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Former Los Angeles mayoral candidate Spencer Pratt met with President Donald Trump Monday in the Oval Office while in Washington, D.C., a senior administration official confirmed to Fox News Digital.

“I will never stop fighting for my community,” Pratt captioned the photo of the meeting on X.

Pratt posted a photo of the meeting on X showing himself and his son seated with an unidentified man and who appeared to be White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles at the Resolute Desk across from Trump. The meeting took place before Trump departed to Turkey to attend the NATO summit.

SPENCER PRATT’S UNEXPECTED POLITICAL RISE FROM MTV VILLAIN TO KAREN BASS CHALLENGER

The former reality TV star drew national attention with a surprise bid for Los Angeles mayor, challenging incumbent Karen Bass but ultimately falling short.

Pratt met with “lots of people” while at the White House, the official added.

Fox News Digital reached out to the White House and Pratt’s team for additional comment.

Pratt announced Tuesday he is launching The WAR Foundation, an organization focused on fighting political corruption through media campaigns, investigative research and public education.

The foundation says it aims to promote transparency, accountability and what it describes as restoring “common sense” while opposing socialism in government and cultural institutions.

TRUMP SAYS HE HOPES SPENCER PRATT DOES WELL IN LA MAYORAL RACE, BLASTS CALIFORNIA’S ‘RIGGED’ ELECTIONS

Trump endorsed Pratt in May, urging California voters to support his campaign.

Pratt’s Oval Office meeting came right after Independence Day, when he went viral for slamming New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s Fourth of July comments.

Mamdani took the opportunity to criticize U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, Elon Musk and what he described as the “arena of supremacy” in the United States.

“As we mark 250 years, what do we see?” Mamdani said in part. “We see a city of contradictions within a nation of contradictions.”

“Notice how the communists always attack your history,” Pratt said of Mamdani in the viral response video.

He filmed his response beside his RV on the site where his home burned down in the Los Angeles Palisades fire – a key reason for his bid for mayor. He sported a T-shirt reading, “the anti-socialists social club” in the video.

“The communist destroys your history so he can take your home and rebuild it in his image. That’s why it is your patriotic duty to celebrate today unashamed. It’s OK to love America, not only is it OK to love America, it’s necessary to love America. We are the only bulwark against tyranny on this earth,” said Pratt in part.

President Donald Trump claimed that NATO failed two key tests as he lambasted the international cooperative on the national stage during a high-stakes summit in Ankara, Turkey on Wednesday.

“I’m not happy with NATO because of what they did with Greenland, and I’m not happy with NATO because of the fact they didn’t want to help us with the No. 1 state sponsor of terror — that’s Iran,” the 47th president told reporters. “They were unwilling to help us.”

“But I was really testing,” Trump revealed. “I wanted to see if they would be there.”

DENMARK VOWS TO DEFEND GREENLAND AFTER TRUMP REITERATES US SHOULD CONTROL TERRITORY

Trump has been eyeing an acquisition of Greenland, the autonomous island territory that is backed in defense, foreign affairs and monetary policy by Denmark. Greenlanders are officially citizens of Denmark.

The president has proposed purchasing Greenland from Denmark multiple times, and insisted Tuesday at the summit in Turkey that the territory is critical to global security and that it “should be controlled by the United States, not by Denmark.”

As China and Russia expand their presence in the region, Trump has continuously said that acquiring the territory, which plays a critical role in U.S. missile warning systems and Arctic defense, is a necessity.

“We need it for protection of the world, not just the United States,” Trump said.

Now, Trump claims that his idea to acquire the territory was actually a test of NATO to see if world leaders would support the U.S. in that effort.

TRUMP MAKES FRESH GREENLAND PLAY AFTER XI TALKS AS CHINA’S ARCTIC AMBITIONS LOOM

Trump claimed that Danish leadership has not been helpful to Greenland and its people.

“Denmark doesn’t spend money to really help Greenland, but it’s an important part for the United States. And it’s surrounded by China ships and Russian ships,” he said.

TRUMP SAYS IRAN CEASEFIRE IS ‘OVER’ AFTER IRANIAN ATTACKS TRIGGER MASSIVE US RESPONSE

Danish leaders have repeatedly insisted that Greenland is not for sale, and took a more forceful stance against Trump on Tuesday.

Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said, once again, that the territory is “not for sale.” She also insisted that Denmark is “ready to defend every inch of NATO including our own territory.”

“We hope that all, including all allies, will respect the Greenland people’s right for self-determination,” she continued. “And we are sovereign states and we need everybody to respect our territorial integrity and our sovereignty.”

Trump has long been critical of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), specifically accusing member nations of mooching of the United States, which spends nearly $1 trillion per year on defense.

Germany spends the second-most on defense out of all the allied nations, but the total is only one-tenth of what the U.S. spends.

Most recently, Trump demanded each NATO member nation spend 5% of their respective GDPs on defense.

The president has also previously threatened to leave the alliance, claiming it is not beneficial to the U.S.

Meanwhile, the war with Iran lingers on after Trump declared Tuesday that the tentative ceasefire with the Middle Eastern nation is “over.” He called Iran “scum” and “evil” after the U.S. launched new strikes.

Previously, a much-maligned memorandum of understanding was put in place to de-escalate the war, which critics said conceded too much to the Iranians.

Trump lost his patience with Tehran after they launched attacks on trade vessels in the Strait of Hormuz earlier in the week, and called negotiations with the country a “waste of time.”

Fox News Digital’s Eric Mack, Morgan Phillips and Anders Hagstrom contributed to this report.

Kentucky’s top elected official wants Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., to come clean about his health.

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, a Democrat, called on the ailing lawmaker to reveal his condition to constituents in a letter sent to the 84-year-old on Wednesday.

He wrote that over the last few weeks, “Kentuckians have grown increasingly concerned about the current state of your health and wellbeing and ability to hold office in the United States Senate.”

MCCONNELL’S WIFE, ELAINE CHAO, SAW NO NEED FOR ‘IMMEDIATE RETURN’ FROM CHINA AS FORMER GOP LEADER HOSPITALIZED

“As Governor, I request that you fully update Kentuckians regarding the current status of your health,” Beshear wrote. “As public officeholders, we have made a commitment to our constituents to do our best to represent them and to always be transparent.”

“I believe this requires clear communication about one’s ability to serve,” he continued. “We wish you a safe and speedy recovery.”

McConnell’s office did not immediately return a request for comment.

MCCONNELL WAS FOUND ‘UNCONSCIOUS’ IN HOME LAST MONTH AS CONDITION REMAINS UNKNOWN

McConnell has been absent from the Senate, which is currently in recess, for the last three weeks. He was first hospitalized for an unknown condition in early June.

Since then, his office has kept details of his health and a timetable for his return close to the vest. 

The only public insight into his condition has come from leaked emergency dispatch audio from a June 14 call the day McConnell was sent to the hospital, which revealed the longtime Senate Republican was “unconscious” and may have suffered a heart attack.

Over time and with a lack of clarity on the lawmaker’s health, the rumor mill has been running at full speed online, speculating about the exact nature of his condition.

HOUSE DEM URGES TRANSPARENCY BY PUBLIC OFFICIALS AFTER GOP COLLEAGUE REVEALS REASON FOR EXTENDED ABSENCE

Laura Loomer, a conservative commentator, claimed that a “high-level source close to the White House” said McConnell was “brain-dead” and that the lawmaker “isn’t ever coming back.”

Meanwhile, McConnell’s wife, former Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, traveled to China shortly after his hospitalization and remained there until this week. Her office cited that McConnell’s health “did not warrant an immediate return to the U.S.”

While the fog around his condition thickened, McConnell did speak with top Senate Republicans.

Both Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., and Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso, R-Wyo., said that they had spoken with McConnell at length about the Graham Platner scandal, happenings in the Senate and the recent decisions at the Supreme Court.

Former Wisconsin Judge Hannah Dugan was ordered Wednesday to pay a $5,000 fine for obstructing the arrest of an illegal immigrant at a courthouse, but will not serve any prison time.

“I think this is a situation where an otherwise good person, upset by immigration policies in this country, made a bad decision in the moment,” said U.S. District Judge Lynn Adelman.

Dugan, 66, was convicted of felony obstruction last year after federal agents attempted to serve a warrant to Eduardo Flores-Ruiz on April 18, 2025. She was acquitted of concealing an individual to prevent arrest, a misdemeanor. She faced up to five years in prison. 

Prosecutors had asked that Dugan be sentenced to between 15 and 21 months. 

DEM JUDGE IN HOT SEAT AFTER DHS EXPOSES ‘WHOLE NEW LEVEL’ OF ACTIVISM, SHELTERING ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT

Dugan addressed the case against her on Wednesday just before Adelman imposed her sentence, defending her actions and announcing she intends to “return to public service.” 

“My acts that day were consistent with community concerns at the courthouse,” Dugan said. “My judicial acts were not done with any malicious intent or to advance any personal interests.”

“Since the government’s arrest of me, I was forced to retire… In January, I resigned from my office, so the constituents would have a judge in my branch to begin the year,” she added. “I have been cast as a scofflaw and as a hero. I am neither. I am a public servant who was just trying to do my job. Your honor, I will not let those minutes on April 18, 2025 define my life’s work.”

In January, Dugan resigned from the Milwaukee County circuit judgeship amid threats of impeachment from Republican state lawmakers, who labeled her an activist judge.

Before her sentencing, several people testified on her behalf. 

“Hannah models what it means to be Christian,” said Rev. Gregory J. O’Meara, a Jesuit priest, lawyer and law professor who met Dugan at the University of Wisconsin’s law school. “We’ve made arrangements to hold services for her privately because she’s been hassled. I do not think there is a need for further punishment, deterrence, retribution or reform.”

Janine Geske, a law professor at Marquette University, said Dugan’s life wasn’t “completely defined by her work.”

“She has been punished by being handcuffed… by being in the media… all she loves to do is share with others,” Geske said. “She has lost her profession and her income and she’s here humbly to ask you to give her the opportunity to return to the community.”

HOUSE CONSERVATIVES RALLY BEHIND PUSH TO IMPEACH JUDGE BOASBERG OVER ROLE IN TRUMP INVESTIGATION

On the day of the incident, ICE agents appeared at the Milwaukee County courthouse after learning Flores-Ruiz, 31, had re-entered the United States illegally and was scheduled to appear before Dugan for a hearing in a state domestic violence case. 

Upon learning ICE agents were in the building, Dugan confronted them outside her courtroom, arguing their administrative warrant was insufficient to arrest Flores-Ruiz. She told the agents to go to the chief judge’s office down the hall and then directed Flores-Ruiz and his attorney to leave her courtroom through a back door, federal prosecutors said. 

Flores-Ruiz was spotted moments later by the agents, who followed him outside and arrested him after a brief foot chase.

Dugan’s lawyers argued that she was shielded from prosecution because of her position as a judge. However, Adelman rejected the argument. 

“What judges around the country are looking at this case and saying, ‘Yes, Sign me up?’ There won’t be a crime wave of judges defying ICE. No judges have acted similarly,” Dugan’s defense attorney Steve Biskupic said Wednesday in court. 

Prosecutors said Dugan violated her oath as a judge, putting the lives of law enforcement officers and the public at risk, while Republican lawmakers cast her as an activist judge. 

Dugan was arrested by the FBI weeks after the confrontation with ICE and led outside in handcuffs. Flores-Ruiz has since been deported.

FIRST ON FOX: The Trump administration revealed new figures that show a drastic 7,100% spike in Medicare claims for tissue and organ transplants in just six years as the task force led by Vice President JD Vance continues to crack down on fraud across the country.

The staggering increase in claims occurred between 2019 and 2025, surging from $200 million to $14.4 billion, prompting the anti-fraud task force and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to identify potentially fraudulent claims and deny 96% of claims made since March.

The CMS, which is led by Administrator Mehmet Oz, identified 4,200 suspicious claims for tissue and organ transplants, known as allografts, totaling $224 million in charges through May of this year.

DR OZ WARNS MEDICARE SCAMMERS ARE STEALING BILLIONS — AND YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION COULD BE NEXT

The agency also found alleged fraudulent claims for Durable Medical Equipment (DME), which includes wheelchairs, walkers, hospital beds and other essential equipment. The agency says that payments have been suspended to 102 suppliers and revoked billing privileges for an additional 725 suppliers.

“In just six months, the task force has effectively wiped out Durable Medical Equipment fraud in America,” a spokesperson for Vance’s office told Fox News Digital. “After the vice president and Dr. Oz announced a moratorium on new DME companies, paired with aggressive enforcement actions by DOJ and HHS, this kind of fraud has effectively ended.”

The suppliers who were suspected of fraud and had payments suspended represented 8.6% of all Medicare-funded Durable Medical Equipment in 2025.

DR OZ SAYS 800 HOSPICE PROVIDERS SUSPENDED IN CALIFORNIA OVER ALLEGED $1B MEDICARE FRAUD SCHEME

Fox News Digital learned from sources at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services that fraud was identified for suppliers who filed claims for equipment that was not necessary or ordered, filed claims for equipment more complex or expensive than ordered and claims for equipment that was never delivered.

“Thanks to the whole-of-government approach spearheaded by the White House Anti-Fraud Task Force, we stopped nearly $220 million in fraudulent skin substitute claims and suspended or revoked billing privileges for over 800 DME suppliers,” Oz told Fox News Digital in a statement. “We are keeping our promise to the American people: we will root out corruption, protect vulnerable patients, and hold every bad actor accountable.”

Vance is scheduled to join Oz at a news conference in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on Wednesday, highlighting the efforts made by the anti-fraud task force.

OPINION: I’M OHIO’S STATE AUDITOR — MEDICAID FRAUD IS NOT JUST A WASHINGTON PROBLEM

In May, the Justice Department charged 15 individuals in Minnesota, finding more than $90 million in alleged fraudulent claims tied to multiple state-funded assistance programs.

The task force and the DOJ announced a massive takedown of two of the largest Medicaid fraud cases in Minnesota state history, as well as the largest autism fraud scheme ever charged by the federal government,” Vance said in a message on X at the time. “Our message is simple: if you’re committing fraud, we will find you, and we won’t rest until justice is served.”

President Donald Trump established the task force through an executive order in May. He appointed Vance to lead the task force, and a number of agencies and departments have been involved in the effort to crack down on fraud across the country.

“Vice President JD Vance and Republicans are doing a great job hunting down Fraud in the various States,” Trump posted on Truth Social in June. “Billions of Dollars is being found, and we’ve just started!”

Maine Democratic Senate nominee Graham Platner repeatedly criticized a lawmaker on Reddit for cheating on his wife years before his campaign confirmed he sent sexually explicit messages to women early in his marriage. 

On four occasions between 2018 and 2019, Platner claimed that, while he was working as a bartender in D.C., former GOP Rep. Duncan Hunter had confided in him that he was sleeping with women who were not his wife. Platner called Hunter a “real piece of sh-t” and a “garbage person” because of that.

Platner himself, however, sent sexually explicit messages to women who were not his wife early in his marriage, his campaign confirmed. The Senate candidate also maintained an account on the messenger app Kik, where his profile image was a picture of him topless wearing nothing but a towel.

HOW GRAHAM PLATNER’S CAMPAIGN UNRAVELED: FROM REDDIT POSTS TO RAPE ALLEGATION

The sexually explicit messages were first revealed by Genevieve McDonald, Platner’s former political director, who said that Platner’s wife had told her that he had exchanged sexual messages with up to 12 women. The Platner campaign, however, countered that he had only been communicating with as many as six women, and that their conversations were not ongoing.

“I confided deeply personal details about my marriage to someone I considered a friend. In the months since, I have had to watch as she spread malicious gossip to anyone who would take her call,” Platner’s wife said in the statement. “I trusted this person with the most private chapter of our lives — the early days of our marriage before any campaign was on our mind — and I am deeply hurt by her betrayal and the invasion of our privacy.”

PLATNER IN THE HOT SEAT AS MAINE VOTERS RIP HIS ‘HORRIBLE’ COMMENTS AMID REDDIT SCANDAL

Back in 2019, Platner, who married his wife in 2023, had harsh language to describe Hunter’s alleged extramarital conduct.

“Real piece of sh-t,” Platner wrote of Hunter in a December 2019 post. “Used to come into a DC bar I worked at, get wasted and brag about all the chicks he was slaying who weren’t his wife. I’ve got a pretty flexible moral compass when it comes to those things, but he was just the epitome of the frat bro officer douchebag.”

PLATNER CAMPAIGN PUTTING ‘THUMB ON SCALE’ TO INFLUENCE POSSIBLE REPLACEMENT, MAINE DEM ALLEGES

In another post, Platner called Hunter a “garbage person” who “loved to brag about all the women he was f-cking who weren’t his wife.”

He also criticized Hunter for heavy drinking, a problem one of Platner’s ex-girlfriends alleges that he faced as well.

Hunter was indicted in 2018 on charges that he converted more than $250,000 in campaign funds for personal expenses and falsified campaign finance records. Prosecutors later alleged that some of Hunter’s campaign spending was tied to extramarital affairs. He pleaded guilty in 2020 and was sentenced to 11 months in prison, but avoided serving his sentence after President Donald Trump pardoned him later that year.

Platner, who has since been accused of rape by a different ex-girlfriend –  an allegation he denies –  is facing calls to drop out of the Maine Senate race as major Democrats rescind their endorsement of him. Democrats have until July 13 to replace him with another candidate, a fact Platner is reportedly using as leverage to name a successor.

The Platner campaign did not respond to a request for comment when reached by Fox News Digital on Wednesday.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said Wednesday that President Donald Trump has “won the argument” on NATO defense spending, crediting years of U.S. pressure with prompting Canada and European allies to take on a greater share of the alliance’s security burden.

Speaking at the NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey, Carney said he spoke with Trump before the gathering and told him that NATO members increasingly recognize the need to boost military spending amid continued security threats from Russia.

“It’s not just that he’s winning the argument — he’s won the argument,” Carney told reporters. “Countries realize they need to take more responsibility. They see the direct threats.”

Carney said Trump’s long-standing push for allies to spend more on defense is producing results.

“The president is looking for a shift of the burden within NATO. That’s appropriate,” Carney said. “That is happening. It is gaining momentum.”

The remarks mark a notable shift in tone from Carney, who has frequently criticized Trump over trade, tariffs and U.S.-Canada relations.

Since taking office, the Canadian prime minister has repeatedly criticized Trump over his tariffs on Canadian goods and his repeated suggestions that Canada should become the 51st U.S. state. 

During his victory speech in March 2025, Carney accused Trump of putting “unjustified tariffs” on Canada and declared, “He’s attacking Canadian families, workers and businesses, and we cannot let him succeed, and we won’t.” 

He also vowed to maintain retaliatory tariffs until “the Americans show us respect.”

Despite those differences, Carney acknowledged that Trump’s yearslong campaign to pressure NATO allies into increasing defense spending has succeeded.

Carney said he relayed that message directly to Trump during a phone call Sunday before both leaders arrived at the summit.

“The president is here, and he’s in a good mood,” Carney said.

At the 2025 NATO summit in The Hague, Netherlands, alliance leaders agreed to a new goal of spending 5% of GDP on defense and security by 2035 — more than doubling the alliance’s longstanding 2% benchmark. The pledge followed years of Trump criticizing NATO members for relying too heavily on the U.S., warning that allies were not paying their fair share and at times threatening to pull the U.S. out of the alliance if European nations failed to significantly increase defense spending. 

But the alliance has no formal mechanism to force countries to comply. Instead, Trump has increasingly sought to use U.S. economic leverage to pressure allies that fall short.

On Wednesday, Trump singled out Spain after Madrid refused to commit to the alliance’s 5% target, calling it “a terrible partner in NATO” and urging the U.S. to cut off trade and tourism with the country. Spain has argued it can meet NATO’s military capability requirements while spending roughly 2.1% of GDP on defense.

Larger nations like Britain and France also have pledged to move toward the 5% target, but both currently spend well below that level, raising questions about how aggressively the Trump administration will pressure other major allies to accelerate their defense spending.

NATO Ambassador Matthew Whitaker told reporters July 1 that the Trump administration was considering countermeasures for countries that fail to meet their 5% target. 

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte echoed Carney’s assessment, saying Trump had accomplished what multiple U.S. presidents had sought for decades.

“President Trump has been able to finally get done what, since Eisenhower, American presidents tried to do, which was to equalize defense spending between Europe and the United States,” Rutte said during opening remarks.

Canada has announced a series of new defense investments this week, including a submarine procurement program, an agreement to use Telesat’s Lightspeed satellite constellation for secure Arctic military communications, and an approximately $800 million contract for Joint Strike Missiles for Canada’s future fighter aircraft.

Carney said Canada was spending about 1.4% of its gross domestic product on defense when his government took office and is on track to reach 4% before the end of the decade under NATO’s accounting standards.

The comments come after years of Trump arguing that NATO members were relying too heavily on the United States for their defense and should contribute a larger share toward the alliance’s collective security.

Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for comment. 

Justices Amy Coney Barrett and Elena Kagan are set to make a rare appearance on Capitol Hill next week, where they will testify on the Supreme Court’s proposed fiscal year 2027 budget.

Their appearance before the House Appropriations subcommittee comes just weeks after the Supreme Court concluded a highly consequential term, delivering major wins for President Donald Trump, including expanding his executive authority, while also ruling against key parts of his agenda, including his executive order restricting birthright citizenship and his Liberation Day tariffs. Barrett, who is part of the conservative supermajority, voted against Trump’s use of the executive order.

The last time Supreme Court justices testified before Congress was in 2019, when Kagan, a member of the Court’s liberal wing, and Justice Samuel Alito, a member of its conservative majority, appeared to discuss the Supreme Court’s fiscal year 2020 budget request.

MORNING GLORY: THE SUPREME COURT OFFICIALLY CLOSES THE BOOKS ON ANOTHER TERM

In next year’s budget, the Supreme Court is requesting a $20.5 million increase, with $14.6 million earmarked to strengthen security protections for justices and an additional $2 million to cover security costs at the justices’ homes. The funding increase would cover the cost of staffing an additional 25 full-time Supreme Court Police officers.

In total, the Supreme Court is requesting a budget of $228 million for the 2027 fiscal year.

The request for additional security funding comes after Congress approved a $30 million increase for the Supreme Court’s security budget in January, which is expected to last through September 2028.

At the time of the additional funding approval, the U.S. Marshals Service, which is tasked with protecting the Supreme Court, had tracked 166 threats against federal judges since Oct. 1. The year before, more than 560 threats were made against judges.

“We just want to make sure nothing happens to any of our justices,” House Appropriations Chair Tom Cole, R-Okla., said at the time.

SUPREME COURT FINANCIAL DISCLOSURES REVEAL CONCERT TICKETS FROM BAD BUNNY’S LABEL, MILLIONS IN BOOK PAYMENTS

The U.S. Marshals Service began providing 24/7 security at the justices’ private residences in May 2022 after the leak of the draft Dobbs opinion, which foreshadowed the Supreme Court’s decision ending the constitutional right to abortion. The protection remained in place after the attempted assassination attempt against Justice Brett Kavanaugh outside his Maryland home the following month.

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And in May, Barrett was the target of an apparent swatting incident after a false report of gunshots at her Virginia home prompted a police response. Authorities quickly determined the call was a hoax after coordinating with the Supreme Court Police officers assigned to protect the residence.

Last year, authorities also investigated a bomb threat targeting Barrett’s sister at her South Carolina home. The reported pipe bomb in her mailbox was also determined to be a hoax.

While justices have long been subjected to death threats, Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in his 2024 year-end report that threats against federal judges have more than tripled over the past decade. The U.S. Marshals Service investigated more than 1,000 serious threats during the previous five years.

President Donald Trump’s lawyers asked the Supreme Court to reconsider its decision rejecting his appeal of the $5 million civil judgment awarded to writer E. Jean Carroll, a request filed after the justices turned away the case last week.

The court denied Trump’s petition June 29 without taking up the case, leaving in place the judgment tied to a 2023 jury verdict that found Trump liable for sexually abusing Carroll in the 1990s and defaming her. Trump has denied Carroll’s allegations.

In the rehearing petition, Trump’s lawyers argue the court should reopen the case because he plans to file a separate Supreme Court appeal in another Carroll defamation case that they say will raise presidential immunity questions.

TRUMP SAYS HE WILL ‘CONTINUE THE FIGHT’ AFTER SUPREME COURT DECLINES TO REVIEW CARROLL ABUSE VERDICT

They asked the justices to “grant rehearing” or hold the petition while the related case proceeds.

“Petitioner President Donald J. Trump respectfully petitions for rehearing of this Court’s June 29, 2026 order denying his petition for a writ of certiorari,” the Michael Martinich-Sauter filing read. “Rehearing is warranted because President Trump will imminently file a petition for a writ of certiorari in Carroll v. Trump, No. 24-644 (2d Cir.) (“Carroll I”), which will present vital questions concerning Presidential immunity for official statements.

“Those questions are likely to bear on the proper disposition of Trump v. Carroll, No. 25-573 (“Carroll II”), due to the fact that Respondent improperly introduced and relied on those same official Presidential statements at trial in Carroll II. See Trump v. United States, 603 U.S. 593, 630-32 (2024).

“The Court should grant rehearing, and either grant the petition in this case, or hold it pending the disposition of the petition in Carroll I.”

MORNING GLORY: THE SUPREME COURT OFFICIALLY CLOSES THE BOOKS ON ANOTHER TERM

The request faces steep odds. Supreme Court rules limit rehearing petitions after the denial of certiorari to intervening circumstances with a substantial or controlling effect, or other substantial grounds not previously presented.

The Supreme Court docket shows Trump’s first rehearing filing was not accepted Monday because a correction was needed.

The corrected petition was submitted Wednesday. The court has not yet ruled on the rehearing request.

READ THE REHEARING PETITION — APP USERS, CLICK HERE:

A decision could come later this month, perhaps as soon as July 20.

Fox News’ Shannon Bream and William Mears contributed to this report

The front-runner in Michigan’s messy Democratic primary has repeatedly said he never called for defunding the police, but unearthed interviews and video from years earlier tell a different story. 

Abdul El-Sayed, who is running for the Democratic nomination in Michigan against Rep. Haley Stevens, D-Mich., has been adamant throughout his push for the Senate that he never wanted to strip tax dollars from police departments, going so far as to say he deleted old tweets embracing the ideology.

But in a video for the University of Michigan published five years ago titled, “Systemic Racism as a Public Health Issue,” El-Sayed argued that funding police and their use of force was a facet of systemic racism and constituted a public health issue.

DEMOCRATS’ CIVIL WAR HEADS TO MICHIGAN, WHERE PROGRESSIVES FACE BIGGEST TEST YET IN HIGH-STAKES SENATE SHOWDOWN

“Why are we investing so much in people with guns and less in people with the means of being able to invest in young folks, empower folks through their livelihoods, and empower them to live their best lives?” El-Sayed questioned.

“Do police really need to use guns? Do we need as much of a police force?” he continued. “And so, if we ask ourselves about how we spend money in the public, where that money goes, where it comes from, we need to make a lot better decisions about investing in the things that root out poverty, rather than investing in policing poverty.” 

The video follows a report from CNN that found during the height of the “defund the police” movement in 2020, El-Sayed leaned into it.

During an interview with Detroit Public Radio from June 2020, El-Sayed argued that he never directly called to “defund the police,” but he contended that the principles behind the movement were difficult to express online in a tweet.

MICHIGAN SENATE CANDIDATE CONFRONTED REPEATEDLY OVER ISRAEL’S RIGHT TO EXIST, DEFUNDING THE POLICE

“So, you’ll note, I didn’t say ‘defund the police,’ I just described what needed to be done,” El-Sayed said. “And I do think we need to be really focused on describing or explaining rather than sort of hedging on one side or the other behind a hashtag.”

“Defunding the police is disinvesting in the means of incarcerating someone or killing them on the streets and investing more in the means of educating and empowering and engaging communities with the means of being able to take on systemic poverty that we’ve allowed to fester in too many communities.”

El-Sayed tried to pitch his stance as “refunding” the police to ensure taxpayer dollars don’t flow to “buy war materiel to wage war in our streets.”

“What we call that is, to me, less important than what we do on the problems on the ground,” he said at the time.

DEMOCRATIC SENATE CANDIDATE CALLED FOR MASS RELEASE OF CRIMINALS DURING PRISON ABOLITION WEBINAR

Roxie Richner, a campaign spokesperson for El-Sayed, said in a statement to Fox News Digital that he worked closely with law enforcement during his time as director of Health, Human, and Veterans Services for Wayne County, Michigan, and that “as hands-on experience always allows, his perspective has become more nuanced.”

“One simple word has never been enough to fully explain the reforms we need for a challenge as complex as our criminal legal system,” she said.

“Just as he did in Wayne County in 2023, Abdul believes we need to improve law enforcement recruitment, retention, and retirement funding so that law enforcement officers come from the communities they serve,” Richner continued. “He also believes we must reject militarized policing, pass the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, and opt for community violence intervention, behavioral health response, and improvements in public health to reduce violence and protect the lives of communities and law enforcement alike.”

Still, El-Sayed has sought to clean up his position on the matter as he runs ahead in one of the most consequential races of the 2026 midterm cycle. 

He and Stevens are vying to replace retiring Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., for a seat Republicans are hungry to flip.

And more broadly, El-Sayed is part of the progressive wave that is flooding into the Democratic Party, sporting endorsements from progressive heavyweights like Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y.

The candidate, however, can’t seem to shake off his posts and interviews from years ago despite this support.

Just last week during an interview with CNN’s Kasie Hunt, El-Sayed was pressed on his old posts and shot back that he “deleted all the tweets, because I didn’t want them to be taken out of context like this.”

He chalked up the issue to “clickbait in D.C.”

“I think this debate about 2020 and the ways that tweets are going to play are really nice on CNN if you want to get clicks,” El-Sayed said. “They’re not that effective, and nobody really asks me about them on the streets or in communities in Michigan.”