Category: USA Politics

President Donald Trump declared Iran is “essentially really no longer a threat” after a 32-day U.S. military campaign, telling Americans in a primetime address Wednesday that the country has been “eviscerated” following weeks of strikes.

Even so, Trump said the United States is preparing additional attacks in the coming weeks even as diplomatic discussions continue.

“I can say tonight that we are on track to complete all of America’s military objectives shortly. Very shortly, we are going to hit them extremely hard over the next two to three weeks,” Trump said. “We’re going to bring them back to the Stone Ages where they belong. In the meantime, discussions are ongoing.”

INSIDE IRAN’S MILITARY: MISSILES, MILITIAS AND A FORCE BUILT FOR SURVIVAL

“We have all the cards. They have none,” Trump said. “American involvement in World War II lasted for three years, eight months and 25 days,” the president went on, noting that the Vietnam War lasted 19 years and Iraq War lasted eight.

“We are in this military operation … for 32 days,” he said. “And the country has been eviscerated and essentially is really no longer a threat.”

Trump pointed to U.S. attacks on Iran’s nuclear infrastructure, saying sites hit by B-2 bombers were “obliterated” and warning the United States would launch additional strikes if Tehran attempts to recover nuclear material.

“The nuclear sites that we obliterated with the B-2 bombers have been hit so hard that it would take months to get near the nuclear dust,” Trump said. “If we see them make a move, even a move for it, we’ll hit them with missiles very hard.”

The remarks come as key questions remain about the fate of Iran’s enriched uranium stockpile, including roughly 900 pounds to 1,000 pounds of uranium enriched to near weapons-grade levels, according to international watchdog estimates.

The conflict has driven volatility in global energy markets and rising fuel costs for Americans.

WHY TRUMP, IRAN SEEM LIGHT-YEARS APART ON ANY POSSIBLE DEAL TO END THE WAR

Addressing those concerns directly, Trump blamed recent increases in gasoline prices on Iranian attacks targeting commercial shipping and regional infrastructure.

“Many Americans have been concerned to see the recent rise in gasoline prices here at home,” Trump said. “The short-term increase has been entirely the result of the Iranian regime launching deranged terror attacks against commercial oil tankers and neighboring countries.”

Trump also suggested Iran’s leadership structure has been fundamentally altered by the strikes, saying senior figures are dead and warning of additional attacks if Tehran does not reach an agreement with the United States.

“We never said regime change, but regime change has occurred because of all of their original leaders’ death. They’re all dead,” Trump said. “If there is no deal, we are going to hit each and every one of their electric generating plants very hard and probably simultaneously.”

He further claimed Iran’s air defenses had been eliminated. “They have no anti-aircraft equipment,” Trump said. “Their radar is 100% annihilated. We are unstoppable.” 

The mission known as Operation Epic Fury began just more than one month ago, on Feb. 28. 

Since then, U.S. forces have struck more than 12,000 targets inside Iran and damaged or destroyed 155 naval ships, according to the Central Command. Thirteen U.S. service members have died in the operations, and 350 have been injured.  

“Twice this past month, I have traveled to Dover Air Force Base, and it’s been something I wanted to be with those heroes as they return to American soil. And I was with them and their families, their parents, their wives, their husbands. We salute them,” Trump said in reference to the deceased service members.  

“Now we must honor them by completing the mission for which they gave their lives. And every single one of the people, their loved one said, please, sir, please finish the job, every one of them, and we are going to finish the job and we’re going to finish it very fast. We’re getting very close.” 

Trump also called on U.S. allies to take a more active role in securing global energy routes, arguing that countries reliant on Middle Eastern oil should be responsible for protecting the Strait of Hormuz, a critical shipping chokepoint.

“The countries of the world that do receive oil through the Hormuz Strait must take care of that passage. They must cherish it. They must grab it and cherish it,” Trump said. “We will be helpful, but they should take the lead in protecting the oil that they so desperately depend on.”

Trump suggested some nations had failed to support U.S. military efforts against Iran and urged them to step up, both militarily and economically.

“So to those countries that can’t get fuel, many of which refuse to get involved in the decapitation of Iran, we had to do it ourselves,” he said. “Go to the strait and just take it. Protect it. Use it for yourselves.”

He added that global energy flows would stabilize once the conflict subsides, predicting the waterway would reopen and markets would recover.

“When this conflict is over, the strait will open up naturally,” Trump said. “It will resume the flowing and the gas prices will rapidly come back down.”

What would you say if one body of Congress didn’t take a formal roll call vote on a major piece of legislation – yet passed it at 2:19 on a Friday morning?

Would you try to outdo your colleagues across the Capitol Rotunda with some Congressional chicanery of your own? Perhaps by passing an equally important version of the same bill – while officially sidestepping a direct up/down vote on the measure – at 11:28 p.m. on that same Friday night.

That’s what happened late last week. The Senate scored approval from all 100 senators to pass a bill to fund most of the Department of Homeland Security for the rest of the fiscal year – but did it on a voice vote at 2:19 a.m. Friday with only five senators in the chamber.

House Republicans scoffed at this. So they passed their own bill – to fund all of DHS – just before the witching hour Friday. But technically, the House didn’t even vote directly on the legislation itself. The House voted to approve a “rule” (which manages debate for bills). With adoption of that rule, the House “deemed” the underlying DHS funding measure as passed.

GOP LEADERS ENDORSE TRUMP’S SHUTDOWN-PROOF MOVE TO END DHS FUNDING LAPSE

But despite all of this, the House and Senate weren’t aligned. They hadn’t approved the same bill. And despite the parliamentary antics, House Republicans then implored the Senate to pass the measure it approved Friday night on Monday morning – without a roll call vote and with just two senators in the chamber.

If you followed all of that, that is exactly what’s unfolded on Capitol Hill the past few days as lawmakers struggled to end the six-week Department of Homeland Security shutdown.

It was clear early Thursday evening that there wasn’t a path in the Sente to approve a partisan GOP bill to fund DHS after a lengthy roll call vote which started in the afternoon.

But something was afoot.

TRUMP ADMINISTRATION MAKES MAJOR MOVE TO RELIEVE ‘UNFAIR BURDEN’ ON DHS WORKERS AS SHUTDOWN DRAGS ON

Congress was staring at a 15-day recess for Easter and Passover on Friday. Failure to address the crisis now meant that lawmakers would leave town until the middle of April – extending the shutdown until then as airport lines swelled.

So Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., got to work on something which could pass the Senate – and potentially pass the House – before everyone abandoned Washington for the break.

Thune suggested earlier in the week that the Senate usually has to get “to Thursday” before frozen positions may begin to thaw. He was right. There was a corridor for the Senate to approve a bipartisan bill to tackle most of the funding crisis at DHS. So Thune’s charge late Thursday night and into the wee hours of Friday morning was not necessarily to persuade bipartisan senators to support the bill he was putting on the floor. But instead, Thune’s goal was to coax skeptical senators not to object and blow the whole thing up.

There’s something called a “hotline” in the Senate. Any time the leadership wants to set up a series of votes, make particular amendments in order and perhaps allocate wedges of time to debate, it sends around a “hotline” to all 100 senators. If any senator objects, they let the leadership know. This streamlines the process ahead of time. It also ensures that senators aren’t blindsided by something called a “unanimous consent” request. Unanimous consent requests, or “UC’s,” happen all the time in the Senate.

One of the most powerful tools in the Senate is “unanimous consent.” If you obtain the “unanimous consent” of all 100 senators, you can make the sun rise in the west. But all it takes is one objection to block a UC – even if all other 99 senators agree.

The behind the scenes hotline takes care of this in advance. Any senator could object and block Thune’s proposal to fund most of DHS. But there shouldn’t be any problem if he cleared it with all 100 senators offstage in advance.

That’s why Thune went to the floor at 2:19 a.m. Friday. Not a single senator flagged his proposal. And so the South Dakota Republican went to the floor with a team of five senators – and passed the bill. Not by UC. But by something called a “voice vote. Those in favor shout yea. Those who oppose holler nay. The louder side wins. The Senate passed the bill. There was no roll call vote.

HOUSE GOP RAMS THROUGH NEW DHS FUNDING PLAN WITH SHUTDOWN FAR FROM OVER

So, this wasn’t something snuck by in the dead of night on the sly. If any senator had a reservation, they could have flagged it. Or better yet, come down to the floor at 2:19 a.m. and contested it. In short, there were 100 senators, 100 chiefs of staff, 100 legislative directors and 100 counsels who should have known about Thune’s plan. That’s a universe of at least 400 people – if not more. So, this wasn’t an episode of someone pulling a fast one.

By morning, Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., said he “opposed this bill.” Same with Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah.

Well, that’s fine. But no one objected nor pushed back on the hotline. No one went down to the floor to demand a roll call vote – or even argued that the Senate couldn’t do anything because there wasn’t a quorum present to conduct business. So anything said by Republican senators upset about the bill were simply academic or rhetorical objections. If those senators truly opposed the bill, they missed their opportunity to do something about it.

It was thought that the House might take up the bill – reluctantly – the next day to end most of the shutdown and pay TSA workers. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., signaled support. So did Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., the top Democrat on the Appropriations Committee. Granted, liberal Democrats might oppose the bill because there weren’t changes at ICE. But the bill probably would have passed with some Republicans and lots of Democrats. In fact, there may have been more Democratic yeas than Republican yeas. That would have been toxic for House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La. Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., lost his gavel over moving a bipartisan bill to avoid a shutdown in the fall of 2023.

So by Friday afternoon, Johnson strenuously lodged his opposition to the Senate bill.

“Republicans are not going to be any part of any effort to reopen our borders or to stop immigration enforcement,” said Johnson, noting that the Senate plan left out funding for ICE and the Border Patrol. “This gambit that was done last night is a joke. I’m quite convinced that it can’t be that every Senate Republican read the language of this bill.”

In other words, were they not dialed in on the hotline?

THE HITCHHIKER’S GUIDE TO WHAT TO EXPECT ON DHS FUNDING WHEN THE SENATE MEETS MONDAY

Yours truly questioned the Speaker, asking why he and Thune weren’t on the same page. Johnson accused Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. of being behind the bill. I pointed out that Thune “was the engineer behind this.”

“I wouldn’t call John Thune the engineer of this,” said Johnson.

“He didn’t have the accept it,” I countered.

“Let me answer the question, Chad,” sighed an exasperated Johnson.

So the House forged ahead and passed its own bill to fully fund DHS Friday night. Some House Republicans then expected the Senate to break custom and pass its bill – by unanimous consent – during a brief pro forma session Monday. In other words, House Republicans ripped the Senate for what it did early Friday morning. But those same House Republicans wanted senators to approve THEIR bill on Monday the same way they criticized the Senate for passing its bill on Friday.

Note that there was no hotline for the House bill at that point.

“We’d love to see them do that,” said Rep. Mike Haridopolos, R-Fla., on Friday.

But Democrats dispatched a watchdog to guard the floor against any possible GOP chicanery as the Senate met for 31 seconds with meager attendance.

The Senate gaveled in. The Senate gaveled out. Nothing happened.

“I was there to object,” said Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del. “I was here just in case there were some shenanigans.”

Rep. Randy Fine, R-Fla., called it “insane” that Senate Republicans “didn’t even try” to pass the House bill. But the lone Senate Republican on duty said the presence of Coons doomed that to failure.

“We don’t have consent yet,” said Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., who presided over the session. “They declined. Obviously Sen. Coons was there to do that.”

But by Wednesday, the bill which Johnson trashed Friday afternoon was on its way to passage. Despite a sea of opposition from conservative Republicans, the House would accept the Senate bill and end most of the DHS shutdown. The Earth shifted. President Trump was fine with this. Suddenly, Johnson and Thune were on the same page.

So the Republican House would eat what the Senate originally cooked up early Friday morning. And the House would likely approve it with lots of Republicans spread around the country. But like Senate Republicans early Friday morning, no one would likely return to block it.

And by now, this wasn’t something engineered in the dead of night that only 400 people knew about. The entire country was more than aware what happened.

FIRST ON FOX: Actor Robert De Niro was in the nation’s capital Wednesday sitting in the same crowded courtroom as President Donald Trump and some of his closest advisors during oral arguments by the Supreme Court about birthright citizenship. 

Fox News Digital caught up with De Niro as he was exiting the courthouse, but De Niro said he did not have any perspective on how the arguments went. 

“I’m waiting to get a, getting a – I’m not sure because I could hear, but not hear. It’s complicated. So, I can’t say,” De Niro responded when asked about the oral arguments he had just witnessed before the high court. 

De Niro described the Trump administration’s argument on the matter — that children born to parents who are in the United States illegally or temporarily are not American citizens — as a way for Republicans to “get rid of people they don’t want.”

ALITO INVOKES SCALIA ANALOGY IN BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP FIGHT OVER ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION

“It’s that simple,” De Niro said.

The actor and activist, who spoke at a “No Kings” protest in New York City over the weekend, has been criticized for his anti-Trump rhetoric. He has called the president “a piece of s—,” a “nasty little b—-,” a “petulant little punk,” has said he’d “like to punch him in the face” and declared Trump an “enemy” of the United States.   

When asked about claims he has “Trump Derangement Syndrome,” sometimes referred to by the acronym “TDS,” De Niro called it “nonsense.”

“People don’t like him for a reason,” De Niro shot back. “All the terrible things he’s done. If he did nice things, then he could have, he had the chance — he became president — to do nice things, not hateful, retribution, not just, outright mean things. If he did nice things, people would love him. But he’s got a problem. He’s damaged.”

SCOTUS SLATED TO WEIGH FUTURE BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP PROTECTIONS FOR MILLIONS — HERE’S WHAT AT STAKE

Asked what specifically bothered him about Trump, De Niro said “everything.”

“Everything that we all know now,” De Niro added. 

Reporting from Wednesday indicated the Supreme Court appeared ready to reject Trump’s argument on birthright citizenship. The arguments reportedly lasted over two hours, and, in addition to Trump, Attorney General Pam Bondi was present, as was Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick. 

De Niro reportedly sat in seats reserved for the justices’ guests, according to The Associated Press.  

“When the crowds are chanting ‘No Kings,’ what I’m really hearing – as we all know – is ‘No Trump.’ There have been other presidents who have tested the constitutional limits of their power, but none have been such an existential threat to our freedoms and security — none — except Trump,” De Niro told supporters at the No Kings rally he attended over the weekend. 

“He must be stopped, and he must be stopped now,” De Niro added, calling members of Trump’s Cabinet “goons.”

FIRST ON FOX: The Trump administration will extend tax filing deadlines for Department of Homeland Security (DHS) personnel as the ongoing shutdown intensifies financial pressure on thousands of federal workers.

The Treasury Department and Internal Revenue Service are set to announce a 30-day automatic tax filing extension for affected employees, shielding them from penalties and interest. The partial government shutdown has now entered its 46th day, intensifying pressure on federal workers.

HOUSE GOP RAMS THROUGH NEW DHS FUNDING PLAN WITH SHUTDOWN FAR FROM OVER

Such broad tax relief is highly unusual and typically reserved for major disasters and other extraordinary circumstances, underscoring the severity of the current shutdown.

“The continued shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security has created unnecessary disruptions, placing an unfair burden on DHS personnel and their families,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said.

“We are committed to supporting our hard-working DHS officers and employees so they can stay focused on their mission and keep the American people safe without being penalized for missing a tax filing deadline,” he added.

AVERAGE TAX REFUND TOPS $3,700 MIDWAY THROUGH FILING SEASON, TREASURY SAYS

Under the measure, affected workers will now have until May 15, 2026, to file their taxes and pay what they owe without facing additional financial penalties. 

DHS personnel include Border Patrol agents, TSA officers, Secret Service agents and FEMA responders—frontline workers responsible for border security, aviation safety, disaster response and counterterrorism. 

Many have reported struggling to cover basic expenses such as rent, mortgages and childcare as missed paychecks pile up.

The decision comes as pressure mounts over the real-world consequences of the shutdown, with DHS employees caught between their national security responsibilities and growing financial strain. 

While the administration says the relief is intended to ease the burden, for many workers it remains only a temporary lifeline as the broader standoff continues.

As artificial intelligence continues to expand into homes and the workplace, voters are less concerned about it taking their jobs and more worried about its overall influence.

The latest Fox News Poll finds 66% of registered voters are concerned about artificial intelligence, up from 63% in December and 56% in 2023 (the first time the question was asked). 

The increase in concern is across the board, with the biggest jumps happening among women, voters without a college degree, Democrats and liberal voters.

FOX NEWS POLL: SOUR VOTERS SAY WASHINGTON IS OUT OF TOUCH

Yet when it comes to how AI will affect the workforce, voters aren’t concerned about their own jobs even though most think it will eliminate more positions (59%) than it will create (7%) over the next 5 years.

FOX NEWS POLL: VOTERS OPPOSE ACTION IN IRAN BUT GIVE US MILITARY POSITIVE MARKS

Seven in 10 (69%) employed voters are unconcerned their job will be cut in the next five years, while three in 10 are worried (31%). This matches where sentiment was in November.

The lack of concern may reflect broader attitudes toward AI in the workplace: Seven in 10 say it is not important to their career that they learn how to use AI, including six in 10 employed voters. 

Another three in 10 say it is important, and that jumps to roughly  in 10 among workers, voters with graduate degrees, and those living in households with an annual income of $100,000 or higher. Those most likely to feel learning AI is a career priority are men under age 45 (48%). 

But if they must tech up, a majority of voters feel comfortable adopting and using new technology (60% comfortable vs. 40% not comfortable).

The highest numbers saying they’re comfortable are voters under age 45, particularly younger men (81%) and younger Republicans (82%).

Artificial intelligence and the military…

As the Iran conflict enters its fifth week, nearly two-thirds of voters are uncomfortable with the military using autonomous weapons systems (AWS). About four in 10 feel comfortable.

The partisan divide on this issue is wide: 52% of Republicans are comfortable with AWS vs. 27% of Democrats. Fifty-eight percent of MAGA Republicans are comfortable vs. 40% of non-MAGA Republicans.

There is also a prominent gender gap with men (43%) more comfortable than women (31%).

Still, nearly all voters say that when the military is considering a strike that could kill people, a human should be required to make the final decision: 93% feel that way vs. 7% saying AI systems alone should have the final say. 

This is a bipartisan belief, with at least nine in 10 Democrats, Republicans and independents agreeing a human needs to make the decision.

More than half of voters who have served in the military are uncomfortable with the use of AWS systems (54% not comfortable vs. 45% comfortable), and an overwhelming majority thinks a human should be making the choice between life and death (90%).

One more thing…

While concern about AI is up among voters, it’s far from the top worry with inflation (86% extremely/very concerned), healthcare (81%), gas prices (80%), political divisions (80%), unemployment (73%), attacks by Islamic (73%) and non-Islamic terrorists (70%), ability to pay bills (70%) and gun violence (69%) ranking higher.

Concern about Iran getting a nuclear bomb ties with concern over AI (66% extremely/very) while antisemitism (63%) and detentions by ICE (62%) rank lower.

CLICK HERE FOR CROSSTABS AND TOPLINE

Conducted March 20-23, 2026, under the direction of Beacon Research (D) and Shaw & Company Research (R), this Fox News survey includes interviews with a sample of 1,001 registered voters randomly selected from a national voter file. Respondents spoke with live interviewers on landlines (104) and cellphones (641) or completed the survey online after receiving a text (256). Results based on the full sample have a margin of sampling error of ±3 percentage points. Sampling error for results among subgroups is higher. In addition to sampling error, question wording and order can influence results. Weights are generally applied to age, race, education and area variables to ensure the demographics are representative of the registered voter population. Sources for developing weight targets include the most recent American Community Survey, Fox News Voter Analysis and voter file data.

President Donald Trump is expected to address the nation at 9 p.m. Eastern Time Wednesday about U.S. operations in Iran after one month of combat. 

The message will be an “important update” about the war, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt wrote on X. 

The president will give an operational update on the mission known as Operation Epic Fury and is expected to reiterate the two-to-three week timeline for a drawdown of the operation that he gave in comments to reporters Tuesday, a White House official told Fox News Digital Wednesday. 

“He will highlight the United States military’s success in achieving all of its stated goals prior to the operation: destroy Iran’s deadly ballistic missiles and production facilities, annihilate their Navy, ensure their terrorist proxies can no longer destabilize the region and guarantee that Iran can never obtain a nuclear weapon,” the official added.

US EYES SEIZING IRAN’S OIL LIFELINE — BUT IT MAY NOT CRIPPLE TEHRAN

Trump told reporters Tuesday he expected the mission to end in two to three weeks. He posted on Truth Social Wednesday that Iran had asked for a ceasefire, but the U.S. was not open to negotiation until the Strait of Hormuz is open for shipping. 

“We will consider when Hormuz Strait is open, free, and clear,” Trump said. “Until then, we are blasting Iran into oblivion or, as they say, back to the Stone Ages!” 

Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Esmail Baghaei, said the claim that Iran had asked for a ceasefire was “false and baseless,” according to Iranian state TV. 

Trump has sent mixed signals in recent days, at times suggesting the conflict could end soon while also threatening intensified strikes if Iran does not meet U.S. demands.

The president told multiple news outlets Wednesday he is strongly considering pulling the U.S. out of NATO over frustrations at what he sees as insufficient military support from allied countries in the Middle East. 

“I was never swayed by NATO,” Trump told The Telegraph in an interview published Wednesday.

European nations so far have resisted pressure to offer warships to reopen commerce in the Strait of Hormuz, through which 20% of the world’s oil supply typically passes. The average price of a gallon of gas surpassed $4 Tuesday, a first since 2022. 

Several key European allies have moved to restrict U.S. military access as the Trump administration presses forward with operations against Iran. Spain has closed its airspace to U.S. aircraft tied to strikes and France is imposing limits on certain overflights carrying military supplies.

PRESIDENT TRUMP SAYS US COULD FINISH IRAN OPERATION WITHIN TWO TO THREE WEEKS

“We’ve been there automatically, including Ukraine. Ukraine wasn’t our problem. It was a test, and we were there for them, and we would always have been there for them. They weren’t there for us.”

Administration officials have suggested U.S. objectives in the conflict are nearing completion, raising the possibility that Trump could outline a path toward winding down operations.

At the same time, thousands of paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne division and a task force of 2,500 Marines from the USS Tripoli have reached the Central Command theater in recent days, raising speculation of a potential ground invasion. 

The USS George H.W. Bush, an aircraft carrier with 6,000 sailors, deployed Tuesday to join the USS Abraham Lincoln already in theater.

Operation Epic Fury began Feb. 28. 

Since then, U.S. forces have struck more than 12,000 targets inside Iran and damaged or destroyed 155 naval ships, according to the Central Command. Thirteen U.S. service members have died in the operations, and 350 have been injured.  

Birth tourism in the U.S. remains notoriously difficult to measure, but Solicitor General John Sauer on Wednesday pointed the Supreme Court to what he called “striking” figures as the justices weighed President Donald Trump’s effort to curb birthright citizenship.

“Here’s a fact about it that I think is striking,” Sauer said. “Media reported as early as 2015 that, based on Chinese media reports, there are 500 — 500 — birth tourism companies in the People’s Republic of China whose business is to bring people here to give birth and return to that nation.”

Sauer’s response came after Chief Justice John Roberts asked him about the prevalence of birth tourism, which is the practice of traveling to the United States for the purpose of giving birth, so the child can automatically receive U.S. citizenship. 

Sauer acknowledged that “no one knows for sure” about firm data surrounding the industry, before citing media figures estimating more than 1 million cases from China alone. 

NEARLY ALL REPUBLICAN AGS ADD FIREPOWER TO TRUMP’S BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP PUSH

Wednesday’s oral arguments centered on Trump’s 2025 executive order advancing a narrower interpretation of the 14th Amendment’s citizenship clause so that children born in the United States to parents who are in the country illegally or temporarily would not automatically receive U.S. citizenship. 

The administration has argued the amendment’s birthright citizenship provision incentivizes and rewards illegal immigration.

Conservatives have long raised concerns about birth tourism. Senate Republicans wrote in a 2022 report that it was a lucrative industry that “short circuits and demeans the U.S. naturalization process.” But the scale of birth tourism remains elusive, and proponents of birthright citizenship have downplayed it, contending it occurs infrequently.

The GOP senators noted in the report that they could not calculate birth tourism numbers because the U.S. government does not have a way to track them. Existing visa data cannot distinguish between birth tourism and other categories of traveling to the United States, such as medical travel, they said.

Sauer, however, rattled off a string of statistics in an attempt to illustrate the magnitude of the issue.

“There’s a March 9th letter from a number of members of Congress to [the Department of Homeland Security] saying, ‘Do we have any information about this?’ The media reports indicate estimates could be over a million, or 1.5 million, from the People’s Republic of China alone,” Sauer said. “The congressional report that we cite in our brief talks about certain hotspots, like Russian elites coming to Miami through these birth tourism companies.”

BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP SUPPORTERS GET THE LAW WRONG BY IGNORING OBVIOUS EVIDENCE

Although the numbers remain unclear, prosecutors have secured convictions for birth tourism businesses. In 2024, Michael Liu and Phoebe Dong were found guilty by a jury of conspiracy and money laundering for running a birth tourism operation that helped pregnant Chinese women travel to the United States under false pretenses to give birth. Prosecutors said the couple coached clients to deceive immigration officials.

Sauer noted in his opening remarks to the Supreme Court that the United States’ nearly unconditional birthright citizenship policy has “spawned a sprawling industry of birth tourism, as uncounted thousands of foreigners from potentially hostile nations have flocked to give birth in the United States in recent decades, creating a whole generation of American citizens abroad with no meaningful ties to the United States.”

HOW THE SUPREME COURT’S INJUNCTION RULING ADVANCES TRUMP’S BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP FIGHT

At issue in the case before the Supreme Court is the language in the amendment that says anyone born in the United States and “subject to the jurisdiction thereof” is automatically a citizen. Trump said the provision was a relic of the Civil War. 

“It had to do with the babies of slaves,” Trump said Tuesday as he announced that he planned to attend the oral arguments, making him the first sitting president to do so. “It didn’t have to do with the protection of multimillionaires and billionaires wanting to have their children get American citizenship. It is the craziest thing I’ve ever seen.”

Sauer argued that illegal immigrants and temporary visitors lacked the ability to establish a “domicile” in the United States, meaning they were subject to the jurisdiction of another country.

Roberts questioned the relevance of Sauer’s birth tourism claims, asking him to confirm that it had “no impact on the legal analysis before us.”

Modern-day implications of the amendment, including birth tourism, “could not possibly have been approved by the 19th century framers,” Sauer replied.

“We’re in a new world now, as Justice Alito pointed out, where 8 billion people are one plane ride away from having a child who’s a U.S. citizen,” Sauer added.

Roberts made his skepticism of Sauer’s argument apparent.

“Well, it’s a new world. It’s the same Constitution,” Roberts said.

Iran is pushing back on President Donald Trump’s claim that it requested a ceasefire, with an official calling the statement “false and baseless in a blunt public denial.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Esmail Baghaei, made the remarks rejecting Trump’s claim on Wednesday, according to a report on Iranian state television.

Trump made the claim about Iran requesting a ceasefire in a Truth Social post Wednesday morning. But the president indicated that the U.S. will only entertain the prospect once the Strait of Hormuz is open for ships.

“Iran’s New Regime President, much less Radicalized and far more intelligent than his predecessors, has just asked the United States of America for a CEASEFIRE! We will consider when Hormuz Strait is open, free, and clear. Until then, we are blasting Iran into oblivion or, as they say, back to the Stone Ages!!!” Trump asserted in the post.

KAROLINE LEAVITT FIRES BACK AT NBC NEWS REPORTER WHO ASKED IF TRUMP’S IRAN THREAT AMOUNTS TO A ‘WAR CRIME’

Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, however, issued its own statement saying the Strait of Hormuz “is firmly and decisively under the control” of its forces.

“This strait will not be opened to the enemies of this nation through the ridiculous spectacle by the president of the United States,” it said.

Iran has effectively shut the critical oil choke point, through which about one-fifth of the world’s oil passes, sending oil prices soaring.

TRUMP ORDERS WAR DEPT TO POSTPONE STRIKES ON IRANIAN ENERGY SITES, CITING ‘PRODUCTIVE’ TALKS TO END WAR

U.S. gas prices jumped past an average of $4 a gallon for the first time since 2022 on Tuesday. Analysts say that high fuel costs will trickle into groceries as businesses’ transportation and packaging costs pile up.

Trump also told Reuters in a telephone interview ahead of his televised address Wednesday night that the U.S. would be finishing its war in Iran soon, but he wouldn’t give a timeline.

“I can’t tell you exactly. … We’re going to be out pretty quickly,” he said.

But once the U.S. leaves, he said, “We’ll come back to do spot hits” on targets, as needed.

Fox News Digital’s Alex Nitzberg and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Justice Samuel Alito invoked an analogy from late Justice Antonin Scalia Wednesday as the Supreme Court weighed whether birthright citizenship extended to children of illegal immigrants.

Alito said Scalia had illustrated how to apply textualism to modern circumstances, a point he raised during high-stakes oral arguments over President Donald Trump’s effort to limit birthright citizenship under the 14th Amendment, which grants most people born in the United States automatic citizenship. Textualism is a legal view that courts should read the Constitution according to its text and original meaning. 

Alito suggested that illegal immigration, like modern technology such as microwaves, was basically unknown when the 14th Amendment was ratified in 1868. Alito acknowledged historical exceptions to the amendment, including children born to foreign diplomats and certain Native Americans, and he questioned whether illegal immigrants’ children could be considered a comparable modern-day exception.

“Justice Scalia had an example that dealt with this situation,” Alito said. “He imagined an old theft statute that was enacted well before anybody conceived of a microwave oven. And then, afterwards, someone is charged with the crime of stealing a microwave oven. And this fellow says, ‘Well, I can’t be convicted under this because the microwave oven didn’t exist at that time.’ And he dismissed that. There’s a general rule there, and you apply it to future applications.”

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Alito said that illegal immigration “was basically unknown at the time when the 14th amendment was adopted.”

“So, how did we deal with that situation when we have a general rule?” Alito asked, questioning if the rule was intended to “apply to later applications that might come up.”

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Solicitor General John Sauer argued to the Supreme Court in support of Trump’s birthright citizenship executive order, which would end automatic citizenship for babies born in the United States to mothers who are illegal immigrants or legal temporary visitors.

“I strongly agree with the way that you framed it, that there is a general principle,” Sauer told Alito of the microwave analogy.

While Sauer appeared in sync with Alito, most of the justices voiced strong skepticism of Trump’s arguments. Alito and Justice Clarence Thomas appeared to be the most likely to back Trump’s position.

Justice Elena Kagan said Sauer could not argue in the way Alito suggested because the bulk of Sauer’s arguments had centered on people temporarily visiting the country, not illegal immigrants.

“Your whole theory of the case is built on that group … so you can’t really be going with Justice Alito’s theory,” Kagan said. “You must be saying that there is a principle that was there at the time of the 14th Amendment.”

Virginia Democratic Gov. Abigail Spanberger and local authorities in deep blue Northern Virginia are facing mounting hold requests from ICE after two more illegal immigrants were arrested for murder in Fairfax County this week.

This week, ICE lodged two detainers — requests to hold — for illegal immigrants charged with murder in Fairfax County. One detainer was lodged against 28-year-old Guatemalan national Misael Lopez Gomez, who is charged with second-degree murder and felony child abuse after allegedly beating his 3-month-old daughter to death. The agency lodged another detainer for a Guatemalan national, Anibal Armando Chavarria Muy, following his arrest by local authorities for second-degree murder in a machete stabbing.

The Department of Homeland Security has personally appealed to Spanberger and “Fairfax County sanctuary politicians” to not release Chavarria Muy. 

These cases are the latest in a string of high-profile crimes involving illegal immigrants in Northern Virginia that have rocked the community. 

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This comes after one of Spanberger’s first actions as governor was to issue an executive order barring state and local authorities from cooperating with federal authorities for immigration enforcement.

Here are some of the latest high-profile cases that have outraged Northern Virginia residents: 

Two ICE sources told Fox News that Misael Lopez Gomez, who was recently arrested for allegedly beating his 3-month-old daughter to death in Fairfax County, is a Guatemalan illegal alien. The sources said Lopez Gomez is believed to have entered the U.S. as a got-away during the Biden administration in July 2023. 

Fox News has learned ICE placed a detainer request on Lopez Gomez with Fairfax County law enforcement. According to local outlet WUSA9, the infant died from blunt-force trauma. The outlet reported Tuesday that Lopez Gomez is currently jailed without bond and is facing second-degree murder and felony child abuse charges.

On Tuesday, ICE lodged a detainer request for Fairfax County to not release Chavarria Muy following his arrest in connection with a fatal stabbing on Sunday. DHS said that the killing was carried out using a machete.

WUSA9 reported that officers responding to a call in Bailey’s Crossroads, Virginia, found a man inside a home with multiple stab wounds. The victim was later pronounced dead at a local hospital, according to the outlet.

Chavarria Muy was later arrested for the stabbing and charged with second-degree murder. According to DHS, he is in the U.S. illegally and entered at an unknown place and time.

Acting Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis called the case “another preventable tragedy” caused by open borders policies.

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Fairfax County has also been rocked by a case involving 18-year-old Salvadoran illegal alien Israel Flores Ortiz, who is accused of sexually assaulting a dozen girls at a local high school he was attending.

ICE has also lodged a detainer for Flores Ortiz following his arrest for allegedly groping a dozen female high school students at a Fairfax County high school he attended. Like Chavarria Muy, DHS has asked Spanberger to intervene to prevent local authorities from releasing Flores Ortiz back into the public.

Flores Ortiz is facing 13 counts of assault and battery. He is currently being held at the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center without bond.

According to DHS, Flores Ortiz is an illegal immigrant from El Salvador who was released into the U.S. under the Biden administration in 2024. His case has elicited disgust, outrage and fear from Fairfax County parents about the safety of schools in the area.

In late February, ICE lodged a detainer for another illegal alien, Sierra Leone national Abdul Jalloh, charged with murder in connection with the fatal neck stabbing of a woman at a bus stop.

The victim, Stephanie Minter, 41, of Fredericksburg, Virginia, was found dead at a local bus stop on Feb. 23 with multiple stab wounds to the upper body.

DHS said that Jalloh entered the U.S. illegally in 2012. He has an extensive criminal history that includes more than 30 arrests for charges of rape, malicious wounding, assault, drug possession, identity theft, trespassing, larceny, firing a weapon, contributing to the delinquency of a minor, and pick-pocketing.

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Commenting on the most recent detainer being lodged for Chavarria Muy, DHS lamented “yet another life lost in a sanctuary county at the hands of a criminal alien who should have never been here in the first place.”

The agency decried Fairfax County’s policies, saying it “has a history of refusing to honor immigration detainers.” DHS asked, “When will sanctuary politicians wake up and begin putting American lives FIRST?”

The White House’s rapid response social media account also chimed in, commenting, “Meanwhile, Democrats continue to block funding for [DHS], demanding changes to make ICE less effective in finding and arresting these criminals. Insane.”

Fox News Digital reached out to Spanberger’s office and Fairfax County officials for comment.