The Cuban government is in talks with Trump administration officials, the country’s president said Friday, as Havana works to halt a potential regime change as it deals with a spilling energy crisis. 

In a 90-minute news conference broadcast by state media, Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel said talks with Washington were aimed at finding solutions to the political differences that divide the communist island and the United States, The New York Times reported. 

However, changes to Cuba’s political system are off-limits, Lianys Torres Rivera, Cuba’s chief of mission in the United States, told POLITICO in an interview.

MILLIONS LOSE POWER ACROSS CUBA AS TRUMP SANCTIONS CONTINUE TO FUEL ONGOING ENERGY CRISIS

Cuba’s economy has struggled following the U.S. capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro from his home in Caracas at the start of the year. The Trump administration immediately cut off oil exports to the island.

A number of key sectors across the island are under considerable strain, including its transportation, health and education systems, Torres Rivera said. She noted that as many as 11,000 children are on waiting lists for surgeries and procedures at health clinics.

 “They have no money. They have no anything right now,” President Donald Trump said in February. “Maybe we’ll have a friendly takeover of Cuba.”

Trump has said a deal with Havana “would be very easily made.”

In January, Trump declared a national emergency via an executive order over Cuba, accusing the communist regime of aligning with hostile foreign powers and terrorist groups.

FAMILY MEMBER OF AMERICAN KILLED BY CUBAN FORCES IN BOAT SHOOTOUT SAYS HE WAS ON ‘DIABOLICAL’ MISSION

Last week, he said Cuba was “negotiating with [Secretary of State] Marco [Rubio] and myself and some others. And I would think a deal would be made very easily with Cuba.”

Trump has charged Rubio, the son of Cuban immigrants and someone who has actively championed regime change, with negotiations with Cuba. 

Friday was the first time the Cuban government formerly acknowledged talks with Washington. 

Amid talks, Rubio’s main counterpart has been Raul Rodriguez Castro, the grandson of Raul Castro, the island’s de facto leader and its former president. 

Díaz-Canel said the talks with the United States were needed, in part, “to determine the willingness of both sides to take concrete actions,” the Times reported. 

He added that he would soon welcome an FBI team to take part in the investigation stemming from 10 Cubans who lived in the United States who got into a firefight with the Cuban coast guard last month. 

“Agendas are built, negotiations and conversations take place, and agreements are reached — things we are still far from because we are in the initial phases of this process,’’ Díaz-Canel said.

Fox News Digital has reached out to the White House. 

Rep. Riley Moore, R-W.Va., announced plans Thursday to introduce legislation allowing the U.S. to denaturalize and deport naturalized citizens who commit or support terrorism after a recent string of attacks involving immigrants who obtained citizenship.

On Thursday, Moore called out the “horrific pattern” of naturalized citizens committing acts of terror against the American people, saying it “must end.”

Moore announced he will be introducing a bill in Congress to denaturalize and deport any naturalized citizen who commits an act of terror, plots to unleash terror, joins a terrorist group or otherwise aids and abets terrorism.

Almost immediately, Rep. Brandon Gill, R-Texas, and Rep. Randy Fine, R-Fla., vowed to support the bill.

OLD DOMINION UNIVERSITY ROTC CADETS DISARM ISIS SUPPORTER SHOUTING ‘ALLAHU AKBAR’ DURING SHOOTING: OFFICIALS

This week, Ayman Mohamad Ghazali, a naturalized U.S. citizen originally from Lebanon, allegedly attempted to ram his vehicle into a Michigan synagogue filled with children and teachers. The same day at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia, Mohamed Bailor Jalloh, a naturalized citizen from Sierra Leone, opened fire on a class of Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) students, killing Lt. Col. Brandon Shah.

Days before, Emir Balat and Ibrahim Kayumi, the children of naturalized citizens from Turkey and Afghanistan, allegedly attempted to bomb an anti-Islam demonstration outside the mayor’s mansion in New York City. At the start of the month, Senegalese-born naturalized citizen Ndiaga Diagne killed three people and injured over a dozen in a shooting in Austin.

After this week’s attacks, Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., renewed his call to pass another bill known as the Stop Citizenship Abuse and Misrepresentation (SCAM) Act. 

Schmitt is the Senate sponsor of the bill, which, if passed, would expand and clarify grounds for denaturalization if an individual participates in fraud against a government program, joins a terrorist organization or is convicted of an aggravated felony or espionage. 

The bill was introduced in the House in January by Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., amid widespread outrage over the rampant Medicaid and children’s services fraud scandal, which heavily involved the Somali immigrant community.

TRUMP WARNS OF IRANIAN ‘SLEEPER CELLS’ AS CANADA IS ACCUSED OF HARBORING REGIME OPERATIVES

On Thursday, Schmitt posted on X that “after the SAVE America Act, we must pass the SCAM Act so we can denaturalize & deport those who are here to hurt Americans. We must denaturalize those who shouldn’t be here.”

Under current laws, the U.S. government may strip citizenship from a naturalized individual only in very limited circumstances, such as when it was obtained through fraud. There is also a very high standard of proof on the government to show that fraud occurred during the process of obtaining citizenship.

The SCAM Act, however, would expand the government’s ability to denaturalize, allowing it to revoke citizenship from a person who engages in terrorism, commits fraud, commits espionage or commits felonies within 10 years of becoming a citizen.

WE’RE IN DANGER OF MORE TERROR ATTACKS — AND THIS IS THE MOST INDEFENSIBLE PART OF IT ALL: SEN TED CRUZ

In another post, Schmitt emphasized “we need to give the Trump admin the SCAM Act. Under current law, it is practically impossible to denaturalize these terrorists.”

He said the SCAM Act “will allow the Trump admin to denaturalize and deport those who should never have been granted citizenship in the first place.”

President Donald Trump said Friday that the U.S. had carried out a bombing raid on Iran’s Kharg Island, a strategically important island in the Persian Gulf that serves as one of the country’s main oil export hubs.

Located off Iran’s southern coast, Kharg Island is home to major oil terminals that have long been central to Iran’s energy trade and economic lifeline. 

Because so much of the country’s crude oil exports pass through the island, it is widely viewed as one of Iran’s most sensitive and strategically important pieces of infrastructure.

“Moments ago, at my direction, the United States Central Command executed one of the most powerful bombing raids in the history of the Middle East, and totally obliterated every MILITARY target in Iran’s crown jewel, Kharg Island,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

“Our Weapons are the most powerful and sophisticated that the World has ever known but, for reasons of decency, I have chosen NOT to wipe out the Oil Infrastructure on the Island. However, should Iran, or anyone else, do anything to interfere with the Free and Safe Passage of Ships through the Strait of Hormuz, I will immediately reconsider this decision,” he added.

Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., claimed he offered Republicans a chance to spare the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) from the ongoing government shutdown that’s poised to hit the one-month mark on Saturday after another failed DHS vote on Thursday.

Republicans believe the offer was little more than political theater that ignored the core of the funding gridlock as concerns about Iranian sleeper cell threats and airport chaos rise. 

“I just offered a UC to fund FEMA and Republicans shot it down,” Schiff said, referring to the Senate process to pass legislation on the spot, known as “unanimous consent.”

Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., a lawmaker who has blocked UCs on the shutdown in the past, blasted Democrats for, in her view, trying to punt the negotiations on larger DHS disagreements.

SENATE TO TAKE TEST VOTE TO END 27-DAY DHS SHUTDOWN

“We would like that opportunity to continue funding the Department of Homeland Security in its entirety. Look, the people who sent us here expect more,” Britt said in remarks on the Senate floor.

“They expect us to have tough conversations. They expect us to figure out a pathway forward. And that’s exactly what we’re trying to do today.”

A fired-up Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso, R-Wyo., accused Senate Democrats of trying to rip the agency apart at a moment it was designed for, as the war in Iran has spurred threats of retaliation in the U.S. by sleeper cells.

“And that’s at a time when our homeland is under attack, all warning lights are flashing red, and they want to peel apart, piece by piece, the Department of Homeland Security, the comprehensive department of our government to protect the American people, because they want to stand with illegal immigrant criminals,” Barrasso said.

Schumer declared that Senate Democrats would continue to provide piecemeal funding bills to reopen certain portions of the agency, like the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), while negotiations continued.

Funding for the Department of Homeland Security lapsed on February 14 over gridlock of a set of demands Democrats made regarding operational reforms for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) — reforms Republicans believe will handcuff President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown.

FEMA was slated to receive $32 billion in 2026, according to the Senate Appropriations Committee.

Among other items, Democrats have demanded a no-mask policy, an end to roaming patrols, stiffer warrant requirements for detentions and clearly visible identification for ICE agents.

DHS SHUTDOWN DRAGS INTO WEEK TWO AS IRAN THREAT, SOTU CLASH COMPLICATE HILL TALKS

Although talks are ongoing, lawmakers have said critical disagreements remain.

Like ICE, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) operates under DHS alongside other agencies like the Coast Guard, the Secret Service and the Transportation Security Administration (TSA).

Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have voiced concern that the unrelated reforms to ICE that Democrats have demanded are threatening the country’s readiness to respond to natural disasters.

Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., hinted that Democrats would like to eliminate that possibility.

“We just asked for a UC to get it done… so,” Cantwell said on the DHS funding dispute.

TSA WORKERS BRACE FOR MISSED PAYCHECKS AS DEMOCRATS HOLD FIRM ON DHS FUNDING

According to Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Katie Britt, R-Ala., DHS employees missed their first full paycheck this week. Additionally, FEMA reserve funding has dropped to $4 billion, the primary account used to coordinate disaster response and recovery efforts.

Fox News Digital’s Alex Miller contributed to this report.

Jurors delivered a mixed verdict Friday in the federal trial of nine people accused of carrying out a 2025 “ambush” attack on an ICE detention facility in North Texas.

Nine defendants accused of being part of a North Texas “Antifa cell” were convicted by a federal jury in Fort Worth for their roles in the July 4, 2025, attack on the Prairieland ICE Detention Center, according to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ).

Jurors delivered the verdict around 2:30 p.m. Friday at the federal courthouse in Fort Worth following roughly a day and a half of deliberations, FOX 4 News reported.

“The guilty verdicts in today’s case go to show this FBI’s 24/7 commitment to identifying, locating, and dismantling ANTIFA members and their networks,” Kash Patel told Fox News Digital. “I want to thank our Dallas field office and great partners for delivering justice. If you attack federal law enforcement this FBI will use every resource at our disposal to hunt you down.”

FEDERAL AGENTS DEPLOY TEAR GAS, RUBBER BULLETS ON PROTESTERS OUTSIDE MINNEAPOLIS FEDERAL BUILDING

During the 12-day trial, which began Feb. 23, 2026, jurors heard testimony from more than 45 witnesses and reviewed over 210 exhibits tied to the charges against the nine defendants, the DOJ said.

Benjamin Song was convicted of the most serious charge — attempted murder — for shooting Alvarado Police Lt. Thomas Gross, according to FOX 4.

All but one of the nine defendants — Daniel Estrada — were found guilty of providing material support to terrorists, rioting, conspiring to use and carry explosives, and using explosives during a riot, FOX 4 reported.

ICE RE-ARRESTS TWO VENEZUELAN MEN AFTER FEDERAL JUDGE’S RELEASE ORDER

Daniel Estrada, who was not present the night of the incident, was convicted of concealing records and conspiracy to conceal documents, according to FOX 4.

Maricela Rueda was also convicted of conspiracy to conceal documents.

“Antifa is a domestic terrorist organization that has been allowed to flourish in Democrat-led cities — not under President Trump,” Attorney General Pamela Bondi said in a statement. “Today’s verdict on terrorism charges will not be the last as the Trump administration systematically dismantles Antifa and finally halts their violence on America’s streets.”

LEFT INSISTS ANTIFA ISN’T A REAL ORGANIZATION DESPITE MULTIPLE VIOLENT, PUBLIC INCIDENTS: ‘MADE UP’

Authorities say the July 4, 2025, attack outside the Prairieland ICE Detention Facility in Alvarado involved fireworks, damage to buildings and vehicles, and gunfire directed at officers. 

Prosecutors argued the attack was orchestrated by Song and carried out by members of a North Texas Antifa cell, FOX 4 reported.

Defense attorneys argued there was no ambush and said the defendants did not intend for any violence to occur.

“The calculated, violent attack at ICE’s Prairieland facility was an abhorrent way for antifa terrorists to ‘protest’ the way this agency enforces the law — but these verdicts make clear that those who choose violence over lawful expression will face the full force of the American justice system,” ICE Director Todd Lyons said in a statement.

A federal judge blocked the Justice Department’s efforts to issue a pair of grand jury subpoenas to the Federal Reserve Board, concluding that the effort was merely a “pretext” to pressure Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell into lowering interest rates or resigning.

U.S. District Judge James Boasberg said in the newly unsealed ruling that the Justice Department offered “no evidence whatsoever” that Powell committed any crime “other than displeasing” President Donald Trump.

“Did prosecutors issue those subpoenas for a proper purpose? The Court finds that they did not,” he said, adding: “There is abundant evidence that the subpoenas’ dominant (if not sole) purpose is to harass and pressure Powell either to yield to the President or to resign and make way for a Fed Chair who will.”

The ruling comes after U.S. Attorney for D.C. Jeanine Pirro opened a criminal inquiry into Powell’s June 2025 testimony before the Senate Banking Committee, centered on the Fed’s years-long renovation of its headquarters in Washington, D.C. Powell revealed the investigation publicly in January, which he described as an attack on the Fed’s independence. 

Pirro said Friday that the Justice Department would appeal the ruling to a higher court.

“This process has been arbitrarily undermined by an activist judge,” she said at a press conference Friday, arguing that Boasberg “put himself at the entrance door to the grand jury, slamming that door shut — irrespective of the legal process — and thus preventing the grand jury from doing the work that it does.”

Any appeal could prolong Trump’s efforts to remove Powell from the Fed and replace him with his pick — former Fed Gov Kevin Warsh — as Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C. remarked on social media Friday.

The ruling “confirms just how weak and frivolous the criminal investigation of Chairman Powell is and it is nothing more than a failed attack on Fed independence,” Tillis said.

EX-JUDGES BLAST TOP TRUMP DOJ OFFICIAL FOR DECLARING ‘WAR’ ON COURTS

“We all know how this is going to end and the D.C. U.S. Attorney’s Office should save itself further embarrassment and move on,” he said. “Appealing the ruling will only delay the confirmation of Kevin Warsh as the next Fed Chair.”

Boasberg used the ruling to tick through many of Trump’s social media posts blasting Powell and unsuccessfully pressuring him to lower interest rates, before suggesting that someone else should replace him to head up the Fed.

“Jerome ‘Too Late’ Powell has done it again!!! He is TOO LATE, and actually, TOO ANGRY, TOO STUPID, & TOO POLITICAL, to have the job of Fed Chair,” Boasberg said in one citation — noting that it was among “at least 100 statements that the President or his deputies have made attacking the Chair of the Federal Reserve and pressuring him to lower interest rates.”

“Being perceived as the President’s adversary has become risky in recent years,” Boasberg said.

“In his second term, Trump has urged the Department of Justice to prosecute such people, and the Department’s prosecutors have listened.”

This is a breaking news story. Check back shortly for updates.

The Pentagon said Friday it has opened a formal command investigation into the Feb. 28 strike in Minab, Iran, where Iranian regime officials claim dozens of children were killed in a strike at a school beside a military compound. 

Questions continue to mount about possible U.S. involvement in the strike, the intelligence used before it and whether Iran placed military assets near civilians to shield them or weaponize potential casualties.

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said at a Pentagon briefing that U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) has appointed a senior officer from outside the command to lead the review. 

“CENTCOM has designated an investigating officer to complete a command investigation,” Hegseth said, noting that the investigator is a general officer. “The command investigation will take as long as necessary to address all the matters surrounding this incident.” 

CENTCOM ISSUES SAFETY WARNING TO IRANIAN CIVILIANS AS REGIME USES ‘HEAVILY POPULATED’ AREAS FOR LAUNCHES

“There’s only one entity in this conflict, between us and Iran, that never targets civilians, literally never target civilians,” he said, defending U.S. targeting procedures while the investigation unfolds. “We will investigate. We’ll get to the truth and we’ll share it when we have it.”

The strike has drawn scrutiny as the investigation continues without answers. 

If U.S. forces carried out the attack, it would raise questions about how American military planners assess civilian risk in densely populated areas and whether safeguards designed to prevent unintended casualties functioned as intended in the opening phase of a high-intensity conflict.

CENTCOM, the military department tasked with overseeing the U.S. operation in Iran and all Middle East operations, has declined to confirm whether American forces launched the missile, saying only that “it would be inappropriate to comment given the incident is under investigation.”

Iranian-American journalist Banafsheh Zand, who has been following the reporting in Iran, pointed to the school that has been there for more than a decade, reported affiliation with Iran’s military. 

“The school itself was for the children of the (Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps) Navy, and it speaks volumes to where the place was and how they use civilian shields,” she said. 

The use of human shields is against international humanitarian law.  

While the regime claims between 168 fatalities and 180 fatalities, mostly girls between the ages of 7 and 12, along with teachers and parents from the school, Zand told Fox News Digital that there has been no independent confirmation of the reported casualty figures. 

“There is no confirmation on the number of people, from anyone other than regime sources,” she said. “Some people in the area said it was 65 boys. Sixty-five boys? What are 65 boys doing in a girls’ school at 10:30 on a Saturday morning?”

Addressing satellite images that appear to show newly dug graves, Zand added: “The number of graves are not in keeping with the number of people that they claim is dead. It doesn’t match up.” 

The U.S. government has not confirmed the death toll. 

Preliminary findings from U.S. officials suggest the strike was likely carried out by American forces, The New York Times reported Wednesday, though the investigation remains ongoing.

In response to the Times’ reporting, Central Command reiterated to Fox News Digital that the investigation is ongoing. 

IRAN UNREST ESCALATES AS GUNFIRE, TEAR GAS HIT UNIVERSITIES AMID LOOMING US STRIKE

Retired Vice Adm. Kevin Donegan, who previously commanded U.S. Naval Forces Central Command and the U.S. 5th Fleet, cautioned against getting ahead of the full review and said U.S. targeting doctrine is designed to prevent civilian tragedies, including legal review and collateral damage assessments before a strike is approved.

“We actually have judge advocates that sit there and help us through the process of targeting,” Donegan told Fox News Digital. 

But even precision-guided weapons do not eliminate uncertainty.

“War isn’t precise,” Donegan said. “Mistakes can be made, and they can happen anywhere in the chain of events.”

Raytheon, the manufacturer of the Tomahawk missile, could not be reached for comment.

Wes Bryant, the Pentagon’s former chief of civilian harm assessments, said his office, the Civilian Protection Center of Excellence, was tasked with advising commanders on targeting and ways to mitigate civilian harm but had been severely curtailed over the past year. 

Bryant said that taken together, the available evidence strongly suggests U.S. involvement.

“All evidence, at this point, points to a U.S. strike,” Bryant told Fox News Digital. 

If U.S. forces conducted the strike, Bryant said the more plausible explanation would involve a failure in target identification or civilian risk assessment.

“These munitions have a very small circular probable,” Bryant said. “If it missed, it would have been within a few meters.” 

Satellite imagery and reporting from Iranian officials indicate the Shajareh Tayyebeh primary school sat roughly 600 meters from the adjacent Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps naval facility in Minab, Iran, underscoring how closely civilian and military infrastructure were positioned.

“I’m leaning more toward that this is complete misidentification,” from the U.S., he said, arguing that the likely issue would be a failure to properly vet or update targeting information rather than a random malfunction.

White House spokesperson Anna Kelly told Fox News Digital, “This investigation is ongoing. As we have said, unlike the terrorist Iranian regime, the United States does not target civilians.”  

IRAN LOCKS NATION INTO ‘DARKER’ DIGITAL BLACKOUT, VIEWING INTERNET AS AN ‘EXISTENTIAL THREAT’

Open-source video analysis and reported missile remnants have fueled speculation that the munition resembled a U.S. Tomahawk cruise missile — a weapon Iran does not operate. 

The Tomahawk is fielded by the U.S. and a limited number of close allies, including the United Kingdom and Australia, neither of which has been firing missiles in the conflict.

The Tomahawk is a long-range, precision-guided cruise missile capable of striking targets hundreds of miles away and typically carrying a high-explosive warhead.

Independent open-source investigators, including Bellingcat, a Netherlands-based investigative journalism group specializing in open-source analysis, have examined video and satellite imagery from the area and reported that multiple strikes hit the compound within a short time window. 

However, commentators on social media have their own theories. 

“The wing-to-body ratio of the munition in question matches an Iranian Kh-55–derived Land Attack Cruise Missile,” said podcast host and veteran Matt Tardio on X. “So what could have caused this? Simply put, GPS jamming of an Iranian KH-55. The USA and Israel were, and continue to actively jam the Iranian airspace.”

IRAN WAR, 11 DAYS IN: US CONTROLS SKIES, OIL SURGES AND THE REGION BRACES FOR WHAT’S NEXT

Former National Security Council official Javed Ali, now a professor at the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy, told Fox News Digital the central question is the quality of intelligence that informed the strike decision.

“How solid was the intelligence picture on that facility?” Ali said. “How good was the intelligence that went into what’s called a target package?”

OPERATION EPIC FURY DESTROYS IRAN’S NAVY AND CUTS MISSILE ATTACKS BY 90% IN ONGOING CAMPAIGN

Ali, who previously worked on targeting analysis at the Defense Intelligence Agency, said military strikes are typically built from multiple streams of intelligence — human, technical, geospatial and open source — designed to provide high confidence that a structure is a legitimate military objective.

“Clearly something went wrong,” Ali said.

Bryant said the Pentagon’s Civilian Protection Center of Excellence and broader civilian harm mitigation enterprise were scaled back in 2025, reducing the number of personnel available to conduct investigations into civilian harm.

The center was established by Congress to help the military minimize harm to civilians in conflict, but reporting shows its dedicated staff were folded into broader bureaucratic units or removed as part of a departmental reorganization. 

Its teams were designed to work with commanders on target planning to make sure targets were active military sites and advise on the potential for civilian harm, according to Bryant. 

The Pentagon has not publicly detailed the current status or staffing of the office, nor confirmed whether the office is involved in the ongoing Minab, Iran, school investigation.

IRAN OPERATING SECRET ‘BLACK BOX’ SITES HOLDING THOUSANDS IN DETENTION: REPORTS

An open source intelligence expert and former intel official, who requested anonymity, told Fox News Digital the structure resembles the other military buildings that were targeted in the strike, which could help explain how an intelligence misreading might occur and lead analysts to believe the site was another military facility within the compound.

Analysts say when civilian casualties occur during precision strikes, the explanations generally fall into three categories: intelligence failure, technical malfunction or human error.

Amos Yadlin, a former head of Israeli military intelligence, told Fox News Digital incorrect or outdated intelligence could lead to misidentification, while a GPS-guided munition could malfunction or be disrupted. Human error — such as incorrect coordinate entry — is another possibility. 

If an investigation ultimately finds negligence or a breakdown in targeting procedures, the U.S. military has a precedent for imposing consequences.

Bryant pointed to the 2015 U.S. strike on a hospital in Kunduz, Afghanistan, that killed dozens of patients and medical staff at a facility operated by Doctors Without Borders, the international humanitarian medical charity.

A U.S. military investigation later concluded that airstrike was “a tragic and avoidable accident” caused primarily by human error and procedural failures, with the medical facility mistakenly identified as a combat target.

“In that case, a couple of different commanders were removed,” Bryant said, noting that accountability can range from administrative measures to the revocation of certifications, depending on findings.

Senate Republicans are gearing up for a floor battle over Trump-backed voter ID legislation, but another GOP senator plans to oppose it.

Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., won’t support the Safeguarding American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) America Act, a decision that could throw a wrench into the GOP’s plan to force Senate Democrats into tough vote after tough vote next week.

“I’m a no,” Tillis said. “I’m going to do everything I can to prevent it from even moving forward.”

SENATE GOP EYES BLAME GAME AS TRUMP-BACKED SAVE ACT HEADS FOR DEFEAT

He did offer an alternative, arguing that if Republicans were “serious” about voter ID, they’d consider legislation that incentivized states to use the practice in exchange for federal funding. If not, the money would go toward ensuring “election integrity” oversight.

“Who could be against that? You know, and then rock on, California, if you want to enable ballot harvesting,” Tillis said. “Make sure you do it on your nickels, because we’re going to spend the money to oversee the elections to make sure you did it legally.”

His resistance to the bill comes after President Donald Trump demanded that Republicans ram the bill through Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Senate Democrats’ blockade with a talking filibuster.

TRUMP, THUNE CLASH ON VOTER ID ULTIMATUM AS GOP REMAINS DIVIDED ON PATH FORWARD

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., and Republicans landed on a plan to put the bill on the floor that doesn’t take the route of a talking filibuster, given that there isn’t enough unity among Republicans to block Democrats’ amendments that could drastically change the bill.

However, that process is in the spirit of the talking filibuster and will allow Republicans to load up amendments on the floor for a marathon debate session. Still, it won’t lower the threshold to pass the bill with just a simple majority — something the talking filibuster would have done.

Republicans know it’s destined to fail and are trying to shift blame to Schumer and Democrats with their floor strategy.

THUNE GUARANTEES VOTER ID BILL TO HIT THE SENATE DESPITE SCHUMER, DEM OPPOSITION: ‘WE WILL HAVE A VOTE’

But Tillis, who was a co-sponsor of the bill’s predecessor called the SAVE Act, disagreed with the changes Trump proposed to the legislation, which included banning mail-in ballots with limited exceptions, halting men in women’s sports, and stopping transgender surgeries for minors.

“You know, taking the language from the White House without understanding the state-by-state implications, politically and procedurally, just doesn’t sound like we’re letting the people at the tip of the spear — that’s these people running for re-election — define what we should be voting on next week,” Tillis said.

Tillis joins Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, in opposing the bill. Their defection, coupled with Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., announcing on CBS’ “The Takeout with Major Garrett” that he wouldn’t support the legislation in its “current state” over Trump’s criticism of mail-in balloting, gives the GOP a razor-thin margin of error in trying to even open debate on the bill.

The suspect authorities say killed an ROTC instructor at Old Dominion University had previously been convicted of providing material support to ISIS but received a shorter prison sentence than federal prosecutors sought before his release in 2024, according to court records.

Mohamed Jalloh, a naturalized U.S. citizen originally from Sierra Leone, entered a classroom Thursday at the Norfolk school and opened fire after confirming it was an ROTC class, killing Lt. Col. Brandon Shah, authorities said. The FBI’s Norfolk Field Office said ROTC cadets physically subdued Jalloh and stopped the attack, adding that their actions “rendered [him] no longer alive.”

“The horrific tragedy that occurred today on ODU’s campus never should have happened,” Rep. Jennifer Kiggans, R-Va., said following the attack.

Court records show Jalloh was arrested in 2016 for providing material support to ISIS.

MAMDANI AVOIDS ‘RADICAL ISLAMIC TERROR’ PHRASE AFTER ISIS-INSPIRED NYC ATTACK, ECHOING OBAMA-ERA DEBATE

Federal prosecutors sought a 20-year prison sentence, but Senior U.S. District Judge Liam O’Grady ultimately sentenced him to 132 months — roughly 11 years.

According to prosecutors, a now-deceased ISIS member overseas arranged contact between Jalloh and an individual he believed to be a fellow supporter but who was actually an FBI confidential human source. Investigators said Jalloh also traveled to Nigeria in connection with the plot.

The overseas terrorist wanted an attack carried out, while Jalloh told the FBI source he decided not to renew his enlistment with the Virginia Army National Guard after listening to lectures from Al Qaeda terrorist Anwar al-Awlaki — a New Mexico native against whom President Barack Obama ordered a fatal drone strike in 2011.

“The defendant was fully aware of what he was doing, and the consequences of those actions. His only misgivings seemed to be a fear that he would waver at the critical moment,” prosecutors wrote in a sentencing memorandum obtained by the Associated Press.

FBI DISRUPTS ALLEGED ISIS-INSPIRED NEW YEAR’S EVE ATTACK PLOT TARGETING NC GROCERY STORE

O’Grady later handed down an 11-year sentence that included mental health treatment and substance abuse testing, according to the wire service, and Jalloh was ultimately released in 2024.

Jalloh’s release also required no contact with any terrorist organizations and computer monitoring during probation.

“Jalloh was sentenced in 2017 to 132 months in prison for providing material support to ISIS. The [government] had asked for a sentence of 240 months, the statutory maximum,” former federal prosecutor William Shipley wrote on X.

“The Judge who imposed the reduced sentence was Senior Judge Liam O’Grady, in the Eastern District of Virginia, a GWB appointee. Judge O’Grady announced he was taking Senior Status in June 2020 — right in the heart of the start of COVID, meaning there was no chance that Pres[ident] Trump would be able to get his replacement confirmed.”

“Joe Biden ended up nominating his replacement — Judge Patricia Giles.” Giles, he said, controversially ruled in 2024 that Virginia had illegally purged noncitizens from the voter rolls too close to that year’s election and ordered their restoration.

AMERICAN EXTREMIST ADMITS BANKROLLING ISIS TERRORISTS, PLOTTING US VIOLENCE WITH HOMEMADE BOMB: FEDS

Asked whether the spate of recent attacks shows a resurgence of ISIS threats to the homeland or if previously lax immigration policies have played a role, a spokesperson for National Counterterrorism Center Director Joe Kent pointed to recent comments he made after the Iran mission began:

“As the Iran conflict continues to unfold, ODNI’s National Counterterrorism Center is engaged and operating at full capacity, 24/7. We are tracking developments in real time, assessing any potential risks to the homeland, identifying emerging threats, and providing timely, actionable intelligence to the White House, law enforcement, and interagency partners to detect and prevent attacks against the American people,” Kent said.

Kent said counterterrorism officials are “acutely aware” and focused on eliminating “persistent” threats posed by thousands of people with terror ties who “poured into our nation unchecked during four years of open borders under Biden.”

“Constant vigilance is a must. Stay aware of your surroundings, and if you see something suspicious, report it immediately to local law enforcement. Every one of us has a role to play in keeping this nation secure,” Kent said.

A DOJ spokesperson told Fox News Digital there are “no known or credible threats to the homeland” at this time and that federal agents are “maintaining a constant state of vigilance to keep Americans safe.”

Fox News Digital reached out to ODNI, the FBI and O’Grady for comment.

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth has announced a task force to evaluate senior service colleges to ensure they are not tainted by woke ideology and offer quality education.

“Professional Military Education should produce warfighters and leaders—not wokesters,” he asserted in a post on X.

“That’s why we are establishing a Task Force to evaluate our Senior Service Colleges and ensure the focus is where it belongs. No distractions. Just warfighting,” the post adds.

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Hegseth’s post includes a video message in which he said, “I’m directing the undersecretary of war for personnel and readiness to establish a task force effective immediately.”

“The mission of that task force is to evaluate our senior service colleges, where we educate our own: Think places like the Army War College, or National Defense University, the Naval War College, Marine Corps University or the Air War College, where our senior officers go to continue their education,” he explained.

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He indicated that the War Department will “make sure that what we’ve seen in our civilian institutions never surface in our military education institutions. Trust me. I’ve heard the stories. I know some of our own senior service colleges … have similar courses and similar ideologies. We need to rip ‘em out. And we’re going to. This task force will have 90 days to assess whether our Senior Service Colleges … are actually effective.”

“And if we’re pulling officers out of civilian universities because they’re too woke, then we better make sure our own universities are prepared to do the task properly,” he said.

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Hegseth’s message came as the U.S. continues waging war against the Islamic Republic of Iran in conjunction with Israel.