Minnesota fraud probe raises questions about Ilhan Omar’s Somaliland position

Rep. Ilhan Omar’s defense of Somalia’s territorial claims and her opposition to the recognition of an independent Somaliland has been criticized as authorities ramp up investigations into alleged mass fraud in her home state.

One analyst argued the corruption scandal allegedly involving Somali communities in Minnesota is relevant when contrasting failures in Somalia and the stability of Somaliland, an autonomous region that Omar has opposed recognizing.

Michael Rubin, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, claimed highlighting the difference between the two regions “mattered.”

“The corruption exposed in Minnesota mirrors the governance failures that have plagued Somalia for decades,” Rubin told Fox News Digital.

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“Somaliland has charted a different course entirely, relying on internal accountability rather than international assistance and that distinction matters right now,” he said.

Minnesota was engulfed in controversy after revelations that fraud losses across multiple government programs since 2018 could total billions of dollars, according to a Wall Street Journal report.

Federal authorities have also already dismantled a $250 million scheme tied to the “Feeding Our Future” case, for example, which resulted in 78 indictments and dozens of convictions.

The case was described by FBI Director Kash Patel as “the tip of a very large iceberg.”

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The scandal gained renewed attention over the weekend after independent commentator Nick Shirley posted a viral video showing shuttered daycare centers that had billed the government millions of dollars while appearing to serve few, if any, children.

Omar has since defended her support for the MEALS Act, legislation critics say weakened oversight safeguards later exploited by fraudulent operators.

Rubin, however, argues Omar’s broader worldview on Somalia also raises questions about her goals.

“Ilhan Omar left Somalia, but Somalia never left her,” Rubin said. “In her Somali-language speeches, she refers to Somalia as her home, not America and so it is clear she appears to seek to advance Somalia’s interests on the global stage.”

He claimed Omar’s opposition to recognizing Somaliland is driven by internal Somali politics rather than U.S. strategic interests.

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“Clan dynamics shape Somali politics, and that same lens appears to inform her position on Somaliland,” Rubin said, arguing that Omar has opposed policies that would legitimize the breakaway region.

“American interests don’t appear to factor prominently into that calculation,” he added.

Meanwhile, Somaliland continues to attract growing international attention.

After more than three decades of de facto independence, the self-governing territory has maintained internal security, built democratic institutions, and followed closer diplomatic engagement with Israel.

Somaliland has signaled interest in joining the Abraham Accords, positioning itself as a potential partner for U.S. and Israeli interests in the Horn of Africa.

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that Israel had established full diplomatic relations with Somaliland, describing the move as being in the spirit of the United States-brokered Abraham Accords.

The announcement made Israel the first UN member state to recognize the self-declared state, which has wanted international acceptance for over three decades.

“The more people learn about Somaliland’s record, the more they will question why the U.S. continues to send billions to Somalia’s internationally recognized government while overlooking a more reliable partner,” Rubin added.

President Trump was also reportedly “looking into” the recognition of Somaliland in August.

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Trump told the New York Post he has to “study” Netanyahu’s pitch and asked from his golf course, “Does anyone know what Somaliland is, really?”

“We’ll study it. I study a lot of things and always make great decisions, and they turn out to be correct,” Trump said.

Rubin noted the issue could gain more momentum as Netanyahu is expected to discuss regional security matters with Trump this week.

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“The case for Somaliland does align with Trump’s broader foreign policy approach,” Rubin said.

“It is business-friendly, security-focused, and takes responsibility for its own territory. It wants partnerships, not perpetual aid. By any reasonable metric, recognizing Somaliland makes sense.”

Fox News Digital has reached out to Rep. Omar for comment.

Jennifer Aniston shares intimate holiday photos with ‘love’ Jim Curtis

Jennifer Aniston shared a peek inside her first Christmas with boyfriend Jim Curtis.

The “Friends” star posted a carousel of images to her Instagram page from her holiday celebrations — with one image of Curtis playing with a friend’s baby.

Other pictures included her adorable dogs, as well as snaps with friends, and the sunset.

Aniston also posed for a selfie with one of her pups, and also included an image of herself relaxing on the couch.

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The inclusion of Curtis in her Christmas post comes almost two months after confirming her romance with the life coach and author, who specializes in hypnotherapy.

According to Curtis’ Instagram, his “mission is to help you heal and thrive by upgrading your I AM.”

Aniston gave Curtis a birthday shout-out in early November, writing, “Happy birthday my love. Cherished.”

She also shared a black and white image of herself with her arms wrapped around his waist.

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Two weeks later, her longtime pal Adam Sandler gave his seal of approval.

The ‘Friends’ actress attended Elle’s Women in Hollywood event with Curtis for their first joint public appearance — where Sandler took the stage.

Sandler praised Aniston during his speech on stage – and even shouted out Curtis and their romance.

“She’s gorgeous, she’s patient… she’s talented, she’s deep, she’s smart, she’s funny as hell,” Sandler said about Aniston, according to a video obtained by The Hollywood Reporter. “Her comedic timing is impeccable, and she makes me a better comedian when we work together. She’s an incredible producer, writer, one of the best collaborators I’ve ever worked with. I love her with all my heart. Aniston, you’re simply the coolest and kindest. You never stop being loving and caring to me and my family and all of your wonderful friends.”

“Everyone in this room loves you, Jennifer,” he added. “It’s just automatic happiness when we are around you. Me and Jackie [Sandler’s wife] are so happy you and Jim found each other and are having the love affair you two deserve. We love you, Jim. The whole world loves you.”

Aniston was first spotted with Curtis in July, while on a yacht off the coast of Mallorca, Spain.

The actress was seen gently placing her hand on Curtis’ hand while his arm was around her waist.

At the time, a source told People that Aniston and Curtis were “casually dating and having fun.”

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“They’ve been seeing each other for a few months now,” another source told the outlet. 

“They were introduced by a friend and started out as friends. Jen had read his book and was familiar with his work. She’s really into self-help and wellness. They are dating, but it’s still casual.”

“She’s been happy on her own, but she’s also open to sharing her life with someone. As long as it feels right,” the source added. “Jen’s in a very good place right now — grounded, fulfilled and very happy.”

Aniston was married to Brad Pitt from 2000 to 2005 and Justin Theroux from 2015 until 2018.

Rat Pack legend destroyed classic car at McDonald’s drive-thru for hungry child

In the early days of fast-food drive-thrus, Rat Pack legend Dean Martin once destroyed an expensive vintage car trying to get a burger for his girlfriend’s son.

Phil Crosby Jr., Bing Crosby’s grandson, told Fox News Digital about how his mother once dated and was even engaged to Martin — who always called him “the kid” — following her “tumultuous” marriage to the “White Christmas” singer’s son, Phil Crosby Sr.

“I was almost Dean Martin’s stepson,” he said in a recent interview with Fox News Digital. “So, if that had happened, I would have grown up with a silver spoon in my mouth, but that didn’t happen.”

Crosby said he was very young at the time his mom, Peggy Crosby, now 85, began seeing the “That’s Amore” singer after meeting him at a club where she worked, following her short-lived marriage to Crosby.

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“And I think my mother, she wasn’t really ready [to be married again],” Crosby said of their eventual breakup. “She was still a young, beautiful woman. She’s still a beautiful woman.” 

He said that Martin, who was 23 years older than his mother, “was very on in years” at the time they dated.

And although he was very young when he knew Martin, he does remember him.

His best memory of the crooner was when he peeked into his mother’s bedroom one time looking for her, and Martin was in there and asked him to grab him a pack of cigarettes.

“My only real recollection of him is a little too stereotypical,” Crosby said. “He used to call me ‘the kid.’ And this is a true story. I was ‘The kid. ’‘Where’s the kid at?’ Even years later when my mom bumped into him, I was ‘The kid.’”

Crosby said the singer asked him, “‘Hey, kid, you know, go downstairs and bring me up some cigarettes,’ as an adult of those days should be able to ask a child and the child’s supposed to do it.”

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“Well, I am from like the first of a bit of the spoiled generation where we lost that respect for our elders,” he continued. “And I told him, I said, ‘You can’t tell me what to do. You’re not my father.’ So that’s my recollection of my Dean Martin story, which I wish it was a little bit better.”

But he said his story of Martin destroying his own classic car while trying to get “The kid” fed has been passed down to him.

“I don’t really have this recollection myself, but it’s a story I’ve been told, and I call it the Stutz and the drive-thru, because Dean had a Stutz [Blackhawk], or I’ve been told a Stutz Bearcat,” Crosby said. “When I do research now, I see pictures of him with a Stutz [Blackhawk]. These were very large, vintage automobiles.”

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Crosby explained that Stutz cars were “these very classic, very, very valuable collectors, vintage automobiles, but they are wide.”

“I was a bit of a spoiled kid. I did not like to eat a lot of different types of food, but I loved McDonald’s,” Crosby explained. “So, we were driving back in his Stutz, my mom and Dean and I, and I’m in the back seat, probably complaining, didn’t eat dinner and probably complaining about being hungry.”

He continued, “So, Dean decides, ‘All right, McDonald’s has a drive-thru that’s open,’ and drive-thrus were probably pretty new” at the time, saying this took place around 1976 in Santa Monica, California.

“But it was too narrow,” Crosby explained. “So, Dean takes this thing, and he just drives it right into this [drive-thru] and it just crunches the sides, scrapes the side of this — I mean, we’re talking one of the most valuable, you know, collectors’ vehicles.”

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He said his mom just laughed “because by the time we got up to the window, the people there just had this horrified look, like aliens had just arrived. They just heard this terrible crunching sound, and here’s Dean Martin sitting in there.”

Crosby said he wished he could have remembered Martin better because “from what I know about him, especially from what his reaction to having expensive damage done to his car so he could feed the little spoiled brat, he blew it off.”

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Crosby said the damage was “nothing to him” because he wasn’t a “materialistic man.”

“He wasn’t a temperamental guy. He really was a sweet man and what I’ve heard from, even some of the Rat Pack stuff, that, compared to the other guys anyway, he was pretty faithful and a pretty, you know, pretty good guy.”

When he was a teenager, Crosby said he got to meet Martin once more before he died.

“That was pretty cool,” he said. “He was a class act.”

Crosby also reflected on what Christmas meant to his grandfather. 

“Bing was a great American, and I think it meant a lot to him, you know, for his Catholic faith, that [Christmas] be honored and enjoyed,” he said of his grandpa, who died when he was a baby.

“He came from a big family,” Crosby continued. “So, I think, I mean, Christmas just became such an important American tradition … and I know they did it up pretty good in the Crosby House, tall trees, lots of presents.” 

He added, “Obviously, Christmas is dominated, still, with the voice of Bing Crosby.” 

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Crosby said, although he never met his grandfather, he still enjoyed many festive Crosby Christmases as a child.

“I grew up with a few of my cousins and a couple of my uncles … and I’d see them on some holidays,” he said. “We had great big holidays with lots of Crosbys. So, I definitely had Crosby Thanksgivings and Crosby Christmases with Bing’s other sons and their wives and children. And I was very, very thankful and happy for that.” 

Crosby is also releasing two singles for the holidays: a cover of a rarely-heard Bing Crosby song called “A Time to be Jolly,” and an original titled “Guess Who’s Coming Tonight.” 

“It’s a Christmas song nobody else recorded,” Crosby said of “A Time to be Jolly.” “But it’s fun song. It’s a little silly … I’d never heard it before … You won’t find it done by Dean Martin or anybody else. So I hope people enjoy it.” 

Union Jack movement grows as cultural battle intensifies in rapidly changing Britain

LONDON: A battle over British identity and the nation’s flag is just the latest issue to widen the political divide in the United Kingdom in 2025. As the Labour government continues to face growing criticism over a number of issues, from cracking down on free speech to its migration policies, many Britons are concerned about their country’s future.

The issue simmered over the summer amid concerns of a growing rift between the ruling elites and members of the public centered on the nation’s flag. The debate, while ongoing for several years, gained new life since anti-Israel protests erupted after Hamas’ mass terror attack against Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, when Britain saw a proliferation of Palestinian flags across the country.

Tensions were further heightened over the display of Palestinian flags on public buildings, with critics arguing it represents an abandonment of traditional British values, and that immigrant communities are dictating community values. Several councils in major cities bowed to public pressure. Those cities — all with sizable immigrant communities — including Sheffield, Preston, Bradford and others chose to raise the Palestinian flag last month to honor the United Nations International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People.

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“There’s only one flag that should be flying on public buildings in the U.K., and I include the home nations of England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland, and that’s the Union flag. We need to start cohering around national stories and symbols, and the flag is the simplest, most visual, visceral way of doing that,” Colin Brazier, a commentator on British culture, told Fox News Digital.

Brazier is calling for a “strategy of national cohesion” with a ban on foreign flags on taxpayer-funded buildings. He said that Britain should follow America’s model of nation-building as the U.K. wrestles with “imported disintegration” and attempts to return to Britain’s core values.

Current GOV.UK guidance indicated that councils should prioritize the Union flag.

In August, a group of concerned citizens started ‘Operation Raise the Colours, which called for people to put their flags up where they live and in their everyday lives to rally Britons. The online movement encouraged Britons to continue putting up England’s St. George’s Cross and Union Jack flags.

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Yet, the sudden resurgence of British and English flags has been met with suspicion and criticism from the left, with many angered at the proliferation of the flags, complaining they represent anti-migration and far-right sentiment.

Critics warn the U.K. is becoming increasingly divided — so much so that it is deemed controversial to fly the Union flag in public — and that parts of the country seem to care more about causes happening thousands of miles from its borders.

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The controversy over the flags continued after Prime Minister Keir Starmer recognized a Palestinian state in September. A few days later, Starmer delivered an impassioned speech to the Labour Party’s annual conference as his center-left party pushed back against critics who said it had abandoned patriotism.

Speaking to flag-waving supporters, Starmer tried to reprise his party’s patriotic roots, urging a cheering crowd, “Let’s fly all our flags, conference, because they are our flags, they belong to all of us, and we will never surrender them. . . . And with resolve, with respect, with the flag in our hands, we will renew this country.” He also made clear the flag was for all citizens ,noting, “Our flags — flying proudly, as we celebrate differences and oppose racism.”

Yet opposition politicians were quick to dismiss Starmer’s flag speech, with one Member of Parliament, Lee Anderson, Reform’s chief whip, saying: “You’re more likely to see a Labour member fly the flag of Palestine than a St. George’s flag. That tells you all you need to know,” the Daily Telegraph reported.

While many councils ignored Fox News Digital’s request for comment, Belfast City Council in Northern Ireland justified its decision by declaring the flag was hoisted, “In recognition of the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, to erect the national flag of Palestine above the City Hall on the next available day from midnight.”

This issue, however, is also viewed as a symbol of shifting power. Brazier lamented the government’s indifferent attitude toward immigration and says “importing 10 million people in 25 years has a ruinous impact.”

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According to a March 2025 report by the Muslim Council of Britain, the country’s Muslim population increased by 1.2 million between 2011 and 2021, with the total number of Muslims accounting for about 6% of the U.K.’s population.

A recent YouGov study found mixed views on the Union flag and England’s flag of St. George. 58% of 2024 Labour voters perceive the English flag as a racist symbol, but just 19% of Conservative voters and 8% of Reform voters feel the same way. The poll said that a majority of ethnic minority adults (55%) believe those putting up St George’s flags do so “mostly as a way of expressing anti-migrant and/or anti-ethnic minority sentiment,” with a plurality (41%) saying the same goes for the union flag.

It also found: “White adults too tend to believe anti-migrant/minority motivations are primarily behind the flag raisings, with 49% saying so for the English flag and 39% for the British one.”

Another finding of the YouGov study found that those of Pakistani or Bangladeshi heritage were “the most likely to see racist sentiment in the flag displays. This is particularly marked when it comes to the belief that the England flag has become a racist symbol with 68% of Pakistani/Bangladeshi adults believing this, compared to 54% of those of mixed ethnicity, 51% of those with Indian heritage and 43% of Black adults.”

Fox News Digital’s Jasmine Baehr contributed to this report.

Sanders leads Browns past Steelers as NFL fans erupt over controversial end

The Cleveland Browns hung on to defeat the Steelers on Sunday, 13-6, giving rookie quarterback Shedeur Sanders a marquee victory in his rookie season and forcing a battle for the AFC North division title between Pittsburgh and the Baltimore Ravens.

The Steelers’ final play of the game had NFL fans asking for a penalty flag.

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Aaron Rodgers hoped to find wide receiver Marquez Valdes-Scantling in the end zone for the go-ahead score with 21 seconds left. However, Browns cornerback Denzel Ward was on Valdes-Scantling to break up the play and help Cleveland seal the victory.

Ward appeared to jump with Valdes-Scantling simultaneously, getting his arms up as the pass came into Rodgers’ intended target. Ward didn’t look at the ball and there appeared to be contact between him and the receiver as the ball came in.

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No flag was thrown on the play and Cleveland came out the victor. Fans wondered why there was no defensive pass interference on the play.

Despite two tough interceptions, Sanders did enough to keep the Browns out in front. He found Harold Fannin Jr. for a 28-yard touchdown pass in the first quarter. Kicker Andre Szmyt nailed two field goals and it was all the Browns needed.

Sanders was 17-of-23 with 186 passing yards and was sacked twice.

Rodgers, who was without his top target in DK Metcalf, was 21-of-39 for 168 yards. He made a precision pass to tight end Pat Freiermuth to keep the Steelers’ final drive alive. The team just couldn’t get it done in the closing seconds.

Freiermuth had three catches for 63 yards.

The Steelers’ loss means they will take on the Ravens for the division title, and a playoff spot, in the Week 18 finale.

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Baltimore came out the winners of its showdown against the Green Bay Packers on Sunday night. The team used a lot of Derrick Henry, who scored four touchdowns.

The Steelers won the previous matchup against the Ravens, 27-22, back in Week 14.

49ers QB’s five-touchdown night powers team past Bears in wild primetime shootout

If Week 17’s “Sunday Night Football” matchup is anything like what the NFL Playoffs will be like this season, football fans will be loving every second of play.

The San Francisco 49ers and Chicago Bears, two bears gunning for the No. 1 seed in the NFC, put together a thrilling primetime game Sunday night in the Bay Area.

The 49ers helped their chances at that top seed in their conference with a thrilling 42-38 win.

The scoreboard was back-and-forth all night long, and it began on the first offensive snap of the game for the 49ers – but it wasn’t Brock Purdy and company getting good field position.

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Instead, Jaylon Johnson jumping a ball intended for Jauan Jennings ended with T.J. Edwards picking off the pass and taking it back 34 yards for the pick-six just 15 seconds into the game.

The 49ers immediately faced a 7-0 deficit, but Purdy was not fazed, and it showed on the ensuing drive following the interception. San Francisco went nine plays and 65 yards downfield, as Purdy found Jake Tonges, filling in for an injured George Kittle in the top tight end role, to tie the game up.

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After three straight punts, the 49ers and Bears would combine for five straight touchdown drives, starting with Purdy scrambling for a 10-yard touchdown run — the first of two on the night. It was set up by a 41-yard Christian McCaffrey run, as the veteran had another successful week on the ground.

Williams, though, wanted to show off his laser arm, as he spotted rookie Luther Burden III downfield for a 35-yard strike to tie the game at 14 apiece.

McCaffrey was able to find the end zone at the beginning of the second quarter to cap a nine-play drive, but an offsides penalty by the 49ers on the ensuing drive allowed Williams a free play to find rookie tight end Colston Loveland for a 36-yard touchdown.

It was the 49ers walking into the locker room with the lead, however, with Purdy finishing off a methodical 15-play drive with his three-yard rushing touchdown – using up almost nine minutes of the second quarter.

To begin the second half, the Bears and 49ers only got one drive each in the third quarter, but they both cashed in for touchdowns — Kyle Juszczyk for San Francisco and D’Andre Swift for Chicago. After Swift scored his second touchdown of the half, Williams and the Bears’ offense were finally able to get the lead back for the first time since the pick-six that started the game.

It wasn’t the touchdown head coach Ben Johnson wanted, but a field goal by Cairo Santos gave Chicago the 38-35 lead with 5:22 left to play in the game. There was still time for San Fran, though, and Purdy didn’t waste it.

Jennings was silent with just one catch for four yards all game long when Purdy hit him perfectly in stride, and he took it the distance for a 38-yard touchdown catch-and-run to retake the lead.

The four-point deficit for the Bears meant Williams had to find the end zone with just over two minutes left to play. They were able to convert it on fourth-and-5, and after a nifty catch-and-pitch from Loveland to Swift, the Bears were on the two-yard line with four seconds left.

Williams surveyed the end zone and kept the play alive with his legs, but he was unable to find Jahdae Walker for the game-winning touchdown.

As a result of the loss, the Bears are no longer going to be the No. 1 seed. On the other hand, the 49ers are just one win away from securing it, as they play the Seattle Seahawks next week.

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In the box score, McCaffrey tallied 181 yards from scrimmage, including 140 on the ground on 23 carries with his score. Purdy was 24-of-33 passing for 303 yards and three touchdowns with one interception, while rushing for 28 yards and his two touchdowns.

For the Bears, Williams was 25-of-42 for 330 yards and two touchdowns, while Burden finished the night with 138 receiving yards on eight catches with his touchdown.

Steelers make major money decision on DK Metcalf after 2-game suspension

Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver DK Metcalf was set to lose millions because of his two-game suspension for striking a Detroit Lions fan during a heated incident last week.

FOX NFL insider Jay Glazer said Sunday that the Steelers opted against voiding the star player’s contract guarantees.

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“Because he got suspended, the Steelers could have basically taken back all of his guarantees, “Glazer said on “FOX NFL Kickoff.” “They, however, have decided not to do that. They’re gonna stick with DK. They don’t want to do something like that. They kinda want to make a long-term commitment to DK Metcalf, even in situations like this.”

The star player signed a four-year, $132 million contract extension with the Steelers after he was acquired from the Seattle Seahawks. The deal included $60 million in guaranteed money between his signing bonus and 2025 and 2026 salaries, according to Spotrac.

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The suspension would have voided the rest of his salary for this season and $45 million in future guarantees, if the Steelers choose to do so, according to the NFL Network. He’s reportedly owed $25 million in fully guaranteed cash in 2026 and $20 million in injury guarantee.

He will, however, lose more than  $555,000 in Weeks 17 and 18 because of his suspension.

The NFL said Metcalf violated league policy, specifying that “players may not enter the stands or otherwise confront fans at any time on game day and … if a player makes unnecessary physical contact with a fan in any way that constitutes unsportsmanlike conduct or presents crowd-control issues and/or risk of injury, he will be held accountable.”

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It still remains a mystery about what was said between the fan and Metcalf. The fan said earlier in the week he hadn’t hurled a racial slur or made derogatory remarks toward the player.

Man accused of planting DC pipe bombs allegedly ‘snapped’ over election claims

Federal prosecutors said Sunday the man accused of planting pipe bombs in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 5, 2021, told investigators he felt compelled to “speak up” for people who believed the 2020 election was stolen and said he targeted the two major political parties because they were in charge of the political system.

Prosecutors detailed the allegations in a memo filed with the Justice Department, arguing that Brian J. Cole Jr., arrested earlier this month, should remain detained as the case moves forward.

Cole was arrested in Woodbridge, Virginia, after investigators identified him as the suspect accused of placing pipe bombs near the Capitol complex and outside the Republican National Committee and Democratic National Committee headquarters, marking the first major break in a case that had gone cold for years.

Sunday’s memo provides the most detailed government account to date, including statements prosecutors say Cole made to investigators. It also cites evidence such as bomb-making materials recovered from his home after his arrest, which officials say link him to the crime.

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Undetonated homemade bombs were discovered Jan. 6, though prosecutors said Cole denied his actions were connected to the events at the Capitol that day.

Although he initially denied involvement, prosecutors allege Cole later confessed to placing the devices outside the RNC and DNC.

Cole also allegedly said he was disillusioned by the election outcome and sympathetic to claims by President Donald Trump and some allies that it had been stolen.

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“In the defendant’s view, if people ‘feel that, you know, something as important as voting in the federal election is being tampered with, is being, you know, being – you know, relegated null and void, then, like, someone needs to speak up, right? Someone up top. You know, just to, just to at the very least calm things down,’” prosecutors wrote.

They added that when agents returned to questions about his motive, Cole explained that “something just snapped” after “watching everything, just everything getting worse.”

“The defendant wanted to do something ‘to the parties’ because ‘they were in charge,’” prosecutors wrote. “When asked why he placed the devices at the RNC and DNC, the defendant responded, ‘I really don’t like either party at this point.’”

Prosecutors said Cole also told investigators the idea to use pipe bombs stemmed from his interest in the historical conflict in Northern Ireland.

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Cole’s attorneys are expected to argue against his detention at a hearing scheduled for Tuesday in federal court in Washington.

Proposed California wealth tax could drive Silicon Valley’s richest out of the state

Silicon Valley’s wealthiest residents are once again threatening to leave California, this time over a proposed state wealth tax that tech founders warn could fundamentally reshape where innovation — and capital — call home.

The proposal, backed by the Service Employees International Union–United Healthcare Workers West, would impose a one-time 5% tax on the assets of California residents worth more than $1 billion. 

Supporters say the revenue could help offset federal funding cuts for healthcare.

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Even as the measure remains under consideration for the November statewide ballot, some of Silicon Valley’s most prominent figures are warning it could trigger an exodus of founders and capital.

Palmer Luckey, cofounder of defense tech startup Anduril, said the tax would force “founders like me to sell huge chunks of our companies” to pay for what he described as “fraud, waste and political favors for the organizations pushing this ballot initiative.”

“I made my money from my first company, paid hundreds of millions of dollars in taxes on it, used the remainder to start a second company that employs six thousand people and now me and my cofounders have to somehow come up with billions of dollars in cash,” Luckey wrote on X.

Luckey’s comments come as billionaire tech investor Peter Thiel and Google co-founder Larry Page weigh whether to cut ties with “The Golden State” over the proposed ballot measure, according to a New York Times report.

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If the measure qualifies for the November ballot and is approved by voters, it would apply retroactively to anyone who lived in California as of Jan. 1, 2026.

In practical terms, a resident with $20 billion in assets on that date would owe a one-time tax of $1 billion, payable over five years.

Billionaire investor Bill Ackman echoed those concerns, calling California “on a path to self-destruction” if the measure moves forward.

“Hollywood is already toast and now the most productive entrepreneurs will leave, taking their tax revenues and job creation elsewhere,” the Pershing Square chief wrote on X.

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Earlier this month, California Gov. Gavin Newsom said he opposed the proposed billionaire tax, while cautioning against panic over the measure.

“It’s not something to be panicked about, but it’s part of the broader concern and narrative that’s developed in this country of the haves and have-nots, not just income inequality, but wealth inequality,” Newsom told an audience at The New York Times DealBook conference.