Most Americans, including majorities of Republicans and self-identified MAGA Republicans, say keeping the United States in NATO is important to the nation’s security and prosperity, according to a new poll. 

The Reagan Institute Summer Survey found that 73% of Americans say remaining in NATO matters to U.S. security and prosperity, including 64% of Republicans and 61% of MAGA Republicans. Fox News Digital obtained a preview of the survey, which will be made public Sunday.

The poll also found bipartisan support for NATO’s collective defense principle. After respondents were told that NATO members are obligated to come to one another’s defense if attacked, 76% of Democrats, 71% of Republicans and 69% of MAGA Republicans said they would support the U.S. responding with military force if a NATO ally were attacked. 

The findings come as President Donald Trump continues to press NATO allies to shoulder more of the burden for the alliance’s collective defense. During a White House meeting Wednesday with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, Trump criticized several European allies for what he described as insufficient support during the recent U.S. operation against Iran, even as Rutte praised Trump’s leadership and credited him with pushing NATO members to boost defense spending.

NEW POLL REVEALS AMERICANS SEE TWO PATHS ON IRAN — AND SUPPORT BOTH ALMOST EQUALLY

The Reagan Institute Summer Survey was conducted May 26 through June 3 among 1,555 respondents nationwide and carries a margin of error of plus or minus 2.5 percentage points. The survey used a mixed-mode methodology that included live telephone interviews, an online panel and text-to-web responses.

To better reflect the U.S. population, the results were weighted using demographic benchmarks from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2023 American Community Survey, including age, gender, race, region and education levels. The poll also included an oversample of 331 MAGA Republicans under age 30, a group with a margin of error of plus or minus 5 percentage points.

The Reagan Institute is a Washington-based policy organization that advocates the Reagan foreign-policy tradition of “peace through strength” and sustained American leadership abroad.

Trump met with Rutte Wednesday, who once again offered effusive praise for the American president during their White House meeting.

TRUMP PUSHED NATO TO SPEND BIG — NOW COMES THE HARDER QUESTION: CAN EUROPE ACTUALLY FIGHT?

“I really want to make clear how important it is what you are doing on Iran,” Rutte told Trump. “This is first of all about the nuclear capability Iran was very near to getting its hands on,”

Trump, meanwhile, criticized several European allies for what he described as insufficient support during the U.S. operation against Iran.

“I was disappointed with Italy. I was disappointed with the UK,” he said. “We were disappointed with Germany and France. We’re disappointed with most of them. Spain is a horror show.”

“We don’t need their money, we don’t need anything. We have the most powerful military in the world by far, but I just want loyalty,” Trump said.

NATO’s collective defense principle, known as Article 5 of the Washington Treaty, has been invoked only once in the alliance’s 77-year history. NATO allies unanimously invoked the provision after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, declaring the attacks on the United States an attack on all members of the alliance. 

Trump has long criticized NATO members for failing to meet alliance defense spending commitments — at times even threatening to pull out of the alliance — arguing the U.S. has carried a disproportionate share of its security burden. 

During both his first and second terms, he has pushed allies to significantly increase military spending while warning that the U.S. should not bear the costs of Europe’s defense alone.

The White House and NATO could not immediately be reached for comment. 

NEW YORK CITY — Florida Republican House candidate Scott Singer, the former mayor of Boca Raton, is outlining the reasons he believes people and businesses will continue to flee New York City after socialists had a dominant night in Tuesday’s primary. 

“It should be concerning for all Americans because you had the Democratic Party continuing to be co-opted by a fringe socialist base, which is now not the fringe,” Singer, running for Congress in Florida’s 25th Congressional District, told Fox News Digital. 

“When you have two Democratic members of the House taken out by candidates who say things like they want to abolish ICE, abolish all prisons, and end private healthcare, it shows that the Democratic Party in New York and increasingly in America is not only not our parents’ Democratic Party, it’s not the Democratic Party of just a year ago. And this radical influence is going to continue to send shock waves that I hope will wake people up to understand where we are as a nation and where that party is.”

Three Democrats running for Congress endorsed by New York City’s socialist mayor Zohran Mamdani, two of whom were also endorsed by the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), defeated their establishment opposition and signaled that Mamdani’s political power remains strong in the city.

FAR-LEFT SURGE: MAMDANI-BACKED CANDIDATES OUST DEM ESTABLISHMENT INCUMBENTS

A common theme for all three Democrats who won their primaries was hostility toward Israel, which often surfaced in the race between Mamdani-backed Brad Lander and Democrat Rep. Dan Goldman, a race that Lander won easily. 

“I think antisemitism is raging in the Democratic Party, it’s alarmingly raging in New York City,” Singer explained.

“Congressman Goldman’s office was vandalized three days ago. You had him shut out of a restaurant because of the fact that he was Jewish, and he’s a congressman. If this is happening on everyday streets in New York, it’s bearing more and more similarities to Germany in the 1930s. God help us if we get there, but we have to understand what people want to do and what’s winning in the Democratic Party right now.”

‘EXISTENTIAL THREAT’: JEWISH LEADERS WARN OF NYC ‘MASS EXODUS’ IF ZOHRAN MAMDANI WINS IN NOVEMBER

Most political experts have concluded that Tuesday night was a sign the “moderate” wing of the Democratic Party is on its heels dealing with the momentum from the party’s socialist wing led by progressive activists.

“The far left is trouncing what used to be the moderates in the Democratic Party and the Democratic moderates are now becoming Republicans,” Singer said. “And I think anyone who’s still looking at what this Democratic Party used to be even a few months ago has to understand where it’s going. Democratic members of Congress don’t often lose primaries and two get trounced by far-left radicals who want to end prisons, end ICE, and end private healthcare.”

SOCIALIST SURGE: MAMDANI FLEXES GROWING POLITICAL MUSCLE AS HE TAKES ON DEM ESTABLISHMENT

Singer continued, “Everyone needs to take note because when we’re running in November, we have a real choice between people who value our American system, our free markets, opportunities for all and law and order, and those who want to end prisons.”

Singer has previously spoken out about how many business leaders have contacted him about leaving New York and coming to Florida due to high taxes and socialist policies. He told Fox News Digital on Tuesday he only expects that to continue after Tuesday night’s results.

“We’re going to continue to see people flee New York and last night’s election should give a lot of people pause because if these Democratic socialists continue to win, not only in New York, but throughout America, we’re not going to recognize the country,” Singer said, adding that one of the reasons he is running for Congress is his worry about “radicals influencing our state” when they move to Florida from other places like New York. 

FIRST ON FOX: Vandals have targeted the National Mall with multiple separate “8647” markings, a blood-written message on the Washington Monument and damage to the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, prompting federal officials to warn of a growing trend. 

“Unfortunately, this summer has seen a significant increase in vandalism to the National Mall – for example, several 8647 markings, a person writing words in their own blood on the Washington Monument and the cutting of fuel lines around the Great American State Fair,” Interior Department communication director Katie Martin told Fox News Digital. 

The pattern emerged after President Donald Trump ordered a restoration and repainting of the reflecting pool, which was met with protestors leaving multiple “razor-blade cuts” and removing fencing to then toss in water.

Fox News Digital learned that the first known incident targeting the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool occurred June 9. Interior Department officials said they initially did not publicize the incident to avoid inspiring copycats, but a vandalism trend emerged nonetheless.

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“At the time of the June 9 incident, the vandalism was under investigation and believed to be isolated. So as not to encourage deranged individuals, we did not announce what we hoped to be an isolated incident,” Interior Department communication director Katie Martin told Fox News Digital about the initial vandalism on the Reflecting Pool.

“It wasn’t until several days thereafter that there were recurring cases and videos of people ripping at the coating began to circulate,” she added. “We then knew this was not an isolated incident, but a new trend to attempt to damage the Reflecting Pool.”

Among the incidents cited by DOI unfolding on the National Mall were multiple “8647” markings. In a separate case, an individual used their own blood to write “I’ve come” on the Washington Monument, according to a police report reviewed by Fox News Digital. 

The administration has previously interpreted the number “86” as a political threat, pointing to its common use in the restaurant industry to mean removing or refusing service, while 47 appears to refer to Trump as the 47th president.

WATCH: TRUMP REVEALS FLASHY NEW COLOR FOR NATIONAL MALL’S REFLECTING POOL MAKEOVER

Earlier this month, a giant “8647” message appeared to be etched into the grass of the National Mall, prompting an investigation as federal authorities remain on heightened alert over political threats and violence. 

The Reflecting Pool was vandalized on the very day it reopened after restoration and repainting, with the first perpetrator leaving “razor-blade-like slashes along the liner in the southern middle section of the pool,” according to a police report reviewed by Fox News Digital.

The damages totaled over 300 feet with “some cuts [that] were slits while other sections measuring roughly 6–15 inches had been cut out entirely.”

TRUMP WORKING TO CLEAN ‘FILTHY’ LINCOLN MEMORIAL REFLECTING POOL, BLAMES BIDEN FOR MAINTENANCE DELAYS

The same day, it was also reported that pieces of the surrounding metal fence were removed and thrown into the pool along with a broken black chain near the fence, said the same report.

U.S. Park Police posted a bulletin on X asking for public assistance in searching for a Reflecting Pool vandal along with a photo of the suspect.

“The United States Park Police is seeking assistance in identifying the individual depicted here in connection with a Destruction of Government Property investigation. The incident occurred on June 19, 2026, at approximately 3:36 p.m. at the Reflecting Pool on the grounds of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC,” said the post.

“Anyone with information regarding the identity of this individual is asked to contact the United States Park Police Tip Line: USPP_TIPline@nps.gov or (202) 379-4877,” it read.

Trump posted a photo of the pool on Truth Social Wednesday after the pool redone prior to it being filled with water.

“This is the hard rubber surface — No Paint — Before the Vandals cut and pulled it apart,” he wrote.

An administration official previously told Fox News Digital that five people have been arrested on vandalism charges for the pool, while federal citations were issued to five additional individuals. There also have been 14 police reports filed for vandalism against the pool.

Among those charged was former Olympic canoeist David Hearn, who was cited Saturday for misdemeanor destruction of government property. Authorities allege he reached into the water and grabbed a hose being used by a National Park Service worker.

TRUMP TAKES MOTORCADE INTO REFLECTING POOL, BLASTS PAST ‘$38M DISASTER’ FIX UNDER OBAMA

The administration had planned to fence off the Reflecting Pool ahead of the Fourth of July, when the area will serve as a fireworks launch site. Following the vandalism, officials moved up the installation by a week.

“The Reflecting Pool was always set to be fenced off ahead of the 4th of July. As in years prior, one of the launch pads for the fireworks is around the pool so fencing is put up to ensure public safety,” said White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers. “With the increase in vandalism by leftist activists, the fencing is going up earlier than originally planned to ensure no more damage is done to this historic site.

“While the President was restoring a crown jewel of our nation’s capital, which is supported by Americans across the country, vandals were attempting to destroy, impede and delay the ongoing work,” she added.

CALIFORNIA BEACH ‘RESIST!’ PROTEST PUSHES ‘KINDNESS’ WHILE CALLING TO ‘86 47’ IN ANTI-TRUMP MESSAGE

Trump has publicly blasted the vandalism, first raising the issue on Truth Social Friday. 

“Somebody went in with the knife and cut it. They cut it up good and then they cut at 200, 350 [feet], in the form of lots of little slits. We know horrible stuff,” Trump said Tuesday while speaking with reporters.

Vandals “destroyed the grass. We put a brand-new big load of grass out there. They destroyed it. So it’s all been fixed. But it’s a shame,” he added speaking of an “8647” message.

Protesters have gathered at the National Mall each day over Trump’s restoration with signs that read “Team Algae” referencing the water.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled against the state of Hawaii, granting concealed carry holders a huge victory in the blue state in a 6-3 decision Thursday.

The Supreme Court sided with the plaintiff in Wolford v. Lopez, who contested Hawaii’s state law requiring a property owner’s explicit permission to allow lawful gun owners to bring firearms into public businesses.

“Hawaii’s law at issue here violates the constitutional right to keep and bear arms,” Justice Samuel Alito wrote. “This regime hobbles what the Second Amendment protects: the right of Americans to carry arms for self-defense as they go about their daily lives.”

The ruling reverses a decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, which had upheld Hawaii’s restrictions after the state enacted them in response to the Supreme Court’s 2022 Bruen decision.

After Bruen struck down New York’s “proper cause” licensing requirement and held that Americans have a constitutional right to carry handguns outside the home for self-defense, Hawaii overhauled its firearms laws.

Among the new provisions was a requirement that concealed-carry permit holders could not bring firearms onto another person’s private property, including businesses open to the public, unless the owner provided express authorization through signage or verbal or written permission. Among Second Amendment rights advocacy circles, the law became known as the “vampire rule.”

Alito wrote the law could subject lawful concealed-carry permit holders to criminal liability for doing routine things like stopping at a gas station, grocery store or pharmacy while carrying a firearm.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

With just over four months until November’s midterm elections, the House of Representatives is consumed by GOP infighting as President Donald Trump continues to push for the SAVE America Act.

A group of conservatives, led by Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., has vowed to effectively block all legislation on the House floor until the Senate passes the stalled Trump-backed elections bill.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., is racing to unlock the House floor and is set to meet with Trump at the White House Thursday afternoon in an effort to break the impasse.

At stake is whether House Republicans can advance government funding bills, a long-shot third party-line reconciliation package incorporating defense spending and fraud prevention safeguards, and the annual defense policy bill, among other priorities, before the chamber leaves for the August recess.

‘AS LONG AS IT TAKES’: TRUMP ALLIES FREEZE HOUSE FLOOR TO PRESSURE SENATE ON VOTER ID BILL

Thursday’s meeting comes after House Republican leadership was forced to cancel a series of votes Wednesday after the conservative bloc declined to end its blockade.

“We’re not giving up on it yet, but we’re having contingencies in place,” House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., told reporters.

Luna indicated she is not planning to relent anytime soon, despite having no apparent leverage to force the Senate to weaken the legislative filibuster or pass the SAVE America Act.

“The president’s been very clear,” Luna told Fox News Digital in an interview Wednesday. “He’s not playing these games anymore, and I’m going to fully back him, and I have the votes to do it.”

“There’s going to be no votes this week,” Luna added. 

For months, Trump has stated that passing the SAVE America Act is at the top of his legislative agenda. But progress has not materialized as the legislation has failed to clear the Senate’s 60-vote threshold.

The House has yet to pass a version of the SAVE America Act that includes Trump-backed provisions that restrict mail-in voting, bar men from women’s sports and ban child sex change procedures. 

Signaling his frustration with the bill’s stalled progress, Trump on Wednesday canceled a signing ceremony for a bipartisan housing bill the White House endorsed. 

REPORTER’S NOTEBOOK: GOP WEIGHS ‘NUKING’ FILIBUSTER TO PASS TRUMP’S SAVE ACT

Johnson, in a likely attempt to break the logjam, proposed incorporating a skinny version of the SAVE America Act into a third party-line package that House Republicans are currently negotiating. Johnson’s legislation would provide grant funding to states to encourage them to mandate federally verified REAL IDs when voting.

But Luna warned against passing a watered-down version of the elections bill. 

“I want to warn the American people that you cannot get SAVE America Act on reconciliation,” Luna said, referring to another GOP-only megabill. “It’s not possible to be done, so we’re not drinking the Kool-Aid on that. Unless the Senate decides to fire the parliamentarian, nothing will change.”

House GOP fiscal hawks have also warned their support for a third reconciliation bill is contingent on including “dollar-for-dollar and year-for-year spending cuts” to offset the package’s deficit impact.

The Senate left Washington late Wednesday to begin a two-week recess, meaning the standoff is not expected to resolve anytime soon.

No senators — including the SAVE America Act’s biggest proponents — objected to beginning the July 4 recess early. 

“I will not be voting to reopen the floor until the Senate gets back to Washington,” Luna wrote on social media.

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

The socialist backed by New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani who won Tuesday night’s primary election in New York’s 13th Congressional District founded a group in college that called for the total destruction of the West. 

Darializa Avila Chevalier, 32, a Democratic nominee for U.S. Congress who made career out of “community organizing,” wrote in her biography for an opinion piece in independent news outlet The Electronic Intifada that she “helped launch the boycott, divestment and sanctions campaign Columbia University Apartheid Divest.”

“We are Westerners fighting for the total eradication of Western civilization,” the group said in a now-deleted 2024 Instagram post.

In May 2024, eight years after she graduated from Columbia, Chevalier was back on campus advocating alongside the group she founded, known as CUAD, wearing a keffiyeh and a t-shirt emblazoned with the group’s name.

Avila Chevalier was interviewed by the Associated Press at the school’s infamous encampment against Israel that year, which was later broken up by police.

MAMDANI-BACKED SOCIALIST WITH HISTORY OF ANTI-AMERICAN RHETORIC WINS VICIOUS DEM PRIMARY RACE

Only months after that, CUAD, caused a firestorm when it reportedly posted its goal of eradicating Western Civilization.

“We stand in full solidarity with every movement for liberation in the Global South,” the post continued. “Our Intifada is an internationalist one — we are fighting for nothing less than the liberation of all people.”

“We reject every genocidal, eugenicist regime that seeks to undermine the personhood of the colonized,” the group added.

HASAN PIKER CELEBRATES AMERICA BEING ‘CLOSER THAN EVER’ TO SOCIALISM AS HE BACKS NYC CANDIDATES

Columbia University has roundly denounced CUAD, and says it is not affiliated in any way with the school.

Avila Chevalier was born in Florida to Dominican immigrants. She converted to Islam in recent years.

‘PARTY OF ZOHRAN’: MAMDANI EMERGES AS DEMOCRATIC KINGMAKER AFTER SOCIALIST ALLIES SWEEP NYC PRIMARIES

The surfacing of her affiliation with the group has sparked intense online backlash, including from elected Democrats.

“Anti-Israel. Anti-America. Anti-Western Civilization. Why am I the only Democrat in the U.S. Senate that refuses to excuse this or defend any of those self-identified communists?” Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., said on X Wednesday evening.

Avila Chevalier also infamously expressed anti-white women and anti-American sentiments in deleted social media posts, one time calling her home country “a f—ing disgrace.”

LETITIA JAMES FUMES AS MAMDANI-BACKED SOCIALISTS SWEEP NEW YORK PRIMARIES

“I forgot to get napkins so I just wiped my hand on the American flag behind me,” she said in another deleted post.

“This lady founded an organization with a stated goal of Eradicating Western civilization, & a bunch of rich white progressives who know she means them, said ‘please do,’” X personality Sean Fitzgerald said.

“The real ‘country over party’ test isn’t going to be about Trump,” said RealClearInvestigations writer Mark Hemingway. “It’s going to be over communist Congress members who literally say they want to eradicate Western civilization.”

In a deeply blue district, Avila Chevalier is likely to waltz her way into Congress in November.

Fox News Digital reached out to Avila Chevalier’s campaign.

A group of conservatives is vowing to grind the House floor to a halt until Republicans pass the SAVE America Act. 

“There’s going to be no votes this week, and it’s going to be as long as it takes,” Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., who is leading the effort, told Fox News Digital in an interview.

The hardball tactics led House Republican leadership to pull a series of votes on Wednesday. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., is expected to put legislation that had already been teed up for a vote Thursday, but it is unclear whether he will be able to convince Luna and other conservatives to end their blockade, effectively freezing the House floor. 

“The president’s been very clear,” Luna told Fox News Digital. “He’s not playing these games anymore, and I’m going to fully back him, and I have the votes to do it.”

REPS. FINE, SELF, HARRIS, ENOUGH IS ENOUGH: WE’LL BLOCK THE SENATE UNTIL THE SAVE ACT PASSES

President Donald Trump has repeatedly insisted the SAVE America Act is his top legislative priority. The sprawling legislation, which would enact voter ID requirements, crack down on mail-in voting and ban sex change procedures for minors, has stalled in the Senate amid widespread opposition from Democrats. 

House conservatives are pressuring their Senate colleagues to fight for the bill, but a version that incorporates all the president’s priorities has yet to receive a vote in their chamber.

Johnson is scheduled to meet with Trump later Thursday in a likely attempt to break the logjam. Given the speaker’s razor-thin majority, just a few dissenting Republicans can have an outsize impact on whether legislation can be advanced through the House. 

Johnson floated Wednesday incorporating a narrow version of the SAVE America Act into a third budget reconciliation package. The provision would create a grant program encouraging states to require federally verified REAL IDs at the ballot box.

But Luna indicated to Fox News Digital that the speaker’s proposal was an inadequate fix. 

“I want to warn the American people that you cannot get SAVE America Act on reconciliation,” Luna said, referring to a potential third party-line package. “It’s not possible to be done, so we’re not drinking the Kool-Aid on that. Unless the Senate decides to fire the parliamentarian, nothing will change.”

IRATE REPUBLICANS ACCUSE TRUMP OF HANDING DEMOCRATS A WIN AFTER BLOWING UP HOUSING PACKAGE

The impasse is not expected to resolve soon, with the Senate leaving Wednesday to begin a two-week recess around the July 4 holiday.

No senators objected to starting the planned break early. 

Luna also dismissed the significance of the bipartisan housing bill that passed the lower chamber this week. Republicans have pointed to the legislation — aimed at expanding the nation’s housing stock — as crucial to their affordability messaging ahead of November’s midterm elections. 

“They don’t get to go home and say that they’re getting wins for the American people when they’re not even able to deliver on that 80/20 issue,” Luna said, referring to the SAVE America Act. 

“And I really applaud the president for saying that he’s not going to sign it into law. I think that he reserves the right to veto,” the Florida lawmaker continued.

Luna and the band of conservatives opposed the sweeping housing bill as part of their pledge to vote “no” on every piece of legislation that comes over from the Senate until the SAVE America Act passes.

“In us shutting down the floor, it’s showing that … they’re not going to be able to get done what they want to get done,” Luna said.

FIRST ON FOX: Following a string of high-profile victories by socialist candidates, New York Republican gubernatorial candidate Bruce Blakeman warned the Democratic Party has veered too far left and predicted establishment Democrats will increasingly back Republicans.

Speaking exclusively to Fox News Digital in the wake of Tuesday’s wins, Blakeman said the results underscored the growing influence of the party’s progressive wing and exposed a widening divide within the Democratic coalition.

“The lunatic left has taken over the Democratic Party,” he said just hours after three socialists backed by New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani won their primaries in New York districts. “They’ve lost control of their party.”

The rise of socialist victories against traditional Democrats have intensified debate over the Party’s future and the growing influence of its far-left flank. Republicans have seized on those wins as evidence the party is moving away from moderate voters on issues such as taxes and public safety.

MAMDANI-BACKED SOCIALIST CANDIDATE STORMS OUT OF LIVE INTERVIEW WHEN CONFRONTED WITH OLD SOCIAL MEDIA POSTS

Blakeman, who is running to unseat New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, argued that socialists have effectively taken control of the Democratic Party, creating an opening for Republicans among moderate and working-class voters in the state.

“They’ve offered everybody free stuff,” Blakeman told Fox News Digital, adding that progressive candidates are making unrealistic promises to voters. “They’re never going to do what they say they’re going to,” he continued, warning that such proposals would ultimately prove impossible to deliver.

He argued voters are being sold an unrealistic vision in which “everything in New York could be free,” while longtime Democrats increasingly feel disconnected from the party’s recent direction.

“The traditional Democrats are going to vote for Republicans this year,” Blakeman predicted. “They know their party has gone off the deep end.”

The Republican hopeful pointed to Mamdani’s meteoric rise as evidence of what he described as the growing influence of socialists within the party. Blakeman acknowledges that proposals such as government-run grocery stores and other publicly funded programs may be politically popular but claims they would ultimately fail to deliver on their promises.

“Free grocery stores, I mean, that’s complete nonsense,” Blakeman said. “Government should not be competing with the private sector.”

FROM FREE BUSES TO CITY-OWNED GROCERY STORES, HERE ARE MAMDANI’S KEY ECONOMIC PROMISES

Blakeman said many of the policies being championed by progressive candidates could harm small businesses and accelerate the outflow of residents and employers from New York. Instead, he argued, the state should focus on lowering taxes, reducing utility costs and creating a more business-friendly environment.

During his interview with Fox News Digital the night after sweeping socialist victories in New York, Blakeman accused Hochul of being just as radical and failing to stand up to the Democratic Party’s left flank as progressive figures like Mamdani gain prominence.

“They’re in league together,” Blakeman said of Hochul and Mamdani. “I now call her Comrade Kathy.”

Though he ran uncontested, Blakeman’s campaign received a boost earlier this year when he secured President Donald Trump‘s endorsement as he seeks to unseat Hochul in deep blue New York, the president’s longtime home state.

Asked about Trump’s support, Blakeman said it’s valuable but urged voters to focus on shared concerns such as affordability, public safety and lowering taxes.

Blakeman argued that the Democratic Party’s growing embrace of socialist candidates could ultimately benefit Republicans, particularly among suburban and working-class voters who he believes feel increasingly disconnected from the party’s priorities.

“Traditional Democrats see their party going off the deep end. They don’t like it,” Blakeman said. “They’re going to come on board with us because it’s the only way to stop their party from becoming an extinct party.”

Mamdani’s office and Hochul’s office did not respond to Fox News Digital’s requests for comment.

FIRST ON FOX: The Senate’s newest member is reviving an issue that has echoed through the halls of Congress for years, and one that, if successful, could turbocharge energy production in the U.S.

Sen. Alan Armstrong, R-Okla., who was appointed to replace Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin earlier this year, has one priority in the few months that he has been the Sooner State’s junior Senator: permitting reform. 

It’s not one of the sexy, bombastic issues on the Hill, but it’s one that has percolated among lawmakers on both sides of the aisle for years. And one that has never quite made it to the finish line. 

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But for Armstrong, who stepped down as CEO of the Oklahoma-based natural gas processor and transporter Williams Companies before joining the Senate until the end of the year, the only issue that matters is gutting red tape and legal hurdles for new energy infrastructure projects that proponents argue, in the long run, could provide a boom in America’s economic competitiveness, particularly against China.

“There’s no magic, overnight fix to lower prices, but comprehensive, meaningful permitting reform will ensure that the U.S. remains the global leader in energy,” Williams said in a statement. “When we can build our own infrastructure and produce our own supply, our allies will be far less reliant on adversarial sources for their energy.” 

“The U.S. cannot afford to remain idle while our global competitors move ahead, and the cost of inaction will be paid directly by American consumers through higher utility bills,” he continued. 

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Williams has produced a package of bills geared toward permitting reform that combines ideas from the House and Senate, dubbed the American Energy and Mineral Infrastructure Act of 2026.

The package would ultimately alleviate time and money spent on the permitting process for pipeline developers, liquid natural gas (LNG) export companies and natural gas producers, among others, as they navigate the dense and slow-moving permitting process. 

Armstrong’s legislation, which so far has the backing of Republican Sens. Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming, Rick Scott of Florida, and Katie Britt of Alabama, along with nearly two dozen oil and gas companies, would make the Federal Energy Regulatory Agency (FERC) the lead agency in approving interstate pipelines and LNG terminals, a change in current law that would prevent a single state from blocking a federally approved interstate project. 

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It would also require “evidence-based” review when it comes to environmental-based decisions in the permitting process, and would expand the usage of Nationwide Permits under the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to create a broader standardized approval process for certain projects. 

The package also creates standardized requirements for projects that affect wetlands and waterways and would make it easier for mining, particularly of critical minerals, to take place on federal lands.

And it would broadly reform the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) that requires federal agencies to study environmental impacts before approving many projects to narrow what agencies analyze, clarify that NEPA is largely a procedural law, limit expansive environmental analyses and establish clearer rules for review in court. 

“America has got to be able to build again, or else we are leaving our kids a worse country than the one we inherited from previous generations,” Armstrong said. “I’m glad that my presence in the Senate these last few months has reinvigorated this conversation, and rest assured, I won’t be stepping off the gas.”

New York City and New York state are funneling hundreds of thousands of dollars in new funding toward the New York City Abortion Access Hub.

Press releases from the offices of Big Apple Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Empire State Gov. Kathy Hochul declared that the two figures were announcing that the city’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene and the state’s Department of Health are infusing $495,000 to expand the program’s “referral network.”

“The expansion will allow the Hub to connect callers with a broader network of abortion providers and support organizations outside the five boroughs, helping more people access reproductive health care regardless of where they live,” the releases noted.

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The releases say “New York State’s annual investment… will support the Hub’s coordination with abortion providers outside New York City and organizations that assist patients with travel, financial support and lodging associated with obtaining care.”

While the city’s press release places this “annual investment” from the state at $220,000, the state’s press release puts that figure at $250,000.

Fox News Digital has reached out to the mayor’s and governor’s offices about the discrepancy.

FLORIDA GOP GUBERNATORIAL PRIMARY CANDIDATE SAYS AS GOVERNOR, HE’D ‘SHUT DOWN’ EVERY ABORTION CLINIC IN STATE

The announcement about the funding came on the fourth anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2022 ruling that overturned Roe v. Wade.

“The Constitution does not prohibit the citizens of each State from regulating or prohibiting abortion. Roe and Casey arrogated that authority. We now overrule those decisions and return that authority to the people and their elected representatives,” that ruling declared.

The press releases note that “The NYC Abortion Access Hub is a confidential hotline that connects callers to abortion care and related services, including financial assistance, insurance enrollment, transportation and lodging. The Hub was launched in response to the Dobbs decision. Since its launch, the Hub has answered more than 10,400 calls and nearly 5,000 live chat messages. More than half of callers seek medication abortion services, while one-quarter of calls come from outside New York state.”

NEW YORK GOV. HOCHUL SIGNS LAW PROTECTING ABORTION PILL PRESCRIBERS AFTER DOCTOR INDICTED IN LOUISIANA

“Four years ago, the disastrous Dobbs decision stripped away a fundamental right and put reproductive health care out of reach for millions of Americans across this country,” Mamdani said in a statement. “Since then, New York has led the fight to protect abortion care. On this anniversary, we are expanding the successful Abortion Access Hub so that anyone seeking care can more easily find it. Together with New York State, we are strengthening a lifeline that connects people to abortion care, medication, transportation, lodging and support. Because abortion is health care. And health care is a human right.”

“As we commemorate four years since the Supreme Court’s disastrous Dobbs decision, New York is sending a clear message to the rest of the country: We’re not going to let Washington Republicans take us backwards,” Hochul noted in a statement. “Thanks to our support, we are expanding the reach of this vital resource so more people have access to safe reproductive health care.”