Brown, MIT shooting suspect’s lottery visa sparks DHS to pause program after attacks
DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said Claudio Neves-Valente, the suspect in the Brown University shooting and the killing of an MIT professor, entered the U.S. through the diversity lottery immigrant visa program during President Donald Trump’s first term in 2017 and was granted a green card.
Neves-Valente, a 48-year-old Portuguese national, is accused of killing two students and wounding nine others at Brown University before then allegedly fatally shooting
Nuno F. G. Loureiro, a nuclear fusion scientist and professor at MIT, at Loureiro’s home in Brookline, Massachusetts.
“The Brown University shooter, Claudio Manuel Neves Valente entered the United States through the diversity lottery immigrant visa program (DV1) in 2017 and was granted a green card. This heinous individual should never have been allowed in our country,” Noem said in a statement.
“In 2017, President Trump fought to end this program, following the devastating NYC truck ramming by an ISIS terrorist, who entered under the DV1 program, and murdered eight people,” she continued.
“At President Trump’s direction, I am immediately directing USCIS to pause the DV1 program to ensure no more Americans are harmed by this disastrous program,” the secretary added.
Police are crediting a homeless man who previously attended Brown University for “cracking the case wide open” and helping them locate the car belonging to the suspect in the shooting on campus.
Neves-Valente, a 48-year-old Portuguese national, is accused of shooting nearly a dozen students — including two who died — at Brown University before allegedly fatally shooting Nuno F. G. Loureiro, a nuclear fusion scientist and professor at MIT, at Loureiro’s home in Brookline, Massachusetts.
According to an affidavit, police were alerted on Tuesday about a Reddit post with a description of the suspect’s vehicle.
“I’m being dead serious,” the Reddit post said. “The police need to look into a grey Nissan with Florida plates, possibly a rental.”
“I know because he used his key fob to open the car, approached it and then something prompted him to back away,” it added. “When he backed away, he relocked the car. I found that odd so when he circled the block, I approached the car that is when I saw the Florida plates.”
A source told Fox News that police later identified the Reddit poster as a homeless man, who they said was extremely articulate and reliable. He told police he sleeps in the basement of the Barus and Holley building on campus. He said he observed the suspect in the basement area earlier in the day before the shooting and followed him out and had a strange encounter.
The affidavit says the man told police the two were playing a “cat and mouse game” and would walk past each other and slow down. At one point, the two were standing feet away from each other when the man asked the suspect, “Your car is back there, why are you circling the block?”
The man told police that he posted on Reddit after recognizing him as the “person of interest.”
Using the tip, investigators reviewed surveillance footage and found a car matching the man’s description. Police then used cameras widely used as license plate readers to identify the car. The Rhode Island Attorney General said he put a Maine license plate over the rental’s Florida plate to throw off investigators. There were also several other matches from similar car descriptions captured on the cameras, making it a lengthy process.
Police were eventually led to the car rental company in Massachusetts, where they were able to obtain surveillance footage and the name of the suspect through a car rental agreement.
Authorities were then led to the abandoned car in Salem, New Hampshire, where Neves-Valente had rented a storage unit under his name. He was found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot with two firearms nearby.
Fox News’ Brooke Taylor contributed to this report.
The car belonging to Claudio Neves-Valente, the suspect in the Brown University shooting and the killing of an MIT professor, was seen being towed away on Thursday night.
The vehicle was towed away at 11:43 p.m. on Thursday.
Neves-Valente, a 48-year-old Portuguese national, is accused of shooting nearly a dozen students — including two who died — at Brown University before allegedly fatally shooting Nuno F. G. Loureiro, a nuclear fusion scientist and professor at MIT, at Loureiro’s home in Brookline, Massachusetts.
Claudio Neves-Valente, the suspect in the Brown University mass shooting and the killing of an MIT professor, was enrolled as a student studying physics from the fall of 2000 to the spring of 2001, according to Brown University President Christina Paxson.
Neves-Valente attended Brown for three semesters as a graduate student before formally withdrawing in July 2003, Paxson said in a statement, adding that he did not receive a degree from the university.
Paxson stated that Neves-Valente was admitted to the Sc.M-PhD program in physics and likely would have taken courses and spent time in the Barus & Holley building, where the deadly shooting took place.
“While Brown remains committed to searching all institutional systems to identify any pertinent information to assist law enforcement, we have thus far found no indication of any concerns pertaining to conduct or any public safety interactions during the short time Neves Valente was enrolled as a graduate student at Brown,” Paxson stated. “As of yet, we have not identified any employee who recalls Neves Valente, nor is there any Brown record of recent contact between this individual and Brown.”
Federal prosecutors on Thursday released a photograph and complaint affidavit for Claudio Neves-Valente, the suspect in the Brown University shooting and the killing of an MIT professor, according to the U.S. Attorney for the District of Massachusetts.
Neves-Valente, 48, is a Portuguese national accused of killing two people and wounding nine others on the campus of Brown University on Saturday.
He then allegedly fatally shot Nuno F.G. Loureiro, a nuclear fusion scientist and professor at MIT, at Loureiro’s home in Brookline, Massachusetts.
Neves-Valente is also being investigated for allegedly transporting a firearm and ammunition in interstate commerce with the intent to commit a felony, which is a federal offense under a statute that makes it unlawful to move firearms across state lines with plans to use them to commit a felony, including violent crime, according to the affidavit.
U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts Leah B. Foley confirmed Thursday that Claudio Manuel Neves-Valente was responsible for both the Brown University shooting and the murder of MIT professor Nuno Loureiro.
She confirmed that both individuals attended same academic program from 1995 to 2000.
Authorities say a motive for both attacks is unclear.
Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha credited a witness with playing a critical role in helping law enforcement identify the suspect in the Brown University shooting, calling him “as outstanding a witness as I’ve seen.”
Neronha confirmed the individual was highly attentive to his surroundings and voluntarily came forward after realizing police were seeking his help.
“He came forward within an hour,” Neronha said, adding that the witness was “incredibly articulate.”
The witness helped review surveillance video and provided information that assisted investigators as they searched for the suspect, Claudio Manuel Neves-Valente, who was later found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Neronha said the man deserves “a tremendous amount of credit” for recognizing the seriousness of the situation and cooperating fully with law enforcement.
The attorney general declined to release the witness’s name but added, “I don’t know whether he’s going to get the reward or not.”
Providence Police said that the suspected Brown University shooter, Claudio Manuel Neves-Valente, was identified because he used his real name when renting a vehicle later found abandoned in New Hampshire.
Providence Police Chief Col. Oscar L. Perez Jr. said investigators traced the vehicle through the rental company, which provided surveillance footage and a copy of the rental agreement listing Neves-Valente’s legal name.
“The video of that subject matched the description of the person of interest that this police department was desperate to put handcuffs on,” Perez said.
Police confirmed that Claudio Manuel Neves-Valente, the Brown shooting suspect, went to school with Nuno F.G. Loureiro, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor who was shot and killed at his home in upscale Brookline, Massachusetts, in Portugal 25 years ago.
Police would not, however, confirm if Neves-Valente is suspected of killing Loureiro.
Providence Police Chief Oscar L. Perez Jr. publicly identified the Brown University shooting suspect during a press conference as Portuguese national Claudio Manuel Neves-Valente.
The 48-year-old was a Brown student who was last known address was in Miami.
Valente took his own life Thursday night as authorities encircled a storage facility in Salem, New Hampshire.
A law enforcement source tells Fox News that the suspected shooter connected to the Brown University mass shooting has been found dead of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Officials have not yet publicly confirmed the suspect’s identity or released additional details surrounding the circumstances of the death.
Fox News’ Brooke Taylor contributed to this reporting.
Authorities are preparing to enter the Brown University shooting suspect’s storage unit in Salem, New Hampshire.
A law enforcement source tells Fox News that the suspect was seen in surveillance video entering the storage facility at some point, but is unclear if he ever exited.
The suspect has a storage unit registered under his name at the facility where his abandoned car was discovered, the source said.
Authorities have entered the storage facility but have not yet entered the suspect’s specific unit.
Fox News’ Brooke Taylor contributed to this reporting.
Police have surrounded a storage facility in Salem, New Hampshire, as authorities appear to be closing in on the Brown University shooting suspect.
Fox News Digital is on the ground as authorities have been seen going in and out of the facility.
Sources tell Fox News the suspect’s car was found outside.
Authorities are poised to hold a press conference to give an update on the manhunt, but so far no word on when that might happen.
Fox News Digital’s Michael Dorgan contributed to this reporting.
Video from the scene in Salem, New Hampshire showed officers entering a storage facility after the suspected shooter’s car was found outside.
Sources tell Fox News authorities have not yet made contact with the suspect.
Fox News’ Brooke Taylor contributed to this reporting.
Law enforcement officers are in Salem, New Hampshire, where the suspected shooter’s abandoned vehicle was located near a storage facility, sources tell Fox News.
Fox News’ Brooke Taylor contributed to this reporting.
Providence police had responded to only two homicides in all of 2025 prior to the Brown University shooting on Dec. 13.
The rarity of homicide investigations in the city provides context for the scale and complexity of the case now facing law enforcement.
Fox News’ Brooke Taylor contributed to this reporting.
The manhunt for the Brown University shooting suspect may have crossed state lines into Salem, New Hampshire, according to Boston 25, citing its own law enforcement sources.
Fox News Digital was not immediately able to confirm.
Providence police have located and interviewed the man seen on surveillance video near the unidentified suspect in the Brown University shooting, and investigators say he is not believed to be connected to the attack, according to reporting from WPRI.
Law enforcement sources told WPRI the man was captured on camera “in proximity” to the suspected gunman roughly two hours before the shooting.
According to WPRI’s sources, the man told police he approached the suspect outside Brown University and questioned what he was doing there, which prompted him to flee.
Police do not believe the man played any role in the shooting.
After authorities publicly asked to speak with him, the man reportedly contacted police and was interviewed. His name has not been released.
All patients injured in the Dec. 13 mass shooting at Brown University are now either in stable condition or have been discharged, according to an update from Rhode Island Hospital.
As of 2:45 p.m. on December 18, Rhode Island Hospital confirmed it treated nine people with gunshot wounds related to the incident and six patients are in stable condition.Three patients have been discharged.
Hospital officials also said that one patient previously listed in critical condition has now stabilized.
Rhode Island Hospital said it continues to work closely with Brown University and is providing ongoing support to affected families.
Providence Police have identified a suspect in the Brown University shooting and have a warrant, according to Fox News sources.
Police are also investigating a possible link between the Brown shooting and the MIT murder.
Authorities have not yet released a name of the suspect and he is still at-large. Sources tell Fox News the suspect is in his 40s.
Fox News’ Brooke Taylor contributed to this reporting.
The Brown University gunman who remains at large after killing two students and wounding nine more is likely “extremely angry” and a “loner” who is afraid of getting caught, according to criminal profiler John Kelly.
Kelly, who is also the president of STALK Inc., told Fox News Digital on Thursday why he believes the gunman canvassed the area before the shooting.
“He took great pains to scope out the area and secure an escape route. Why? Because he’s scared of getting caught,” Kelly said. “So it looks like a cause he’s not willing to die for, but a cause he’s extremely angry over.”
The shooter fired more than 40 rounds from a 9mm handgun into a classroom in the Barus and Holley engineering building around 4 p.m. on Saturday before fleeing on foot, officials have said.
“I believe he’s probably a loner who expresses [his anger] in the confines of a private place online,” Kelly continued. “He’s watching everything he can about himself on the news. All these guys have a certain amount of paranoia, I believe this guy is no different. He wants to kill kids but he’s scared of doing the time for it.”
Fox News contributor Paul Mauro said sources told him that live ammunition was found at the shooting scene at Brown University, marking a positive sign for the investigation as police continue to search for the unidentified shooter.
“What I can tell you from my sources is that I think quite significantly, they have live rounds, that is, rounds that were not fired on detonated rounds,” Mauro said during an appearance on “Fox & Friends” on Thursday. “Why does that matter? Because shell casings have enclosed a detonation. That’s how bullets work. Which means they often destroy evidence and they’re scorched.”
“In the case of live rounds, think about what happens there on a nine millimeter automatic,” Mauro continued. “The perpetrator has to fat finger those live rounds, bullets, into a magazine, which is the sleeve that holds them and that gets put into the handle of the gun. That’s how a semi-automatic works.”
Mauro said the evidence could be a “positive sign for the investigation” that has stretched into a sixth day Thursday.
“Live rounds at the scene, I think, is a hopeful sign for getting usable DNA, even if he’s not in the database,” Mauro said.
The Providence police chief
has confirmed investigators recovered physical evidence, including DNA, at the Brown University shooting scene that police are working to process.
When Fox News on Wednesday asked Col. Oscar Perez whether investigators were able to find live ammunition from the scene, the police chief said investigators were able to get physical evidence.
“Oh yeah, we seized a few physical evidence and we’re in the process of examining that evidence,” Perez told Fox News. “And yes, we have some DNA that we manipulated and so it just progresses everyday.”
Perez added: “It progresses everyday with forensics, it progresses everyday with witness statements and so yeah, we’re just trying to find out and we are going to do our best.”
A law enforcement official familiar with the case told The New York Times on condition of anonymity that DNA, along with fingerprints, came from shell casings from the shooting scene.
Fox News’ Bryan Llenas and Fox News Digital’s Alexandra Koch contributed to this report.
Providence Mayor Brett Smiley told Fox News on Wednesday the city will “certainly be doing a review” of its cameras following a fatal shooting at Brown University on Saturday.
The unidentified gunman, who killed two Brown University students and wounded nine others, is still at large as the manhunt drags into a fifth day.
“We will certainly be doing a review to think about where we might need additional camera footage,” Smiley said. “We do have a network of technology, including things like license plate readers, which are aiding in this investigation.”
He added the local police department is sending officers out to speak to residents about obtaining their doorbell or home security camera footage.
“Many of the residences have cameras, which is partially one of the reasons why it’s taking so long, because we have to go door to door, but also why we’re continuing to generate good new video because we’re looking through vehicles [like Teslas, which have] cameras,” Smiley said.
Fox News’ Bryan Llenas contributed to this report.
Jury convicts judge who helped illegal immigrant dodge ICE agents in courthouse
A jury found Milwaukee County Judge Hannah Dugan guilty of obstructing federal immigration agents during an attempt to serve a warrant at a courthouse earlier this year.
She faces up to five years in prison on the felony obstruction count.
Dugan was arrested in April after helping Eduardo Flores-Ruiz avoid plainclothes Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents who were trying to serve him a warrant. Prosecutors said Dugan helped Flores-Ruiz and his attorney exit her courtroom through a back door on April 18, after learning that ICE agents were in the building to arrest him.
FEDERAL JUDGE REJECTS MILWAUKEE JUDGE’S IMMUNITY CLAIM IN ICE OBSTRUCTION CASE
“While we are disappointed in today’s outcome, the failure of the prosecution to secure convictions on both counts demonstrates the opportunity we have to clear Judge Dugan’s name and show she did nothing wrong in this matter,” Dugan’s defense team said in a statement. “We have planned for this potential outcome and our defense of Judge Dugan is just beginning. This trial required considerable resources to prepare for and public support for Judge Dugan’s defense fund is critical as we prepare for the next phase of this defense.”
Jurors reached the guilty verdict after six hours of deliberations, though Dugan was acquitted on a misdemeanor count of concealing an individual to prevent arrest.
ILLINOIS LAWMAKERS PASS BILL BANNING ICE IMMIGRATION ARRESTS NEAR COURTHOUSES
Interim U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Wisconsin Brad Schimel reacted to the verdict, saying Dugan “is certainly not evil nor is she a martyr for some greater cause.”
“It was a criminal case, like many that make their way through this courthouse every day, and we all must accept the verdict peacefully,” he said.
Schimel added that prosecutors weren’t trying to make an example out of anyone.”
“This was necessary to hold Judge Dugan accountable in our assessment because of the action she took,” he said.
Following the verdict, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said Dugan “betrayed her oath and the people she served.”
“Today, a federal jury of her peers found her guilty and sent a clear message: the American people respect law and order. Nobody is above the law,” he wrote on X. “This Department will not tolerate obstruction, will enforce federal immigration law, and will hold criminals to account — even those who wear robes. Thank you to the men and women who keep us safe. We will always protect you.”
Under Wisconsin law, Dugan is no longer eligible to hold public office.
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In April, she was suspended with pay, a roughly $175k-per-year salary, by the Wisconsin State Supreme Court. It’s unclear if the court will make any changes to her employment status in the wake of the verdict, given that the defense is expected to appeal the decision.
Charlie Kirk’s widow takes swipe at Candace Owens while rallying for Vance
Turning Point USA CEO Erika Kirk welcomed attendees Thursday to the conservative organization’s first AmericaFest conference since the death of founder Charlie Kirk, paying tribute to her late husband and his mission while also endorsing Vice President JD Vance to be the next president.
“What I’m inspired by is the fact that Charlie and I, again, will go wherever we need to go, but so will you. That’s why you guys are here,” she said at the conference in Phoenix, Ariz. “All of you here are because you know you’re saying, ‘I want to do something.'”
AmFest was her husband’s “Super Bowl,” she said, and she was honored to carry on its legacy as conservatives continue to mourn his assassination.
“What I have learned so much within these past three months, again, the enemy, that he will never win. We know we’re on the winning side,” she said. “God is so good.”
TURNING POINT USA HOLDS AMERICAFEST CONFERENCE FOLLOWING CHARLIE KIRK ASSASSINATION
She noted 80% of the attendees had never attended a TPUSA event. The conservative organization has seen an explosion in interest since the assassination, which galvanized students on campuses around the country.
In an apparent dig at podcaster Candace Owens, Erika Kirk quipped that Egypt was not one of the countries represented by attendees at the event. Owens has posited numerous conspiracy theories around the Kirk assassination, including that a mysterious Egyptian plane could be linked to the killing.
Kirk said she had learned who she could rely on and pray with over the three months since her husband’s death, and she also joked that far-left podcaster Joy Reid could use a “really good hug” and she’d even touch the back of her head. Reid recently disparaged Kirk’s attire, saying she wasn’t in “widow wear,” and the way she embraced Vance at a Turning Point event earlier this year.
Kirk rattled off statistics about Turning Point’s remarkable growth since Sept. 10, including more than 1 million students involved, 3,082 Club America chapters and 1,432 college chapters.
TURNING POINT USA SHARES ’31 WAYS TO LIVE LIKE CHARLIE KIRK’ TRIBUTE ON HIS BIRTHDAY
She said the organization would help ensure President Donald Trump’s Republican Party kept control of Congress for his entire term, and then said it would get her husband’s friend JD Vance “elected for 48 in the most resounding way possible.” The next commander-in-chief will be the 48th president.
“There are so many ways to get involved,” she told attendees. “That’s why Charlie built Turning Point USA the way he did. He didn’t care your race, your age, your background.”
She also overcame a technical malfunction, as she noted, her prepared remarks on her iPad disappeared at the outset of her comments.
“So that’s a fun technical difficulty that we can figure out. So we’re just going to wing it,” she said to cheers.
PIERS MORGAN CONFRONTS CANDACE OWENS OVER CHARLIE KIRK CONSPIRACY THEORIES IN TENSE INTERVIEW
Kirk told the audience to let the event be a literal turning point in their lives, saying as she concluded her remarks that the conference should stretch and challenge them.
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Speakers at the event through the weekend include Vance, Donald Trump Jr., Tulsi Gabbard, Vivek Ramaswamy, House Speaker Mike Johnson, Tom Homan, and numerous other conservative leaders in politics and the media.
Mamdani administration faces setback as appointments director resigns over remarks
Zohran Mamdani’s newly named director of appointments abruptly resigned Thursday after resurfaced social media posts showed she made antisemitic remarks, according to reports.
Catherine Almonte Da Costa, tapped to serve in the incoming New York City mayoral administration, stepped down after the Anti-Defamation League of New York/New Jersey raised concerns about her past online activity.
The posts, reportedly made between 2011 and 2012 on a now-deleted X account, included references to “money hungry Jews” and “rich Jewish peeps” and called a Far Rockaway train “the Jew train.”
“Her social media footprint includes posts from more than a decade ago that echo classic antisemitic tropes and otherwise demean Jewish people,” the ADL wrote on X.
MAMDANI SAYS NYPD COMMISSIONER APOLOGIZED AFTER HER BROTHER CALLED HIM ‘ENEMY’ OF THE JEWISH PEOPLE AT GALA
“Tweeting about ‘money hungry Jews’ is indefensible. We appreciate Da Costa has relationships with members of the Jewish community, but her posts require immediate explanation not just from Ms. Da Costa, but also from the mayor-elect,” the post said. Da Costa deleted her account and offered her resignation.
“I spoke with the mayor-elect this afternoon, apologized and expressed my deep regret for my past statements,” Da Costa told the Judge Street Journal Thursday.
“These statements are not indicative of who I am. As the mother of Jewish children, I feel a profound sense of sadness and remorse at the harm these words have caused. As this has become a distraction from the work at hand, I have offered my resignation“.
MAMDANI’S NEW SAFETY ADVISOR CONFESSED SERIOUS PILL ADDICTION, TURNED TO EX-NBA STAR FOR HELP
Mamdani accepted the resignation, telling the Judge Street Journal, which first reported the posts, “Catherine expressed her deep remorse over her past statements and tendered her resignation, and I accepted.”
Mamdani had said that Da Costa would be in charge of bringing “top talent into this administration.”
Da Costa previously worked for former Mayor Bill de Blasio’s administration on its census team.
NYC RABBI URGES MAYOR-ELECT MAMDANI TO CONDEMN ‘GLOBALIZE THE INTIFADA’ PHRASE IN WAKE OF SYDNEY ATTACK
In addition to the antisemitic remarks, other resurfaced posts revealed derogatory comments toward the NYPD, including references to “NYPD piggies,” according to the New York Post.
The resignation came less than two weeks before Mamdani is to be sworn in as New York City mayor.
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Fox News Digital reached out to Zohran Mamdani, Catherine Almonte Da Costa and the ADL, who said they had no further comment.
Stallone admits family pain still stings as Hollywood icon bares his soul
Sylvester Stallone is reflecting on his relationship with his parents.
The 79-year-old star spoke about the success of “Rocky,” which won three Academy Awards – including best picture – during a recent interview with CBS News.
Looking back on his triumphant night in 1977, Stallone admitted that initially winning felt like “a volcanic moment, and then it was very sad.” He went on to share that his parents chose not to attend the ceremony, despite the fact that the film, which Stallone wrote and starred in, had been nominated for 10 awards.
“You want people that you love that denied you – now you’re here, you’re at the Oscars, and they don’t want to go,” he said, as he started getting emotional. “You realize that, at that moment, that you’re never ever going to come to terms with this. And it’s like, what more do you need? Really, what f—ing more do you need to do to say, ‘I’m here. I did this.'”
KELSEY GRAMMER CALLS TRUMP ‘ONE OF THE GREATEST PRESIDENTS WE’VE EVER HAD’ AT KENNEDY CENTER HONORS
Earlier in the interview, the actor shared that when his parents got divorced when he was 11 years old, he went to live with his father, who was described in the interview as “emotionally and physically abusive.”
“You realize that, at that moment, that you’re never ever going to come to terms with this. And it’s like, what more do you need? Really, what f—ing more do you need to do to say, ‘I’m here. I did this.'”
Stallone explained that living with his dad “was hard to navigate,” especially for a “rebellious” kid like himself. He said he came to expect beatings, adding: “My father, when he used to whistle, I knew it was coming.”
“Parents should really wise up. Kids are the same as soft clay. They really are. You mold them, and you dent them, and you hurt them, or you drop them off the table, and they’re not the same shape anymore,” he said. “I still walk around with it. And I wish I couldn’t. And I pray, and I do everything, but it’s always there.”
He admitted there is “always some residual thing there” stemming from the hurt he felt from his parents, even though he sees himself as “a tough guy.”
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Not only is he a tough guy in real life, he has also played his fair share of tough guys on screen. He is currently filming the fourth season of his hit Paramount + action series, “Tulsa King.”
WATCH: SYLVESTER STALLONE TALKS SEASON 3 OF ‘TULSA KING’
SYLVESTER STALLONE ADMITS HE WAS NERVOUS WORKING WITH THIS HOLLYWOOD LEGEND FOR FIRST TIME
“It’s as close as I’m ever going to come to showing who I am, my real personality. That’s how I would react. It was an experiment,” he told Fox News Digital in September. “This is pretty much me as a gangster.”
The “Rambo” star received a Kennedy Center honor in early December, with President Trump announcing Stallone as one of this year’s recipients in August.
During an interview with Fox News Digital in September, Stallone said hearing he would receive the honor was “a shock and revelation,” adding it was never he expected, “and now I don’t know what to do.”
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WATCH: SYLVESTER STALLONE SAYS KENNEDY CENTER HONOR IS ‘SOMETHING I STILL CAN’T FATHOM’
“When you get this Kennedy Center honor, it’s just something I still, at this age, can’t fathom that you actually get a prize for what you do that you would do for free. You know what I mean? I’ve been so lucky. I’ve been blessed, everything. And on top of that, you’re gonna give me a chocolate sundae? Come on. Jesus,” he said.
The other honorees included country legend George Strait, rock band KISS, English actor Michael Crawford and iconic singer Gloria Gaynor, known for her hits, including “I Will Survive.”
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‘Wake up, America!’: Maria Shriver torches Trump after Kennedy Center name change
Maria Shriver slammed President Donald Trump on Thursday after the Kennedy Center’s board voted unanimously to rename the institution to the “Trump-Kennedy Center,” accusing him of trying to attach his name to a memorial dedicated to her uncle, President John F. Kennedy.
Shriver, a high-profile member of the Kennedy family, said it is “beyond comprehension” to change the center’s name, accusing Trump of staining JFK’s legacy in art, culture and education.
“It is beyond comprehension that this sitting president has sought to rename this great memorial dedicated to President Kennedy,” Shriver wrote on X. “It is beyond wild that he would think adding his name in front of President Kennedy’s name is acceptable. It is not.”
Kennedy Center vice president of public relations Roma Daravi told Fox Digital Thursday that the unanimous vote “recognizes” Trump’s work to pull the center out of financial straits while working to also update the building originally constructed in the 1960s, and opened in 1971.
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Shriver argued that adding Trump’s name was not “dignified” or “funny,” and “is way beneath the stature of the job.”
“Just when you think someone can’t stoop any lower, down they go,” she said.
The former First Lady of California quipped that Trump might want to rename JFK Airport or make other changes, including the “Trump Lincoln Memorial,” “Trump Jefferson Memorial” and “Trump Smithsonian.”
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“Can we not see what is happening here?” Shriver said. “C’mon, my fellow Americans! Wake up!”
President Trump said on Thursday he was “honored” and “surprised” by the update.
“We’re saving the building. We saved the building. The building was in such bad shape, physically, financially, in every other way. And now it’s very solid, very strong. We have something going on television, I guess on the 23rd December. I think it’s going to get very big ratings and the Kennedy Center is really, really back strongly,” he told reporters.
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Other members of the Kennedy family, including JFK’s great-nephew, Joe Kennedy III, weighed in on the name change, arguing that ederal law protects the center’s name from being changed.
“It can no sooner be renamed than can someone rename the Lincoln Memorial, no matter what anyone says,” he wrote on X.
The name change follows recent precedent, a Kennedy Center official told Fox News Digital, noting that the State Department’s decided earlier this month to add Trump’s name to the U.S. Institute of Peace and to past presidential administrations that have renamed military bases.
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Fox News Digital has reached out to the White House for comment.
World’s tallest teen makes college basketball history, sending Florida fans into frenzy
Florida center Olivier Rioux made history during the team’s 102-61 victory over Saint Francis on Wednesday night when the world’s tallest teen recorded his first collegiate field goal in the final minutes of the game.
The Canadian phenom, already a fan favorite, entered the game in the final two minutes of the contest, drawing loud cheers from the crowd, when earlier in the night began chanting “We want Ollie!”
With 43 seconds left, Rioux caught a bounce pass from teammate CJ Ingram and dunked, his feet barely leaving the ground in the process.
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At 7-foot-9, Rioux became the tallest player in college basketball history to make a field goal.
“Pretty special, man,” Gators coach Todd Golden said after the contest. “The transition, his vertical. Woo. He was up there, man.”
WORLD’S TALLEST TEENAGER OLIVIER RIOUX MAKES COLLEGIATE BASKETBALL HISTORY FOR FLORIDA GATORS
“We were just going crazy,” added Florida guard Xaivian Lee, who led the team with 18 points.
Rioux, 19, made history last month when he became the tallest college basketball player ever in his debut for the Gators. With his hard-to-miss height on the court, Rioux didn’t touch the ball in that game, but he scored three games later, making a free throw.
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“It felt great,” Rioux said after his debut. “The support from everybody was amazing, even on the bench and even the fans. I think everybody supported me. I’m very grateful.”
Federal workers granted rare holiday time off as Trump signs Christmas executive order
President Donald Trump is giving most federal employees two additional days off for Christmas, according to an executive order signed Thursday afternoon.
Federal employees affected by the order will be able to stay home on both Dec. 24 and Dec. 26. For many, this effectively creates a five-day holiday break, including Christmas Day and the weekend.
“All executive departments and agencies of the Federal Government shall be closed and their employees excused from duty on Wednesday, December 24, 2025, and Friday, December 26, 2025, the day before and the day following Christmas Day, respectively,” the order stated.
This marks the first time in recent years that federal employees have received two extra days off around the holiday. While it is common for presidents to grant either the day before or the day after Christmas, granting both days is less frequent.
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Despite the additional time off for most employees, the executive order said agency heads retain the authority to determine if certain offices should remain open for reasons of “national security, defense, or other urgent public need.”
The executive order specifies that these days are to be treated similarly to federal holidays for purposes of pay and leave regulations.
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The Director of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is responsible for taking the necessary steps to implement the order across the federal workforce.
Last year, former President Joe Biden gave federal employees Christmas Eve off.
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During Trump’s first term in office, he gave federal employees an extra day off for Christmas Eve in 2018, 2019 and 2020.
When Christmas last fell on a Thursday in 2014, former President Barack Obama granted only Friday, Dec. 26, off, leaving Wednesday as a regular workday.
Detransitioner Chloe Cole shares complications after gender procedures
Washington, DC – Medical victim Chloe Cole was at the center of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Thursday announcement of proposed regulatory actions to end “sex-rejecting procedures” on minors.
The proposed regulatory actions by the HHS are part of President Donald Trump‘s January executive order calling on the department to protect children from “chemical and surgical mutilation.”
The department is rolling out a series of policy updates and regulatory actions that would effectively defund hospitals that provide gender transition procedures, according to an HHS official.
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Cole, now 21 years old, went through the process of medical transition from female to male between the ages of 12 and 16.
The California native took to the stage alongside HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and other officials Thursday to advocate for the protection of children. Afterward, she told Fox News Digital the puberty blockers, testosterone injections and double mastectomy she endured have irreversibly and permanently affected her health.
“As soon as gender was in the picture, none of my doctors or psychologists asked the real questions that they should have,” said Cole. “The entire focus was on my feelings and what I wanted rather than what I really needed in that moment.”
What she needed, Cole said, was to be loved and affirmed for the way God created her — “as a young and yet tomboyish little girl.”
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She maintained that her doctors neglected to share risks, only touting the “benefits” of stopping female puberty and using testosterone to promote body hair growth, musculature and different fat distribution.
“There was nothing they could say to me that would make me understand the gravity of what I was about to go through, because I was still growing up,” said Cole. “I had very little experience in the world, and I simply would not be mature enough to be equipped to undergo such a life-changing procedure in every way.”
Cole noted that her parents never thought she was transgender, but felt like the odds were stacked against them.
“At the time when we started going through this as a family, there really were no resources that would speak to the reality of transgenderism, especially for children,” she said. “Most people were not aware then that this was something that was even happening in our hospital systems.”
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Cole said her parents were warned that if they did not allow her to transition, she would likely commit suicide.
“My legal guardians were forced to make this decision under duress,” she shared in a previous statement. “But even if my parents had supported transitioning medically from the start, no parent or any adult, ultimately, has a right to determine whether a child gets to be chemically sterilized or mutilated.”
Cole said she’s suffered numerous complications from her medications and surgery. “My quality of life is still being impacted to this day,” she wrote in her statement.
Her fertility status now remains unknown, she said. She will not be able to breastfeed because her breasts were surgically removed.
“As an adult, I am now grieving, and on top of that, the areolar skin grafts they used in my surgery began to fail two years afterward. I must wear bandages on my chest every day,” Cole wrote.
“As an adult, I am now grieving.”
In 2023, Cole filed a lawsuit with the Center for American Liberty (CAL) against hospitals for pushing her into what she believes is medical mutilation.
Mark Trammell of CAL told Fox News Digital that Thursday’s HHS announcement “represents a critical acknowledgment that experimental medical interventions on children with gender distress have failed to meet basic standards of safety and effectiveness.”
“It signals that medicine must return to its core ethical obligation: First, do no harm,” Trammell added.
“We will continue fighting to ensure accountability for the institutions that promoted these practices and to secure justice for the children and detransitioners whose lives were forever altered.”
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In a previous statement provided to Fox News Digital, Dr. Marc Siegel, Fox News senior medical analyst, said he is in favor of a “more conservative approach” for minors.
“Long-term effects of puberty blockers may include bone loss, trouble concentrating, interference with learning and interference with fertility,” he said. “I think it makes sense in most cases to treat underlying mental health concerns before jumping into treatments, including surgery, that may be difficult to reverse.”
“It makes sense in most cases to treat underlying mental health concerns before jumping into treatments.”
The doctor also emphasized that gender issues should not be overly politicized. “This means not superimposing an ideology or pushing physicians to act in a certain way or under pressure,” Siegel said.
“The welfare of the child must come first. In this case, it means going very slowly and providing support to a child or teen with gender dysphoria.”
Cole shared that she hopes any children who are questioning whether they should transition wait.
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“While there are only two sexes, there are a million different ways that you can be yourself,” she added.
“God is there for you. He is the one who has created you this way, and you can seek his counsel,” Cole went on.
“You can continue praying, and I think ultimately it’s connecting with your family, building your purpose in this world, and looking to the gospel and up to God.”