‘I feel so cheated’: JFK’s granddaughter faces rare terminal cancer at 35
Former President John F. Kennedy’s granddaughter, Tatiana Schlossberg, announced Saturday — exactly 62 years after JFK was assassinated — that she has terminal cancer.
The 35-year-old said she was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia, with a rare mutation called Inversion 3, soon after the birth of her daughter in May 2024, and doctors recently told her she probably has about a year to live.
“My first thought was that my kids, whose faces live permanently on the inside of my eyelids, wouldn’t remember me,” she wrote in an essay for The New Yorker. “My son might have a few memories, but he’ll probably start confusing them with pictures he sees or stories he hears.”
She said she “didn’t ever really get to take care of my daughter — I couldn’t change her diaper or give her a bath or feed her, all because of the risk of infection after my transplants. I was gone for almost half of her first year of life. I don’t know who, really, she thinks I am, and whether she will feel or remember, when I am gone, that I am her mother.”
RFK JR. INVOKES DEMOCRAT FATHER’S WORDS TO DEFEND TRUMP-BACKED CDC SHAKEUP AT SENATE HEARING
She said the diagnosis was shocking because she felt perfectly healthy.
“I did not — could not — believe that they were talking about me,” she wrote of the first talk of leukemia. “I had swum a mile in the pool the day before, nine months pregnant. I wasn’t sick. I didn’t feel sick. I was actually one of the healthiest people I knew.”
She said the cancer is mostly seen in older patients, and doctors frequently asked her if she had spent much time at Ground Zero in New York City. She had not.
Schlossberg, the daughter of Caroline Kennedy, JFK’s oldest surviving daughter, described in heartbreaking detail her months on end of different treatments to beat the cancer.
She went through a round of chemotherapy to “reduce the number of blast cells in my bone marrow,” then received a bone marrow transplant with the help of her sister.
She said after she went into remission and went home, she had no immune system and had to get all of her childhood vaccines again.
JOAN KENNEDY, WIFE OF SEN. TED KENNEDY FOR 22 YEARS, DEAD AT 89
Then she relapsed, her doctor telling her that leukemia with her mutation “liked to come back.”
At the beginning of the year, she joined a clinical trial of CAR-T-cell therapy, “a type of immunotherapy that has proved effective against certain blood cancers.”
That was followed by another round of chemotherapy and a second blood transfusion from an unrelated donor.
“During the latest clinical trial, my doctor told me that he could keep me alive for a year, maybe,” she wrote.
She also wrote of her concerns after her cousin, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., whom she called an “embarrassment,” was nominated as secretary of Health and Human Services.
“Suddenly, the health-care system on which I relied felt strained, shaky,” she wrote. “Doctors and scientists at Columbia [Presbyterian hospital], including [her husband] George, didn’t know if they would be able to continue their research, or even have jobs.”
CHERYL HINES EMOTIONALLY RECOUNTS YOUNG NEPHEW’S DEATH, HOW IT GAVE HER PERSPECTIVE DURING RFK JR.’S CAMPAIGN
She praised the rest of her family, whom she said sat at her bedside while she endured treatments and took care of her children.
Of her husband, urologist George Moran, she wrote, “He is perfect, and I feel so cheated and so sad that I don’t get to keep living the wonderful life I had with this kind, funny, handsome genius I managed to find.”
Her brother Jack Schlossberg, who is running for congress in New York, wrote on his Instagram on Saturday, “Life is short, let it rip.”
APP USERS CLICK HERE FOR POST
Her mother’s cousin, Maria Shriver, shared the essay on Instagram, writing, “If you can only read one thing today, please make take the time for this extraordinary piece of writing by my cousin Caroline’s extraordinary daughter Tatiana. Tatiana is a beautiful writer, journalist, wife, mother, daughter, sister, and friend.”
Tatiana added in her essay, “For my whole life, I have tried to be good, to be a good student and a good sister and a good daughter, and to protect my mother and never make her upset or angry. Now I have added a new tragedy to her life, to our family’s life, and there’s nothing I can do to stop it.”
WHITE HOUSE HITS BACK AFTER JFK’S GRANDSON CALLS RFK JR A ‘RABID DOG’
Robert F. Kennedy Sr., her mother Caroline Kennedy’s uncle, was assassinated five years after JFK, and along with having two siblings who died in infancy, Caroline’s only surviving brother, JFK Jr., died in a plane crash in 1999.
Schlossberg’s grandmother, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, also died of cancer in 1994 of non-Hodgkin lymphoma when she was 64.
She finished her essay by saying she lives to be with her children now.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
“But being in the present is harder than it sounds, so I let the memories come and go,” she admitted. “So many of them are from my childhood that I feel as if I’m watching myself and my kids grow up at the same time.
“Sometimes I trick myself into thinking I’ll remember this forever, I’ll remember this when I’m dead. Obviously, I won’t. But since I don’t know what death is like and there’s no one to tell me what comes after it, I’ll keep pretending. I will keep trying to remember.”
Police chopper forced into emergency dive after UFO chase above air base: report
Newly released police logs and video footage contradict official explanations of a near-collision between a U.K. police helicopter and unidentified aerial objects over a U.S. air base last year, an encounter authorities had previously dismissed as a routine fighter jet sighting.
According to documents the Daily Mail obtained through Britain’s Freedom of Information Act, the Nov. 22, 2024, flight forced a National Police Air Service (NPAS) EC135 helicopter to take emergency evasive action after reporting that two fast-moving craft “targeted” and pursued the aircraft over RAF Lakenheath, a major U.S. military installation in Suffolk.
The pilots described a steep dive to avoid a crash as the objects matched their speed, roughly 165 knots (190 mph), for several minutes before disappearing from view.
Nick Pope, who formerly investigated UFOs for the U.K. Ministry of Defence, told Fox News Digital the episode shows how unidentified aerial phenomena, or UAP, have evolved from a fringe curiosity into a legitimate defense and aviation issue.
SOURCE OF ‘UFO’ PANIC, DRONE MYSTERY CLAIMS RESPONSIBILITY FOR FRENZY: REPORT
“This disturbing incident perfectly illustrates why the UAP issue has gone from fringe to mainstream,” Pope said. “Whatever people’s beliefs, this is a serious safety-of-flight matter that demands urgent attention and action.”
Pope stressed that simply labeling such encounters “drones” can obscure what might be much more complex.
“‘Drone’ has become a convenient shorthand for anything unexplained that people see in the skies,” he said. “So, we really don’t know what we’re dealing with here.”
REPORTER’S NOTEBOOK: MILITARY WHISTLEBLOWERS TESTIFY TO CONGRESS ABOUT UNEXPLAINED UFO ENCOUNTERS
He added that the lack of data sharing between agencies and the tendency to downplay sightings could make the danger worse.
“I hope it doesn’t take a tragedy before something more is done,” Pope said. “There’s chronic underreporting of these sorts of incidents, so the true extent of the problem is likely far more serious.”
Logs cited by the Daily Mail say the NPAS crew called the encounter an “unprovoked pursuit” shortly after 10 p.m. while patrolling near the base.
HOUSE WITNESS TESTIFIES UFOS NEARLY ACTIVATED RUSSIAN NUCLEAR MISSILES DURING 1982 INCIDENT
“They had to perform an emergency dive and described that they were pursued in the dive by two drones who matched their speed … and then pursued them for several minutes out of the area,” one police entry states.
Another notes the pilots “felt that drones had targeted them and chased them off at approximately 140 knots [161 mph].”
Additional police reports between Nov. 20-22 recorded roughly 20 drone sightings across RAF Lakenheath, RAF Mildenhall and RAF Feltwell. Logs described “10-15 drones … potentially into base airspace” and said aircraft were temporarily grounded after crossing flight paths.
PENTAGON EXPLORING COUNTER-DRONE SYSTEMS TO PREVENT INCURSIONS OVER NATIONAL SECURITY FACILITIES
A witness using night-vision goggles reported “five to six drones” near the A1065 highway, while another described “large stationary things — tic-tacs — they are not birds.”
A U.K. military source who viewed the helicopter’s full 30-minute infrared video told the Daily Mail the footage shows “drones mirroring the helicopter’s movements” and performing a “corkscrew” maneuver impossible for an F-15.
“In the 30-minute video with pilot audio, nobody mentions F-15s,” the source said. “They only talk about the drones … basically forcing them out of the area.”
NATO COUNTRY REPORTS DRONES OVER LARGEST MILITARY BASE AFTER AIRPORT ATTACK, MULLS RESPONSE
Despite the multiple sightings, Britain’s Airprox Board, which investigates near misses, concluded in its final report that the crew had mistaken the lights of a U.S. Air Force F-15 operating nearby. Radar data showed the helicopter and jet came within 1,700 feet, and the board reported no other returns.
Retired senior police Det. Mike Morgan told the Daily Mail he was frustrated by official silence.
“There is a whole series of question marks about what went on in November 2024,” he said. “I have run into repeated efforts by the authorities to avoid answering even the most basic questions. … What is so secret about this investigation?”
Defense sector meteorologist Stuart Onyeche said he believes both the F-15 and the police helicopter were reacting to unmanned systems in the area.
“I’m inclined to trust the initial detail and assessment of the experienced helicopter pilots,” Onyeche told the Daily Mail. “It’s unarguable that an F-15 was also in the vicinity … but the unanswered question is what that fighter was being tasked to do or look for.”
The Daily Mail notes the Lakenheath case unfolded amid weeks of similar reports of drone incursions near U.S. military bases in New Jersey, the wider Northeast and overseas.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
The outlet also cites a joint FBI/DOD/NASA report warning that detection and jamming systems have “failed” to stop advanced drones, including a major swarm over Langley Air Force Base in Virginia in December 2023 that was kept quiet until revealed by The War Zone in March 2024.
Pope said recurring incidents like the Lakenheath encounter, combined with limited transparency from officials, point to a growing gap in how governments handle unidentified aerial activity and that without better reporting and coordination, the risk to air safety will only continue to increase.
Former NBA star, Wake Forest icon dead at 54 from causes related to spinal cord injury’
Former NBA and Wake Forest star Rodney Rogers has died at age 54, the university announced Saturday.
Rogers died of natural causes related to a spinal cord injury he sustained in 2008, his wife, Faye, said in the announcement.
Rogers played in the NBA for 12 seasons and was named the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year in the 1999-2000 season. Prior to his NBA career, Rogers became a Wake Forest legend in his college days.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM
“Rodney Rogers, an NBA legend who played 12 years in the league, passed away on November 21, 2025 from natural causes related to the spinal cord injury he sustained on November 28, 2008,” Faye Rogers said in a statement.
“The last 18 years have been both challenging and profoundly blessed. Through every moment, Rodney remained a light – positive, motivated and full of the quiet strength that inspired everyone around him. Our family would also like to express our deep gratitude for the unwavering support from our Wake Forest and NBA families over the years. Your care, presence and kindness carried us more than you know. We kindly ask that you respect our family’s privacy during this time of healing. Further information will be shared as it becomes available.”
Rogers suffered the injury in a dirt bike accident when riding with friends the day after Thanksgiving, according to WRAL.com.
Rogers was named ACC Freshman of the Year in 1991 after leading the team to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1984. He was a first-team All-ACC selection in 1992 and 1993.
In 1993, after leading Wake Forest to the Sweet 16, Rogers was named ACC Player of the Year and a first team All-American. Rogers is the only Wake Forest player, and just the seventh ACC player overall, to have been named both ACC Freshman of the Year and ACC Player of the Year.
NETS STAR SAYS TEAM TOLD HIM TO ‘STEER AWAY’ FROM CERTAIN TOPICS ON PODCAST APPEARANCES
Rogers is a member of the Wake Forest Sports Hall of Fame.
After his illustrious college career, the Denver Nuggets selected Rogers with the No. 9 overall pick in the 1993 NBA Draft.
In 866 games in a 12-year NBA career, Rogers averaged 10.9 points, 2.0 assists and 4.5 rebounds per game. He played for the Nuggets, Los Angeles Clippers, Phoenix Suns, Boston Celtics, New Jersey Nets, New Orleans Hornets and the Philadelphia 76ers.
“The NBA family is deeply saddened by the passing of Rodney Rogers,” the NBA said in a statement posted to social media.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
“He will be remembered not only for his achievements on the court but also for the extraordinary resilience, courage and generosity that he demonstrated throughout his life – qualities that inspired so many.”
Rogers’ unwavering perseverance and positive outlook despite being paralyzed led to Wake Forest awarding him as the 2022 Distinguished Alumni Award recipient, one of the highest honors the school offers.
Rogers is survived by his wife, Faye, and three children: daughters Roddreka and Rydeiah and son Rodney Rogers II.
Police chief apologizes to Somali community as members lose deportation protection
Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara apologized to the Somali community for a comment he made connecting “East African kids” to crime.
“The Somali community here in Minneapolis has been welcoming and has shown love towards me, and I appreciate it,” O’Hara said at a news conference on Thursday. “Over the last three years we have been working together to try and address some of the real serious problems that we have in our community.”
“We have to be honest at times with the problems that we’re having in our community, and we need our community to help us fix those problems together because it’s real and it’s serious. At the same time, if people have taken anything that I have said out of context in a way that’s caused harm, I apologize, and I’m sorry for that because that’s not my intention at all,” O’Hara added.
In an interview with WCCO earlier this month, O’Hara was speaking about a deadly Halloween shooting as well as juvenile crime plaguing the city when he made the comment. Alpha News reported that the Dinkytown area, where the shooting took place, has seen a series of crimes including assaults, robberies, shootings and auto thefts.
TRUMP TERMINATES DEPORTATION PROTECTIONS FOR SOMALI NATIONALS LIVING IN MINNESOTA ‘EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY’
During the interview, he stated that the young people committing the crimes were not “poor kids from Minneapolis,” but rather kids that come from out of town who take “mommy’s Mercedes-Benz to Dinkytown, and they don’t know where they are.”
“Groups of kids, groups of East African kids that are coming from surrounding communities and not just one community, kind of all over the place,” O’Hara told WCCO.
After the interview, a petition on Change.org demanded an apology from O’Hara, saying that the East African community of Minneapolis “has already been carrying the weight of unfair scrutiny for years” and that the chief’s comment would “deepen that burden.”
The Minneapolis Somali community has faced scrutiny on a national level in recent days after a bombshell report revealed a series of alleged financial schemes that ended with terrorists getting taxpayer dollars. Ryan Thorpe and Christopher F. Rufo of the Manhattan Institute found that Al-Shabaab, an al Qaeda-linked terrorist organization in Somalia, was receiving funds that could be traced back to Minnesota.
“Every scrap of economic activity, in the Twin Cities, in America, throughout Western Europe, anywhere Somalis are concentrated, every cent that is sent back to Somalia benefits Al-Shabaab in some way,” a former official who worked on the Minneapolis Joint Terrorism Task Force told Thorpe and Rufo.
Following the report, President Donald Trump announced he was ending Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Somalis in Minnesota.
The Secretary of Homeland Security may designate a country for TPS if nationals cannot return safely or if the country “is unable to handle the return of its nationals adequately.” Countries currently under TPS are Burma, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Haiti, Lebanon, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, Ukraine, Venezuela and Yemen.
“Minnesota, under Governor Waltz, is a hub of fraudulent money laundering activity. I am, as President of the United States, hereby terminating, effective immediately the Temporary Protected Status (TPS program) for Somalis in Minnesota. Somali gangs are terrorizing the people of that great State, and BILLIONS of dollars are missing. Send them back to where they came from. It’s OVER!,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
Rufo, one of the authors of the bombshell report, said Trump’s announcement was a “great start” but that there is still more work to do.
“Canceling TPS for Minnesota Somalis is a great start. Next: review all asylum, refugee, and citizenship applications for any hint of fraud or technical error; then initiate denaturalizations and mass deportations up to the furthest limits of the law. They have to go home,” Rufo wrote on X.
MINNESOTA TAXPAYER DOLLARS FUNNELED TO AL-SHABAAB TERROR GROUP, REPORT ALLEGES
House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn, who praised Trump’s decision, wrote a letter on Friday to U.S. Attorney for the District of Minnesota Daniel Rosen demanding an investigation. The letter was also signed by Emmer’s fellow Minnesota Republicans, Rep. Pete Stauber, Rep. Michelle Fischbach, and Rep. Brad Finstad.
“It is alleged that Minnesota’s Somali community, the largest in the nation, has been sending millions back to Somalia via the hawala network, an informal money trafficking network which is notorious for funds ending up in terrorist networks, and in this instance, Al-Shabaab,” the letter reads.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
The lawmakers cited the various cases involving members of the Somali community, including the Feeding our Future fraud scheme, fraud in the Housing Stabilization Services program, Child Care Assistance program and Minnesota’s Early Intensive Developmental and Behavioral Intervention program.
“It is bad enough that these individuals are defrauding our state, taking services and funds away from children and the most vulnerable, but now there is a good reason to believe that Minnesota taxpayer dollars are going straight into terrorists’ hands. These new allegations present not only a serious betrayal of taxpayer trust, but also a grave threat to our national security,” the letter states.
Daily dose of one pantry staple linked to lower cholesterol and weight loss, study finds
Research has found that one specific spice may have profound effects on metabolic health.
Black cumin, known as Nigella sativa or black seed, is used in many Middle Eastern and Indian dishes like curries and naan. It’s also found in some baked goods and spice blends.
High-antioxidant black seed oil is also sold as a dietary supplement, often used to support immunity, reduce inflammation and improve digestive health.
EATING ONE TYPE OF NUT DAILY COULD LOWER ‘BAD’ CHOLESTEROL, IMPROVE HEART HEALTH, STUDY FINDS
A recent study published in the journal Food Science & Nutrition examined black cumin’s effect on cholesterol levels.
Researchers in Osaka, Japan, conducted laboratory cell tests and a randomized human trial in which participants consumed 5 grams of black cumin seed powder per day for eight weeks.
Participants’ cholesterol levels and appetite levels were measured before and after they took the supplement.
CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR OUR HEALTH NEWSLETTER
The human trial revealed a decrease in triglycerides, LDL (“bad”) cholesterol and total cholesterol, as well as an increase in HDL (“good”) cholesterol.
The findings also revealed a “significant improvement” in hunger levels, indicating black cumin’s possible benefits for appetite control.
The researchers concluded that both in-vitro (lab) and human trials demonstrated black cumin’s “anti-adipogenic and lipid-lowering effects.”
“The study highlights the potential of [black cumin seed extract] in improving lipid metabolism,” the authors wrote. “These results suggest that black cumin seed may serve as a promising natural agent in obesity-related conditions, although further investigation involving comprehensive metabolic parameters is warranted.”
CLICK HERE FOR MORE HEALTH STORIES
Theresa Link, registered dietitian at Virta Health in Nebraska, reacted to these findings in an interview with Fox News Digital.
Cholesterol is “just one piece” of the cardiovascular health “puzzle,” the expert noted, which means these findings should be considered more broadly for metabolic health.
Link also referred to a 2021 study that found black seed oil led to greater weight loss in female participants who took it daily. The participants also reported feeling fuller, which “likely contributed to their success.”
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
“While these short-term results are promising, the studies only lasted eight weeks,” the dietitian noted. “Black cumin seed alone isn’t a magic bullet for preventing obesity but may play a supportive role in weight management when combined with an overall healthy lifestyle.”
TEST YOURSELF WITH OUR LATEST LIFESTYLE QUIZ
The spice also contains a compound called thymoquinone, which is rich in antioxidants and could offer additional benefits.
“Longer-term studies are needed to confirm these effects and understand how N. sativa might fit into a broader approach to metabolic and cardiovascular health,” Link added.
Dreaded dental procedure may slash diabetes and heart disease risk, researchers say
The dreaded root canal may be necessary for good oral health, but it could also potentially lower inflammation and improve blood sugar and cholesterol, according to a new study.
Researchers from King’s College London followed 65 patients for two years after they received successful root canals for a common dental infection and analyzed molecules in their blood to reveal how their bodies were processing sugar, fat and other key substances and responding to disease and treatment.
The scientists found that blood sugar levels dropped significantly for the root canal patients, which is a key factor in reducing diabetes risk, according to the research, which was published in the Journal of Translational Medicine Nov. 18. They also saw short-term improvements in cholesterol and fatty acid levels, which are closely linked to heart health.
TREATING GUM DISEASE COULD REDUCE RISK OF HEART ATTACKS AND STROKES, STUDY SUGGESTS
Key markers of inflammation, which are often linked to cardiovascular risk and other chronic conditions, also decreased over time.
“What surprised us most was just how far-reaching the benefits were,” lead author Dr. Sadia Niazi, a senior clinical lecturer in endodontology at King’s College London, told Fox News Digital. “We expected improvements in oral health, but the systemic changes were striking.”
The findings are a reminder that oral health is “deeply connected to overall health,” Niazi said.
“Our findings show that root canal treatment doesn’t just improve oral health. It may also help reduce the risk of serious health conditions like diabetes and heart disease,” she added.
FRUIT-BASED INGREDIENT MAY HELP FIGHT GUM DISEASE NATURALLY, SCIENTISTS DISCOVER
Research has shown that gum disease is linked to higher inflammation in the body and a greater risk of conditions like diabetes and heart disease, though most studies show an association rather than direct proof of cause and effect. While experts increasingly recognize that untreated dental infections can affect overall health, the link between root canals and heart and metabolic health has not been as well studied until now, according to the researchers.
They say the bacteria entering the blood can lead to inflammation, heart disease and increased risk of diabetes, but that treatment can reduce that risk and that metabolic markers should be monitored after it is received.
“It is vital that dental professionals recognize the wider impact of these root canal infections and advocate for early diagnosis and treatment,” Niazi said. “There’s nothing better than saving your own teeth — and safeguarding your systemic health in the process.”
CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR OUR HEALTH NEWSLETTER
She added that it’s important to move toward a more integrated model of care where dentists and physicians collaborate to track blood markers and safeguard patients’ overall health.
The study, which was funded by the Faculty of Dental Surgery of the Royal College of Surgeons of England, was small and did not include a separate control group. And the researchers said other factors could have affected the results. They noted that larger studies are needed to confirm the findings.
Dr. Fatima Khan, a Houston-based dentist and co-founder of Riven Oral Care, said that a control group is needed to strengthen the findings and prove that other variables did not affect the outcomes. Long-term Harvard University studies have found that people with poor oral health, gum disease or tooth loss tend to have a higher risk of heart attack and stroke, though other factors like smoking and access to care make the link inconclusive, she noted.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE HEALTH STORIES
Gum disease can worsen diabetes by triggering inflammation and insulin resistance, while people with poorly controlled blood sugar are more prone to gum disease, Kahn, who was not involved in the research, told Fox News Digital.
Nonetheless, the King’s College London study is further proof that the mouth is the “gateway to your oral and overall health,” she said.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
“Follow up with your dentist routinely to catch dental issues before they progress,” Khan advised. “This will help with your dental and overall health.”
Investigation underway after explosion at apartment complex injures several people
Several people were injured in a large explosion Saturday at a senior living apartment complex in Austintown, Ohio.
The explosion, which took out a large portion of the Phoenix House apartment building, happened just before 1 p.m., FOX 8 reported.
Austintown Fire Department Assistant Chief Tom O’Hara told the outlet several people were injured, though no fatalities were immediately confirmed.
FIRE ERUPTS IN US CAPITOL TROLLEY SYSTEM, 2 POLICE OFFICERS TAKEN TO HOSPITAL
Resident Cindy Duke told FOX 8 the explosion “felt like a bomb.”
Another resident, Don Lampley, who has no legs, told the outlet he was watching the Ohio State game with a friend when “there was a big, loud blast, then BOOM!”
‘WE’RE TRAPPED!’: PANICKED 911 AUDIO FROM SOUTH CAROLINA FIRE WHERE JUDGE’S HUSBAND LEAPT TO SAFETY
The cause of the explosion has not yet been released.
The Austintown Township Police Department and Mahoning County Sheriff’s Office did not immediately respond to inquiries from Fox News Digital.
The Austintown Fire Department declined inquiries.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
Democratic senator mocked for falling for a ‘scam’ after request to Trump admin
The White House dubbed Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse a scam victim after he publicly complained the Trump administration would not fund or support his junket to the COP30 climate change conference in Belém, Brazil this week.
The Trump administration largely ignored the confab of global climate change leaders; a stark contrast to former President Joe Biden sending Clinton confidant John Podesta to lead a substantial U.S. delegation to COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan in 2024.
“Sadly, Senator Whitehouse has fallen victim to the biggest scam of the century: the Green New Scam,” White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers said of Whitehouse, D-R.I.
“The senator can foolishly spend time and money attending this radical ‘climate’ conference, but the Trump administration refuses to waste taxpayer dollars.”
BILL GATES DISCOVERS THE WAY TO FIGHT CLIMATE BATTLE ACTUALLY INVOLVES HELPING HUMANS
Whitehouse spoke at a press conference on the House side of the Capitol Thursday with the blessing of House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y.
Whitehouse held up his COP30 badge and lamented that it did not label him a representative of the “United States of America” but instead “Global Legislators Organization for a Balanced Environment: GLOBE.”
That group was co-founded by then-Sen. Al Gore, D-Tenn., and the late Sen. John Heinz III, R-Pa. in the 1990s, and Whitehouse said that without support from Secretary Marco Rubio’s State Department, he relied on a House of Representatives “energy and environment coalition” to facilitate his travel.
FLARING CLIMATE PROTESTS BECOMING MORE CONFRONTATIONAL AS FREE SPEECH TESTED GLOBALLY
Whitehouse said the confab — to which California Gov. Gavin Newsom also traveled – showed a “failure of the United States to be present.”
“For the first time in history that I’m aware of, the State Department refused to support or facilitate my travel or my credentialing. My credentials don’t say United States of America,” he said, adding that it is typically State Department or executive branch protocol to support “CODELs” or congressional delegations.
“[T]he State Department refused to support this — that’s how bad the Trump administration has become.”
PROTECTING AMERICA’S OUTDOORS IS PATRIOTIC — BUT RADICAL ACTIVISM GETS IN THE WAY
Whitehouse said President Donald Trump is ignoring COP30 because he does not effectively represent the U.S. government on climate matters.
“He represents the fossil fuel industry, and specifically his big billionaire fossil fuel donors,” Whitehouse said, before pivoting to his contention at the conference that “carbon pricing” – which critics call “carbon taxes” — is crucial.
“The good things that have come out of COP[30] so far mean that the plane crashes higher up the mountain. But if you want to get the plane over the mountaintop safely, you’ve got to have carbon pricing.”
EXCLUSIVE: HOUSE GOP REPORT ALLEGES $20B GREEN GRANTS ENRICHED BIDEN ALLIES
The Ocean State Democrat said he warned European COP30 attendees to hold firm if Trump attacks their climate commitments.
Jeffries later echoed Whitehouse, saying Trump is showing an unwillingness to address “issues of importance to the American people,” including climate change and affordability.
“The Trump administration and the United States government chose not to be involved and engaged at the most recent conference, essentially ceding leadership on this issue in the world to our rival: the Chinese Communist Party — while leaving America and Americans behind,” Jeffries said.
DEMS ACCUSE EPA OF TRYING TO KILL GREENHOUSE GAS REPORTING PROGRAM THAT AIDS CAP-AND-TRADE
Meanwhile, Daniel Turner, founder of Power The Future, a Virginia group that focuses on energy policy advocacy geared toward industry effects on workers and rural communities, said Whitehouse was out of line to make such an issue of the matter.
“It was bad enough that while the nation was reeling from the Democrats’ government shutdown, Senator Whitehouse took a tropical vacation and praised the communist Chinese,” Turner said.
Turner appeared to reference a Fox Business segment in which Whitehouse filmed himself at COP30 lamenting his lonely official presence, and saying how large the Chinese official “pavilion” was.
“I will never kiss the boots of the Communist Chinese that use slave and child labor to build crappy wind and solar which drives up the price of American electricity,” Turner said, adding that it showed how “out of touch ‘blue-blood, Whites-Only-Country-Club Whitehouse’ is.”
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
In 2021, Whitehouse refused to apologize for his family’s membership in a Newport, R.I., club that was accused of, but denied, retaining a discriminatory membership policy.
“I think the people who are running the place are still working on that, and I’m sorry it hasn’t happened yet,” Whitehouse said at the time.
Whitehouse further defended his presence at COP30 in a statement this month, saying that Republican “corruption” is deliberately raising costs on American families to the benefit of donors from the fossil fuel industry.
“Amidst sinking approvals and a shellacking in the most recent elections, it’s no surprise the Trump administration is unwilling to defend the fossil fuel industry’s unpopular and corrupt climate denial lies on the global stage,” Whitehouse said.
“In Belém, I hope to rally our allies to stay steady on climate action, including CBAM, in the face of attacks from the fossil fuel villains running the Trump administration. There is no pathway to climate safety without CBAM, and we must protect that pathway at all costs.”
The State Department did not respond to a request for comment by press time.
Businesses may soon be required to accept cash under new state proposal
Ohioans could soon be shopping like it’s 1999 if legislators pass the Currency Access to Spend Here (CASH) bill, which would require businesses and government offices to accept cash for payments up to $500.
The bill would require businesses and government entities to provide at least one point-of-sale location that accepts cash. Additionally, it bans them from charging those using cash for a transaction a higher price than those using other payment methods.
TARGET SLASHES PRICES ON THOUSANDS OF ITEMS IN BID TO REVIVE SLIPPING SALES
“It’s simple, cash is the basis for business in America. Our taxpayers should always have the ability to use cash in their daily lives,” said Ohio state Rep. David Thomas (R-Jefferson), who introduced House Bill 554.
“I hear from residents who may not trust virtual payment options or just prefer to use physical cash. This bill balances the needs of government and business to be efficient with the ability to still rely on physical currency,” Thomas added.
COSTCO RECALLS POPULAR READY-TO-EAT FOOD ITEMS OVER PLASTIC CONTAMINATION CONCERNS
As retailers, such as Target, Walmart and Costco move towards self-checkout methods that often do not accept cash, this could mean some major changes to their strategy. However, it may not necessarily mean hiring more staff, as the bill states that the cash point-of-sale can be “automated or operated by a person.”
GET FOX BUSINESS ON THE GO BY CLICKING HERE
Thomas’ bill mirrors one that Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., and Sen. Kevan Cramer, R-N.D., introduced, known as the Payment Choice Act of 2025. Their bill would also require businesses to accept cash and bar them from charging a higher price to those who chose to pay in cash.
Fox Business reached out to Target, Walmart and Costco for comment.