultrasound or MRI, which do not use ionizing radiation.” 

Informed decision-making is essential for both clinicians and patients, according to the doctor. 

“We must continue to refine our protocols, limit unnecessary imaging and ensure we are using the lowest possible doses without compromising diagnostic quality,” Saphier concluded.

“This is not a call to avoid CT scans — it is a call to use them wisely.”

Illegal immigrant arrested for heinous crime involving teen, captured by ICE

An illegal immigrant who was arrested in January on charges of incest and sexual battery is now in the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) after being released from a Virginia county jail.

Officers with ICE, the State Department’s Diplomatic Security team, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, and Virginia State Police arrested Marvin Mateo-Alberto last week, a Honduran national who was in the U.S. illegally, according to an ICE release.

The Hoduran national first illegally entered the U.S. in October 2005 near Eagle Pass, Texas, according to the release, where he was given a notice to appear in front of an immigration judge.

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In April 2006, a Justice Department judge ordered that Mateo-Alberto be removed from the United States.

Despite that, Mateo-Alberto was arrested in January by the Fairfax County Police Department and charged with incest with a 13-to-17-year-old child and aggravated sexual battery: parent with a 13-to-17-year-old child, the release notes, resulting in ICE lodging a detainer against him with the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center.

However, the release notes, the county detention center did not honor the ICE detainer and released Mateo-Alberto 15 days after his arrest.

Fairfax County has “not designated” itself “as a sanctuary county,” according to the county’s website, adding that it “complies to the fullest extent required by federal, state or local law with any law enforcement agency requesting criminal law enforcement assistance.”

However, the website also notes its official policy is that it “does not and will not enforce civil federal immigration laws.”

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“The federal courts have determined that the enforcement of civil immigration laws is solely a federal responsibility under the exclusive authority of ICE,” the county website reads.

The Fairfax County Sheriff’s Department did not immediately respond to a Fox News Digital request for comment.

Mateo-Alberto was eventually arrested by ICE on April 10 and remains in the agency’s custody, according to the ICE release.

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“Marvin Mateo-Alberto stands accused of some very appalling and disturbing crimes and represents a threat to the children of our Virginia communities,” ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations Washington, D.C., Field Office Director Russell Hott said. 

“We cannot in good conscience allow Mr. Mateo to continue to potentially threaten other children in our neighborhoods. ICE Washington, D.C. will continue to prioritize public safety by arresting and removing criminal alien threats from our streets.”

Dog lovers bite back after liberals target man’s best friend to push green agenda

Woof.

Mother Jones republished an article from fellow progressive outlet The Guardian on Saturday that argued that while dogs may be man’s best friend, they’re Mother Nature’s “villains.”

The left-wing magazine highlighted new research, originally published by The Guardian, that concluded dogs have “extensive and multifarious” environmental impacts, disturbing wildlife, polluting waterways and contributing to carbon emissions. It pinpointed how canines are disturbing native wildlife, particularly shore birds.

An Australian review of existing studies published in Pacific Conservation Biology analyzed dog attacks on other animals, finding that it may account for the colony collapse of little penguins in Tasmania, while a study of animals taken to the Australia Zoo wildlife hospital found that mortality was highest after dog attacks.

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In the U.S., the report continued, studies have found that deer, foxes and bobcats were less active in or avoid wilderness areas where dogs were allowed. Other intel showed that insecticides from flea and tick medications kill aquatic invertebrates when they wash off into waterways. Dog feces, meanwhile, can leave scent traces and affect soil chemistry and plant growth.

A canine’s carbon footprint is also “significant,” according to the study.

A 2020 study found the dry pet food industry had an environmental footprint that is around twice the land area of the UK, with greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to the 60th highest-emitting country.

The owners of furry friends weren’t particularly impressed by the dog doom deep dive. They united in ripping the Mother Jones report on X, with several users responding with photos of their own beloved dogs or wondering if a rival animal wrote it.

“Did… a cat write this?” columnist Tim Carney asked.

Others wondered why the liberal outlet was trying to unearth the bad in what is considered a universally beloved animal.

“Is there any enjoyable part of life these insufferable kill joys won’t attack?” The Young Turks host Ana Kasparian wondered.

“First environmentalists came for cows and people said nothing. Now they want to sacrifice dogs to save the planet? Not a winning message by the net-zero crowd, whose track record is notoriously bad,” Gabriella Hoffman, Energy & Conservation Director for the Independent Women’s Forum Center, said.

The study suggested that a way to tamp down on dogs’ environmental impact is to “keep them leashed in areas where restrictions apply and to maintain a buffer distance from nesting or roosting shorebirds.”

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The review’s lead author, Prof Bill Bateman of Curtin University, perhaps anticipating backlash from pet owners, said the research did not intend to be “censorious” but aimed to raise awareness of the environmental impacts of man’s best friend, according to Mother Jones. 

“Although we’ve pointed out these issues with dogs in natural environments… there is that other balancing side, which is that people will probably go out and really enjoy the environment around them — and perhaps feel more protective about it — because they’re out there walking their dog in it,” he said.

Fox News Digital reached out to Mother Jones for comment.