Author: NOVA Corp

New York City’s socialist mayor Zohran Mamdani sparked viral outrage on Thursday when he responded to a heat wave affecting the city by instructing residents how to set their air conditioners.

The blowback came as New York City expanded emergency heat measures during a historic holiday weekend heat wave, with officials warning temperatures could feel as hot as 112 degrees.

“New York: it’s hot out there, and the power grid is working overtime to keep us cool,” Mamdani posted on X as the city dealt with sweltering temperatures. 

“Set your AC to 78 degrees, turn off lights/electronics you’re not using, and unplug what you can. Our City is doing its part too: maintaining the 78 degrees rule in our buildings, dimming/turning off our lights during peak electricity demand, asking private partners to do the same, and powering down non-essential equipment. A stable grid means the AC stays on, and lives are saved. Let’s ease demand — and get through the heat — together.”

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Mamdani’s post quickly went viral and was seen over 36.5 million times as conservatives and pundits blasted the mayor over his instructions on what temperature to set their air conditioning units.

“Show us your thermostat, commie,” reality TV star and former Los Angeles mayoral candidate Spencer Pratt posted on X.

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“78 degrees???” Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy posted on X. “Welcome to communism people! Hope you enjoy! “

“Welcome to socialism, where the government demands you turn your house into a sauna because they can’t plan for the super unpredictable fact that it tends to get hot in the summer,” Republican Rep. Brandon Gill posted on X.

“78 degrees?” conservative commentator Matt Walsh posted on X. “My AC does not go above 68 in the summer. This is America for God’s sake.”

“Turns out socialism actually isn’t free,” Arkansas Republican Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders posted on X.

“Do you feel the warmth of collectivism yet?” Red State writer Bonchie posted on X.

Manhattan Institute fellow Daniel Di Martino responded to the post on X with a meme riffing on the 19th century flag showing American defiance but swapping an AC unit for a cannon with the words “come and take it.”

Fox News Digital reached out to Mamdani’s office for comment.

While Mamdani faced accusations of being a communist on social media, his political power is on the rise in New York City, highlighted by last week’s primary elections where his slate of endorsed socialist-linked candidates were all victorious.

After those elections, former Vice President Kamala Harris reached out to Mamdani and the two connected by phone, Fox News Digital reported, sending a signal that Mamdani’s base will be critical in deciding who becomes the next Democratic presidential nominee in 2028.

A national security group is urging Congress to investigate a prominent environmental-law nonprofit over past partnerships and programming ties with Chinese government-linked organizations, according to a report sent to lawmakers on Tuesday by State Armor, a national security organization.

The Environmental Law Institute, or ELI, has trained more than 2,000 American judges on environmental law through its Climate Judiciary Project since 2018, according to its website. During its decades of China-related work, the organization cultivated relationships with entities the report described as Chinese government-affiliated, CCP-linked or tied to China’s military research ecosystem, according to State Armor.

“Across three decades of engagement, ELI’s work has uniformly advanced Chinese strategic and national security interests while undermining American national security by constraining domestic energy producers and industrial expansion and simultaneously pushing America toward dependence upon energy sources dominated by the PRC,” a letter addressed to congressional leadership attached to the report reads.

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State Armor, a national security organization focused on state-level policy responses to foreign threats, is raising concerns that the ties could have domestic implications.

The organization is run by Michael Lucci, a lobbyist, and keeps its donors private to shield them from being targeted by the Chinese government. Lucci said in an April 2025 Wall Street Journal profile that his group refuses funding from corporate and foreign sources to avoid perceptions of conflicting interests.

“The question is not whether judges should receive continuing education but rather whether any educational initiative funded, organized, or influenced by organizations with relationships with foreign entities, particularly a foreign adversary, could affect the perception or reality of judicial impartiality,” the congressional letter reads.

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ELI, when asked about its ties to China, told Fox News Digital that its programming in China ceased in 2024 and rejected criticism that its work advanced Chinese government interests specifically.

“For over 50 years, ELI has worked to strengthen environmental protections in dozens of countries,” an ELI spokesperson told Fox News Digital on Thursday. “Our programming in China concluded in 2024 but was no different than our typical work — sharing evidence-based best practices on environmental regulation, not advancing any government interests. The Climate Judiciary Project has not conducted any programming in China.”

The Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit was founded in 1969 and describes its mission as developing “innovative, just, and practical” environmental law and policy solutions across borders and sectors. ELI launched the Climate Judiciary Project in 2018, which is a judicial-education initiative focused on climate science, climate change and the ways climate science arises in the law.

LAWMAKERS PRESS ELI LILLY FOR CHINA DRUG TRIALS TIED TO MILITARY-LINKED HOSPITALS

Though ELI says it has ceased its work in China, ELI has continued to advance China-related scholarship and partner with individuals linked to Chinese government ventures. Fox News Digital is not aware of any ELI programming that has taken place in China since 2024.

As recently as May, the nonprofit, through its journal, published an English-language paper written by two Chinese academics hailing from state-run universities detailing how China had made progress on environmental protection.

Then, in June, ELI hosted a Chinese legal scholar for a panel discussion with speakers from multiple other countries on global career pathways in environmental law. The scholar, who received training through an ELI fellowship in 2021, “participated in ministry-level projects on environmental legislation and policy of China,” according to her biography on ELI’s website.

She also “managed internationally funded programs” to train Chinese “judges” and “environmental law enforcement officers,” according to ELI.

ELI did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment on the paper by the Chinese academics or the panel featuring the Chinese legal scholar.

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ELI discloses on its website that it has “worked to improve environmental rule of law, enforcement, and compliance in China” since the “mid-1990s” in light of “the critical role that China, and its 1.4 billion people, has in global environmental protection.”

“ELI has worked to improve environmental rule of law, enforcement, and compliance in China in partnership with Chinese NGOs, universities, law firms, businesses, judges and environmental regulators,” the organization’s website reads. “ELI has held capacity-building workshops, high-level roundtables, seminars and panel discussions on Chinese policy issues, trained lawyers on environmental justice issues, and published articles and books on sustainability, environmental management, and constitutional environmental law in China.”

State Armor argued that this kind of knowledge sharing ultimately benefited the Chinese government, to the detriment of the United States. State Armor urged lawmakers to examine the scope of ELI’s cooperation with Chinese entities and review the funding, curriculum development, expert selection and governance structure of its judicial education programs.

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“Under the banner of ‘improv[ing] environmental rule of law,’ ELI’s China Program provides technical assistance, capacity building, and legal training to Chinese NGOs, judges, and environmental regulators,” the report reads.

While ELI has historically provided these services, Fox News Digital could not find evidence that ELI has provided any programming in China after 2024.

To support this assertion, State Armor cited public records showing that some of the organizations ELI worked with are tied to the Chinese Communist Party or the People’s Liberation Army (PLA).

State Armor cited ELI’s own website, which states that the organization worked with the Policy Research Center for Environment and Economy (PRCEE), a think tank affiliated with China’s Ministry of Ecology and Environment, to improve China’s environmental regulatory system.

State Armor argued that PRCEE’s affiliation with China’s Ministry of Ecology and Environment and its stated policy-support role place it within China’s government environmental-policy apparatus.

In 2013, PRCEE worked on a report jointly published by the Chinese government and the United Nations Environment Programme dubbed “China’s Green Long March” — an apparent reference to the CCP’s famous 1934 “Long March” where it strategically retreated inland during the Chinese Civil War.

ELI also states on its website that its China International Business Dialogue on Environmental Governance (CIBDEG) working group provided “information and analysis to the Chinese government regarding environmental regulations in the United States and Europe as well as the concerns of multinational business.”

“The working group is designed to facilitate and encourage dialogue between multinational businesses and Chinese environmental regulatory authorities regarding best practices in environmental regulation and performance by governments and industries,” the group’s website reads.

ELI joined forces with the PRCEE, the Chinese law firm JunHe and the prestigious American law firm Latham & Watkins to launch CIBDEG in 2018. A press release from JunHe claimed that China’s Ministry of Ecology and Environment was also involved in founding the working group.

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In addition to PRCEE and the CIBDEG, ELI has also worked with multiple universities that have been scrutinized by the United States government over their ties to China’s military.

ELI, for instance, “trained 265 environmental NGO workers, judges, prosecutors and attorneys from 26 provinces” at Tianjin University in 2018, only for the university to later land on the Commerce Department’s Entity List, an export-control list, over alleged trade-secret theft tied to military applications. ELI was not involved in the purported intellectual property theft.

ELI has drawn sustained scrutiny from Republican lawmakers and conservative activists over its China-related work, foreign partnerships and climate-focused judicial education programs. The critiques have been based on media reports alleging that ELI works closely with the Chinese government as well as with individuals linked to the CCP, not investigative findings produced by U.S. government bodies.

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, in particular has waged a prolonged campaign against ELI, alleging that the group has links to the Chinese government and that its operations materially harm the United States.

“We’re witnessing right now a systematic campaign against American energy. There is a coordinated assault by the radical left, backed and paid for by the Chinese Communist Party to seize control of our courts, to weaponize litigation against U.S. energy producers,” Cruz said during a June 2025 hearing. “The judiciary itself is being quietly captured and brainwashed as left wing nonprofits host closed door trainings that indoctrinate judges to adopt the ideological goals of the climate lawfare machine.”

“Perhaps the most insidious because it strikes at the very heart of the rule of law, judicial capture,” the senator continued. “It is being carried out by one organization with near total control over climate-related judicial training, the Environmental Law Institute, and its Climate Judiciary Project … They claim to be science driven but what they are doing is ex parte indoctrination, pressuring judges to set aside the rule of law and rule instead according to a predetermined political narrative.”

In its letter to lawmakers, State Armor alleged that ELI promotes a policy agenda that disfavors American energy interests.

“The jurisprudential frameworks ELI promotes to American judges disproportionately favor regulatory constraints on U.S. domestic energy production, with no commensurate frameworks within China’s system,” State Armor’s report reads. “Consciously or not, this is an instance of ELI pushing for American unilateral disarmament in energy security and industrial production.”

The Trump administration is set to unveil a sweeping overhaul of federal appliance efficiency rules that officials say will end “Green New Scam” appliance mandates, restore consumer choice, and block future federal crackdowns on gas stoves, fluorescent lightbulbs, HVAC systems, and other household appliances.

“In America, you should be able to choose between a drying machine that takes multiple cycles to dry your clothes and one that does it on the first try — unfortunately, past administrations thought otherwise,” Department of Energy Secretary Chris Wright told Fox News Digital.

The Department of Energy is expected to propose a sweeping rewrite of federal appliance regulations that would change how energy-efficiency standards are written, creating what the Trump administration says is a permanent safeguard against future efforts to regulate household appliances. The proposal was viewed by Fox News Digital.

TRUMP ADMIN AXES TIES TO DOZENS OF PROGRESSIVE GROUPS IN ‘DIRECT OPPOSITION’ TO MISSION: ‘DECISIVE ACTION’

“For too long, the American people paid the price for mandates that restricted consumer choice and drove up costs. President Trump promised to end this nonsense and that is exactly what we are doing. This proposed rule will preserve the American people’s ability to choose home appliances and equipment that actually work — at prices they can afford. It’s called commonsense.”

Officials said previous Obama and Biden administrations interpreted Energy Policy and Conservation Act (EPCA) standards as requiring increasingly stringent efficiency standards that made some appliances more expensive or less functional.

Biden-era changes in 2021 and 2024 that loosened the Trump administration’s 2020 rules by making the procedures non-binding and removing several provisions, including a significant energy savings threshold and other procedural requirements.

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The proposal is open for public comment for 30 days before being made an official rule. It comes as the U.S. and Europe face a major heat wave.

Paris Deputy Mayor Audrey Pulvar recently released a statement blaming the United States for the deadly heat wave over France by saying the issue is climate change – not the lack of air conditioning in Europe.

“Dear American journalists and social media ‘influencers’: for days, some of you have been criticizing and making fun of Paris because the city does not have A/C in every room. OMG, this is so rich!” she wrote on Instagram.

BIDEN-HARRIS STILL HATE YOUR GAS STOVE, YOU WON’T BELIEVE HOW MUCH

Due to regulations, only 20% of households have air conditioning compared to 88% in the U.S., according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

She added, “As the second-largest emitter of greenhouse gas emissions in the world, you bear a significant amount of responsibility for global warming and the consequences we, in France, are experiencing. Your cities ‘90% air-conditioned’ are not unrelated to this. In Paris, we take responsibility.”

Fox News Digital’s Lindsay Kornick contributed to this report.

A federal judge blocked the U.S. Postal Service from carrying out an executive order on mail-in ballots on Wednesday.

President Donald Trump had ordered the postal service to transmit ballots for states only if those states first provided a list of mail-in voters, among other requirements. The ruling from U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan blocks the postal service from implementing the order nationwide.

Sullivan argued that the order would violate the settlement agreement in an earlier 2020 lawsuit between the postal service and the NAACP. That agreement allowed the courts to oversee the postal service’s actions relating to the “monitoring and timely delivery of Election Mail.”

“The Proposed Rule violates paragraph 2 of the Agreement because the Postal Service cannot post documents reflecting ‘practices and policies for prioritizing the monitoring and timely delivery of Election Mail’ if its policies provide that it will not accept ‘noncompliant mailing’ and therefore will not deliver mail-in or absentee ballots to some voters, and if it will not mail ballots to any voters in a state where the state ‘declines or fails to certify a list,’” Sullivan wrote in his opinion.

Sullivan’s order comes after an earlier case saw nearly 25 states challenge Trump’s order earlier this year. Those states were successful in blocking the postal service from carrying out the order in their states, but Sullivan’s ruling extends nationwide.

The ruling also comes just a week after an Obama-appointed judge blocked Trump’s effort to curb noncitizens from registering to vote or voting in federal elections.

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The lawsuit in that case centered on Trump’s March executive order, Executive Order (EO) 14248, which directed the creation of a federal voter registration list and imposed new restrictions on eligibility for voting by mail as part of the administration’s broader effort to combat voter fraud.

“President Trump is committed to ensuring that Americans have full confidence in the administration of our elections. The President’s executive order lawfully protects our elections, and we are confident that we will ultimately prevail in its implementation,” White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson told Fox News Digital last week.

Fox News’ Ashley DiMella contributed to this report.

Two Minnesota brothers are being hailed as leaders of the next generation of American patriots after their lemonade stand raised a whopping sum for a nonprofit that supports veterans.

Noah Dingels, 11, and Cole Dingels, 8, of Eden Prairie, Minnesota, first popped up their stand five years ago at a golf tournament hosted in their community by a nonprofit called Tee It Up for the Troops.

The national organization hosts tournaments nationwide to support its six-pillar mission of helping American veterans when they return from war. Those pillars include PTSD and traumatic brain injury support, suicide awareness and prevention, employment, sports and recreation, housing and family and caregiver support.

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“I really liked it, it’s cool to see the veterans and present the money at the end of the night,” Noah told Fox News Digital about the first year of the lemonade stand in an interview with his brother Cole and mother Angela.

“Honestly, it felt good,” Cole added.

In their first go-around, the boys raised $359, which motivated them to grow their operations. They have since raised $60,000 for Tee It Up for the Troops.

“It feels like a lot, and it’s fun to do it,” Noah said.

Along with lemonade, the boys have added candy bars — Snickers is preferred among tournament players, they said — and golf balls to their sales repertoire.

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They have garnered local sponsors over the years, who also chip in to support the boys in their mission.

“The lemonade stand has always been about giving back, and so the boys have done a great job of using their time and talents every year to show their patriotism and show their gratitude to our veterans,” their mother Angela said.

She described the fundraising efforts as “contagious,” and said community members, including Noah and Cole’s classmates and sports teammates often stop by the stand to offer them support.

“It’s been a really cool opportunity,” she continued. “During the event, they get to meet different veterans, thank them for their service and show their love for our country.”

One of those veterans is Harry Wisdom, a decorated U.S. Army helicopter pilot who was awarded a Silver Star for his heroism during the Vietnam War.

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But Wisdom, now 86, found another use for his prestigious award.

“He very graciously brought that [Silver Star] and gave that to the boys last year at the lemonade stand as a sign of his appreciation for their work and everything they’re doing to support veterans,” Angela said. “He wrote them an incredible letter, and so it’s just been a very special connection that we look forward to every year.”

Tee It Up for the Troops was founded in 2005 and is based in Burnsville, Minnesota.

Chris LaRocque, an Army reserve officer himself, is the group’s executive director and president.

“We’ve we’ve raised, just over $19 million in funds that have gone to directly support veterans and their families,” he told Fox News Digital. The organization has supported 400,000 military families over its 21-year lifespan.

Aside from the golf tournaments held across this country, 45 of which are on the calendar this year, Tee It Up for the Troops hosts an annual event in Florida called REUNION, which brings together veterans who forged friendships in the service.

“REUNION brings together combat veterans and battle buddies, that they’ve lost connection with, as well as some of their family members,” said LaRocque. “We go through a lot of their stories, through shared experiences. We have small group leaders and mentors there, and it’s really a powerful experience and really a unique thing.”

Of course, LaRocque had high praise for Noah and Cole.

“We’ll receive donations that are made out to Noah and Cole’s lemonade stand or Tee It Up for the Troops,” he said. “What a cool thing that these young entrepreneurs, young men that are growing, want to do something bigger than themselves.”

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“What a great message for all of us in our country, especially at the 250th anniversary of our founding,” he added.

LaRocque who has been deployed overseas three times recently and has combat experience, describes Tee It Up for the Troops’ mission as near and dear to his heart.

The reason we’re able to to celebrate the 250th is because of generations of men and women that have sacrificed for it, sometimes ultimately with their lives,” he said, adding that he believes America is still the greatest country in the world despite facing some challenges.

“What’s so special to me is that we’ve got some, some young men that are seeing that more than many. and doing something about it,” said LaRocque of Noah and Cole.

“They’re like stepping up and going, ‘hey, here’s something we could do. I see this as like a gap. I want to help our community and veterans in our community and do something bigger than just an individual effort.’ And, I think it’s special.”

After weeks of Iranian missile and drone attacks exposed the vulnerability of major U.S. military bases across the Gulf, the Pentagon is weighing whether decades of relying on large, permanent installations within range of Iranian weapons still makes strategic sense.

Defense officials are considering dispersing some capabilities and reassessing parts of the U.S. regional base posture, according to a Wall Street Journal report.

The Gulf base network is how the U.S. responds quickly to Iran, protects shipping lanes, reassures Arab partners and keeps pressure on ISIS and al Qaeda. If the Pentagon reduces or disperses that footprint, it could make U.S. forces harder to hit — but also slower to surge in a crisis.

For decades, the tradeoff was straightforward: the closer U.S. forces were to the fight, the faster they could respond. But Operation Epic Fury reignited a long-running debate over whether concentrating aircraft, ships, command centers and thousands of troops at a handful of large Gulf bases had become an increasingly dangerous liability in an era of precision missiles and drones.

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Retired Navy Rear Adm. Mark Montgomery said the military already has started relying more heavily on alternate command-and-control locations — the headquarters and communications hubs commanders use to direct military operations — and rotating forces rather than concentrating capabilities at a handful of installations close to Iran. 

“We’re not relying on them in the same way that we did before the war,” Montgomery told Fox News Digital. “I think we are going to reposition these forces.”

The Pentagon has spent decades building a network of Gulf bases designed to put aircraft, ships and troops within minutes of potential crises across the Middle East. That strategy relied on concentrating combat power at a handful of large installations that offered unmatched access to the region.

But during Operation Epic Fury, Iran launched repeated missile and drone attacks against some of the Pentagon’s most important regional installations, including Naval Support Activity Bahrain, home to the U.S. Fifth Fleet, Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, Al Dhafra Air Base in the United Arab Emirates and Ali Al Salem Air Base in Kuwait.

While U.S. and partner air defenses intercepted many incoming weapons and casualties remained limited, the attacks demonstrated that virtually every major American operating hub in the Gulf now sits within range of Iranian missiles and drones.

U.S. forces in the Middle East have endured rocket and drone attacks for years, many carried out by Iranian-backed proxy groups against individual outposts in Iraq and Syria. Operation Epic Fury marked a broader test of the Pentagon’s regional basing model, with Iran directly targeting multiple major air and naval hubs that underpin U.S. military operations across the Gulf.

Naval Support Activity Bahrain alone sustained extensive damage to command facilities and communications infrastructure, The Wall Street Journal reported. Since the conflict began Feb. 28, 13 U.S. service members have been killed and 400 wounded, with most wounded returning to duty.  

Many of the fatalities resulted from a small number of attacks, including a missile strike in Kuwait and an attack on Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia.

Navy Capt. Tim Hawkins, Central Command spokesperson, declined to discuss battle damage assessments but told Fox News Digital the U.S. military “rightfully prioritized the protection of people over buildings, and our strategy of protecting people worked. Iran shot more than 8,000 missiles and drones and only two resulted in U.S. fatalities. We did far more damage to Iran than they did to us — by a lot.”

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What that future posture ultimately looks like remains under review. 

A senior U.S. official told Fox News Digital questions about dispersing forces and reducing reliance on a handful of large Gulf bases had been debated since well before Operation Epic Fury, which had reignited those conversations. 

“As a planning organization, we continually assess the security environment and make adjustments to best support operations and protect our troops. This has always been the case and remains so going forward,” Hawkins said in response. 

Defense officials are weighing whether to disperse military capabilities across a broader network of facilities, move some bases or functions further west and even relocate certain operations to Israel, while reducing the U.S. presence at some installations in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, the Journal reported. Officials also are reportedly considering moving some command structures underground, or forgoing rebuilding damaged structures. 

“We do not have any force posture changes to announce or anything to provide at this time,” a War Department official told Fox News Digital. 

A Joint Staff spokesperson told Fox News Digital that the military is tracking diplomatic developments in the region while continually monitoring and evaluating U.S. force posture.

Former counterterrorism director Joe Kent, who resigned over the Trump administration’s war with Iran, has long pushed for the U.S. to reduce its presence in the Gulf. 

“Our bases in the Middle East are strategic liabilities not strategic assets. Less bases = less targets for Iran to shoot at and that = less leverage for Iran,” he wrote on X Saturday. 

“It’s absolutely being discussed,” Retired Adm. Kevin Donegan, the former commander of the U.S. Navy’s Fifth Fleet, which leads U.S. naval operations across the Middle East, told Fox News Digital. “After (the Iran conflict) is over, I think in each country it’ll be independently evaluated based on our relationships with those countries.”

Montgomery said geography itself has become part of the problem. Many of the Gulf’s largest U.S. bases sit only about 90 miles from Iranian launch sites, leaving little time and space to respond to incoming drones.

“They’re just too close,” Montgomery said. “They’re…90 miles away from Iranian launch points.”

Fighter aircraft have become one of the primary tools for intercepting Iranian drones, but Montgomery said the Gulf’s proximity to Iran leaves defenders with less time and space to intercept drones after launch.

“Our way of shooting down drones, the best way is aircraft equipped with rockets,” he said. “But to do that, you got to get behind the drones. That’s hard.”

Moving some operations farther west would not put U.S. troops beyond the reach of all Iranian weapons. Iran’s longer-range missiles can reach Israel and other parts of the region, and former commanders cautioned that there may no longer be any truly safe rear area. 

But dispersing command nodes, aircraft, logistics hubs and personnel across more locations could reduce the risk that a single strike disabling a critical U.S. capability.

“Everywhere we have forces around the world, they are under the missile envelope of potential adversaries,” he said. “So, where do you go to?”

“What you can do is buy yourself a little time against the threat, but in the end, we still need to have access to basing, because our being in the Gulf is not just to revolve around Iran, we have other reasons to be there, whether that be to ensure that terrorists like ISIS and Al Qaeda, etc. don’t threaten stability,” Donegan went on. 

The bases that came under attack form the backbone of America’s military presence in the Gulf.

The U.S. typically maintains about 40,000 troops across the Middle East, anchored by a network of major bases built up during the post-9/11 wars. Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar —home to the forward headquarters of U.S. Central Command and the largest U.S. military installation in the region — alone hosts about 10,000 American personnel. Other major hubs include Naval Support Activity Bahrain, home to the U.S. Fifth Fleet, Camp Arifjan and Ali Al Salem Air Base in Kuwait, and Al Dhafra Air Base in the United Arab Emirates.

Those installations became the backbone of U.S. military operations during the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and remain central to American air, naval and logistics operations across the region.

Fox News Digital reached out to the U.S. Fifth Fleet, the White House and the governments of Bahrain, Qatar, the UAE, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Israel for comment.

Trump has not publicly commented on the matter. 

For years, America didn’t have enough homes to meet rising demand. Soon, it may not have enough homebuyers.

A new report from the Mortgage Bankers Association argues the housing market is nearing a major demographic shift. After more than a decade of demand outpacing supply, slower population growth and an aging population are expected to reduce the need for new housing, potentially reshaping forecasts for homebuilding, home prices and affordability.

That would mark a sharp reversal from the past decade.

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Millennials, the nation’s largest generation, entered their prime homebuying years after the financial crisis, driving a surge in household formation that builders struggled to keep up with.

As demand outpaced supply, home prices climbed. The pandemic only intensified the imbalance as record-low mortgage rates unleashed another wave of buyers.

According to the report, slower population growth, lower birth rates, an aging population and reduced immigration are expected to result in fewer people looking to buy or rent homes over the next decade, even as builders continue adding new housing.

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If that happens, some markets could end up with more homes than buyers, giving more choices to those looking to buy and making it harder for sellers to ask higher prices after years of seller favorability, especially in the post-COVID era.

That doesn’t mean every market is headed for a downturn.

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The report notes that housing remains highly local. States including Texas, Florida and Arizona, where construction has accelerated, could see softer prices if supply continues to grow.

In contrast, parts of the Northeast and Midwest, where new construction remains constrained, may continue to experience stronger price appreciation.

Researchers also reject the idea of a predicted “silver tsunami” of Baby Boomer homes flooding the market.

Instead, they expect those properties to come onto the market gradually over many years, adding to housing supply without triggering a sudden glut.

Even so, the shift could have real consequences for homeowners. If builders continue adding homes faster than demand grows, home-price gains could slow, homeowners could build equity more slowly, and buyers could have more choices, according to the report.

Read the full report:

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents discovered and seized over $3.7 million worth of cocaine in what was supposed to be a shipment of cucumbers last Wednesday.

Agents at the Pharr International Bridge near the southernmost point of Texas discovered 112 packages in a tractor-trailer after a canine inspection and a subsequent nonintrusive imaging system scan revealed anomalies in the vehicle.

CBP officials seized the load, totaling 278.88 pounds — a haul with a $3,723,654 street value, according to the agency.

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The stopped shipment, just one of many shipments traffickers have tried to mask as other merchandise, highlights how smuggling remains a challenge for law enforcement along the U.S. border — even as illegal border crossings have plummeted to record lows.

According to Port Director Carols Rodriguez, who manages the Hidalgo Port of Entry, it’s one of the many reasons CBP must maintain high levels of scrutiny.

“This interception is a powerful reminder that our CBP officers are on duty 24/7, employing every resource to detect and deter those who attempt to exploit our borders,” Rodriguez said in a statement to Fox News Digital.

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Since the end of 2024, border crossings have plummeted, going from over 144,000 encounters in December 2024 to just 10,000 in April.

Even so, CBP has reported several high-profile smuggling attempts.

In February, CBP detained a truckload of “roses” concealing over 515 pounds of cocaine. Just a little later, on April 2, CBP reported seizing 298 pounds of cocaine worth roughly $2.6 million in another commercial truck allegedly carrying carrots.

And the smuggling efforts haven’t been limited to drugs, either.

FEDS DISMANTLE ALLEGED GUN TRAFFICKING RING THAT FUNNELED DOZENS OF FIREARMS FROM GEORGIA TO CHICAGO GANGS

Later in April, CBP announced it had prevented a car carrying a rocket-propelled grenade launcher, 16 AK rifles, 24 rifle magazines, 16 rifle stocks, 20 pistol grips, and other weapon parts from crossing the border.

“The threat of illicit narcotics is constant, but so is our vigilance,” Rodriguez said

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche on Wednesday rejected California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s claims that the Justice Department is politically targeting him, saying the governor’s assertions are not “grounded in fact.”

Blanche responded to comments made by Newsom, who said last month that the Justice Department is investigating him and his wife, Jennifer Siebel Newsom, under orders from President Donald Trump.

While Blanche declined to comment on any ongoing investigations, he dismissed the governor’s claims.

GAVIN NEWSOM CLAIMS TRUMP ORDERED DOJ PROBE TARGETING HIM AND HIS WIFE

“The only thing I’ll say about what he chose to do and what he chose to say is, I’m not sure his words are in any way grounded in fact,” Blanche said during a news conference.

“He’d have to address that,” Blanche added.

Newsom claimed June 15 that Trump had directed the Justice Department to investigate him and his wife in an effort to undermine a potential White House campaign.

The California governor has described the investigation as a politically motivated “fishing expedition” by Trump’s DOJ, saying he and his wife have “nothing to hide.” Newsom has also argued the inquiry is aimed at him because he is considering a presidential run, saying, “To get me, he’s coming after my wife.”

WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT THE NEWSOM-LINKED CHARITIES REPORTEDLY CAUGHT IN DOJ’S SIGHTS

“Donald Trump isn’t just coming after me because of my mean Tweets. He’s coming after me because I am considering running for President,” Newsom said. “Because he hates that I’ve consistently called him out – over and over again – for his lies and deceit. Donald Trump is simply the most corrupt President in American history.”

Blanche also rejected Newsom’s broader characterization of the situation.

“He can choose to say whatever he thinks helps him,” Blanche said. “It doesn’t make it true.”

NEWSOM UNDER FIRE AS CALIFORNIA GAS TAX HIKE SENDS PUMP PRICES EVEN HIGHER

Sources previously told Fox News the investigation has been ongoing since 2025 and is based on whistleblower complaints related to Newsom and his wife’s personal finances. The matter is being handled by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Sacramento.

Federal sources confirmed to Fox News there are investigations involving Jennifer Siebel Newsom, but Fox News has not learned of any federal investigation directly targeting Gov. Newsom himself.

The Justice Department has not publicly confirmed any investigation involving Newsom or his wife.

Jennifer Siebel Newsom is a documentary filmmaker who runs The Representation Project, a nonprofit organization that seeks to advance feminism through media production. Fox News Digital previously reported the charity has faced “pay-for-play” allegations, with critics claiming corporations with business interests in California donated to the organization in an effort to gain influence with Newsom.

“There are clearly no boundaries to what Donald Trump will do to get his way or to challenge those who get in his way. This is not presidential behavior, and the Governor and I will continue to speak truth to power because the American people deserve so much more,” Jennifer Siebel Newsom said in a previous statement to Fox News.

Following Blanche’s remarks Wednesday, the governor’s office posted a meme on social media with the caption, “Why you always lyin.”

The governor’s press office also wrote, “Trump goons know that it’s not a crime to lie to a reporter.”

Fox News Digital has reached out to Newsom’s office for additional comment.

Fox News Digital’s Bonny Chu and Robert Schmad contributed to this report.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican, announced on Wednesday the state’s intention to use a new state law to designate dozens of groups as terrorist organizations, a move that would still require approval by the Florida Cabinet, prompting legal objections from at least one of the groups.

HB 1471 was signed into law earlier this year and went into effect on Wednesday.

The governor said the state plans to implement its new statutory authority to “identify, designate, and combat terrorist organizations operating in Florida” in the first use of powers established under the legislation.

Florida officials plan to designate more than 90 groups as terrorist organizations, including the Council on American-Islamic Relations the Muslim Brotherhood and Antifa, though the proposed designations must be approved by the governor and Cabinet before they are finalized under the statute.

FLORIDA’S CAIR THREATENS LAWSUIT AGAINST DESANTIS AFTER HE LABELS GROUP A ‘FOREIGN TERRORIST’ ORGANIZATION

“Last December, I signed an Executive Order to eliminate the influence of radical terrorist ideologies and the organizations that promote them in Florida. This year, I signed legislation to strengthen those protections and give Florida permanent statutory tools to combat terrorism while defending the Constitutional rights of our citizens,” DeSantis said in a statement. “Today, we are officially designating terrorist organizations under Florida law. In addition to CAIR and the Muslim Brotherhood, we are adding Antifa to the list—along with more than 90 Foreign Terrorist Organizations, including cartels.”

However, under HB 1471, the Chief of Domestic Security may designate qualifying organizations as domestic or foreign terrorist organizations, but the governor and Cabinet may approve or reject those designations by majority vote before they are published in the Florida Administrative Register.

Some of the foreign organizations added to the list include the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and gangs such as Cartel de Sinaloa, Tren de Aragua, Cartel del Noreste and Cartel del Golfo.

The new law allows the governor and Cabinet to approve or reject designations initially made by the chief of domestic security within the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.

“Keeping our community safe starts with identifying the threat,” Florida Department of Law Enforcement Commissioner Mark Glass said. “The safety of our community is strengthened by that knowledge every day, and reinforced by the collaboration between our officers, our federal partners, and—most importantly—the people we serve.”

HB 1471 directs agencies to deny groups public support and taxpayer funding. The law also establishes state enforcement mechanisms and criminal penalties for providing material support to designated terrorist organizations.

More specifically, the law restricts certain public benefits, funding and institutional support connected to designated groups, and creates criminal penalties for knowingly providing, attempting to provide or conspiring to provide material support or resources to a designated domestic terrorist organization.

The law also ensures that foreign or religious legal codes cannot override the U.S. or Florida Constitutions in state courts.

CAIR, a Muslim civil rights group, condemned the move and said it would continue challenging the state’s actions, following the governor’s announcement on Wednesday, saying the organization does not engage in “terrorist activity” and has not been charged or convicted of a crime. CAIR and CAIR-Florida have also previously sued over DeSantis’ December executive order targeting CAIR and the Muslim Brotherhood.

“Throughout CAIR’s long history, our civil rights organization has worked to protect the Constitution’s guarantees of free speech, religious freedom and equality under the law,” the group said in a statement. “We have also pursued justice for all people, including American Muslims impacted by hate. This is exactly why Gov. DeSantis has repeatedly targeted our organization. We see through Gov. DeSantis’ latest biased attempt to punish us for our views and our values. We look forward to fighting these baseless attacks in court and proving once again that the Constitution is stronger than any politician’s bigotry.”

FLORIDA DESIGNATES MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD AND CAIR AS FOREIGN TERRORIST ORGANIZATIONS, DESANTIS SAYS

Critics, including CAIR and civil liberties groups, argue the designations are politically motivated and threaten First Amendment-protected speech and association. DeSantis and state officials have argued the law is aimed at preventing taxpayer support for groups they say promote or support terrorism.

CAIR and civil liberties groups said they would challenge the designation as baseless and unconstitutional.

“Florida’s imminent designation of our clients is both dire and unmoored from reality. CAIR and CAIR-Florida’s speech and advocacy are protected by the First Amendment, which includes their right to criticize the governor, other officials, and their policies. We’re asking the court to protect our clients’ cardinal freedoms,” Hina Shamsi, director of the ACLU’s National Security Project, said in a statement.

The designations, if approved by the Cabinet, would operate under Florida law and would not be the same as a federal foreign terrorist organization designation, which is made by the U.S. State Department.