From the Olympic Village to Little League fields, sports still hold America together

Divisions are intensifying across the nation, with a recent poll finding that over half of Americans fear the U.S. is on a path toward civil war and two-thirds believe that American democracy is under serious threat. More than ever, both politicians and everyday Americans need a reminder that we are still one country, and that competition without guardrails quickly becomes something else entirely.

While not erasing complicated geopolitical realities, the upcoming Winter Olympics from Feb. 6 to Feb. 22 in Milan, Italy, can be a reminder of the power of unity. Sports can offer a counterweight to divisions at home and abroad. Rather than a distraction from politics, they can be an example of how to do it better. On the world stage and in our own communities, athletic participation shows us the value in finding common ground.

As we watch the world’s great athletes gather in Milan, we should carry the Olympic spirit beyond our television screens and into our Little League fields, school gyms, community leagues and even our most contentious civic spaces. Our legislators should carry that spirit into the halls of Congress and their state capitols. We should apply its lessons of rivalry without hatred and national pride without resentment to how we live alongside one another at home.

The Olympics began in ancient Greece over 2,000 years ago as an opportunity for the citizens of Greek city-states to come together, display their athletic prowess and trade truly violent conflict — ubiquitous at the time — for rules-based sport. Rulers instituted the “Olympic Truce,” ensuring safe participation for the duration of the games.

UN URGES COUNTRIES TO HONOR TRUCE DURING WINTER OLYMPICS, NOT DENY VISAS TO ANY NATION’S ATHLETES

The first modern Olympic Games took place in 1896 in Athens, Greece, mirroring the spirit of unity, cultural exchange and excellence exemplified by their historical predecessor. Beginning in the 1990s, the United Nations General Assembly even revived the tradition of the Olympic Truce, adopting a resolution before each Summer and Winter games that calls on member nations to suspend hostilities during the Olympic period.

The Games do not deny conflict, of course, but they show how it can be bound. And they reveal how sports can be a diplomatic language when politics fail.

A recent example comes from the 2018 Winter Olympics, when North Korean and South Korean athletes competed together on the same women’s ice hockey team and marched under the same Korean Peninsula flag in the opening ceremonies, amidst ongoing political tensions between the two nations.

SEAHAWKS STAR JAXON SMITH-NJIGBA WANTS TOM BRADY TO PLAY FLAG FOOTBALL FOR 2028 LA OLYMPICS

Sports serve diplomatic ends by bringing countries together and facilitating conversations. Such meetings don’t resolve disputes head on, but they lower threat perception between rivals and reopen channels of communication. They show us how common ground can be found even with people very different from ourselves.

North Koreans and South Koreans have vast cultural differences, but they also share a history, language and a desire for dignity for their people. Teamwork on the ice briefly brought these shared interests into focus.

Viewers can likewise find common ground with their fellow countrymen from watching athletes of all different backgrounds compete together. It’s natural to feel patriotic watching your country’s great athletes walk together, compete and raise the national flag in victory. Global sporting events show how a shared national pride can flourish and rise above prejudice or divisions.

NEW NETFLIX DOCUMENTARY EXPLORES HOW THE ‘MIRACLE ON ICE’ UNITED AMERICA IN 1980

Competing fiercely while respecting rules is consistent with American constitutional values. The principles we can learn in sports — discipline, respect for our adversaries, fair play, restraint in victory and defeat — carry over in other elements of our lives. These same habits make elections hard-fought but respectable, with the most rough-and-tumble matches ending in a handshake.

While a sports event with the global scale of the Olympics or World Cup only takes place every few years, what happens among nations during the Games reflects what is already happening — quietly — in American communities every weekend. At Little League baseball and softball fields and Friday night high school football games, church leagues and rec centers, our children learn how to compete without hating their opponents, how to follow rules even when emotions run high and how, by working as teams, we can achieve more than by ourselves.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE FOX NEWS OPINION

The Games do not deny conflict, of course, but they show how it can be bound. And they reveal how sports can be a diplomatic language when politics fail.

Just as the Olympic village is a microcosm of the globe, a 12-and-under girls basketball team is a microcosm of a local community. Different backgrounds, different beliefs, different family stories, all bound together by love of the sport and shared rules and goals.

Sports create civic habits that are so needed in our civility-starved world: restraint, respect, discipline and team-focused cooperation. Whether in our small towns or on the world’s stage, shared athletic rituals sustain our nation and remind us that all Americans play for the same team, under the same flag.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

In times of great division, our leaders need reminders that another way is possible. Polarization is not inevitable. Civility can wane, but it can also flourish.

It’s important that we protect the global institutions that allow us to compete without hostility and participate in the local ones that do the same thing. The next time you watch a global sporting event or participate in a local one, remember that the spirit on display is not reserved for the world’s greatest athletes. It’s a model for how free people, at every level of society, can live, compete and still recognize one another as fellow citizens.

SEN JOHN KENNEDY: Democrats’ defund-the-police plan failed, but here they go again

As I’ve watched the protests in Minneapolis, it seems obvious to me that America is at risk of falling face-first into another disastrous anti-law enforcement crisis.

Here’s a cold dish of truth: There are some people in this world who enjoy hurting other people and taking other people’s stuff. These people aren’t sick. They’re not confused. They’re not mixed up. It’s not that their mothers or fathers didn’t love them enough. They’re just antisocial. I don’t know why God made some people that way. If I get to Heaven, I’m going to ask.

Every society deals with these people differently, but in America, we’ve chosen to hire brave men and women to enforce our laws by confronting antisocial people when they commit crimes. We rarely hear about these courageous officers and the millions of positive interactions they have each day. We only hear about the handful of cops who — by negligence or by choice — harm other people while enforcing the law.

The defund the police movement seized upon a few bad examples of law enforcement to sell the lie that cops are worse than criminals. These activists believed that our country would be better off if we fired all police officers and replaced them with social workers.

TRUMP’S IMMIGRATION CRACKDOWN IN THE SPOTLIGHT AHEAD OF MIDTERMS AS FATAL MN SHOOTINGS IGNITE BACKLASH

Prior to the death of George Floyd, the defund the police movement was a fringe idea that was only popular among Marxist academics and soy-latte drinking, NPR-tote bag carrying Karens. Fair-minded Americans knew it would be insane to replace cops with social workers. Murderers, thieves, drug dealers and carjackers don’t need hugs; they need jail cells.

But the Karen wing of the Democratic Party saw Floyd’s death as an opportunity to promote the defund-the-police movement. This presented Democratic officials, including Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, with a choice. Door #1: They could ignore the Karens and restore law and order. Door #2: They could defund, disparage and demoralize every officer in the state to appease the Karens.

Walz, Frey and many others chose Door #2. They let rioters seek revenge on law enforcement, stood by as police precincts burned and sat in silence as activists defamed the countless good cops who kept their cities safe.

TRUMP ALLY TELLS GOVERNMENT TO ‘WAKE UP’ AFTER DEADLY FEDERAL AGENT SHOOTINGS IN MINNEAPOLIS

These decisions created one of the worst crime waves in American history. Commercial burglaries increased by 43%, carjackings increased by 93% and murders rose by 44% in the wake of the George Floyd riots.

The defund the police project backfired faster than anyone could have imagined, and Democratic mayors scrambled to undo the damage. But maintaining a strong police force is not a light switch you can flick on and off as the woke mob demands. After years of demoralizing police officers and denigrating them as bigots, racists, and murderers, a lot of cops didn’t want their jobs back.

Nationwide, police departments are still operating with an average of 6% fewer officers than they did in 2020. In Minneapolis, the police force is still 36% smaller than it was before Mr. Floyd’s death, despite a prolonged effort to hire more officers.

TRUMP WARNS MINNEAPOLIS MAYOR HE’S ‘PLAYING WITH FIRE’ AFTER IMMIGRATION ENFORCEMENT CONVERSATION

If anyone can recognize the deep-dish stupidity of the defund-the-police movement, it should be Walz and Frey. But today, it looks like they are ready to lead their Democratic friends down the same anti-law-enforcement path — with a slight twist.

Instead of arguing that cops are a bigger problem than criminals, Walz and Frey have joined the Karen wing of the Democratic Party to say that enforcing immigration laws is racist and vetting migrants is a form of White supremacy. Once again, these activists see the chaos in Minneapolis as an opportunity to use the George Floyd playbook to get Congress to defund ICE and the Border Patrol.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE FOX NEWS OPINION

Prior to the death of George Floyd, the defund the police movement was a fringe idea that was only popular among Marxist academics and soy-latte drinking, NPR-tote bag carrying Karens.

But rioters do not get to dictate which laws the federal government enforces, which illegal immigrants it deports, or which types of fraud it investigates. The federal government, empowered by voters, has the right to make those decisions under the Supremacy Clause of the United States Constitution, and it is illegal for states to obstruct legitimate federal law enforcement.

I understand that Walz, Frey and their Democratic colleagues must follow their hearts. I’m just asking them to take their brains with them.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

It was weapons-grade stupid to defund the police in 2020. It is just as dumb to defund ICE today. From terrorists entering the country to cartels smuggling people and drugs into our communities, President Joe Biden’s open border policies were a disaster for the security and prosperity of the United States. President Trump may have made it look easy to secure the border, but it wasn’t. ICE and Border Patrol worked hard from day one to restore order at the border.

No one wants to see violence in our streets, but we have got to learn the lessons of 2020 and recognize that good law enforcement is the solution, not the problem.    

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM SEN. JOHN KENNEDY

Why Melania’s hit documentary terrifies critics who desperately wanted her to fail

The film “Melania,” a documentary about First Lady Melania Trump, made nearly $8 million on its opening weekend, making it the highest-grossing documentary in a decade. It’s a huge win for the first lady and a crushing defeat for those rooting against her.

The director of “Melania,” Brett Ratner, has previously helmed Hollywood blockbusters such as “Rush Hour” and “X-Men: The Last Stand.” The fact that Ratner is already an established brand in Hollywood is noteworthy. During the first Trump term, it would have been unlikely that a Hollywood director would take a chance on a documentary about Melania Trump. Ratner still took a risk making the film, because Hollywood is traditionally lockstep on politics and quick to cut off anyone who steps outside the line. It’s easier to make a film like this in 2026 than it was in 2017, but only marginally so.

The film is a soft-focus look at Melania Trump’s life as first lady, offering a glossy, feel-good glance into what people normally don’t get to see inside the private first lady’s life. Still, it wouldn’t have mattered what was in the film — the media would have hated it anyway.

OLDER WOMEN DRIVE ‘MELANIA’ DOCUMENTARY TO BOX OFFICE SUCCESS WITH $7M OPENING WEEKEND

The reviews in the mainstream press aren’t so much scathing as personal. Variety called the film a “cheeseball infomercial of staggering inertia,” while The Guardian noted it was “dispiriting, deadly and unrevealing” and “unredeemable.”

In the film, it’s true we see Melania in her beautiful outfits and flawless makeup, but we also see her as the woman behind the man.

In one scene in the film, Melania advises the president to include the word “unifier” in his inaugural speech. On Jan. 20, as he said the words, “My proudest legacy will be that of a peacemaker and unifier. That’s what I want to be: a peacemaker and a unifier,” the president turned around to look at his wife. Of course, Melania wants her husband to be both a peacemaker and a unifier. She is rooting for him to succeed because it helps us all. A vicious media refuses to concede that she may want what is best for the country.

The film portrays a marriage where the first lady cares about her husband, worrying about his security on Inauguration Day and expressing relief when festivities are moved indoors. This portrayal flies in the face of the frequent commentary claiming the marriage is in name only. Why would the first lady care about her husband’s safety if she’s only in the union for glory or money? The New York Times counted how many days Melania has spent in the White House during this term, and Trump biographer Michael Wolff has claimed, without evidence, that they are separated. This film answers those accusations and rumors directly, in Melania’s own words.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE FOX NEWS OPINION

In a 2018 interview with ABC, Melania was asked about her marriage and said, “I know people like to speculate and media like to speculate about our marriage. It’s not always pleasant, of course. But I know what is right and what is wrong and what is true or not true.”

She does, and she shows it in this film.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

On the review site Rotten Tomatoes, the film “Melania” is setting another kind of record: the largest discrepancy between the scores of film reviewers and filmgoers in the site’s history. It makes sense, since most of the reviewers went into the film with a rating in mind, whether or not they actually enjoyed the movie. The people who spent their money to go watch their first lady on the screen were going to be more honest, even if some were swayed by their enthusiasm for their president.

The media has three more years of the Trump administration and Melania Trump. They can stop having outbursts about the first lady and give her a fair hearing — something more than half the country would commend. Or they can continue to descend into irrelevance, as everyone knows even their panning of a film will be political. The choice is theirs.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM KAROL MARKOWICZ

I infiltrated radical groups 40 years ago. Leftists are desperate for martyrs

It appears that agitators are trying to spark confrontations with federal law enforcement that could lead to protesters being harmed, even killed, to spark outrage and support for their cause.

It’s a sick story. It sounds outrageous. But it’s true, and everything old is new again.

I saw it 40 years ago and testified about it to Congress. Today we are seeing again: Inserting American citizens into flash points as part of a political strategy to get people shot for the purpose of inflaming the public against a president and his policies.

The recent deaths of two Minneapolis protesters reminded me of what I had learned as a 24-year-old in the mid-1980s while infiltrating radical groups – much as people in their 20s are doing today.

JOURNALIST ATTACKED DURING MINNEAPOLIS BLOCKADE SAYS ANTI-ICE AGITATORS TRIED TO ‘DETER’ THE TRUTH

Revolutionaries and insurgents create or exploit flash points in anticipation of getting some of their followers killed. Journalist Cam Higby has reported on this in Minneapolis. They need martyrs to spark or fuel public anger.

Facing professionally organized provocations and stressors, it was inevitable that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Border Patrol agents would plunge into circumstances that domestic extremists had created to provoke media outrage.

Revolutionaries call it “armed propaganda.”

DAVID MARCUS: ANTI-ICE AGITATORS ADOPT PALESTINIAN TACTICS, INCLUDING MARTYRDOM

After Portland, Ore., activist Benjamin Linder was killed in Nicaragua by U.S.-backed resistance fighters, or contras, against the Soviet-backed Sandinista regime in 1987, the House Subcommittee on Western Hemisphere Affairs held a hearing.

Linder was armed with an AK-47 at the time of his death. Sympathizers portrayed him as a peaceful humanitarian worker. I was called as a witness.

“For two years,” I testified, a group called Witness for Peace (WfP) had “anticipated the killing of an American citizen by the contras so that they could use his death for political propaganda. They wanted someone like Benjamin Linder to die.”

FOX NEWS DIGITAL ANALYSIS: HOW MINNEAPOLIS AGITATOR NETWORKS USE INSURGENCY TACTICS TO HINDER ICE

That was hard to say, not only because it sounded so outrageous, but because I was sitting with Linder’s parents in the congressional hearing room.

The Linders were lifetime radicals from Portland. They supported North Vietnam and the Vietcong against American troops. The mother was the local leader of a group that collaborated with Soviet active measures operations against the United States. They raised their son Benjamin to place himself in mortal danger.

Facing professionally organized provocations and stressors, it was inevitable that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Border Patrol agents would plunge into circumstances that domestic extremists had created to provoke media outrage.

My impression was that they seemed less like grieving parents and more like mourners of a fallen comrade.

ANTI-ICE AGITATORS ARRESTED OUTSIDE MINNESOTA HOTEL AS POLICE DECLARE UNLAWFUL ASSEMBLY: ‘NO LONGER PEACEFUL’

As college students and afterward, my friends and I had infiltrated and exposed groups across the country that supported the Central American communists. I also worked with the Nicaraguan resistance fighters against the Sandinistas.

At the hearing, I gave my eyewitness account, plus secondary reports, about how American militant leaders wanted U.S.-backed forces to kill some of their do-gooder allies.

Revolutionary insurgencies require martyrs to outrage and inspire.

DEPUTY AG DETAILS ‘MASSIVE UNDERGROUND FRAUD NETWORK’ ALLEGEDLY BEHIND MINNEAPOLIS ANTI-ICE PUSH

“It is obvious that Witness for Peace leaders are aware of the military role they are playing in Central America,” I testified.

“On one of my trips with the Nicaraguan Democratic Force (FDN) resistance in 1985, I asked several commanders and fighters if the presence of Americans was having any effect on their ability to fight the Sandinista army,” I said in my testimony. “The answer was positive: The FDN fighters were afraid of hurting any Americans working with the Sandinistas for fear of a backlash of public opinion in the United States.”

At a 1995 Witness for Peace meeting in Boulder, Colo., I learned that the group was planning to expand operations to El Salvador, only to abort three days later when its guerrilla friends murdered four off-duty U.S. Marines and two other Americans.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE FOX NEWS OPINION

I testified that in a later New York meeting, we heard “that some of the group’s leaders privately expressed hope that some of their activists in Nicaragua would get shot by the resistance. If a Witness for Peace activist was killed, they reasoned, American public opinion would turn against the contras.”

The Boston Globe quoted another WfP activist, a lawyer from Bangor, Maine, as saying that “Some of us have got to die” at the hands of U.S.-backed forces. “If some of us die, we bring the cause home to our countrymen in a very personal way,” he said. “If that’s what it will take, that’s what it will take.”

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

With Linder’s death, I told Congress, the American radicals “finally had a martyr. They got their televised interviews. They have their congressional hearing. They got their wish.”

Which brings us back to Minneapolis today. America must face the fact that organizers are out there to enrage, demoralize and manipulate us all. They don’t care about the human fallout.

DR MARC SIEGEL: How AA, faith and science align with Trump’s fight against addiction

I applaud President Donald Trump’s Jan. 29 executive order known as the Great American Recovery Initiative, but I think it should be renamed the Bill W. and Dr. Bob Initiative, after the founders of Alcoholics Anonymous. Both men suffered from severe alcoholism until a fateful day in December 1934, when Bill Wilson experienced a spiritual awakening — described as a blinding white light — after demanding that God show Himself. Bill also described the sensation of standing on a mountain with the wind of the Spirit blowing through him, and he instantly felt liberated, his obsession with alcohol gone.

This conversion experience formed the basis for Bill W.’s spiritual transformation and recovery from alcoholism, and it led to the core 12-step program of Alcoholics Anonymous, which Bill W. co-founded in June 1935 with Dr. Robert Smith. Dr. Bob also suffered from severe alcoholism, and Bill W. helped him quit. By that June, Dr. Bob had taken his final drink. Together with Sister Ignatia, Dr. Bob helped transfer his freedom from alcohol to others, providing medical care and physical guidance to thousands of alcoholics in Akron, Ohio, and around the country.

The reason I believe President Trump’s initiative could be called the Bill W. and Dr. Bob Initiative is because, like AA, it recognizes the importance of community, health and faith. These elements must be central tenets of the plan for it to be successful. The White House announcement states its goal is “to coordinate a national response to the disease of addiction across government, health care, faith communities and the private sector in order to save lives, restore families, strengthen our communities and build the Great American Recovery.”

DAVID MARCUS: SECURE BORDER BRINGS PLUMMETING OVERDOSE DEATHS, BUT DON’T EXPECT TRUMP TO GET CREDIT

Trump’s initiative was soon followed this week by the HHS $100 million Safety Through Recovery, Engagement and Evidence-based Treatment and Supports (STREETS) program, which will focus on addiction, mental health, homelessness and crisis intervention. 

This is a much-needed program and I was glad to see it spearheaded by HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., himself a recovered heroin addict, along with his cousin, former Rep. Patrick Kennedy, a recovering alcoholic whom I have interviewed and found to be a powerful and convincing voice for recovery.

The reason I believe President Trump’s initiative could be called the Bill W. and Dr. Bob Initiative is because, like AA, it recognizes the importance of community, health and faith. 

Keep in mind that denial is a key part of the problem for most addicts, and deep faith, along with role modeling, is a critical way to overcome that denial. As the White House pointed out in its fact sheet, “48.4 million Americans, or 16.8% of our nation’s population, suffer from addiction, yet very few who need treatment receive it or believe they need it.”

DOCTOR REVEALS WHAT 30 DAYS WITHOUT ALCOHOL DOES TO THE BRAIN AND BODY AMID DRY JANUARY

During President Trump’s first term, in 2019, when he declared the opioid crisis a public health emergency, he also acknowledged that his brother Fred had “a very, very, very tough life” before succumbing to alcoholism and heart disease. Trump said the same to me when I interviewed him at the White House in July 2020, and I could see how deeply the loss affected him personally.

Trump’s heart is clearly in the right place when it comes to the current initiative — and he is not alone. The announcement of the new federal plan to combat drug and alcohol addiction included Kathryn Burgum, a former alcoholic and the wife of Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, as well as United State Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff, who told the story of his son dying from a drug overdose during the event.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE FOX NEWS OPINION

Raising awareness is a lofty goal, along with acknowledging just how hard addictions are to break. The role of faith and the church must be emphasized, but so too must the scientific tools that enable miraculous recoveries — from buprenorphine, a partial opioid agonist, to naltrexone, an opioid antagonist that blocks both euphoria and craving. GLP-1 agonists are also showing promise in decreasing cravings for alcohol and drugs and reducing alcohol consumption, in part by delaying gastric emptying. Medically assisted therapy for opioids — specifically methadone, naltrexone and buprenorphine — has been shown to reduce opioid-related deaths by more than 50%.

As I wrote in my new book, “The Miracles Among Us,” so-called soft miracles arise from an intricate combination of science and faith.

All these tools must be paid for, and the federal government should help make them more available. Indeed, every primary care physician like me should have the unrestricted ability to prescribe these lifesaving medications, and every major church and synagogue should have a federally subsidized recovery program for drug and alcohol addiction.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

Addiction destroys not just individuals, but entire families and communities. Recovery from addiction is a multi-pronged process involving faith, access to quality health care and committed leaders who can relate to the problem. 

Ninety years after Bill W. and Dr. Bob started us down the path toward beating addiction, their caring, spiritual approach is more important than ever.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM DR. MARC SIEGEL

America is the sole superpower again. Here’s how Trump surprised the world

There’s one superpower that dominates the planet again, and it’s the United States.

In just one year in office, President Donald Trump has catapulted the U.S. from a country that seemed on the brink of inevitable decline, into the American colossus that’s put the other great powers — especially China and Russia — in the shade, and now determines the tempo and direction of world events.

What happened in Davos should set aside any doubts. In 24 hours, President Trump turned worldwide panic about possible U.S. military intervention in Greenland into worldwide relief with a framework for peacefully securing the giant island for generations to come.

We were the world’s “sole superpower” twice in the 20th century, right after World War II and again after the Cold War. Now, thanks to Donald Trump and his administration, it’s happening again in the 21st century. It’s important to understand why and how, and what it means for the future.

THE DONROE DOCTRINE: TRUMP IS REWRITING POWER POLITICS TO PUT AMERICA FIRST

There are three components that make a dominant world power: military strength, economic strength and bold leadership.

Military power: By taking out the Iranian nuclear program and by snatching the Venezuelan dictator in the middle of the night — both without losing a single American — Donald Trump demonstrated that we have a military with an unparalleled global reach and effectiveness. Meanwhile, Russia is bogged down in a World War I-style stalemate in Ukraine, while the last time China’s army fought a real war was in 1979 against Vietnam — a war China lost.

Economic strength: This year will mark the start of an economic boom triggered by the Trump tax cuts and deregulation, that may see the U.S. economy grow by 5% or more (China will be lucky to hit above 4.5%). Trillions of direct foreign investment dollars and a revived American industrial landscape means we will have an economy geared toward making things again, not just spending money. At the same time, Trump’s use of tariffs has redirected the flow of world trade to America’s advantage and China’s disadvantage, as we leverage our power as the world’s biggest and best customer to get other nations to play fair in the trade game.

MORNING GLORY: PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP HAS BECOME THE ‘PUNISHER-IN-CHIEF’

The global management company Teneo’s annual CEO and Investor Outlook Survey shows that 73% of global CEOs expect the global economy to improve in 2026, in large part because of the coming U.S. boom. 

Bold leadership: Just a year ago, America was still feeling the disastrous effects of an enfeebled president who surrendered world leadership to China, Russia and Iran. Joe Biden and his team had all but crippled the American economy with rampant inflation and declining productivity, while their obsession with “climate change” came at the expense of one of the country’s most important economic assets, our oil and natural gas industry.

Along comes Donald Trump, and suddenly what seemed like problematic areas of the U.S. economy — AI, cryptocurrency, oil and natural gas production, manufacturing — leap into the forefront of administration policy for making America great again. Instead of weakness and impotence on the world stage, the United States has retaken the lead, from ending the fighting in Gaza and reshaping the future of the Middle East, to starting to push interlopers like China, Russia and Iran out of the Western Hemisphere — whether it’s Venezuela or Greenland or the Panama Canal.

TRUMP HAS SET THE STAGE FOR AN AMERICAN COMEBACK AFTER BIDEN’S DISMAL ECONOMY

Most importantly, for the first time in a very long time — perhaps not since Ronald Reagan was president, — we have a president who is unapologetic about flexing American power and influence around the globe, and who sees world leadership not as a temporary transition phase, but as America’s birthright on its 250th anniversary.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE FOX NEWS OPINION

Leadership doesn’t mean being globocop. It does mean acknowledging moments like the one last month, when Venezuela’s Maria Machado handed over her Nobel Peace Prize to Donald Trump, in gratitude for supporting the democratic resistance in her country.

The moment tells us that, under President Trump, America has re-assumed the moral leadership, as well as military, economic and technological leadership, of the planet.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

These “sole superpower” moments can speed by. The first after World War II faded with the rise of the Soviet Union, and died in the jungles of Vietnam. The second, after the Cold War, was dissipated in military spending cuts and an orgy of “peace dividend” spending, which facilitated the advance of Communist China. Russia and especially China remain formidable adversaries — and nuclear-armed ones. Trump and his administration need to take full advantage of America’s current sole superpower status before some unforeseen event, or failure of judgment or nerve, triggers its demise.

In the meantime, enjoy being the dominant power on the planet. It’s a great way to start America’s next 250 years.

The medical system pushed transgender surgery on kids — now it’s facing legal justice

Two million dollars.

That’s how much money a 22-year-old woman just won in a New York lawsuit against her doctors. She sued them for medical malpractice after they cut off her breasts when she was 16. They told her she could become a boy, even though that’s biologically impossible. Now she has won the first-ever lawsuit against doctors who try to give sex changes to kids.

That brave young woman isn’t alone.

I’m 21 years old, and I’m also suing the medical system that gave me sex-change treatments starting at age 13. There are so many other young people like us. We were lied to by doctors, nurses and therapists when we were vulnerable and confused children. They did irreversible harm to our bodies and minds, making a mockery of the medical profession. They should absolutely be held accountable for sacrificing us in service to radical transgender ideology.

HHS GOLD STANDARD STUDY FLIPS ‘GENDER AFFIRMING CARE’ ON ITS HEAD AS DEMS KEEP PUSHING TRANS ISSUES AT SCOTUS

The woman in New York has a heartbreaking story. She accused a psychologist and surgeon of pressuring her to get a sex-change surgery when she was a teenager. While her mother was opposed to the surgery, she felt like she had no choice but to allow it. That checks out: Doctors tell parents all the time that without a sex change, their child is going to commit suicide. How can a parent argue with that?

But “fixing” someone with a sex-change surgery is what actually breaks them. The New York woman found that out the hard way. She’s now a detransitioner, and she’ll be dealing with the effects of those doctors’ actions for the rest of her life. In that $2 million settlement, the jury awarded her $1.6 million for her pain and suffering — and $400,000 for future medical expenses. She’s probably never going to stop needing physical and mental health care because of what was done to her.

I WAS TOLD I WAS A BOY. SUPREME COURT MUST DESTROY LIES THAT HARM WOMEN LIKE ME

The exact same thing happened to me. In my pre-teen years, I became deeply confused about my gender because of the influence of social media and video games. But instead of helping me accept that I’m a girl, therapists and doctors told me I was a boy.

CALIFORNIA AG SUES HOSPITAL THAT ENDED GENDER TRANSITION TREATMENT FOR MINORS TO COMPLY WITH TRUMP POLICIES

They gave me puberty blockers at age 13, stopping my body from developing naturally. They gave me cross-sex hormones not long after that, altering my brain as well as my body. At 16, they cut off my breasts, too. Years later, I still have bandages on my chest.

My doctors told me everything was reversible. But as soon as I realized the mistake I made, I also realized they had lied. There’s no real going back — not completely, and not ever. Like the young woman in New York, I was misled by the doctors my parents and I trusted. Just like her, I need medical help until the day I die. But the doctors who did this to me wouldn’t even talk to me, much less try to help me regain my life as a girl.

Doctors should know better. They’re dealing with kids whose minds and bodies are still developing. They’re dealing with kids going through the awkward years of adolescence. The best medical path is obviously to wait and watch. Wait to let kids develop naturally. Watch that development with the help of real mental health care, especially therapy that helps kids come to grips with who they really are.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

Instead, these doctors are rushing kids down the irreversible and dangerous path of sex changes. Do No Harm has found that nearly 14,000 kids have received sex changes in recent years, although the real number is almost certainly far higher. What’s been done to them is the definition of medical malpractice. The doctors who perpetrated this injustice should absolutely pay for the lives they’ve destroyed.

For that matter, every doctor who’s even remotely involved in providing sex changes should stop — immediately. People like me are coming for them. They pressured us and hurt us in profound ways. We demand justice. The $2 million that New York woman just won is a start. But this won’t end until the medical profession atones for its actions and stops giving sex changes to children once and for all.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM CHLOE COLE

MORNING GLORY: Trump can end the Dreamer standoff by taking on sanctuary cities

Is there a path emerging for the “Dreamers” to finally receive legal status? Could a “regularization” of this group of more than 3 million illegal immigrants be near?

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., whom I interviewed on my radio show Wednesday, did not sound overly optimistic about passing the final FY 2026 appropriations bill — the one that funds the Department of Homeland Security — but he also did not rule out including “regularization” for the “Dreamers,” provided the same bill includes a funding knockout for “sanctuary cities and states.”

President Donald Trump, Thune noted, has long been open to regularizing the status of the Dreamers. If congressional Democrats want to actually accomplish something with their latest funding stunt, they should ask for legal status for the Dreamers while being prepared to apply pressure to sanctuary cities.

On Tuesday, I argued for just such a deal on this platform — a “Nixon-to-China” compromise that President Trump could pull off, and that no other Republican would dare to attempt, much less succeed in executing.

STEPHEN COLBERT CHEERS ON ALEX PADILLA’S BILL THAT WOULD MAKE ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS CITIZENS

The president showed the way with his “First Step Act” criminal justice reform law during his first term. Now he could again lead — this time to secure long-desired “regularization” for the Dreamers — reflecting a view shared by the vast majority of Americans: Illegal immigrants brought here as minors should not be deported to countries of origin, if those countries can even be identified.

On Wednesday, I proposed such a law to the majority leader, and his polite refusal reflects the two decades of scars nearly every Republican legislator carries from past immigration battles.

A hard-core group of deportation absolutists opposes regularization for the Dreamers, and their volume often obscures how small their numbers really are. That kind of strident rejection of commonsense solutions must, in turn, be rejected by the president and congressional Republicans.

TRUMP’S IMMIGRATION CRACKDOWN SPARKS BIPARTISAN CALL FOR ASYLUM FIXES, PROTECTION FOR LONGTIME MIGRANTS

The coalition that returned the president to the Oval Office was built on common sense about the border. First, close it — as the president has done. Second, fund and finish the wall, which is underway. Third, detain and deport the most dangerous among the tens of millions of illegal immigrants in the country — a challenge made nearly insoluble by President Joe Biden’s four years of border failure, but one now being addressed.

A “First Step on Immigration Act” would continue the commitments the president campaigned on, and it should not attempt to be a “comprehensive solution” to the illegal immigration mess left by the Biden administration.

Such “comprehensive” legislative schemes rarely make it through Congress, because either the political right or the political left — or both — rise up to shout them down, often with good reason.

TOP REPUBLICAN REBUKES NOTIONS TO ARREST DHS AGENTS WITH PLAN TO PULL FUNDING FROM PROBLEM CITIES

For one thing, these efforts over the past 20 years have promised a “pathway to citizenship,” which should never be available to someone who broke the law to get here. Millions wait patiently in line to legally enter the United States, and those who cut that line cannot be allowed to stay while also gaining the right to vote or access entitlements reserved for Americans who have paid decades of taxes into programs like Medicare and Social Security.

There are “first steps” toward making immigration enforcement rational, just as the first steps President Trump took in his second term were to close the border and as Congress’ first step was to fully fund construction of the border wall. Check and check.

The next steps should include granting “blue cards” to Dreamers — and to any other narrow category of illegal immigrant around which consensus exists — but only if those grants are paired with serious penalties for any city, county or state that refuses to cooperate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE FOX NEWS OPINION

The United States must be consistent in its message: We are a welcoming and compassionate country, and we will regularize the Dreamers. But we are also a nation of laws, and no federal funding should flow to jurisdictions whose law enforcement agencies refuse to cooperate with ICE to identify and deport illegal aliens who have been arrested and are in custody.

Common sense on compassion, combined with common sense on compliance with federal law, is the sweet spot for the next phase of solving the illegal immigration crisis.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

Democrats have handed President Trump the high ground in this debate. They believed they could make the last appropriations fight about ICE. Instead, the president and congressional Republicans should make it about the Dreamers and sanctuary cities.

Good policy can also be great politics. Consult virtually any poll on immigration. A “First Step on Immigration Act” built on “80-20” positions — those that eight in 10 Americans agree with — is a great place to start.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE FROM HUGH HEWITT

Trump’s immigration victory in a Minnesota court is a win for all law-abiding citizens

Minnesota is not an island – geographically or legally. That’s the firm message from the Jan. 31 decision by Judge Katherine Menendez, refusing to issue a preliminary injunction against the federal government’s immigration law enforcement operations in Minnesota.

The federal immigration laws apply in Minnesota just as much as in Missouri. Contrary to cynical politicians who seek to weaponize misguided individuals into fighting a phantom holy war pitting some states against the national government, Operation Metro Surge is neither unconstitutional nor a violation of states’ rights.

The federal court’s stinging rebuke appears to have quickly forced Minnesota’s governor to deliver “unprecedented cooperation“ and enable border czar Tom Homan to draw down federal agents on Feb 5. Here’s why.

Let’s start with how this case got to court. Minnesota’s politicians have been engaged in lawfare against the Trump administration, claiming that the federal government is intruding on the state’s sovereignty. They challenged the federal enforcement actions as violative of the 10th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which states, “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.” Minnesota sought a preliminary injunction to stop Operation Metro Surge.

‘BORDER CZAR’ TOM HOMAN SETS THE RECORD STRAIGHT ABOUT HIS MISSION IN MINNEAPOLIS

Even though the court’s ruling was on a preliminary motion, the constitutional argument was effectively busted by the judge’s reasoning.

Minnesota argued that Operation Metro Surge was motivated by political animus, aimed at punishing it because it was a sanctuary state, and violated the Constitution’s equal sovereignty and anticommandeering principles.

The problem is that our Founding Fathers designed the Constitution to ensure the supremacy of federal laws and the capacity of the executive branch to enforce them. In Federalist No. 44, James Madison expounded on the perils of not having such supremacy: “the world would have seen, for the first time, a system of government founded on an inversion of the fundamental principles of all government; it would have seen the authority of the whole society every where subordinate to the authority of the parts; it would have seen a monster, in which the head was under the direction of the members.”

MINNESOTA DRAGS TRUMP’S ICE TO COURT IN EFFORT TO PAUSE IMMIGRATION CRACKDOWN

Madison concluded that “no part of the power is unnecessary or improper for accomplishing the necessary objects of the Union. The question, therefore, whether this amount of power shall be granted or not, resolves itself into another question, whether or not a government commensurate to the exigencies of the Union shall be established; or, in other words, whether the Union itself shall be preserved.”

Nowhere is the question about the preservation of the union more critical than in the matter of immigration and foreign relations. That’s why the president has such broad powers in these areas, because he needs those powers as they are “commensurate to the exigencies of the Union” and necessary to preserve a unified country under the laws.

Here, the supreme federal law is the Immigration and Naturalization Act, a statute passed by Congress. That law confers power on federal officials to undertake various enforcement actions, including detention and removal. And President Donald Trump campaigned and won an election specifically on the total abdication by the prior administration in enforcing immigration laws. Having won the election on that issue, it stood to reason that Trump would keep his promise and seek to remove illegal migrants – especially those with criminal backgrounds.

BORDER CZAR TOM HOMAN CALLS ANTI-ICE ROADBLOCKS IN MINNEAPOLIS A ‘JOKE’ AFTER POLICE CHIEF DISBANDS THEM

In the face of widespread fraud and diversion of federal funds to illegal migrants and the state governor’s willful refusal to prosecute them, Trump deployed federal officers to enforce the law.

Minnesota’s argument in court that Trump violated the 10th Amendment’s anticommandeering principle is nonsense. As explained by the Supreme Court in New York v. US, 505 U. S. 144, 161, “Congress may not simply ‘commandeer the legislative process of the States by directly compelling them to enact and enforce a federal regulatory program.’” The purpose is to ensure political accountability, protect individual liberty and prevent the federal government from transferring the costs of enforcing a federal law on to the states.

Contrary to cynical politicians who seek to weaponize misguided individuals into fighting a phantom holy war pitting some states against the national government, Operation Metro Surge is neither unconstitutional nor a violation of states’ rights.

Trump and ICE did not commandeer Minnesota state officials to enforce immigration laws. In fact, the Minnesota governor and Minneapolis mayor have both loudly proclaimed that they will not enforce immigration laws or cooperate with the federal government. They have labeled ICE agents as thugs and goons and incited resistance. Clearly, state officials are not being commandeered – the facts show the opposite: resistance.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE FOX NEWS OPINION

Minnesota also claimed that ICE operations were causing it to respond and divert resources away from other purposes. This is equally nonsensical – it takes fewer resources to cooperate and help ICE in arresting criminals than it does to obstruct and resist. No one forced Minnesota to appease its voter banks and provide a freebie for those who evade immigration laws. In effect, Minnesota is telling anyone who is clever enough to violate or evade immigration law that the state’s legal machinery will protect them. That is a response and diversion of resources to protect lawbreakers – of Minnesota’s own choosing. It was not a choice forced on it by ICE.

Second, the equal sovereignty argument is unavailing. The president has discretion on the enforcement of the immigration laws just as he does in the context of other executive powers conferred upon him by the Constitution. The Supreme Court explained in US. v. Texas, 599 U.S. 670, 678 (2023), that under Article II, “the Executive Branch possesses authority to decide ‘how to prioritize and how aggressively to pursue legal actions against defendants who violate the law.’”

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

The deployment of ICE officers in larger numbers in Minnesota underscores the value of the discretion possessed by the president. Clearly, the fraudulent diversion of funds to illegal migrants and Minnesota’s refusal to take corrective actions warranted a more robust federal enforcement response than in other states. Equal sovereignty is not violated by the prudent exercise of discretion – it is reinforced by proportionate enforcement.

Ultimately, Democrat Gov. Tim Walz’s lawfare against the Trump administration is not a war about state sovereignty. It is a war for and on behalf of lawbreakers being fought by diverting valuable resources away from law-abiding citizens and using misguided citizens as cannon fodder. Minnesota deserves better.

The border gets the attention while fraudulent government benefits bleed taxpayers dry

The immigration debate is focused almost entirely on the border, but the real failure happens after entry, inside taxpayer-funded benefits systems that rarely demand proof. While enforcement dominates the headlines, billions of dollars quietly move through Medicaid, housing and social services with weak identity verification, inconsistent eligibility checks and little accountability. This is where the system breaks down: Americans work harder, taxpayer dollars move faster and fraud thrives in the absence of enforcement.

While Democrats and much of the mainstream media obsess over ICE enforcement and border encounters, a far more serious failure is unfolding inside Medicaid offices, housing authorities and social services agencies nationwide. Federal data show that Medicaid improper payments of our tax dollars reached $37.4 billion in fiscal year 2025, with error rates climbing above 6%, up from $31.1 billion the year before. Across federal healthcare programs, improper payments now approach $95.5 billion.

They are the taxpayer dollars of hardworking Americans paid out without adequate documentation, verified eligibility or proof that payments met program rules. Federal auditors report that over 77% of improper payments stem from documentation gaps unsubstantiated by administrators. While not every improper payment constitutes fraud, weak identity verification and minimal oversight create incentives for abuse by both providers and recipients. States lacking robust verification systems are far more likely to issue improper or fraudulent payments, a risk repeatedly flagged by federal watchdogs. This is the predictable outcome of systems that prioritize rapid enrollment over verification, expansion over accountability and optics over enforcement.

CONGRESS OPENS ‘INDUSTRIAL-SCALE FRAUD’ PROBE IN MINNESOTA, WARNS WALZ DEMANDS ARE ‘JUST THE BEGINNING’

Minnesota has become ground zero for an epic collapse in benefits oversight. Since 2018, approximately half of $18 billion in federally funded social service spending has come under scrutiny amid allegations of fraud tied to Medicaid, housing stabilization services and disability care programs. Prosecutors allege schemes involving billing for services were never provided, shell providers approved with minimal vetting and even after red flags were raised, state agencies continued payments. The Feeding Our Future case alone resulted in more than 50 federal convictions and hundreds of millions in fraudulent claims, making it one of the largest nonprofit fraud prosecutions in U.S. history. This is the predictable result of ignored audits and failed oversight.

California is another stark example of taxpayer fraud when verification is optional. A federal Office of Inspector General audit found the state improperly claimed more than $52 million in federal Medicaid reimbursements for illegal aliens because California failed to check eligibility and enforce basic verification. That same breakdown appears in homelessness spending, where federal auditors warned that hundreds of millions of dollars were at risk given weak controls, a warning recently highlighted by a federal criminal complaint alleging a California nonprofit fraudulently obtained $23 million in federal homelessness funds. Instead of proving eligibility, the system assumed eligibility and taxpayers paid the price.

SEC SCOTT BESSENT: HOW TO STOP FRAUD IN MINNESOTA—AND ACROSS THE COUNTRY

Maine shows the same dangerous pattern. A federal Office of Inspector General audit found at least $45.6 million due to improper Medicaid payments driven by lack of compliance of eligibility checks and inadequate documentation. Maine agreed to repay up to $28.7 million in federal funds, but oversight failures continued. Just last month, state investigators also found that Gateway Community Services overbilled MaineCare by more than $1 million, triggering payment suspensions and investigation amid suspected fraud.

WALZ’S MINNESOTA MESS COULD SPARK THE TOUGHEST FRAUD REFORMS IN DECADES

These cases are only the ones that were investigated, but showcase a national pattern where, when benefits systems are designed to move money quickly and verification is treated as optional, waste and fraud are inevitable. Americans feel this disconnect, and the data confirms it. A Reuters/Ipsos poll released in January 2026 found that 53% of Americans say immigration policy is moving in the wrong direction, outweighing approval. At the same time, Pew Research reports only 17% of Americans trust the federal government in Washington to do what is right. That distrust is not just about immigration, but reflects a broader belief that government has lost control, spending taxpayer dollars without audits, accountability or consequences. The political class is stuck in denial. Democrats often frame audits and eligibility enforcement as cruel or discriminatory, while some Republicans tout it as the “cost of doing business.” Both positions are a losing message for taxpayers who see massive fraud with little oversight. Protecting public trust in social safety nets requires pro-taxpayer, pro-rule-of-law enforcement.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE FOX NEWS OPINION

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

We must enforce the same standards working Americans face daily when they apply for jobs, loans or any government services. Identity verification, eligibility checks and continuous audits are the bare minimum of responsible governance.

Arguing over border enforcement while ignoring the benefits systems only deepens the chaos. You cannot control immigration while refusing to control the programs that quietly finance disorder. Immigration did not spiral because Americans demanded order — it spiraled because government stopped demanding proof.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM MEHEK COOKE

RILEY GAINES: Georgia voters must reject Jon Ossoff’s awful record against women

As a former collegiate swimmer who raced against, and lost opportunities to, a male competitor, I know exactly what is at stake when women’s sports are not protected: scholarships, records, roster spots, and the promise of Title IX — that women and girls would finally have an equal opportunity to compete on a level playing field. It happened in Georgia. And now, in 2026, the safety of every girl in Georgia remains on the line.

When it has mattered most, Georgia Democrat Sen. Jon Ossoff has abandoned women and girls every single time.

Start with sports. Sen. Ossoff has had three chances to stand up for female athletes –three chances to say girls’ sports are for girls. Three times, he voted no.

In March 2025, he voted against the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act, a straightforward, common-sense bill that would have clarified under Title IX that female sports are reserved for females based on biological sex. The measure would have reinforced the law’s original intent.

THE ATHLETES, COACHES, LAWMAKERS AND OFFICIALS WHO HAVE PICKED A SIDE IN THE SCOTUS WOMEN’S SPORTS BATTLE

In March 2024, he voted to kill an amendment that would have withheld federal funds from schools and states that allow men to compete in women’s programs.

In March 2021, he voted against an amendment to stop schools from placing male athletes in female categories. 

Three chances to stand with women. Three times he refused.

But it doesn’t stop there. Sen. Ossoff is also pushing to override Georgia’s state-level protections by repeatedly backing the federal Equality Act. He co-sponsored it in 2021 and 2023 and campaigned on it in 2020. The bill would redefine sex to include gender identity across federal civil rights law, with no carveout for sports. Legal experts and elite female athletes — many of them not conservatives — have warned exactly what that means: co-ed competition, lost opportunities, and compromised safety.

REPUBLICAN GOVERNORS URGE JUSTICES TO DEFEND WOMEN’S SPORTS AS SUPREME COURT HEARS KEY CASE

The Equality Act is not a compromise. It is a federal mandate that wipes out Georgia’s right to protect its own girls.

Ossoff’s record goes far beyond the playing field. He’s supported legislation that would force access to bathrooms, locker rooms, and changing rooms based on gender identity. Translation: He supports policies that would require your daughter to undress in a locker room with a man. No regard for privacy. No regard for safety.

He supports policies that tell women——that their discomfort and fear don’t matter, that male feelings matter more than a woman’s physical safety. 

On women’s sports, women’s spaces, women’s shelters, and religious freedom, the Democratic senator sides with Washington mandates over Georgia families

Think about women fleeing abuse, staying in domestic violence shelters with their kids. These women deserve dignity, privacy, and trauma-informed policies. Yet Ossoff has supported measures that would force women’s domestic violence shelters to admit males who identify as women, despite survivors repeatedly that these policies can retraumatize them and push them back onto the streets. That’s not compassion. That’s cruelty dressed up as progress.

‘SAVE WOMEN’S SPORTS’ ACTIVISTS REACT TO SUPREME COURT TRANS ATHLETE HEARING

Religious freedom isn’t safe either. Sen. Ossoff introduced a bill to override the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, forcing Christian hospitals in Georgia to perform transgender surgeries against their deeply held beliefs. 

Put it all together, and the pattern is obvious. On women’s sports, women’s spaces, women’s shelters, and religious freedom, Jon Ossoff sides with Washington mandates over Georgia families. Georgia is trying to protect fairness. He’s trying to federalize it away.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE FOX NEWS OPINION

Some say fairness can be preserved with hormone rules or case-by-case exceptions. It cannot.

I lived the reality. Women are asked to be quiet, to disregard our gut instinct when it tells us it’s wrong to nonconsensually undress next to a man in a locker room, to surrender records and roster spots to maintain someone else’s feelings. Title IX was never meant to make women invisible to solve a controversy. It was meant to ensure that we count.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

Georgia is leading with courage. Georgia schools can maintain girls’ teams for girls. Georgia courts may soon confirm that simple truth nationwide. Georgia senators should help, not hinder. 

Sen. Ossoff has had multiple chances to stand with Georgia women and girls. He chose politics –and fear of radicals in his party –over our daughters, over even his own daughter. With the Supreme Court poised to potentially uphold states’ authority to protect women’s sports, it is time for Georgia’s senator to do the same. It’s time for a real man to send Jon Ossoff home.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM RILEY GAINES

Kevin Warsh must move fast to undo the worst Fed mistakes in decades

President Trump hit the bullseye in selecting Kevin Warsh as the next Federal Reserve Board chairman.

In contrast to the failed tenure of Jerome Powell, Warsh is not political, and he is not an inflationist. He has declared many times that “I reject the discredited Phillips Curve notion that growth causes inflation.” He believes we can return to a prosperous era of low inflation and high growth, as we saw under Paul Volcker in the 1980s and Alan Greenspan in the 1990s.

Powell never understood that. He believed that growth causes inflation. What we got instead was a near Fed-created stock market crash and slow growth in 2018, followed by four years of Biden-era stagflation, with stagnant real wages AND high prices.

Powell is a lame duck, and a wounded duck he should resign immediately. He won’t, so we have four more months before regime change and the abandonment of his monetary and interest rate mismanagement that gave us 9% inflation.

REPUBLICAN SENATOR VOWS TO BLOCK TRUMP FED NOMINEE OVER POWELL INVESTIGATION

This means Warsh must be ready to reverse monetary course on day one.

First, I agree with former World Bank President David Malpass that the overriding goal of the Warsh Fed should be to keep the dollar strong and prices stable. Defend the dollar.

It’s critically important for Warsh to “know thine enemy,” or the Fed’s blob will chew him up and spit him out. The Fed staff will openly work to subvert Warsh’s primary strategy to conquer inflation.

I’m a little worried that Trump wants a weak dollar, which is what Powell has delivered of late. The decline in the dollar, relative to other currencies and gold, are trends that could raise prices and put the dollar’s world reserve-currency status at risk. Don’t go there.

SUPREME COURT WEIGHS TRUMP BID TO FIRE FED GOVERNOR LISA COOK

Second, Warsh must move quickly to clean house at the Fed. He has promised to cut the bureaucracy by 30%. That’s a good start.

The Fed doesn’t need more than 3,000 bureaucrats and hundreds of Ph.D. economists, given all the mistakes they’ve made in recent years. They could have just as easily created 9% inflation with half that many people.

This is urgent because the empire is already preparing to strike back.

TRUMP CRIMINAL PROBE OF FED CHAIR POWELL MARKS UNPRECEDENTED ESCALATION — AND A WARNING TO HIS SUCCESSOR

Krishna Guha, a former New York Fed official, warned in the Financial Times that if Warsh tries to put in place his “restructuring plan in the spirit of MAGA regime change, it will maximise resistance and opposition from the vast majority of others in the system.”

It’s critically important for Warsh to “know thine enemy,” or the Fed’s blob will chew him up and spit him out. The Fed staff will openly work to subvert Warsh’s primary strategy to conquer inflation.

It would also set a good example of fiscal restraint for the Fed to practice what it preaches: fiscal discipline. Let’s not forget that Powell spent nearly $2 billion renovating the Taj Mahal–like Fed building in downtown Washington. Talk about setting a bad example.

Third, Warsh is exactly correct that adding trillions of dollars to the Fed’s now $6.5 trillion balance sheet “was the worst Fed mistake in 45 years.” Just 25 years ago, the Fed’s balance sheet contained less than $1 trillion in assets, and last year it hit an all-time high of more than $8 trillion.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE FOX NEWS OPINION

Speeding up the sale of these stranded assets would help suck excess money out of the economy and bring inflation down to its 2% target while boosting affordability.

There’s an old saying about success in life: “You always want to succeed a failure.” Warsh is now in that position as he replaces the Powell regime. He can help Trump restore price stability, and if he does, he will go down in history as one of the greatest Fed chairmen.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

Finally, adopt an interest-rate price rule and make it transparent to the world. My preferred price index is a basket of commodities ranging from gold to coal to copper to cotton. If the commodity index starts rising, there’s too much money — raise rates. If prices start falling, cut rates.

Warsh’s best gift to Trump would be restoring price stability and dollar dominance. If he succeeds, he will go down in history as one of the greatest Fed chairs of all time.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM STEPHEN MOORE

JIMMY FAILLA: Billie Eilish cries ‘stolen land’ — then goes home to her $2.3M California mansion

Billie Eilish won the Grammy Award for Best “Anti-ICE Tantrum” on Sunday night by declaring that “No human being is illegal on stolen land.”

Unfortunately, the blowback against her is serving as the latest in a long line of reminders that Hollywood celebrities should lay off the politics and stick to doing what they do best, which is cocaine.

Now, obviously, I have no idea if Billie is taking any drugs whatsoever, but you’d have to be on SOMETHING to think all of this Trump bashing is helping awards shows.

BILLIE EILISH CALLED OUT ON ‘STOLEN LAND’ GRAMMY COMMENTS WHILE OWNING MILLION-DOLLAR MANSION

Ratings were down 9% year over year for the Grammys, and of course, we all know that viewership has fallen by 50% in the last two decades for that Well-Dressed-Group-Therapy- Session we call the Oscars.

One of the main reasons why is that people turn to movies and music for an escape from politics and the torments of everyday life. If they wanted a predictable, one-note political lecture, they’d put on the Jimmy Kimmel show.

That being said, Billie’s got bigger problems than fixing the Grammys. For starters, her “stolen land” rant on Sunday night has turned her into a national punchline. My guess is she never saw this coming because nobody gets in trouble for stealing anything in Gavin Newsom’s California. If you don’t believe me, you’ve never run an Ulta Cosmetics.

MUSIC’S BIGGEST STARS PROTEST ICE AT GRAMMY AWARDS AMID TRUMP’S IMMIGRATION CRACKDOWN

Yet as we speak, the “Birds of a Feather” singer is now on the business end of a million viral memes that point out the weapons-grade hypocrisy of ranting about stolen land while not offering to give back a single square inch of her $2.3 million dollar Glendale horse ranch.

This is the Grammy equivalent of Snoop Dogg calling the viewers a bunch of potheads. It doesn’t help that Billie’s digs just so happen to sit on the ancestral land of the Tongva tribe, whose spokesperson told the Daily Mail: “Eilish has not contacted our tribe directly regarding her property, we do value the instance when Public Figures provide visibility to the true history of this country.”

Which is a fancy way of saying her overtures to the Native Americans were emptier than a Somali daycare center in Minneapolis. But they didn’t pay nearly as well.

GRAMMY AWARDS VIEWERSHIP PLUMMETS 20% AMONG YOUNG ADULTS IN FINAL YEAR ON CBS

Thousands of people have suggested Eilish host some undocumented migrants at her mansion, but as we speak, she has yet to send out an invite. Something tells me it’s not because she’s still designing them on Shutterfly.

In short, it’s a miracle she’s won so many Grammys because she’s completely tone-deaf. Is this the end of her career? Of course not. She may be a National Laughingstock, but Kamala Harris was able to ride that all the way to the vice presidency.

The larger hope is that the Billie Backlash serves as a cautionary tale to other would be virtue signalers that there’s nothing wrong with making YOUR Grammy victory about YOU.

And why not?

BILLIE EILISH SAYS PROTESTERS ARE BEING ‘ASSAULTED AND MURDERED’ DURING AWARD SPEECH

Millions of fans around the world use your musical talents to transport themselves to a better moment in their lives. There’s a much better way to honor that gift than catering to the whims of a Hollywood crowd that’s so liberal they want to defund the cop in the Village People.

Trust me, bashing ICE might be popular at the Grammys, but out here in the real world it didn’t go over nearly as well with the un-Botoxed masses.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE FOX NEWS OPINION

Mainly because we’ve seen this act before.

This season’s “ICE Out” pin was last year’s “Free Palestine” button, which was preceded by a “Stand With Ukraine” ribbon.

There’s so much Social Justice flair that we’re getting to the point where every woman walking the red carpet looks like a waitress at TGI FRIDAYS.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

Look. I don’t doubt there are some people who’ve made it to the end of this piece and opined that I am in NO position to criticize the girl who wrote the mega smash hit from the “Barbie” soundtrack. I agree. If anything, I look like Ken’s brother CAN’T.

But even I know that music awards shows won’t last much longer if we’re all watching with the sound off.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM JIMMY FAILLA

A first lady like no other: How Melania Trump made presidential history

Melania Trump has made history again in her role as first lady of the United States by being the first sitting first lady to serve as executive producer of her new film, “MELANIA,” which gives the world an unprecedented glimpse into the 20 days leading up to her return to the White House. 

In 1962, the American people saw another stylish first lady make her debut in a documentary when first lady Jacqueline Kennedy gave a Valentine’s Day tour of the White House, sharing her renovations to the Presidents House — which, at the time, was a major television event. 

We have seen previous first ladies while in office appear on talk shows, sitcoms, documentaries and other forms of media broadcasts. Nancy Reagan appeared on “Diff’rent Strokes,” Barbara Bush and Laura Bush appeared on “Sesame Street,” Michelle Obama made appearances on several TV shows like “Parks and Recreation,” “NCIS” and “Black-ish” to name a few. 

MELANIA TRUMP GOES BEHIND THE SCENES OF INAUGURATION, DETAILS ‘CORDIAL’ TIME SPENT WITH BIDENS

However, what Melania Trump has done with MUSE Productions — a nod to her U.S. Secret Service code name — makes this particular achievement both groundbreaking and historic.

She took a thoughtful approach to purposefully reintroduce herself to the world in a way we have not seen previously. Before the nationwide release in theaters, she personally welcomed guests and close friends for a private black-tie screening at the White House. Then last night she held a red-carpet premiere at the Trump-Kennedy Center’s Opera House, where she personally welcomed guests in her signature heels not just in Washington, D.C., but throughout cities across the nation via livestream.

The first lady was clear in her welcoming remarks that this is not a traditional documentary: “My film is a very deliberate act of authorship, inviting you to witness events and emotions through a window of rich imagery. It is a created experience that offers perspectives, insights, and moments that only few have seen. Here, honor, pride, and truth are revealed, not through narration, but through genuine discovery. It is purposeful storytelling.” In so doing, she not only humanizes herself, but also the presidency. 

Interest in the American first family has risen with the significance and prestige of the American presidency, and interest in first lady Melania Trump has been unparalleled. Through her thoughtful narration, she sets the story straight — sharing what matters most to her, highlighting that she is more than the ceremonial role and that under that iconic hat she is a mother, wife, daughter, friend and businesswoman.

EXCLUSIVE: FIRST LOOK AT ‘MELANIA’ FILM

The unifier theme was present throughout, and in some ways the film was not just a movie about Melania, but rather the story of America through the eyes of not just her, but also the close advisors, designers, artisans and staff that make up the White House — and by extension, the rich pageantry we share with the world every four years, regardless of who is in office, through our unique transfer of power. 

The highly personal, reflective and humanizing film reflects the things that are important to her — family, faith and, yes, fashion. Melania gives viewers the opportunity to learn about the legacy of her mother, who passed away a year before her White House return, the impact of her father, who also lives at the White House, the pride and love she has for her only son, Barron, and rarely seen interactions between her and the president in surprisingly funny and many affectionate moments.  

Trump’s small team of talented White House staff and advisers took center stage, showing the inner workings of her operation and leadership style. Acutely aware of her status as one of America’s most fashionable first ladies, we finally got a glimpse of how some of her iconic dresses and looks came together with the help of her longtime friend and close advisor Herve Pierre, who designed both her inaugural gowns that will be showcased for posterity at the Smithsonian. Pierre is one of the few who has created designs not just for Melania Trump, but also first ladies Hillary Clinton, Laura Bush and Michelle Obama under the iconic fashion labels of Oscar de la Renta and Carolina Herrera.

‘MELANIA’ DOCUMENTARY SHOCKS HOLLYWOOD PRESS WITH ‘FACE-SAVING’ DEBUT THAT ‘OVER-PERFORMED’ EXPECTATIONS

Trump’s leadership was consistently displayed throughout the 90 minutes, especially with regards to her programs Be Best and Fostering the Future. Highlights included scenes of her relationships with other first ladies such as Brigitte Macron, and Queen Rania of Jordan, who also attended the White House screening. For those that don’t care to acknowledge her ability to speak multiple languages, it was quietly displayed that Trump is fluent in French by watching her write her notes while Macron spoke to her in Macron’s native French language. 

Queen Elizabeth and the royal family were known for inviting the cameras in to document their lives and bring the world behind the walls of the palace yet in a much different way. In America, our first families live very public lives, but we rarely see what life is really like for them beyond the gates of the White House. 

There has always been a push to humanize and personalize the presidency through events and media appearances. This film does just that, showing us that Melania is witty, strategic, creative and honestly quite funny. While many newspapers and magazines rarely share a smiling and laughing first lady, we saw first-hand: many smiles, and rare personal moments with her husband, the president, or what she referred to him in welcoming remarks as “America’s director.” We even saw never-before-seen dancing moves to YMCA on the Inaugural night at 2 a.m., and to all the female viewers’ dismay — not a single complaint of how long she had been wearing her gorgeous stilettos. We even learned that Michael Jackson is her favorite performer and watched her happily sing along to her favorite song of his, “Billie Jean.”

Trump’s move to allow cameras behind the scenes into her life at such a pivotal moment in history has made an unprecedented mark on the role of first lady. 

After the assassination attempt of President Reagan, Mrs. Reagan voiced a lot of concerns about the safety of her husband at public events, even asking for changes. Melania Trump was shown to be no different in a very vulnerable and direct scene about her safety concerns around proposed inaugural events. She was vulnerable, yet firm, on what she felt regarding the safety of not just her, but also her family. 

It wasn’t until 50 years after Kennedy’s televised tour of the White House that we learned how involved she was in that film as her handwritten notes, suggestions and edits were finally released to the public. Similarly, in a documentary about Lady Bird Johnson’s diaries produced years after her death, we learned just how incredibly influential she was in giving advice to her husband via long, typed memos.

DAVID MARCUS: WHY MELANIA AND HER FANS DESERVE HER SILVER SCREEN STAR TURN

One scene in the film shows Trump sitting in on speech prep and suggesting adding the word “Unifier” to the president’s Inaugural address, which he ended up using in his historic remarks saying, “My proudest legacy will be that of a peacemaker and unifier  We now know why he turned to her and smiled after that line.

While it has always been quietly known that the role of first lady has a real impact on the United States presidency, it has rarely been documented in such a visible and deliberate way. Melania Trump finally documented, in the moment, for the world to see how she, like many of her predecessors that have come before her, can be a real asset for the president of the United States. 

CLICK HERE FOR MORE FOX NEWS OPINION

The critics will certainly have their opinion about every aspect of her movie, but in the end, history will give the real review. The impact of giving the world such an insight into the days leading up to her return to service as first lady of the United States is extraordinary.

MELANIA TRUMP HOSTS STAR-STUDDED WHITE HOUSE SCREENING AHEAD OF HER FILM’S RELEASE

While today, we all cherish that televised tour given by Kennedy in 1962, at the time, there were mixed reviews and even some criticism about the money spent by the networks. In the end, we appreciate having that peek behind the White House curtain.

“MELANIA” should be on everyone’s list regardless of age, party affiliation or nationality, because it allows you to get to know our first lady directly, not from secondhand accounts, anonymous sources, political commentators or even historians like me — and that is a gift.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

Trump said in the film, “I feel energized to serve the American People once again and as always, I will move forward with purpose and of course with style.” 

Melania Trump is redefining the role of what it means to be first lady during her second term in historic ways, through legislation, events, policies, programs and yes, “MELANIA.”

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM JENNIFER PICKENS

I’m young and shut out of the American Dream but I won’t be government or the left’s victim

The Trump administration is considering a plan to let Americans use their 401(k) retirement accounts for a down payment on a home, though the president is “not a huge fan” of the idea.

The move is the latest in the administration’s string of initiatives intended to combat what’s been termed “the affordability crisis.” From floating the idea of 50-year “eternal” mortgages, to demanding Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac purchase $200 billion in mortgage bonds to push down interest rates, to capping credit card interest rates at 10%, there’s been no shortage of proposals.

The Trump administration rightly recognizes the financial pinch that many Americans are feeling – and have been feeling for years.

THE AMERICAN DREAM ISN’T DEAD, BUT EACH ONE OF US NEEDS TO HELP IT TO THRIVE

According to a December 2025 Gallup poll, nearly half of Americans (47%) describe current economic conditions as “poor,” the highest since September 2024. A staggering 68% believe economic conditions are deteriorating, and 11% say inflation is the most important problem facing the U.S., up from 6% in September.

Why would any American feel the need to steal from their future to afford the present, by taking out a 50-year mortgage, or draining their retirement account, just to purchase a home?

These numbers might come as a surprise, considering our nation’s decent economic conditions. Today, inflation sits at 2.7%, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports. This slightly elevated rate is a far cry from the 9.1% inflation rate the U.S. experienced during the summer of 2022.

Meanwhile, the national unemployment rate is 4.3% as of November 2025, barely up from 4.0% a year earlier. Most Americans today can easily find a job if they find themselves out of work.

Furthermore, real average hourly earnings increased 1.1% from December 2024 to December 2025, meaning most Americans have made progress in the fight against inflation over the past year.

I’M GEN Z AND MANY IN MY GENERATION LOST FAITH IN THE AMERICAN DREAM. PROVE THEM WRONG

So, why are so many Americans sour about the economy? Why is the Trump administration pulling out all the stops to address the affordability crisis? And why would any American feel the need to steal from their future to afford the present, by taking out a 50-year mortgage, or draining their retirement account, just to purchase a home?

For young Americans like me, it is “the best of times [and] the worst of times,” to quote Charles Dickens in “A Tale of Two Cities.”

While today’s economic indicators are generally above average, Americans are still reeling from the generational economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the government’s extraordinary response to it.

The inflation rate has fallen, yes, but that doesn’t mean prices have gotten any cheaper. It simply means already greatly inflated prices are now increasing more slowly.

What you could buy for $100 in January 2020 now costs $125.62. Unless our economy sees deflation (which generally only occurs during a recession), most goods and services will cost even more a year from now.

Furthermore, homes are now more expensive than at any time since World War II. The home price to median income ratio hit 7.07 in September 2025, surpassing the ratio of 6.81 which was hit during the peak of the Housing Bubble in 2006.

THE AMERICAN DREAM SLIPS FURTHER AWAY AS YOUNGER ADULTS RETREAT TO PARENTS’ HOMES

It’s no wonder the typical first-time homebuyer in the U.S. is now 40 years old – the oldest on record, as of November 2025. The median age of all U.S. homebuyers in 2025 was 59 years old, compared to 39 years old in 2010.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Federal Reserve, the government’s central bank, purchased $1.4 trillion in mortgage bonds, artificially depressing mortgage interest rates and leading to skyrocketing home prices.

From 2020 to 2022, the median home price increased a staggering 40% in just two years, from $317,100 to $442,600. If that weren’t enough, the Federal Reserve decided to add insult to injury.

The Fed raised interest rates from near zero in 2020 to over 5% in 2024. Mortgage rates correspondingly increased from 3.37% in 2020 to 6.75% today. So not only do houses now cost more, but the debt required to purchase a home is far more expensive than it was just a few years ago.

This reality teaches us a lesson: There isn’t any problem too large that the government can’t make much worse.

These economic realities have real consequences. Young people are likely to feel like they can’t afford to get married, start families or purchase homes, thereby putting off many life milestones previous generations took for granted.

An unaffordable economy is part of the reason the median age for first marriage in the United States is 30 for men and 28 for women, both record highs. Likewise, the U.S. fertility rate has fallen to historic lows.

Moreover, financial stress negatively impacts all American families – both young and old – since money fights are the second leading cause of divorce, behind infidelity.

While the Trump administration is admirably looking to relieve some of the symptoms many are feeling, as former President Ronald Reagan once said, “The nine most terrifying words in the English language are: I’m from the Government, and I’m here to help.”

CLICK HERE FOR MORE FOX NEWS OPINION

Young Americans shouldn’t look to Washington, D.C. to solve their economic woes. Rather, they must do what Americans have always done. Take responsibility; work hard; and never ever give up.

Young adults must learn to live on less than they make, create and live on a budget, choose to sacrifice financially, pay off debt, pick up a second job if necessary and save for the future.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

America may be experiencing an affordability crisis. But never give into the left’s victim mentality, nor ask the government to solve a problem it created.

The solution starts and ends with the person in the mirror.

DEAN PHILLIPS: We can fix immigration enforcement without fueling chaos or lawlessness

Our broken immigration system is a stain on both major political parties and leaders, who have instead burdened us with massive debt, the world’s most expensive healthcare and medicines, an uninspired, second-tier public education system and policies that actually incentivize illegal crossings of our borders.

Ronald Reagan would be appalled at both parties, and George Washington would say he warned us as we find ourselves at yet another disconcerting moment in American history.

Today’s crisis is one of our own making: a battle over immigration enforcement in Minnesota — a low-crime state estimated to be home to just 100,000 undocumented people, about half the national average per capita and nowhere close to the millions residing in sunny Texas and Florida. Needless to say, it’s not a stretch to believe Operation Metro Surge is a campaign of provocation and retribution rather than resolution. It’s also not a stretch to contend that common-sense Americans (myself included) believe the porous southern border enabled by former President Biden was as absurd and unreasonable as attempting to deport 14 million undocumented people as current President Donald Trump is endeavoring to accomplish at this very moment.

TIM WALZ ACCUSES TRUMP OF ‘ORGANIZED BRUTALITY’ IN IMMIGRATION CRACKDOWN, SAYS ICE TACTICS ARE ‘UN-AMERICAN’

While we should all celebrate the removal of undocumented criminals from our streets, the misguided and mismanaged effort in Minneapolis will be remembered as one of the most horrifying abuses of American law and decency in my lifetime. It killed two American citizens in cold blood and trampled on the civil rights of countless others, including multiple off-duty police officers in the Twin Cities who were accosted by roving, masked, ID-less, armed ICE agents because they were brown, or black, or spoke with an accent. But the operation did accomplish something that had seemed impossible just a month ago: a progressive left unified with gun-rights advocates, libertarians, police chiefs, rule-of-law Republicans and even a Republican senator retiring at the end of his term and liberated to speak the truth.

While the America to which Ronald Reagan aspired seems like a distant dream, I believe the better angels of America’s massive majority recognize the horrifying consequences posed by incompetent leadership and moral breaks in our national fabric.

Some on the left view Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) as an occupying force — an agency to be resisted at every turn. Others on the right see local pushback as undermining lawful immigration enforcement and local public safety.

But to the massive majority, this binary is a false choice.

JONATHAN TURLEY: DEMOCRAT POLITICIANS ARE RISKING LIVES WITH RECKLESS ANTI-ICE RHETORIC

The executive branch has constitutional authority to enforce immigration law, and that mandate doesn’t magically disappear because state or local officials object. That’s why some level of cooperation — even if reluctant — makes sense. It prevents chaotic clashes between different authorities, allows shared information and oversight, and ensures enforcement actions are transparent. Refusing to cooperate entirely only heightens tensions and leaves communities less protected and more polarized.

Yes, cooperation must be thoughtful, conditional and rooted in respect for civil liberties. It should not be blind support for every tactic an agency employs. But neither should it be principled obstruction that fuels distrust and diminishes accountability.

Democrats and Republicans alike should want cooperation where it reinforces constitutional order, protects public safety and ensures due process. That’s not capitulation — it’s common sense governance.

DAVID MARCUS: SPURNING TRUMP MEANS MAYOR JACOB FREY OWNS MINNEAPOLIS MESS

Let’s be clear: the fallout from this operation has been horrifying. People have died. Families have been torn apart. Young children have been detained. These are real harms that demand accountability and reform — not spin and not deflection.

At the same time, dismissing all enforcement as illegitimate invites lawlessness and undermines the very framework of the rule of law, due process and judicial review that protects civil liberties in our country. We don’t want an abdication of enforcement authority, rather a reimagined approach that respects constitutional due process and civil rights.

This is where local cooperation can actually be a force for reform. When state and city officials engage with federal agents, they can help ensure enforcement measures are proportionate, targeted and transparent — rather than arbitrary and alienating.

BIDEN SPEAKS OUT AGAINST IMMIGRATION CRACKDOWN IN MINNESOTA, SAYS IT GOES AGAINST AMERICAN VALUES

But we’ll keep finding ourselves in this destructive battle until we address the root causes once and for all. And there is more common ground on immigration policy than many recognize. I believe:

1. Most of us want a lawful, orderly immigration system that attracts and welcomes high potential contributors while offering reasonable refuge to the oppressed.

2. Most of us want the quick removal of undocumented, convicted criminals, and the application of due process, human dignity and judicial review before the deportation of others.

WHY TRUMP SENDING TOM HOMAN TO MINNESOTA IS A STROKE OF ABSOLUTE GENIUS

3. Most of us want honesty and accountability from federal, state, and local agencies charged with enforcing our laws and protesters who exercise their rights peacefully.

4. Most of us want to fix the broken system with majority support for: Changing our asylum laws, which currently require asylum seekers, legitimate or not, to physically set foot in the United States. That means our law essentially requires an illegal border crossing to legally apply for asylum. Why not require applications to be filed at one of our consulates or embassies around the world before crossing our border?

Devising a pathway to citizenship for those contributing to America, who confess to illegally crossing our borders, who pay a fine to the US Treasury, and who fulfill citizenship education.

SEN RUBEN GALLEGO: I WON’T FUND A ROGUE ICE THAT SHOOTS FIRST AND CALLS IT LAW ENFORCEMENT

Raising the physical bar for illegal immigration and lowering the administrative bar for legal immigration. We should be recruiting the world’s best and brightest while remaining a place of refuge for the oppressed.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE FOX NEWS OPINION

In the meantime, we must come to some resolution on the leadership and tactics of ICE and uncooperative sanctuary states and cities. Minnesota leaders have rightly voiced their concerns about the violence and societal disruptions tied to these enforcement actions. These voices matter and should be part of the national conversation on reform.

But full resistance — refusing any cooperation — risks turning legitimate grievance into fruitless confrontation. That’s why cities and states should engage with enforcement agencies strategically to make immigration enforcement more just instead of creating battlegrounds that magnify mistrust.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

Conflict always presents the possibility for collaboration. The current crisis shouldn’t be an end point, rather a turning point — one where Americans of all political stripes prioritize reforms and enforcement that’s lawful, humane, transparent and accountable.

It’s surely the agenda Ronald Reagan would have fought for, and one we’d be foolish not to embrace as a great nation of immigrants.

FOX Sports’ Jamie Little talks about covering the 150th edition of the Westminster Dog Show: ‘Such an honor’

The 150th edition of the Westminster Dog Show is underway.

The highly anticipated event has taken place at the Javits Center and will conclude at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday. “Prove-It,” the Border Collie, handled by Amber McCune, won the Westminster’s Masters Agility Championship on Saturday.

The conformation part of the show began with best of breed judging from the Javits Center on Monday, and group judging continued on Tuesday, on FS1, where Best in Show is awarded.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM

The floor reporter for FS1’s primetime coverage, Jamie Little, talked with Fox News Digital about what it’s like to cover the event.

“Such an honor to be here to cover the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show. It is the biggest dog show in the world. It’s the most prestigious. And then you add in the fact that it’s the 150th. You have to let that sink in. This is the second longest sporting event to the Kentucky Derby,” Little told Fox News Digital.

Little interviewed the first four winners on Monday, and the 47-year-old said you can feel the intensity and the emotions of those participating.

“You meet these families that have been coming here generation after generation with show dogs. We have so many stories. And that’s what makes this year special. We’re telling those stories, the background of the breeds who was here in the first year of the show in 1877 is pretty neat,” Little said.

“It’s always intense backstage in the staging area with the dogs you always feel the energy. But last night you know interviewing those first four winners that we saw on Monday night it’s we saw tears. I saw tears two or three times because it means that much more.”

LINDSEY VONN TO COMPETE IN WINTER OLYMPICS DAYS AFTER SUFFERING ‘COMPLETELY RUPTURED’ ACL IN WORLD CUP CRASH

Winning the Westminster Dog Show is always an honor, but there is something different about having the chance to win the 150th edition.

“I mean the fact that you have a chance to win the 150th, I mean that’s just something for the record book you’ll never forget,” Little said.

Little has been covering the show for eight years and said it feels like the event has only gotten bigger and that the dogs have gotten better. She said that even for those who don’t have a dog, the show is for everyone and it’s something that everyone loves.

Last year was the first time in four years the Westminster Dog Show returned to Madison Square Garden, returning for the first time since COVID-19. Little talked about the significance of the event being at the world’s most famous arena.

NFL’S ROGER GOODELL BELIEVES BAD BUNNY ‘UNDERSTANDS’ SUPER BOWL LX PLATFORM IS MEANT TO UNITE AMID ICE OUTCRY

“My first year covering this show, we were at Madison Square Garden. It was just like, ‘Oh my gosh.’ Like, it’s that show or that movie that you see ‘Best in Show.’ It’s like the bright lights, the cameras, the energy. And then with COVID-19 we had to move out of the city, and we’ve gone to a couple other places,” Little said.

“Being back at Madison Square Garden, that’s what everybody wants. They want that big venue. I mean, the amount of events that this place does and then they turn it into a dog ring — like dog showing — it’s amazing. But the energy and the lights, it’s just something special for the people watching, the sound from the audience, the dogs feed off of it.”

The favorite part of the show for Little is getting the opportunity to interview the winners.

“I think my favorite part is just telling the stories of the dogs. I think these winners that come in and they’re emotional because they’ve been trying it for 20 years, and then their parents before them, their grandparents before that. And they work so hard every single day to create these perfect specimens that they do. And to have them as a show winner, it means everything to them. So, I think anything, no matter what I’m covering, interviewing a winner is the best. And this is even better because then I have a dog I get to pet during the interview.”

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

After covering the Westminster Dog Show, Little will shift gears and head down to cover the Daytona 500. She said the dog show is intense, but it’s different compared to the intensity that comes from NASCAR.

“I always joke with people that I cover four paws and then I’m going to shift it up and go four wheels in Daytona. And it is so different. I mean, you have the intensity of the dog show, but everybody’s happy. They’re having fun. The dogs love their job. These dogs are treated better than most people. I mean, they’re living a life. They are pets at home or they’re therapy dogs. They do incredible things,” Little said.

“And then you shift it up to Daytona where people are happy, but it’s intense. I mean, we’re going to see crazy wrecks. It’s going to be intense. So, completely different worlds. It’s so much fun. My hair will be back in a ponytail, headset on. For the dog show, I’m wearing a fancy evening gown like I’m going, you know, to a wedding. It’s incredible. It’s fun to get to do both.”

As Minneapolis fractures, Mobile shows how work, law and God still unite

I am now in Mobile, Alabama. My Walk Across America has brought me to the Gulf Coast, where I see a city alive with the prideful sweat of American labor, deep faith and the quiet determination to enjoy a good quality of life.

Yet, when I look at the news on my phone, all I see is the turmoil up north in Minneapolis, where federal agents have been involved in two fatal shootings last month alone — first Renee Good and then Alex Pretti. It’s a stark cultural war flashpoint: one side demanding aggressive border security and law-and-order crackdowns under the current administration and the other crying foul over what they call excessive force and federal heavy-handedness in a blue city.

As I walk these Southern roads, talking to everyday Americans, I can’t shake the question: Are we losing sight of our foundational values in this bitter culture war that seems to know no bottom?

RT. REV. MARIANN BUDDE, 154 BISHOPS: THE QUESTION FACING AMERICA–WHOSE DIGNITY MATTERS

Everyone claims the moral high ground for America, but the visions are diametrically opposed. On the one hand, you have personal responsibility and secure borders, and on the other, you have grievance politics and open-ended leniency. The progressive left, emboldened in places like Minneapolis, isn’t stopping there. They’re pushing policies that undermine law enforcement and excuse disorder in the name of social justice.

What’s truly at stake? The very idea of ordered liberty. Will we defend the rule of law, secure communities and the God-given right to self-reliance, or descend into endless division, eroded sovereignty and a nation where chaos replaces order? From what I’m witnessing on this walk, the antidote isn’t more government overreach or radical activism—it’s the timeless principles still alive in places like Mobile.

Mobile, one of America’s oldest port cities, wasn’t conjured from academic theories, DEI mandates or endless federal stimulus checks. It rose through generations of hard work, free enterprise, trade and personal accountability.

I can’t help but notice the contrast to the South Side of Chicago, where the focus is on the government debating bloated programs and wealth distribution schemes that trap people in cycles of dependency. The result is business vacancies, lack of resources and massive, dilapidated housing projects.

The Port of Mobile stands as living proof that jobs — good, honest jobs rooted in industry and initiative — deliver dignity far better than any government handout ever could. 

But here in Mobile, the dockworkers, shipbuilders and logistics crews are out there every day creating real wealth and opportunity. The Port of Mobile stands as living proof that jobs — good, honest jobs rooted in industry and initiative — deliver dignity far better than any government handout ever could. When people are valued for what they produce rather than managed as wards of the state, communities flourish.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE FOX NEWS OPINION

I’ve spoken with families here whose livelihoods depend on this port, and they don’t wait for permission from Washington. They show up, work hard and build legacies. In sharp contrast to Minneapolis, where failed progressive policies have allowed crime, especially fraud, disorder and unchecked immigration, to fester before federal interventions turned deadly, Mobile reminds us that a strong work ethic and local economies free from overregulation are the true engines of prosperity and safety.

That’s precisely why I didn’t come to Mobile to lecture or “save” it. I came to listen and learn. True leadership doesn’t arrive with top-down government mandates or activist agendas. It walks humbly alongside communities, respects their God-given strengths and builds from the ground up. You can’t heal what you don’t love, and real transformation—like what we’ve fought for with Project H.O.O.D. in Chicago—grows organically when rooted in local faith, family and responsibility. 

In Mobile, pastors, parents and workers have welcomed me not as an outsider with all the answers, but as a brother in Christ seeking common ground. This stands in stark relief to the ideological battles paralyzing places like Minneapolis, where federal overreach meets radical resistance and commonsense solutions are lost in the noise.

The South’s quiet resurgence proves what coastal elites mock as “backward” is actually forward-thinking: lower taxes and living costs that let families thrive, stronger marriages and churches that anchor moral life, and a belief in personal ownership over government dependency. 

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

Hurricanes have hammered Mobile repeatedly, yet the people rebuild without whining or waiting for bailouts. Neighbors helping neighbors, faith sustaining hope, responsibility trumping excuses. When faith erodes, as it has in too many urban centers, communities crumble.

Government can coerce compliance, but only God and the individual, rightly understood, can truly transform hearts and rebuild societies.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM PASTOR COREY BROOKS

JONATHAN TURLEY: When elites cheer the mob, history warns that revolutions devour their own

“This is time for a revolution… They can’t take us all down.” Those words from “Breaking Bad” actor Giancarlo Esposito are being echoed by a growing number of armchair revolutionaries today. Revolution is again in the air as we approach the 250th anniversary of our Declaration of Independence.

On Tuesday, Simon & Schuster is releasing my book, “Rage and the Republic: The Unfinished Story of the American Revolution,” an exploration of the founding and the future of our unique republic. It is a book about revolutions and how they can consume those who start them. Both the American and French revolutions arose during the same period, but one became the world’s oldest democracy while the other became a blood-soaked tyranny known as the Reign of Terror.

As I wrote the book, I found myself marveling at the comparisons between the conditions of the 18th century and today. The most telling moment came while working in my law school office. Here’s how I describe it in my book:

JONATHAN TURLEY: MINNESOTA DEMOCRATS’ CHOOSE ‘RAGE POLITICS’ OVER SANITY

The book explores whether the American republic can survive the 21st century amid challenges ranging from robotics and artificial intelligence to global governance systems. It discusses the rise of the “new Jacobins” — politicians, professors and pundits calling for the trashing of the Constitution and radical changes in the United States.

The original Jacobins were also journalists, professors and politicians who joined the mob in seeking to tear down the existing governmental structure. We are hearing many of the same voices today. Erwin Chemerinsky, dean of the UC Berkeley School of Law, is the author of “No Democracy Lasts Forever: How the Constitution Threatens the United States.”

MOB VIOLENCE IN MINNESOTA ISN’T FREE SPEECH — IT’S GROUNDS FOR THE INSURRECTION ACT

Newspapers like The New York Times regularly publish opinion articles with calls to trash the Constitution or curtail rights such as free speech. In one such column, “The Constitution Is Broken and Should Not Be Reclaimed,” law professors Ryan D. Doerfler of Harvard and Samuel Moyn of Yale called for the nation to “reclaim America from constitutionalism.”

Another mocked “Constitution worship” and warned that “Americans have long assumed that the Constitution could save us. A growing chorus now wonders whether we need to be saved from it.”

Republicans and law enforcement are now regularly called “Nazis” and “fascists” by Democratic leaders. Some are promising arrests ranging from the president to individual police officers. Last week, Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner promised to “hunt down” ICE officers like “Nazis.” Democratic strategist James Carville previously threatened that “collaborators” may be treated in the same way they were after World War II.

JONATHAN TURLEY: ‘SAY HER NAME’ BECOMES RADICAL RALLYING CRY FOR DEMOCRATS’ MOB RULE

Minnesota’s Democratic Gov. Tim Walz, has called ICE officers “Gestapo,” said this may be our “Fort Sumter” moment — a triggering event for a civil war that killed hundreds of thousands of Americans.

The dehumanization of political opponents gives people license for extreme or even violent responses. In cities like Minnesota, protesters carried signs reading “Kill Nazis,” and we have seen assassination attempts on President Donald Trump and Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh. Many celebrated or rationalized the murder of Charlie Kirk. A quarter of Americans now believe political violence is justified.

At the same time, violent figures are being celebrated. After Luigi Mangione was charged with allegedly shooting United HealthCare CEO Brian Thompson in 2024, some cheered, and others, like former Washington Post journalist Taylor Lorenz, gushed. She explained the reaction of many women: “Here’s this man who’s a revolutionary, who’s famous, who’s handsome, who’s young, who’s smart. He’s a person who seems like he’s this morally good man, which is hard to find.”

Sure, he’s sort of Thomas Paine with a six-pack and a 3D-printed ghost gun.

FOX NEWS DIGITAL ANALYSIS: HOW MINNEAPOLIS AGITATOR NETWORKS USE INSURGENCY TACTICS TO HINDER ICE

Even with guillotines now regularly appearing at protests, no one expects the tumbrels to roll down Pennsylvania Avenue. However, figures like Robespierre began as lawyers who espoused due process and the rights of man before becoming the architects of terror. He would ultimately declare that “Terror is only justice: prompt, severe and inflexible; it is then an emanation of virtue.”

The greatest danger that the framers saw in our new republic was the danger of democratic despotism — the tyranny of a majority that lacks limits on its power. They sought to avoid the fate of democracies like Athens, which eventually gave rise to tyranny.

LEFT SEEKS MARTYRS TO FUEL ANTI-TRUMP UPRISING AS ICE ENFORCEMENT OPERATIONS RAMP UP NATIONWIDE

During the French Revolution, writer Jacques Mallet du Pan observed that “Like Saturn, the Revolution devours its children.” That insatiable appetite has taken its toll for centuries. The Jacobins who rose to power during the French Revolution would ultimately fall victim to the “Razor of the Republic.”

The focus of the American Revolution was liberty, not democracy. It was the first Enlightenment revolution grounded in natural rights held by all of humanity. The Founders saw direct democracy as leading to what one of them called a “mobocracy.”

CLICK HERE FOR MORE FOX NEWS OPINION

Notably, many of the new Jacobins today are seeking to strip away the protections created to limit public impulse. They are seeking to pack the Supreme Court and change the constitutional structure to allow for radical changes. Indeed, years ago, after laying out a radical agenda to guarantee Republicans “will never win another election,” Harvard Law professor Michael Klarman warned that they first had to take control of the judicial branch, since “the Supreme Court could strike down everything I just described.”

We have been here before. My new book, “Rage and the Republic” tells this American story through the life of one of two figures who played key roles in both the American and French revolutions: Thomas Paine. (The other was the Marquis de Lafayette.) Paine opposed many of Madison’s “precautions.” In France, it came close to killing him — a mere accident by a jailer would ultimately spare him from the guillotine.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

History shows that it is far easier to start a revolution than to end one. As politicians fuel the mob in major cities, they will likely find that today’s revolutionaries often become tomorrow’s reactionaries.

In the early 1800s, one of the few leaders to survive was Abbé Emmanuel Joseph Sieyès, considered the Thomas Paine of the French Revolution. When asked what he had done in the revolution, the old abbot pondered the question and simply answered: “J’ai vécu” (“I survived”).

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM JONATHAN TURLEY

Reagan would tell Americans to watch this Netflix merger hearing closely — here’s why

On Tuesday in Washington, Congress is holding a high-stakes hearing that goes well beyond Hollywood — it’s about American jobs, who controls our media and U.S. national security. If Ronald Reagan were alive today, he would urge every American to watch this hearing closely. Reagan understood that culture, storytelling and media are powerful weapons in the battle of ideas — and that foreign adversaries use them to weaken free societies from within.

Lawmakers are weighing whether U.S. companies like Netflix and Warner Bros. Discovery will be allowed to compete and grow — or whether government action will weaken them at a moment when foreign powers are aggressively using media and culture to influence the world.

This matters to everyday Americans because media is no longer just entertainment. It shapes public opinion, exports American values and serves as a counterweight to authoritarian propaganda. When U.S. companies are weakened, foreign governments — especially China — fill the void.

Decisions made Tuesday on Capitol Hill will help determine whether American storytelling remains independent and secure, or whether foreign influence gains even more ground inside one of America’s most powerful strategic assets.

ROB SCHNEIDER: GO WOKE, GO BROKE ISN’T A SLOGAN — IT’S BECOMING HOLLYWOOD’S REALITY

At the center of this debate is the proposed merger between Netflix and Warner Bros. Discovery. This should not be treated as just another corporate deal. It directly affects American jobs, American moviemaking and America’s ability to compete in a global information war.

For more than a century, American films and television have carried our values around the world — freedom, creativity and open expression. That cultural influence has been one of America’s greatest strategic advantages. Today, it is under real threat.

The entertainment industry supports hundreds of thousands of good-paying American jobs — writers, actors, camera crews, editors, visual-effects artists, set builders, marketers and engineers. These are middle-class jobs spread across states like California, Georgia, New Mexico, Texas and New Jersey.

TRUMP TRIES TO SAVE HOLLYWOOD WITH 100% TARIFF ON FOREIGN-PRODUCED FILMS, BUT INSIDERS SAY INDUSTRY IS ‘DYING’

And this is not theoretical.

Netflix recently committed $1 billion to build a new production studio at the former Fort Monmouth Army base in New Jersey, a project expected to create more than 5,000 high-paying American jobs. That investment transforms a former military base into an engine of American production, innovation and employment — and it only happens when companies have the scale and stability to invest for the long term.

Streaming, however, is capital-intensive. When companies are weakened or fragmented, productions slow, opportunities shrink and layoffs follow. Scale brings stability. Stability protects — and creates — jobs.

CNN STAFFERS FEAR FOR ‘UTTER S— SHOW’ IN NETWORK’S FUTURE IF PARAMOUNT BUYS WARNER BROS DISCOVERY: INSIDERS

A combined Netflix–Warner Bros. Discovery would create a stronger, more resilient American company able to invest consistently in U.S. production. That means more projects made here at home and more investments like Fort Monmouth, not fewer.

Hollywood, however, is more than an industry. It is a strategic national asset.

American movies and television reach more people globally than any government program or diplomatic initiative. They shape how the world views the United States and serve as a powerful counterweight to authoritarian propaganda.

HOLLYWOOD’S SELECTIVE SILENCE ON IRAN EXPOSES THE LIE OF CELEBRITY ACTIVISM

China understands this — which is why it tightly controls media at home and heavily invests in state-backed platforms abroad.

And we have already seen how that censorship works.

Consider “Top Gun: Maverick.” The film was a massive global success. Yet China refused to allow it to be shown in its theaters.

JANE FONDA SAYS WARNER BROS. DISCOVERY SALE ‘THREATENS’ THE FIRST AMENDMENT, WARNS TRUMP WILL TAKE ADVANTAGE

Why?

Because of a small patch on Tom Cruise’s leather flight jacket depicting the flag of Taiwan.

Not violence. Not offensive content. A jacket patch.

HOLLYWOOD KEEPS MAKING MOVIES FAMILIES WON’T WATCH WHILE ‘LORD OF THE RINGS’ RERELEASE RAKES IN MILLIONS

That single symbol was enough for Beijing to block the film entirely. The message was unmistakable: access to China’s market requires political compliance and self-censorship.

Ronald Reagan understood this fight long before streaming existed. He knew movies, television and storytelling were powerful tools in the battle of ideas — and that foreign or communist influence over American media posed a real threat. As Reagan warned, “Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction.” Protecting American cultural leadership became a cornerstone of his presidency.

That lesson matters now more than ever.

COLBERT SAYS PARAMOUNT’S $108 BILLION BID FOR WARNER BROS IS PROOF THEY COULD SAVE HIS SHOW IF THEY WANTED TO

There are also serious concerns about foreign money entering the American media ecosystem — and the national-security risks that come with it.

Some competing proposals involving legacy studios would shrink the field from five major studios to four, concentrating more power in fewer hands and driving up costs for families who just want to watch a movie at home. That kind of consolidation reduces competition, limits choice and historically leads to layoffs — not innovation.

Even more troubling, some proposed takeovers are reportedly backed by $24 billion from foreign governments, including Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi and Qatar.

TRUMP SAYS ‘ANY DEAL’ TO BUY WARNER BROS SHOULD INCLUDE CNN

I am hardly a fan of excessive regulation. But we have laws on the books for a reason — to protect the American marketplace and the American people from foreign manipulation.

Let’s be clear: $24 billion from the Middle East is not philanthropy.

In today’s world, influence is power. When American content is weakened, something else fills the void—and increasingly, that content is shaped or approved by authoritarian governments.

Foreign governments do not invest billions in American media for fun. They do it to gain leverage, influence narratives, and shape what people see and hear. That is a direct national security concern.

BROADCAST BIAS: MEDIA CIRCLE THE WAGONS TO PROTECT THEIR ANTI-TRUMP REPORTING

In today’s world, influence is power. When American content is weakened, something else fills the void — and increasingly, that content is shaped or approved by authoritarian governments.

That is not just an economic issue. It is a national security issue.

To be clear, I have been openly critical of Netflix in the past, particularly when it comes to some of its woke and radical programming decisions. I have not hesitated to call those out publicly, and I won’t stop doing so.

I also do not own stock in Netflix, Warner Bros. Discovery, or any of the companies discussed here.

My position is not about defending a corporation — it is about defending American workers, American creativity and America’s strategic interests at a moment when cultural influence and national security are inseparable.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE FOX NEWS OPINION

The Netflix–Warner Bros. Discovery merger does not eliminate competition. The streaming market remains crowded and fiercely competitive. This deal simply allows an American company to compete at scale against Big Tech and state-backed foreign players.

Ronald Reagan knew cultural influence was national power. That truth hasn’t changed.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

In a global competition where China and other foreign powers are using culture as leverage, America cannot afford to weaken one of its most powerful tools.

This merger strengthens it.

The Donroe Doctrine: Trump is rewriting power politics to put America First

For more than a generation, American presidents talked about leadership while quietly surrendering leverage, sovereignty and deterrence. President Donald Trump is doing something different — and the foreign-policy establishment is still struggling to catch up.

Call it the Donroe Doctrine: a modern, hard-edged update of the Monroe Doctrine in which American power is unapologetically asserted, adversaries are confronted rather than managed and allies are expected to defend themselves. Since re-entering office, Trump has struck Iran’s nuclear infrastructure, forced NATO allies to rearm, challenged China’s ambitions in the Indo-Pacific and reasserted U.S. dominance in the Western Hemisphere, from Greenland to Venezuela.

To critics, these moves look erratic. Read alongside Trump’s 2025 National Security Strategy (NSS) and the newly released 2026 National Defense Strategy (NDS), however, they reveal something else entirely: a doctrine grounded in hard realism, national sovereignty and old-fashioned power politics. The Donroe Doctrine is not improvisation. It reflects deliberate choices.

America First, redefined

IRAN STRIKES COULD SIGNAL LIMITS OF BEIJING, MOSCOW’S POWER AS US FLEXES STRENGTH

The Donroe Doctrine begins with a rejection of the post–Cold War assumption that America must solve every global problem to remain secure. The 2025 NSS warns that previous administrations expanded the definition of U.S. national interest so broadly that “to focus on everything is to focus on nothing,” arguing instead for a hard narrowing of what truly matters.

Under this approach, national security is defined narrowly and deliberately: defending the homeland, securing borders, protecting the economy and preserving U.S. sovereignty. This helps explain why Trump treats border security as national security, why he rejects open-ended global commitments and why he views economic strength and industrial capacity as central to power rather than ignored.

Peace through strength — not endless war

MARTIN GURRI: LET’S LOOK AT ALL THE GLOBAL BENEFITS TRUMP REAPED BY GRABBING MADURO

Trump’s critics accuse him of recklessness. His strategy documents tell a different story. The NSS makes clear a predisposition to non-interventionism, while insisting on a high bar for the use of force. The NDS puts that idea into practice: force exists to deter, to compel and — when necessary — to strike decisively in defense of vital interests, not to conduct ideological crusades or nation-building campaigns.

In Iran’s case, Trump treats the regime as a proliferation and coercion problem, not a nation-building project. Besides, his threats and strikes are finite, conditional and interest-bound — a case study in enforcement, not escalation.

That helps explain why Trump could authorize strikes against Iran’s nuclear program while simultaneously pushing diplomatic settlements elsewhere. In the Donroe Doctrine, overwhelming strength creates space for diplomacy; weakness invites escalation.

MORNING GLORY: THE PRESIDENT ENDS 2025 WITH A CLEAR DECLARATION OF THE TRUMP DOCTRINE

China as the pacing threat

The central threat in the Donroe Doctrine is clear, it is this: China is the “pacing threat.”

Both the NSS and NDS identify the People’s Republic of China as the only power capable of contesting U.S. military, economic and technological dominance on a global scale. The NDS is explicit — China’s military buildup, industrial capacity and regional ambitions define the tempo of U.S. defense planning.

THE AMERICA FIRST NATIONAL SECURITY STRATEGY — THROUGH THE EYES OF ‘WE THE PEOPLE’

Importantly, Trump’s doctrine does not frame conflict with China as inevitable. The goal is not regime change, humiliation or economic strangulation. It is denial — preventing Beijing from dominating the Indo-Pacific and coercing U.S. allies. Deterrence by denial along the First Island Chain, allied burden-sharing and U.S. industrial rearmament sit at the center of this approach.

Keep in mind, Trump seeks to bound China’s power, not to break China’s system. This is competition with rules — not containment without limits. As a result, Trump stresses that trade and diplomacy with China remain possible because deterrence is credible.

This is balance-of-power thinking, stripped of post–Cold War illusions.

TRUMP’S MADURO TAKEDOWN RESETS THE GLOBAL CHESSBOARD AND REASSERTS AMERICAN POWER

Allies as partners, not dependents

The doctrine is most visible in Trump’s handling of alliances. His demand that NATO allies dramatically increase defense spending is not rhetorical bluster; it reflects the NDS’ warning about a growing “simultaneity problem,” in which multiple adversaries could act at once across different theaters.

The solution is not endless U.S. deployments, but capable allies who can defend their own regions with limited American support. Europe, Trump argues, has the wealth and population to deter Russia. Israel is cited in the NDS as a model ally because it defends itself. Burden-sharing is not punishment — it is the price of credibility.

Given China’s rapid naval expansion, restoring American deterrence in the Indo-Pacific ultimately comes down to shipbuilding — more hulls in the water, faster production and shipyards capable of sustaining a prolonged competition at sea.

Geography matters again

The Donroe Doctrine also restores geography to the center of U.S. strategy. The NDS calls for enforcing a Trump Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine, denying hostile powers control over strategic terrain in the Western Hemisphere.

AMB GORDON SONDLAND: TRUMP SHOWED STRENGTH IN VENEZUELA — NOW FINISH THE JOB

Greenland, the Panama Canal, maritime approaches and cartel-dominated regions are treated not as peripheral concerns, but as vital interests. Trump’s high-profile confrontation over Greenland — and his announcement of a “framework of a future deal” with NATO — follows this logic directly.

Power built at home

Finally, the Donroe Doctrine recognizes a truth forgotten since World War II: wars are won by production. Both strategies elevate the defense industrial base to strategic priority, tying economic security directly to military readiness.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE FOX NEWS OPINION

Re-shoring industry, securing critical supply chains, expanding energy production and scaling munitions are not merely economic policies. They are instruments of deterrence.

A Doctrine Takes Shape

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

Read together, Trump’s NSS and NDS outline a governing philosophy that is hard-headed without being reckless, nationalist without retreating from the world and forceful without drifting into endless war. The Donroe Doctrine rejects utopian idealism in favor of hard choices, clear priorities, and unapologetic American power — especially in the face of a rising China.

It unsettles Washington precisely because it restores clarity. The doctrine is stabilizing because red lines are explicit and priorities are narrow. But it is also dangerous, especially for adversaries — because ambiguity is gone, free-riding is exposed and miscalculations become far more costly.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM ROBERT MAGINNIS

Victorious Virginia Democrats morph from pretend moderates into liberal extremists over night

A new year typically brings growth and opportunities. But not in Virginia.

Since last November, the winds in the commonwealth have carried a heavy weight. Elections have consequences, and just a few days into Democrat Gov. Abigail Spanberger’s reign, Virginians are reaping the fruit of their ballot-box decisions. This is no longer a warning.

Now that Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s watch has ended, that progress is under attack. In just weeks, a newly emboldened Democrat majority has moved to drain the budget surplus by expanding costly social programs while imposing unnecessary tax hikes on middle- and lower-class Virginians. Virginians are experiencing a swift, calculated wave of anti-business, anti-family and un-American policies that will irreparably decimate everything that makes Virginia great.

We Virginians were spoiled under Youngkin’s administration. Over the past four years, Youngkin’s watchful eye prevented the Democrat majority in the Virginia legislature from leading the commonwealth down a destructive path.

VIRGINIA DEMOCRATS SEEK DOZENS OF NEW TAX HIKES, INCLUDING ON DOG WALKING AND DRY CLEANING

Thanks to his leadership, Virginia is stronger than ever. Our state is experiencing record revenues, record tax relief and record investment. Virginia’s general revenue has grown by 5.2% in the past year, with $9 billion in tax relief, $156 billion in capital investments and a $2.7 billion budget surplus. Youngkin left Virginia better than he found it, bringing our state to new heights. But the higher you climb, the harder you fall.

Now that Youngkin’s watch has ended, that progress is under attack. In just weeks, a newly emboldened Democrat majority has moved to drain the budget surplus by expanding costly social programs while imposing unnecessary tax hikes on middle- and lower-class Virginians.

These policies will only make life less affordable while creating new barriers to entry for businesses, forcing Virginians to absorb the rising cost of living or leave the commonwealth behind.

Democrats are advancing a sweeping tax agenda that will make everyday life more expensive for working Virginians. For Virginia Democrats, “affordability” means imposing new taxes on dog grooming, counseling, vehicle and home repairs, dry cleaning, hosting events and even owning electric leaf blowers and landscaping equipment. Their proposals would also authorize new local sales taxes and impose a delivery tax on services like Amazon, Uber Eats, FedEx and UPS, raising costs for families while offering nothing but a larger, more intrusive government.

VMI CADETS FIGHT BACK AS VIRGINIA DEMOCRATS THREATEN TO CLOSE HISTORIC MILITARY COLLEGE

While families are working day and night to make ends meet, Virginia Democrats are rewarding themselves. Their budget proposal includes an average 209% pay raise for state legislators, insulating politicians from economic reality as they repeal Virginia’s right-to-work law and mandate a $15 minimum wage. Together, these policies will drive up labor costs, eliminate jobs and leave workers with fewer opportunities.

At the same time, Democrats are pursuing an aggressive assault on Virginians’ Second Amendment rights. Their bills would impose an unprecedented tax on firearms and ammunition, layer on burdensome storage mandates and enact sweeping bans on both open and concealed carry in wide swaths of the commonwealth. These policies will not deter criminals. They will make it harder for law-abiding Virginians to protect themselves and their families.

Their transgressions do not stop there. Virginia Democrats are actively working to rewrite Virginia’s constitution.

VIRGINIA JUDGE VOIDS REDISTRICTING PUSH, RULES LAWMAKERS OVERSTEPPED AUTHORITY

Both the Virginia Senate and House of Delegates, despite Republicans’ vociferous opposition, voted to approve constitutional amendments that allow abortion on demand up to birth and gerrymander Virginia’s congressional districts to cheat their way to Democrat dominance for years to come. Despite recent defeats in lower courts, Democrats vow to continue disregarding procedural restraints in their pursuit of power at the expense of Virginia’s values.

In just weeks, a newly emboldened Democrat majority has moved to drain the budget surplus by expanding costly social programs while imposing unnecessary tax hikes on middle- and lower-class Virginians.

Nationwide, we’ve witnessed an exodus from California and New York City caused by radical left-wing policies, the same model that Spanberger seeks to emulate. She looks to California Democrat Gov. Gavin Newsom and New York Democrat Mayor Zohran Mamdani for inspiration but refuses to accept the repercussions of their policies, because she will never have to experience them.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE FOX NEWS OPINION

 It is the people of our great commonwealth who will carry that burden.

Spanberger and Virginia Democrats do not seek to implement commonsense policies that improve Virginians’ lives. As we have already seen in California and New York, their agenda will increase costs, undermine job growth, force families to relocate, dissuade businesses and protect criminals.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

Through constitutional amendments, they will consolidate political control until the Californication of Virginia is complete.

The choices being made today will shape Virginia’s economy, freedoms and competitiveness for decades to come. The consequences are not theoretical; they are real, unfolding now, and will be felt by families, workers, and businesses across the commonwealth.

LIZ PEEK: Trump’s economic wins are real — now he needs to convince the country

Americans are not being told the truth about the economy. Hint: it is growing, investment is increasing, real incomes are rising and inflation is lower than it was a year ago, and considerably below where it was in 2022 and 2023.

Democrats and their media henchmen spin economic developments in the worst possible light, trying to scare voters and undermine the White House. President Donald Trump, responding to polls showing Americans unhappy with his stewardship, is trying to set the record straight.

He has a good story to tell and is frustrated that the country is not applauding our lower trade and fiscal deficits, growth above 4% and record energy production. But he undermines his own story by exaggerating his successes. In a speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, for instance, Trump said that the U.S. has “virtually no inflation” and that grocery prices are coming down. That isn’t true. Inflation is not yet down to the Fed’s 2% goal, and except for gasoline and eggs, very few prices have actually declined.

CNN CALLED OUT FOR FRAMING OF INFLATION UNDER TRUMP VERSUS BIDEN IN VIRAL POST

Trump has the high ground here and should not cede it by straying from the facts. Democrats yap about affordability, but their every policy — high taxes, cumbersome regulations, climate zealotry — raise the cost of living. That’s why blue cities rank as the most expensive places on Earth to live.

Painting the economy with a dark brush, as the liberal media does, has real-world consequences. Confidence sinks and the consumer retrenches, torpedoing growth. That’s what the left wants. A booming economy hurts Democrats in two ways. First, rising incomes tee Republicans up to maintain control of Congress and give them two more years to further the Trump agenda. Second, it proves that lower taxes, lighter regulations and pro-energy policies deliver more jobs and rising wealth.

Democrats, regulatory zealots who love to hike taxes, (hello, Virginia Governor Spanberger! Hello NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani!) would like to plow under our nation’s great fossil fuel reserves and cannot tolerate real-time evidence that they are wrong on all counts.

The left correctly claims that the country expanded under President Joe Biden. But it grew on the shoulders of massive federal spending, which led to 9% inflation and one of the worst hits to middle-class Americans since the Great Recession.

ONE YEAR BACK IN THE OVAL OFFICE, TRUMP WHITE HOUSE SAYS EVERY MAJOR CAMPAIGN PROMISE DELIVERED

The liberal media cannot play it straight. Consider their take on Trump’s nomination of Kevin Warsh to become chairman of the Federal Reserve. After months of stoking fears that the Fed would soon lose its fabled (and mythical) independence under a Trump-picked chair, media analysts twisted themselves in pretzels hyping the dangers of a Warsh-led Fed even as markets proved them wrong by demonstrating exactly the opposite.

After Trump announced his choice of Warsh, metals prices, which had been on a tear, staged an epic collapse. Silver futures slid 31%, the worst day’s trading since 1980, and gold futures, which had been skyrocketing, dropped 11%. Why? Because Warsh is known as a hawk, concerned with keeping inflation and government spending under control. Gold and silver prices had been soaring for several reasons, but among them was the expectation that Trump’s pick would provide what the president wanted — lower interest rates. That, we were told confidently, would lead to accelerating inflation.

It was almost funny watching Bloomberg analysts, for instance, deal with the reality of the Warsh nomination. It was, they opined, an “odd” choice, implying that Trump could not possibly tap an independent thinker, but rather would demand total control over Fed policy. Wall Street, they acknowledged, expected Warsh to lead with a “hawkish” bias. Far from being a pushover, eager to do Trump’s bidding, Warsh will “need to navigate a president who…has pilloried Fed officials for not easing policy as aggressively as he would like.”

TRUMP HITS THE ROAD TO SELL ECONOMIC WINS, AS REPUBLICANS BRACE FOR HIGH-STAKES MIDTERM SHOWDOWN

The liberal media has also been endlessly critical of Trump’s tariffs, and especially the impact they would have on America’s small businesses. But surveys by the NFIB, the country’s largest association of small businesses, show that group’s proprietary optimism index rising in December to 99.5, above its 52-year average of 98. In addition, the NFIB Uncertainty Index fell in December to the lowest reading since June 2024. 

The NFIB isn’t alone in seeing positive trends. Investment bank Evercore ISI’s weekly company surveys show the same trends. Recently, the surveys had zoomed to the highest level since March 2024.

Much of the positive news of late has reflected steady spending by consumers, who are regularly reported to be running out of cash, sinking deeper into debt and depressed about the country’s outlook. And yet, hail the U.S. shopper, who once again defied expectations and stepped up to produce better-than-expected holiday sales.

WHITE HOUSE ‘LASER FOCUSED’ ON AFFORDABILITY AS TRUMP SOFTENS TARIFF STRATEGY

But why should consumers pinch? Real incomes are rising, the stock market keeps hitting new highs, producing a “wealth effect” on spending, and even Fed Chair Powell says the jobs market is stable, if not booming. 

Notwithstanding those positive trends, consumer sentiment has weakened. But the pessimism reflects not so much present conditions — i.e. the reality on the ground — as future expectations, and especially among Democrats and Independents. My view: those glued to liberal newscasts are understandably gloomy about the future. Of course they are! All they hear is hand-wringing about how Trump’s tariffs will destroy global trade and how AI will slaughter job prospects.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

Of course, not everything is perfect, but Trump is right that he had to fix an economy addicted to ever-higher government spending; he is also right that trends are positive. Gasoline prices are down more than 7% from a year ago, and mortgage rates are just above 6%, off from nearly 7% when Trump took office. Meanwhile, investment is flooding into the U.S. and AI will almost certainly boost productivity and incomes, and drive inflation lower.

President Trump has the facts on his side; he should stick to them and win back Americans’ confidence.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM LIZ PEEK

CAROL ROTH: The money in your ‘safe’ savings account could vanish overnight

Most Americans believe that putting money with a trusted bank or credit union is safe — that they can set it and forget it. But doing that could just make your money disappear from your account!

My cousin called me in a panic last week. A retiree, she had put her savings (a six-figure sum) into a savings account with a credit union.

This was her life’s savings, and she received quarterly statements that showed monthly deposits of interest. She watched her balance grow.

On her third quarter of 2025 statement, everything looked fine. But when she received her fourth quarter 2025 statement, the account had been marked closed.

SCAMMERS TARGET RETIREES AS MAJOR 401(K) RULE CHANGES LOOM FOR 2026 TAX YEAR AHEAD NATIONWIDE

She couldn’t believe it. What happened to the account, and where was her money?

When she called the credit union, they said her account had been closed for inactivity. They had closed it as a dormant account and sent the money to the state, a process known as “escheatment” (aptly named, given the circumstances).

She didn’t understand. There was activity from the financial institution with interest deposits every month.

NATIONAL PROGRAM HELPS SENIORS SPOT SCAMS AS LOSSES SURGE

She then called the state, and they said they didn’t have the money; it also was not on their unclaimed property website.

So, what happened?

This story is a red flag for everyone, but especially for seniors or soon-to-be retirees who put money into savings and don’t do anything with it.

RETIREES LOSE MILLIONS TO FAKE HOLIDAY CHARITIES AS SCAMMERS EXPLOIT SEASONAL GENEROSITY

If you, as an account holder, do not have owner-initiated activity in your financial accounts — that is, activity you personally undertake, such as making a deposit, withdrawal, updating your information, or contacting the institution, etc. — and think you can just collect interest, you put your account at risk for closure. Automatic interest postings do not count toward keeping the account active. In Illinois, the current dormancy period is three years (though it varies by state). Simply collecting interest without any owner-initiated interaction can lead to the account being classified as dormant.

Even though my cousin received deposits and had withdrawals regularly, those were initiated by the credit union, not her. Putting away her savings for safekeeping is what ultimately put her money at risk for being sent to the state.

When she called the credit union, they said her account had been closed for inactivity. They had closed it as a dormant account and sent the money to the state, a process known as “escheatment” (aptly named, given the circumstances).

If the institution believes the account is dormant, the institution is supposed to do due diligence and contact you (such as via a mailed letter) before escheating funds. The credit union said they mailed a notice of closure, but it was not sent via certified mail, and my cousin never saw it. She only received that final notice that the account was closed.

6 KICK-BUTT FINANCIAL RESOLUTIONS YOU SHOULD MAKE TODAY TO PROTECT TOMORROW

Of course, they could have called her or tried harder to connect, but they did not.

The institution is then supposed to send the money to the state, but that process can apparently take a while. In my cousin’s case, it was sent in late October, and three months later, the state couldn’t account for it.

Note that currently, escheated funds are held indefinitely for the owner to claim (usually via the state treasurer’s unclaimed property office and website.) But, they have to go through the state’s administrative process first.

4 TASKS EVERY AGING AMERICAN MUST DO RIGHT NOW

Because the state did not have a record of the transfer when contacted, the Illinois State Treasurer provided a form that we then sent the credit union to receive specific information on when the money was forwarded. It took me getting involved to find the right person on staff to acknowledge their receipt and compliance with this request.

In the meantime, this scenario has caused my cousin a great deal of panic, as you can imagine. She has also lost her higher-value interest payments for three months and counting because of this scenario, and we are awaiting word from the state to see if, with the new information, they can locate and turn over the funds.

What can you do to avoid the same scenario?

FROM FRIENDLY TEXT TO FINANCIAL TRAP: THE NEW SCAM TREND

First, make sure that your bank or credit union is insured by the FDIC or NCUA, respectively. Make sure that each of your accounts does not exceed the insurance limit ($250,000 per depositor, per insured institution, per ownership category.) Divide up accounts so each is covered if you exceed the maximum in any account.

This story is a red flag for everyone, but especially for seniors or soon-to-be retirees who put money into savings and don’t do anything with it.

Second, look up the escheatment laws in your state. Even if the listed time period is longer than one year, I recommend that you make at least one transaction every six months to keep your account active and in good standing.

Next, review your statements for all your accounts regularly and look for any unusual activity, notices and the like.

I would also recommend that you work with a financial institution that has a branch you can walk into. Establish a relationship with the staff so that you have an internal ally to help you.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE FOX NEWS OPINION

If you are being dismissed by customer service at any point, have a trusted friend or relative help you navigate the process. The credit union dismissed my cousin until I called with her on the phone as her representative.

In our first interaction, I also let the customer service staff know upfront that I was recording the call for our records, so I could transparently do a recording (recording laws vary by state). That had a double benefit of letting them know this was serious and on the record, and it also created an audio record we could use in the future if the situation escalated.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

I hope that more awareness will be made and states will consider changing this ridiculous rule that creates a burden, particularly for retirees and other seniors who want to keep their savings as untouched money.

Savings accounts are supposed to be for saving, and financial institutions are supposed to be trusted. In today’s day and age, you need to diligently keep track of your hard-earned money before it ends up missing. While funds are recoverable if escheated, preventative efforts can keep you from dealing with the time, effort and issues of this process.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM CAROL ROTH

MORNING GLORY: Democrats have just handed Trump the chance to fix immigration

Domestic governance and politics continue even as the world waits for President Trump’s decision on how to best defang the reckless and bloodthirsty regime that holds the Iranian population captive. No one not in the rooms with the president and his innermost circle of advisers knows what are the options before President Trump or what our intelligence and military say and how our regional allies actually feel. It is “wilderness of mirrors” time on all things Iran.

The president’s resolute actions against Iran and Venezuela in 2025 ought to have earned him enormous credibility on national security decisions, unlike Presidents Joe Biden and Barack Obama, who knew only how to retreat. President 45-47 is not the retreating type. He could, of course, disappoint and do nothing about the despots terrorizing Iranians, thereby forfeiting some, if not all, of that accumulated credit from the past year. But no one can render that judgment yet, although partisans on the left are eager to class him with the 44th and 46th presidents as appeasers. We have no idea how this crisis will resolve, and likely won’t for weeks, if not months.

In the meantime, the ongoing negotiations over the appropriations bill for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) have gifted President Trump an unprecedented opportunity to turn the deep divisions over illegal immigration into a consensus-building breakthrough, one that will put his second term into the history books without equal in post-World War II history. A domestic “Nixon-to-China” moment stands before him.

Hard-left Democrats are demanding their congressional members push for the effective neutering of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) by requiring judicial warrants prior to the detention of immigrants in the country without permission — either because they crossed the border illegally as “got-aways,” entered with the consent of the Biden administration as asylum or refugee seekers or overstayed a visa.

GO BIG, THEN GO SMART: TRUMP, ICE AND THE LAW. HOW TO SKIP THE LEFT’S PR TRAP

The Democrats denied that the border could be closed, but Trump has shown it can be and has been. Rather than recognize how badly Team Biden broke the immigration system, now the left now wants to deny ICE the long-standing procedures by which illegal immigrants are deported. The Republicans can never agree to this. If the Democrats shutter DHS for six months by denying the entire department funding, it will be an issue for November.

Voters, however, do not like the dragnet approach to illegal immigrants. They are fueled in their discontent by legacy media misrepresenting every case involving a sympathy-evoking migrant and by the tragedies in Minnesota.

It is pretty easy to see what super-majorities want: the rapid deportation of criminals and violent immigrants — including those not yet convicted but arrested for suspected criminal behavior. Easy to see but very difficult to execute.

DEMOCRATS CAN RUN, BUT THEY CAN’T HIDE: AN IMMIGRATION RECKONING IS NEXT IN 2028

Voters are not generally in favor of deporting hardworking migrants who came here and found work. A very loud but small slice of the right wants deportation of 100% of people in the country illegally, but that policy will boomerang in November.

America is a welcoming country, especially for the law-abiding and hard-working. Now is the moment to continue to demonstrate resolve at the border, focus on who must be deported and, crucially, compassion for specific categories of illegal immigrants determined to build a legitimate life here.

By providing ‘regularization’ for a few million of the tens of millions of illegal immigrants in the country, President Trump will again underscore that he is the president who stands for ‘common sense.’ 

President Trump should go on the offensive with the immigration equivalent of The First Step Act success from his first term. The president can demand right now that the final appropriations bill taking shape for DHS to maintain the current deportation process —including administrative warrants for detention— while fully funding the Department of Homeland Security, with some additional sections of new law.

THE SUPREME COURT IS GOING TO GIVE PRESIDENT TRUMP A MAJOR OPENING ON IMMIGRATION

He should flip the messaging script and demand of the Congress that this appropriations bill regularize all “Dreamers” — illegal immigrants brought to the country as minors — as well as other discrete categories of illegal immigrants, such as those who can present a record of work and tax returns for 10 years with no arrests, and all illegal immigrants over the age of 50 who do not have an arrest on their records. Immunity from deportation by categories, based on common sense, makes the operational workload of DHS smaller while reducing the political cost of unpopular deportations of low-skilled but dedicated labor that hardly anyone objects to when they are on the receiving end of the services provided by those migrants.

All the Dreamers — which is an “80-20” common sense issue — and other categories of illegal immigrants who should be “regularized,” should receive a five year “blue card,” a status renewable every five years provided the holder does not violate the criminal law.

The compromise President Trump puts forward should also articulate that there is no path to citizenship for anyone who entered the country illegally and thus the right to vote will never be theirs. This is a bedrock principle as important as the wall along the border: No one should be able to break the law and thereby gain the right to citizenship. Residency on terms of good behavior, yes, but voting and entitlements: No. A hard no.

TRUMP’S IMMIGRATION CRACKDOWN SPARKS BIPARTISAN CALL FOR ASYLUM FIXES, PROTECTION FOR LONGTIME MIGRANTS

“Regularization” should not be “amnesty” of the sort President Ronald Reagan delivered in 1986, which proved to be a disaster. A grant of regularization to an individual should explicitly bar that individual from qualifying another person outside the country for favorable status in any application for immigration benefits.

Democrats have unwittingly placed illegal immigrants front and center as the only issue presently impeding the ordinary operations of the government. President Trump should take the spotlight the Democrats have created on DHS funding and turn it on to a demand that cannot be rejected. Trump needs to make the Democrats an offer they cannot refuse.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE FOX NEWS OPINION

Most Americans are not eager to eject Dreamers or illegal immigrants who have been here for decades working to build their families and the country. Most Americans are also not sympathetic to the millions who rushed the border during the collapse of border controls during the Biden years.

By taking large numbers of illegal immigrants who arrived long before Biden off the target list for deportation, ICE can focus on the actual problem, which is, in the minds of most Americans, violent and usually criminally violent young men as well as illegal immigrants who arrived in the past five years and immediately imposed enormous costs on the social safety net.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

President Trump has proven himself completely capable of managing international crises and legislative achievement at the same time. Even as the crisis continues to unfold in Iran, he should demand that Congress do more than fund the Department of Homeland Security. He should also make the bill providing the funds a first step towards a rational set of rules for the tens of millions of people in the country without any right to be here.

By providing “regularization” for a few million of the tens of millions of illegal immigrants in the country, President Trump will again underscore that he is the president who stands for “common sense.” He’s the president who sealed the border. He can also be the one to finally settle the issue of the Dreamers and long-settled immigrants who have been here for decades and decades working and building lives.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM HUGH HEWITT