Category: USA Politics

Illegal immigrants nabbed by ICE do not have to face bond hearings, a step that has become a potential legal impediment to President Donald Trump’s mass deportation agenda, a second federal court found Wednesday.

The case involved Mexican national Joaquin Herrera Avila, who was captured in Minneapolis in August and failed to produce legal credentials authorizing his admission to the U.S. He was detained without bond and faced removal proceedings.

“Massive court victory against activist judges and for President Trump’s law and order agenda,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said after the St. Louis-based Eighth Circuit reversed a lower court’s ruling and deemed many captured illegal immigrants ineligible for such chances to be released.

TOP US COURT HANDS TRUMP A WIN ON DEPORTATIONS AS SCOTUS CHALLENGE LOOMS

A district court in Minnesota granted Avila’s petition for habeas corpus, or to challenge the legality of his detention, which the Trump administration challenged.

“We reverse and remand [that ruling] for proceedings consistent with this opinion,” the Eighth Circuit ruled Wednesday in a split decision, with George W. Bush-appointed Judge Bobby Shepherd of Arkansas writing for the majority.

Shepherd wrote that the district court relied on federal law allowing detention without bond for “an alien who is an applicant for admission [or] seeking admission…” while considering Avila to be no longer seeking formal admission because he had resided and worked in the U.S. for many years. But, Avila did not seek further residency status such as naturalization or asylum, according to the court, which ruled that aspect proved he was not “seeking admission” in a legal sense.

“The Eighth Circuit has held that illegal aliens can be detained without bond — following a similar ruling from the Fifth Circuit last month. The law is very clear, but Democrats and activist judges haven’t wanted to enforce it. This administration will,” Bondi said.

“Imagine how many illegal alien crimes could have been averted if the left had simply followed the law?”

BORDER PATROL CHIEF BOVINO SAYS CHICAGO EFFORTS ‘VINDICATED’ AFTER COURT REVERSES ORDER RESTRICTING OPERATIONS

The Eighth Circuit’s ruling concurs with a related ruling from the New Orleans-based Fifth Circuit, which found that noncitizens can be held without bond, according to Bloomberg Law.

“If Congress wanted to make clear that ‘seeking admission’ was an independent requirement in the statute, it could have easily done so,” the court added.

Right-wing commentator Gunther Eagleman tweeted that the decision was indeed a win against “activist judges.”

“The Eighth Circuit just overturned an activist judge and upheld ICE’s mass detention policy in a 2-1 ruling,” he said, as a Trump appointee joined Shepherd in concurrence and another dissented.

FEDERAL JUDGE REJECTS MINNESOTA REQUEST TO BLOCK ICE-LED OPERATION METRO SURGE

“Key decision: Illegal aliens already inside the U.S. can be detained without bond during removal proceedings. This is a massive victory for the deportation mission. Leftist judges can no longer force DHS to simply release invaders into our communities to commit more crimes. Huge L for open borders,” Eagleman said.

In his dissent, Trump-appointed Judge Ralph R. Erickson of Minnesota said that with the exception of a single DUI conviction, Avila had lived as a law-abiding resident for just under 20 years.

“On August 29, 2025, he was stopped by deportation officers while driving on Cedar Avenue in Minneapolis, Minnesota. For the past 29 years, Avila would have been entitled to a bond hearing during his removal proceedings,” Erickson wrote, noting that the court’s ruling means that Avila and millions of others are now “subject to mandatory detention” under federal law.

“In doing so, the court does not rely on recent congressional action or a change in the regulations governing detention but rather engages in a novel interpretation of ‘alien seeking admission’ that eluded the courts and five previous presidential administrations,” he said.

“Because the court’s interpretation is not supported by the plain meaning of ‘seeking,’ the context of the INA, or the history of the IIRIRA (an immigration reform law signed by Bill Clinton), I respectfully dissent.”

Fox News Digital did not encounter any immediate negative responses from pundits or politicians within a few minutes of its release.

A new clash erupted Wednesday over records from the dismissed Trump classified documents case after Rep. Jamie Raskin accused the Department of Justice of improperly turning over sensitive material to Congress, drawing sharp rebukes from the White House and DOJ.

“Democrats with zero credibility like Jamie Raskin are still clinging to deranged Jack Smith and his lies in 2026,” White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson told Fox News Digital when asked about Raskin’s claims. 

Raskin, the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, sent a letter on March 24 to Attorney General Pam Bondi alleging that the DOJ may have inadvertently sent his panel previously undisclosed materials showing Trump retained sensitive classified documents tied to his business interests and may have exposed them to others after his first administration. 

Trump has denied any wrongdoing in the classified documents case for years, including when FBI agents searched Mar-a-Lago in 2022 for materials he allegedly retained following his exit from the Oval Office, and when then-special counsel Jack Smith brought an indictment against him in 2023 accusing him of willfully retaining national defense information and obstructing efforts to recover it.

JACK SMITH FACES PUBLIC GRILLING ON CAPITOL HILL ABOUT TRUMP PROSECUTIONS

Raskin accused the DOJ of violating a court order requiring parts of the classified documents case to remain under seal, including Smith’s final report, which Democrats have long demanded the DOJ hand over to Congress.

Raskin’s letter quickly drew pushback from the White House, which called it “pathetic” and pointed out that Smith was forced to drop his case against Trump when he won the 2024 election. 

Judge Aileen Cannon, a Trump appointee who presided over the case, had tossed it out in July 2024 after finding Smith’s appointment by Attorney General Merrick Garland was unconstitutional. Smith was appealing her decision but withdrew his appeal after Trump’s victory, citing a DOJ policy that discourages prosecuting sitting presidents. 

“President Trump did nothing wrong, which is why he easily defeated the Biden DOJ’s unprecedented lawfare campaign against him and then won nearly 80 million votes in a landslide election victory,” Jackson continued in her statement.  

A DOJ spokesperson said Raskin was “blinded by hatred” of Trump and that the DOJ has been the “most transparent in history.” The spokesperson said the accusations leveled by Raskin were “baseless” and also refuted Raskin’s claims that the DOJ violated a court order by releasing the material to Raskin’s committee.

“Judge Cannon’s protective order was not violated, and none of the documents produced by DOJ violated 6e [grand jury rules] as none of them disclosed matters occurring before a grand jury,” the spokesperson said. “The documents marked ‘6e’ contained redactions of any 6e material. As an attorney and law professor, one must assume Raskin understands this, and thus, reveals this letter is nothing more than a cheap political stunt almost as if taking cues from members of the corrupt Jack Smith prosecution team.”

House Judiciary Committee Republicans said in a statement Raskin’s letter was another example of “manufactured outrage from the left.”

“Once again, Democrats are more focused on targeting President Trump than working with Republicans to put America first,” a committee spokesperson said. 

JACK SMITH DENIES POLITICS PLAYED ANY ROLE IN TRUMP PROSECUTIONS AT HOUSE HEARING

In his letter, Raskin alleged that the materials his committee received from DOJ showed that some classified documents in Trump’s possession were so sensitive that only six government officials had access to them and that Trump may have retained materials connected to his business dealings to enrich himself. The Maryland Democrat also cited a memorandum indicating Trump “may have shown” a classified map to individuals while on a private plane.

Raskin also accused the DOJ of cherry-picking information about the case to release to Congress while continuing to withhold other information, including the second volume of Smith’s final special counsel report. Cannon had ordered that portion of Smith’s report to remain permanently sealed, though her order is being appealed.

DEMOCRATS RAMP UP CALLS TO RELEASE JACK SMITH’S SPECIAL COUNSEL REPORT ON TRUMP CLASSIFIED DOCUMENTS CASE

The sealed report has become a top focus for Democrats as no final reports produced by DOJ special counsels have been kept from the public before Smith’s. Democrats have claimed the report could shed new light on the case, while Republicans have argued the investigation was politically motivated, that the report is too prejudiced against Trump and that any disclosures at this stage must comply with Cannon’s order.

A spokesperson for committee Democrats accused the DOJ of doing “legal gymnastics” to prevent the release of Smith’s report, accusing the department of wanting to “advance his corrupt business interests.”

In August 2022, the FBI carried out a controversial search in which they seized 33 boxes from Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate, which included agents scouring Melania Trump’s wardrobe, Trump has previously said. Prosecutors defended the search in court, saying Trump withheld some boxes when they sought his voluntary compliance, leading them to resort to a search warrant.

The president denied any wrongdoing throughout the investigation and prosecution, calling it a “scam” pushed by the Biden administration.

Raskin in his letter demanded DOJ turn over a slate of documents related to the case and answer questions about who may have seen the classified materials.

Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said Iran could have hit Washington, D.C., and other major U.S. cities with intermediate-range ballistic missiles through proxies in Venezuela if the administration had not intervened in both countries.

Speaking at the CERAWeek oil and energy conference in Houston on Wednesday, Burgum pushed back on the narrative that Iran and Venezuela do not represent an imminent threat to the U.S. and global supply chains. He said the threat was demonstrated by Iran’s attempt to strike the U.S. military base Diego Garcia in the central Indian Ocean, more than 2,000 miles from the Middle Eastern country.

“That means, you know, Venezuela was a hotbed of Iranian-funded terror groups, including Hamas. If there was an Iranian ballistic missile placed in Venezuela, it could not just reach Houston; it can reach Washington, D.C.,” said Burgum.

“So, again, the actions that the United States is taking to make the world safer is lowering the risk premium that I think was missing from the [oil and energy] market. Because, maybe, the market wasn’t recognizing the risk.”

WHITE HOUSE WARNS IRAN AGAINST BALKING AT DEAL: TRUMP READY TO ‘UNLEASH HELL’

Burgum accused Iran, whose government he said is in shambles following intense U.S.-Israeli bombardment, of lying to the world about its missile capability.

“They said during negotiations last year, they told the international agencies, they said it right before the negotiations broke down, ‘Oh, don’t worry, we could only go 1,200 miles.’ And then they launched two missiles at Diego Garcia at 2,400 miles. That means they can hit London,” he explained.

The Islamic Republic of Iran escalated its conflict with the U.S. by launching two intermediate-range ballistic missiles Friday toward Diego Garcia, a key U.S.-U.K. military base in the Indian Ocean. Targeting Diego Garcia, roughly 2,500 miles from Iran, suggests Tehran’s missile capabilities may exceed previously acknowledged limits.

IRAN-LINKED INFLUENCE CAMPAIGN PUSHES ANTI-ISRAEL MESSAGING DISGUISED AS US VOICES: REPORT

Houston, where Burgum was speaking, is roughly 2,200 miles from Venezuela, while the nation’s capital is just over 2,000 miles away, placing both cities within range of intermediate-range ballistic missiles fired from Venezuela. Other major U.S. cities within range include Miami, roughly 1,300 miles away; New York City, about 2,100 miles; and possibly Chicago, slightly more than 2,600 miles.

On Jan. 3, Trump launched a covert military operation in Venezuela that resulted in the arrest of former Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro.

Burgum said that, because of the administration’s military action, Venezuela is no longer a serious missile threat to the U.S. and is now a potentially significant oil and energy partner.

TRUMP ENERGY CZAR SAYS IRAN CONFLICT GAS SPIKE IS ‘TEMPORARY BLIP’ AS DRILLING PUSH RAMPS UP

The secretary said that during a recent trip to Venezuela with oil executives, interim President Delcy Rodríguez signaled the country has the capacity and is eager for U.S. investment in developing its oil and gas reserves.

“The resources there are quite amazing,” he said. “And from that trip we did… we were able to bring home $100 million of gold, physically, the gold, to bring back for U.S. refiners for commercial and consumer purposes. So, the level of cooperation is going.”

FIRST ON FOX: Vice President JD Vance is ramping up the administration’s targeting of fraud after President Donald Trump appointed him to head an anti-fraud task force last week, including the implementation of an AI platform to quickly identify and address fraud. 

Vance’s task force is currently working with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, run by Dr. Mehmet Oz, and last month, CMS identified and suspended 70 hospice and home health providers in Los Angeles after they were flagged as high risk fraudulent providers. The 70 hospice and home health providers had their funding paused in just one week after being identified by the task force and CMS, Fox News Digital is told.

“As the task force to root out waste, fraud and abuse ramps up its work, we expect [the number of potentially fraudulent hospice and home health providers] to grow exponentially,” a source familiar with the matter told Fox News Digital.

Vance and Oz announced in February that $259.5 million in Medicaid funds would be withheld from Minnesota as a result of fraud concerns that gripped the state shortly before Governor Tim Walz, Kamala Harris’s former running mate, announced that he will not seek a third term.

TRUMP ADMIN UNCOVERS ‘STAGGERING’ $8.6 BILLION IN SUSPECTED CALIFORNIA SMALL BUSINESS FRAUD

The task force is going beyond the targeting of Minnesota, and Trump suggested Democratic-led states would be a focus during the unveiling of the task force last week. 

“It seems that it’s usually in blue states,” the president said. “If it’s in a red state, we’re going there too, but it seems that it’s heavily, heavily Democrat.”

Vance’s task force plans to utilize the same template that CMS used to locate fraud in Minnesota, which involves an internal fraud detection artificial intelligence system that flags claims for review or blocks those identified as likely fraudulent.

Prior to the Trump administration, Health and Human Services (HHS) and CMS would have to manually dis-enroll organizations suspected of fraud, whereas the system being utilized by the task force and other agencies involved allows the identification of fraud in a more rapid and fluid manner.

NEWSOM’S FAILED LEADERSHIP HAS LET CALIFORNIA BECOME A LAND OF FRAUD AND SCAMS

The task force is actively hiring CMS technologists who will deploy the AI system across the country. 

“Vice President Vance looks forward to carrying out the President’s War on Fraud,” a Vance spokesperson told Fox News Digital in an exclusive statement. “The American people deserve better than being ripped off by people who hate this country, and the Task Force to Eliminate Fraud will ensure that essential taxpayer-funded services are used to support the hard-working Americans who rely on them, instead of being used by fraudsters and criminals.”

Authorities in Minnesota launched a separate investigation in 2022, under the Biden Department of Justice, into the nonprofit Feeding Our Future, which prosecutors later described as a key player in what became one of the largest fraud schemes involving pandemic relief funds.

DR OZ DETAILS ‘WEAPONIZATION OF FRAUD’ IN MINNESOTA, ESTIMATES TOTAL MEDICAID FRAUD TO BE $100 BILLION

Over time, investigators uncovered about $250 million in fraudulent claims, and 78 individuals were eventually charged. Prosecutors have also suggested that the total amount connected to the broader scheme could be in the billions. 

During an event in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, earlier this month, Vance responded to a question by Fox News Digital regarding fraud ahead of Trump’s executive order establishing the anti-fraud task force. 

Vance said that the administration has uncovered fraud amounting to “$19 billion at least” since the administration has been investigating the Twin Cities, and he alluded to California as being the next big target for identifying fraud.

“We know there’s a lot of fraud in California, and we’re trying to get to the bottom of exactly what it looks like and what we’ve done in the Trump administration,” Vance said in response to a question by Fox News Digital.

“And the president has really empowered us to do this, is to take the first national look at the way the American people have been defrauded over many, many years,” Vance added.

The White House issued a stark warning to Iran Tuesday, saying President Donald Trump is prepared to “unleash hell” if Tehran refuses to step back from its nuclear ambitions and its ongoing threats against the United States and its allies.

“President Trump does not bluff, and he is prepared to unleash hell,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said at the beginning of Wednesday’s White House press briefing. “Iran should not miscalculate again. Their last miscalculation cost them their senior leadership, their navy, their air force and their air defense system. 

“Any violence beyond this point will be because the Iranian regime refused to understand they have already been defeated and refused to come to a deal.”

Leavitt said ongoing U.S. military operations, dubbed Operation Epic Fury, have severely weakened Iran’s offensive capabilities. She claimed more than 9,000 targets have been struck, Iranian missile and drone attacks have fallen by about 90% and much of Iran’s navy and air defense network has been destroyed.

US ‘LOCKED AND LOADED’ TO DESTROY IRAN’S ‘CROWN JEWEL’ ‘IF WE WANT,’ TRUMP WARNS

“This is the largest elimination of a navy over a three-week period since World War II,” she said. “Again, let me reiterate, this is the largest elimination of a navy on the face of the planet in a three-week period since World War II.”

Leavitt said the campaign is aimed at crippling Iran’s military infrastructure and securing the Strait of Hormuz, while also pressuring Tehran to return to talks. She added that Trump has temporarily delayed planned strikes on some energy targets to allow space for negotiations.

“From the outset, President Trump and the Department of War estimated it would take approximately four to six weeks to achieve this critical mission: 25 days in the greatest military the world has ever known is ahead of schedule and performing exceptionally day by day,” Leavitt said. “The Iranian regime is being crippled, and their ability to threaten the United States and our allies is being significantly weakened.

“Their ambitions of building a nuclear weapon have also been crushed to an even greater degree than they were in Operation Midnight Hammer in June 2025. That’s why you’re beginning to see the regime look for an exit ramp.”

WINNING THE BATTLES, LOSING THE WAR? AMERICA MUST DEFINE THE ENDGAME IN IRAN

Leavitt declined to comment on reports of the 82nd Airborne Division being prepped for potential action in the Middle East.

“We are meeting our goals of Operation Epic Fury expeditiously,” she replied. “The president likes to maintain options at his disposal. It’s the Pentagon’s job to provide those options to the commander in chief.”

She redirected any specifics on troop deployments to the Pentagon.

Despite saying the president prefers peace, Leavitt warned that any further Iranian resistance would bring even heavier U.S. retaliation.

OIL, GAS PRICES JUMP AS TRUMP FLIRTS WITH STRIKING IRANIAN OIL INFRASTRUCTURE

“There does not need to be any more death and destruction, but if Iran fails to accept the reality of the current moment, if they fail to understand that they have been defeated militarily and will continue to be, President Trump will ensure they are hit harder than they have ever been hit before,” she warned.

As the joint U.S.-Israeli war on Iran entered its fourth week, there have been efforts by multiple countries such as Pakistan, Turkey and Egypt to mediate.

Iran is still reviewing a U.S. proposal to end the war despite an initial response that was negative, a senior Iranian official told Reuters Wednesday.

Talks with Iran were still ongoing, Leavitt said.

NEXT MOVE ON IRAN: SEIZE KHARG ISLAND, SECURE URANIUM OR RISK GROUND WAR ESCALATION

“They are productive, as the president said on Monday, and they continue to be,” she added.

Citing unnamed sources, media outlets Tuesday reported that Washington sent Tehran a 15-point plan on ending the war. Leavitt said Wednesday that elements of the reports were not fully accurate, but she did not provide specifics.

“The White House never confirmed that full plan,” she said. “There are elements of truth to it, but some of the stories I read were not entirely factual, so I am not going to negotiate on behalf of the president here at the podium.”

Global equity markets regained some ground while oil prices dipped on Wednesday after the reports about the plan, with investors hoping for an end to a war that has disrupted global energy supplies and raised inflation concerns.

Reuters contributed to this report.

Around 290 U.S. service members have been injured so far during Operation Epic Fury against Iran, U.S. Central Command spokesperson U.S. Navy Capt. Tim Hawkins told Fox News on Wednesday. 

“The vast majority of these injuries have been minor, and more than 255 troops have already returned to duty,” Hawkins added. 

The U.S. military operation, which was launched on Feb. 28, also has resulted in the deaths of 13 American service members. 

Six service members were killed in a March 1 Iranian drone attack in Kuwait, while another service member died of injuries suffered during an Iranian attack on troops in Saudi Arabia on the same day.

US STRIKES AGAINST IRAN-BACKED MILITIAS IN IRAQ REPORTEDLY CONTINUE AS BAGHDAD WARNS OF ‘RIGHT TO RESPOND’

On March 12, another six service members were killed when a KC-135 refueling aircraft crashed in western Iraq during a combat mission in support of Operation Epic Fury. 

The American military operation has inflicted heavy losses on the Iranian regime, including the death of former Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei 

BIDEN SECRETARY OF STATE SAYS ‘I WISH WE HAD GOTTEN’ IRAN DEAL

CENTCOM said Monday that over 140 Iranian vessels have been damaged or destroyed during Operation Epic Fury. 

In total, more than 9,000 combat flights have been conducted as part of the campaign. 

“CENTCOM forces are striking targets to dismantle the Iranian regime’s security apparatus, prioritizing locations that pose an imminent threat,” CENTCOM said. 

Fox News Digital’s Stephen Sorace and Bradford Betz contributed to this report. 

Former Secretary of State Antony Blinken acknowledged that the Biden administration’s political calculus, including the 2022 midterm elections, complicated its push for a tougher nuclear agreement with Iran, lamenting that “sometimes politics gets in the way.”

Blinken admitted President Joe Biden gave into the pull of midterm politics.

“You have midterm elections: It shouldn’t be, but it is too often a factor,” Blinken told The New York Times’ David Sanger at a Harvard forum Tuesday.

As President Donald Trump and Israel have pounded Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile aspirations, including decapitation strikes on multiple iterations of leadership, Blinken now “regrets” his administration never secured what officials had described as a “longer and stronger” follow-on deal to the original Iran nuclear agreement.

WHILE UN ISSUES MIXED SIGNALS, WITKOFF EXPOSES IRAN’S NUCLEAR EVASION ‘PRIDE’

“I wish we had gotten there,” Blinken said. “We worked very hard on getting that longer and stronger agreement. And I think at various points, we were really leaning into it.

“The Iranians were leaning back at other points. They were leaning in, and we had our own constraints. You know, I’ll acknowledge, too, that sometimes politics gets in the way.

When pressed on whether that meant Biden did not want to move forward before the elections, Blinken said the administration was trying to find the “right time” to complete an agreement. But he added that, even accounting for the political considerations, Iran “wasn’t conceding enough to make that deal worthwhile.”

“So what did we do?” Blinken said. “We actually kept the pressure on them.”

ALL 4 IRAN WAR ASSUMPTIONS DEAD WRONG — TRUMP PROVES EXPERTS GOT FOOLED AGAIN

That admission is likely to fuel criticism from Republicans who argued the Biden administration’s Iran strategy was shaped as much by domestic political concerns as by national security calculations.

Trump says his administration, led by peace envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, is now pursuing new diplomatic off ramps for peace with Iran, but he added is he achieving his long-stated goal that “Iran will never have a nuclear weapon.”

“They can’t have certain things,” Trump said Monday from the Oval Office. “It starts with no nuclear weapons, and they’ve agreed to that.

“They’re not going to have enrichment — any of those things,” he added.

“We are in about the best bargaining position,” Trump said. “We’re way ahead of schedule.”

Venezuelan political leader María Corina Machado is pitching her country as a top U.S. oil partner and “beacon of hope and wealth creation for this hemisphere” after she said the Trump administration’s arrest of former dictator Nicolás Maduro has opened up a “new era” of free markets.

Addressing several thousand oil and energy executives at the CERAWeek conference in Houston, Machado, who until recently lived in the U.S. as a political exile, predicted that Venezuela will soon be a critical contributor to U.S. prosperity.

She thanked President Donald Trump and Energy Secretary Chris Wright for laying the groundwork for a “new chapter” in Venezuela, which she said will greatly benefit the U.S. She touted Venezuela’s energy potential, calling its reserves the “largest proven oil reserve in the world” and its natural gas supply the seventh-largest globally.

“For decades, all this was locked away by ideology and corruption; that time is ending,” she said, adding, “A new era has already begun with an upside of a completely different order of magnitude.”

TRUMP ENERGY CZAR SAYS IRAN CONFLICT GAS SPIKE IS ‘TEMPORARY BLIP’ AS DRILLING PUSH RAMPS UP

Machado said that since the Trump administration’s covert operation to topple the socialist Venezuelan dictator, “important steps have been taken to re-engage Venezuela’s oil and gas sector and begin addressing years of institutional decline and corruption.” She predicted that Venezuela would soon “turn from the criminal hub of the Americas” and instead become a “driving force in the global energy sector.”

“After Jan. 3, we finally feel that freedom is at the threshold; we are there,” she said.

ENERGY SEC CHRIS WRIGHT TO HEADLINE CERAWEEK 2026 AMID UNPRECEDENTED ENERGY STRAIN

Though current Venezuelan President Delcy Rodríguez is a lieutenant of Maduro, Machado predicted that the next election, which she said will likely be at least nine months away, will show “overwhelming” support for democratic free-market capitalism. She vowed that the government would “get out of the way,” saying, “We have learned the cost of socialism… We want open markets.”

“It takes at least nine months, or 40 weeks, from a technical perspective to have perfect, free and fair elections. But they will take place. And when they do, you will see the awakening of a country that will turn into the beacon of hope and wealth creation for this hemisphere.”

TRUMP TURBOCHARGES US ECONOMIC COMEBACK AS SOCIALISM KEEPS FAILING WORLDWIDE

After her address, Machado received a standing ovation from the auditorium full of oil and energy leaders. On a panel discussing her speech, S&P Global Vice Chairman Daniel Yergin said Machado “answered a lot of the questions” that energy executives had.

However, another panelist, Luisa Palacios, a senior research scholar at the Center on Global Energy Policy, said Venezuela still has a “long way” to go before enough confidence builds in the country to attract significant oil investment.

Democrats are ecstatic after flipping a Republican-controlled legislative seat in a right-leaning, Palm Beach, Florida-anchored district that includes Mar-a-Lago, President Donald Trump’s home turf.

“If Democrats can win in Trump’s own backyard, we can win anywhere. From now until November, Democrats are all gas and no brakes as we compete across every corner of Florida and the nation,” Democratic National Committee (DNC) Chair Ken Martin emphasized as he pointed to this year’s midterm elections, when the GOP will be defending its narrow House and Senate majorities.

Martin released his statement on Tuesday night, minutes after Democrat Emily Gregory defeated Republican Jon Maples in a special election in Florida’s House District 87, in the race to fill the seat left vacant last August, when GOP state Rep. Mike Caruso resigned to become Palm Beach County clerk and comptroller.

But the rival Republican National Committee (RNC), pointing to the ballot box setback, stressed that Democrats were overplaying their hand and that special elections are far from the best barometer of things to come.

HEAD HERE FOR THE LATEST FOX NEWS REPORTING FROM THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL

“A low-turnout state House special election is a snapshot of local quirks, candidate dynamics, and turnout math — not some grand verdict,” RNC Senior Adviser Danielle Alvarez said in a statement.

While Gregory’s victory won’t change the balance of power in the state legislature, where for more than a quarter-century Republicans have held majorities in both the House and Senate chambers, bragging rights were up for grabs in the president’s home district.

And Maples was backed by Trump, who moved his primary permanent residence in 2019 from Trump Tower in New York City to Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida.

REPUBLICAN ‘WAKE-UP CALL’—SPECIAL ELECTION SHOCKER HIGHLIGHTS GOP MIDTERM RISKS

“There is a very important Special Election tomorrow, Tuesday, March 24th, for Florida State House District 87 in beautiful Palm Beach County — JON MAPLES HAS MY COMPLETE AND TOTAL ENDORSEMENT!” the president wrote in a social media post on Monday evening.

Palm Beach County has leaned blue for decades, but Republicans have made major gains there at the ballot box in recent election cycles.

Gregory’s upset, in a district that in the 2024 elections Trump carried by 10 points and Caruso won by 19 points, wasn’t the Democrats’ only flip of a red seat on Tuesday night.

According to unofficial results from Hillsborough County in central Florida, Democrat Brian Nathan narrowly edged Republican Josie Tomkow in a special election in the race to succeed the GOP’s Jay Collins, who resigned from the state Senate in August to become lieutenant governor. In a third special election, Republican Hilary Holley defeated Democrat Edwin Perez, in the race to replace Tomkow.

The Democrats’ Sunshine State victories are their latest wins or over performances in a slew of special elections from coast to coast since Trump returned to power in the White House 14 months ago. 

The flipping of two GOP-controlled state Senate seats in Iowa last year denied Republicans their super majority in the chamber.

And plenty of Republicans were calling their party’s double-digit shellacking in a state Senate election in a ruby red district in Texas in an early February special election a “wake-up call” for the party.

Democrats also scored larger than expected victories in last November’s gubernatorial elections in blue-leaning Virginia and New Jersey.

Partially fueling the Democrats’ ballot box performances is their laser focus on affordability amid persistent inflation. And the victories are further energizing Democrats as they work to win back control of Congress in the midterms.

Meanwhile, Republicans are battling stiff political headwinds as the party in power in the nation’s capital traditionally loses seats in the midterms, and a rough political climate fueled by economic concerns, an unpopular war with Iran, and Trump’s underwater approval ratings.

And public opinion polling suggests that the economy and immigration, winning issues for Trump and Republicans in the 2024 elections, may be liabilities now.

The DNC, in their statement, called Gregory’s win “an earth-shattering victory for Florida Democrats and humiliating defeat for Donald Trump.”

“Donald Trump’s own neighbors just sent a crystal clear message: They are furious and ready for change,” Martin claimed.

But Republicans say that Democrats are overemphasizing their special election successes.

“Historically, special elections have been a poor barometer for what will occur during regularly scheduled midterm or presidential elections,” veteran Republican strategist and communicator Jesse Hunt told Fox News Digital. “Specials have unique dynamics that don’t play as much of a factor when the broader electorate feels the muscle memory of showing up to vote in November.”

Longtime Republican strategist Colin Reed pointed to the GOP’s sweeping One Big Beautiful Bill Act, the massive measure passed along party lines last summer by Republicans, which includes numerous tax cuts that many voters will feel this spring.

“If the economy starts booming on the backs of the One, Big Beautiful Bill’s provisions taking hold, the Republican Party need to remind America that this was a policy uniformly supported by one party and opposed by another. That’s the GOP’s big bet heading into the midterms, with the situation in Iran remaining the one unknowable wild car that has the potential to upend the entire political landscape,” Reed said.

Philadelphia County District Attorney Lawrence Krasner criticized the Trump administration for dispatching ICE agents to airports to assist TSA officers who have gone unpaid for weeks amid a Democrat-forced funding lapse at the Department of Homeland Security.

Krasner, a Democrat whose campaigns received funds tied to left-wing Hungarian-American billionaire George Soros, has criticized President Donald Trump and DHS for months over their immigration enforcement measures and previously threatened to “hunt down” ICE agents he believed violated city laws if there were to be a Minnesota-style situation in Pennsylvania.

On Tuesday, Krasner spoke from the airport, saying Trump administration officials have tried to confound the public and agents themselves as to what is legal behavior and what is not.

Krasner said he will not accept any phone calls from President Donald Trump asking for leniency:

IGNORED ICE DETAINERS ‘PUT LIVES AT RISK,’ DHS SAYS, TARGETING NEWSOM, PRITZKER, HEALEY

“The president cannot pardon you and yes I will put you in handcuffs, and I will put you into a courtroom, and if necessary, I will you put you a jail cell if you decide to make the terrazzo floor of this airport anything like what you did in the streets of Minneapolis,” Krasner said, addressing agents.

He claimed that situation involved “the criminal homicide of unarmed, innocent people” and that Philadelphia would not accept such actions.

“My job is to enforce the law: so this is how that works — because I know there have been efforts to confuse you, including by the Vice President of the United States. This is how it works. You commit crimes within the jurisdiction that is the city and county of Philadelphia, I prosecute you.”

Vice President JD Vance declined to comment. But, the White House lambasted separate comments from Krasner as he stood in front of a “Wooder Ice” mural for a video message.

Backed by ominous music, Krasner said Philadelphians enjoy Water Ice because it “doesn’t break the law [nor] bother us at an airport.” The “Rapid Response 47” team called Krasner’s video “sick and deranged,” adding, “If you don’t like it, Larry, tell your fellow Democrats to fund DHS.”

Krasner also noted during his airport remarks that there are law-abiding agents within DHS ranks.

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“I have a message for the good people, and there are a lot of good people [in] ICE… Keep your oath. Uphold the United States Constitution. Uphold the laws. It does not matter whether I personally approve of policies that you are following,” Krasner began, adding he believes DHS’ “mass deportations” are “immoral.”

“To any agent who might think of doing in an illegal way, I’ll be seeing you in court and you’re not going to like it because a Philly jury is not going like what you did if it is illegal.”

When a reporter appeared to mention that the city cannot instruct ICE agents, Krasner said he is not suggesting Immigration and Naturalization Services (INS) agents or ICE should not be present in Philadelphia, but that there appears to be “sort of an escalation” in the novel concept of using ICE to do the work of TSA.

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Krasner claimed ICE’s presence at airports and elsewhere has given foreigners cold feet.

He said the city saw 2,000 hotel rooms canceled for FIFA’s World Cup in June, and that he heard from Scottish fans that they would stay home because of high gas prices, airline ticket prices and the idea that their brogue could make them a target for ICE.

“There are Scottish soccer fans who do not want to come here for fear their accent will be overheard and they’re going to get a bunch of grief from ICE agents in the airports, which they’ve never experienced before. This is a direct economic hit to FIFA and all the cities where it applies. This is a direct economic hit to the city of Philadelphia.”

“It is just one more thing that this president is doing to basically wreck our economy. I wish he wouldn’t do it. Having said that, I cannot blame an ICE agent who is following orders, has come here and is standing in the corner, basically doing nothing,” he said, calling ICE’s work as TSA agents “stupid but lawful.”

Krasner’s comments come as other top Democrats have lambasted ICE’s presence in airports, including remarks from one senator who claimed people will die because of them.

“ICE agents at airports will only aggravate delays & lines — disrupting checks, interrogating travelers, dragging parents from children, detaining citizens, brutalizing families, shooting & even killing,” Connecticut Sen. Richard Blumenthal wrote on X.

“Brutal, lawless tactics common in communities across the country by masked, unidentified agents, violating basic rights — no way to help TSA or travelers,” he continued.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York added separately that the last thing “the American people need is for untrained ICE agents to be deployed at airports all across the country, potentially to brutalize or in some instances kill them.”

“We have already seen how ICE conducts itself,” Jeffries continued. “These are untrained individuals when it comes to doing the current job they have, for the most part, let alone deploying them in close proximity in highly sensitive situations at airports across the country,” the East New York lawmaker added.

Fox News Digital reached out to DHS for comment.

Fox News Digital’s Elaine Mallon contributed to this report.