EXCLUSIVE: A bipartisan group of lawmakers is moving to crack down on foreign influence in American education by targeting universities’ financial ties to adversarial nations.

The package would ban federal funding to colleges that operate “branch” campuses in adversarial countries or accept research funding for sensitive fields like artificial intelligence, biotech and quantum computing. China, for example, has been a major source of foreign influence in American education through its Confucius Classrooms, which states like Oklahoma have cracked down on.

On a federal level, Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., has taken the mantle of defending education against issues from foreign influence to antisemitism on campus; famously headlining a hearing after which UPenn’s then-president resigned amid pressure over her responses on the latter.

Stefanik again is out in front of an education protection endeavor, telling Fox News Digital she is part of a bicameral, bipartisan group focused on keeping foreign influence away from America’s young and growing minds.

“I introduced the No Branch Campuses in Hostile Countries Act with Senator Rick Scott, and this is part of the broader higher education reform effort that I have been leading on in the Congress,” Stefanik said in an exclusive interview.

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“One of the challenges that I’ve seen is the influence of foreign adversaries sowing discord on our higher education campuses. And part of this has been coming from the foreign dollars flowing in, but also the existence of branches in these foreign adversarial countries.”

She noted her home state of New York has major universities operating branch campuses in China, but said the problem extends beyond the Empire State to other top schools in Chicago, Washington and elsewhere.

Stefanik added that Confucius Institutes and classrooms were recently banned through the national defense bill, and that just as that effort was bipartisan, so is her second education security bill this week.

The Defending American Research Act prevents any institution of higher education from receiving federal research funding for five years if it receives funds from certain foreign countries including Qatar, Venezuela, Turkey and North Korea.

In Stefanik’s own book, “Poisoned Ivies,” she noted she dove into the topic of dangerous aspects of today’s campus life from foreign influence to antisemitism.

“[Ours] was the most viewed hearing in the history of Congress. It led to multiple university presidents’ resignations, but importantly, it set off an earthquake in higher education reform. There have been seismic shifts in higher-ed, both in the marketplace, as you’re seeing parents and students voting with their wallets and feet, as it’s shifted,” Stefanik said, adding that many American youth are seeking collegiate education at southern schools where the liberal northeast and west coast influence is more muted.

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Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., and Rep. Josh Gottheimer, D-N.J., are joining Stefanik in the effort, and Scott told Fox News Digital that America “has enemies” and should “start acting like it” when it comes to their influence on higher education.

“Countries like Communist China and terror-supporting Qatar should not be able to use America’s colleges and universities as outposts to spy on us, steal sensitive research, and spread anti-American propaganda, but we’ve been letting them do it for years,” Scott said.

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“This legislation is critical to America’s national security and the future of our higher education system — neither of which should be for sale.”

While the list includes more obvious entries like North Korea, Cuba and China, Qatar is also included, even as it remains a somewhat neutral or cooperative partner on national security concerns such as evacuations from Afghanistan and the Iran conflict.

However, Stefanik said when it comes to its influence on U.S. education, her research led her to “billions of dollars” from Doha appearing to prop up antisemitic interests and “pro-terror professors” at some universities including in her home state.

“I think that’s one of the major ways we need to push back on this foreign influence that’s really shifting away from the founding missions of these higher education institutions,” she said.

Other nations on both bills’ lists include the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Islamic Republic of Iran and the Russian Federation.

The bill sponsors’ collective hope is that their measures will provide the leverage needed to force U.S. universities to cut ties with adversarial governments or risk their bottom line.

FIRST ON FOX: The educational background of the alleged White House Correspondents’ dinner Correspondents dinner shooter Cole Allen is generating renewed scrutiny from critics about the current state of academia and bias in the teaching profession, as well as questions about far-left politics and rhetoric on college campuses, including the specific institutions the alleged shooter attended.

Allen graduated from Cal State University Dominguez Hills in May 2025 with a Master’s Degree in computer science, according to his LinkedIn page. He spent a few years at the Carson, California, institution that multiple university employees who spoke to Fox News Digital said is rife with far-left ideology and antipathy toward countering views to that.

“I was not shocked,” a CSU Dominguez employee, granted anonymity to protect against retribution, told Fox News Digital about the news that Allen was a former student at the university. “Campus policy treats ICE like it is an invading army. There is constant talk of ‘the community under threat.’”

“I hope no one here approves of violence, but continually talking about the government as a threat to the community isn’t healthy.”

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Some professors and administrators at CSUDH emphasize race and division in their teaching, and while they may not be the majority, they are highly visible and appear to be well supported, another employee said. 

For example, the employee explained that the university maintains three separate ethnic studies departments, Chicana/o studies, Africana studies and Asian Pacific studies, even though these programs have relatively few majors and graduates. Despite the university facing a serious financial crisis, there are no plans to consolidate them into a single department, which could reduce costs. 

“Faculty who spearheaded the push for an ‘ethnic studies’ requirement in the CSU were almost uniformly rewarded with deanships and administrative positions throughout the CSU,” the employee said.

Additionally, the Chicana/o Studies Department publicly supported Gaza on Nov. 3, 2023, weeks after the Oct. 7 Hamas massacre, but did not face any official consequences or requests to apologize, the employee said. 

“Conservative and independent professors and lecturers can expect scorn and insult when they try and actually voice their viewpoints, if not outright censure,” one of the employees told Fox News Digital. 

“Conservative students can realistically expect retaliation from faculty for disagreeing with said faculty member’s political views. I’ve heard a member dismiss a rather good student as being libertarian, ‘And, therefore, he can’t be that smart.’”

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One of the employees suggested that “regular folks from 20 years ago likely “keep their mouths shut” in order to not be branded a “right-wing bigot.”

“If you aren’t ‘anti-racist’ you are part of the problem to many of the most vocal people here. Certainly I’m not comfortable letting my views be fully known and I’m a lifelong Democrat.”

One of the most prominent voices on campus during Allen’s tenure was the school’s president, who often talked about race and labeled the Trump administration as racist.

“We need to be cognizant of how our minds and spirits, minds and spirits, have been contaminated by the residuals of racism and white supremacy,” Thomas A. Parham, former president at Cal State University Dominguez Hills, said during a webinar last fall titled, “Liberation Psychology: Unlocking the Shackles of Conceptual Incarceration,” first reported by Gateway Pundit.

Parham served as the president of CSU Dominguez Hills from March 2018 through this past December, when he stepped down after the school’s Academic Senate passed a resolution of “no confidence” over his leadership during his tenure.

Parham said during the webinar that it was his goal to “disrupt” and “dislodge” individuals who feel “comfortable” with the “way things are” when it comes to race.

“I want to dislodge them from that comfortable category of intellectual, emotional, and behavioral apathy that has been stuck in the way things are and then acting in the way that happens,’ Parham explained in the webinar, which was hosted by the American Psychological Association (APA) Leadership Development Institute.

 “If I need to adjust or disrupt that fragility in order to do that, that is the only thing that is going to instigate change. If I make them too comfortable, then all they do is receive information and passively go about doing it as if everything they’re doing is okay. So, I have to be one that’s unapologetic about being able to confront the fragility.”

Parham also offered criticism of Trump in the webinar, saying, “When you can brag about grabbing women by the privates, that is sexual assault that would wind everybody else up in jail. And 53% of the women still vote for you. Mostly White. You know this is something more than just a political issue.”

At another point in the webinar, Parham claimed the Trump administration doesn’t like minorities, saying, “Everybody knew this current federal administration was not liking Black folk, was not liking Latino folk, and was not down with immigrants. Everybody knew that.” 

One of the CSU Dominguez employees told Fox News Digital, “That’s Parham.”

“He centered race in everything, but only in a Black-White binary despite campus being 2/3s Latino,” the employee said. “He was defiant about not following DOE/admin rules on DEI and always made it feel like if you weren’t far-left, you didn’t share the values of the ‘Toro Family.’ A lot of professors, especially the loudest voices on campus, are the same way. I’m sure a lot of professors aren’t pushing an agenda, but the dominant narrative on campus, including from administration, that the mission of the university is race-conscious, Leftist, and activist.”

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On April 17, 2025, a month before Allen graduated, CSUDH faculty and staff joined a press conference and rally as part of the National Day of Action for Higher Education. This was coordinated with other Southern California campuses to protest what organizers called the Trump administration’s “attacks on higher education.”

Dr. Rick Addante, a neuroscientist who spent years working in the Cal State University system and was present during Parham’s webinar, which he posted online, told Fox News Digital he was “shocked and appalled at the kind of vile hate and discrimination that he [Parham] was spewing,” and made the case that the political climate at CSU Dominguez was one that could easily radicalize an impressionable student.

Addante, who has been sounding the alarm on X over alleged liberal radicalization on college campuses over the last few years after being fired from Florida Tech after blowing the whistle on DEI, argues that the rhetoric found in the shooter’s manifesto is indistinguishable from the official “ideological breeding ground” established by Parham. He believes the shooter was “indoctrinated” by an institutional culture that explicitly targets the Trump administration and its supporters.

“When you look at that, and you ask yourself, why is this person willing to run through a gauntlet of Secret Service people to attack the entire line of succession of the United States government and the President of the United States, where do his ideas, where do his thoughts and this drive come from?” Addante said. “Well, to me, you can draw a straight line connecting the two dots because this is clearly what he was indoctrinated with.”

“As far as I’m concerned, they should be yanking funding from all of these places and treating them like the madrasas for the terror breeding grounds that they are,” Addante added.

Beginning in March 2020, Allen’s LinkedIn profile says, he joined C2 Education, a tutoring company, enrolling at California State University, Dominguez Hills, in 2022 to pursue an MS in computer science, graduating in May 2025. That school also confirmed that a person by the same name graduated with a master’s degree that year.

A Dec. 30, 2024, Facebook post from C2 Education congratulated “Cole Allen of C2 Education Torrence on being honored as December teacher of the month.” A photo matching that of Allen was attached to the post.

According to law enforcement officials, Allen’s past includes descending into anti-Trump hate, attending at least one of the three “No Kings” protests organized over the past year by groups including Democratic-leaning nonprofits, like Indivisible, MoveOn and American Federation of Teachers, and a network of socialist organizations.

In the days following the high-profile shooting authorities say was carried out by Allen, social media users began pointing to his educational background and his leftist commentary on social media, while highlighting the allegations in recent years that the education system in the United States has been increasingly promoting and funding far-left ideologies.

“If you’re surprised that the wannabe Trump assassin is a teacher, you haven’t been paying attention,” political commentator Riley Gaines posted on X on Monday in response to a Fox News Digital report highlighting the over $1 billion teachers’ unions have sent to far left causes over the last decade.

“The elephant in the room is that a left wing teacher just tried to assassinate multiple members of the Trump administration after teachers unions spent more than $1 billion on left-wing causes,” Republican communicator Steve Guest posted on X in response to the same report.

In addition to attending CSU Dominguez, in September 2013, according to his online profile, Allen enrolled in the highly competitive California Institute of Technology, known as Caltech, to pursue a BS in mechanical engineering, graduating in 2017.

Caltech has had its own issues with perceptions of far-left curriculum and ideology, highlighted most notably by a National Association of Scholars report that concluded DEI, widely viewed by conservative critics as a key tenet of far-left ideology on college campuses,  is not just administrative at Caltech, it’s inserted into scientific research culture itself. 

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The report explains that “Caltech’s administration is thoroughly saturated with DEI’s broader ideological agenda” and that “DEI was established to operate at every level of campus work.” 

DEI was also a top priority of Parham during his tenure at CSU Dominguez, according to his own words in an exit interview where he took a shot at the Trump administration’s efforts to rein back race-based hiring and curriculum.

“We are acutely aware of the federal government’s hostility toward anything that looks like it wants to be diverse,” Parham said. “Not a surprise to us, but we try to delicately dance, not to skirt the law, but really to be in tune with the law as it is written, and separate out what is someone’s opinion and perspective about what they like and don’t like, versus technically what is legal.”

In the same interview, Parham expressed his reverence for anti-colonialist writer and activist Frantz Fanon, a French political philosopher who died in 1961, who was labeled the “Patron Saint of Political Violence” by The Atlantic in 2024. 

“They become mantras and symbols of possibility. When I see Fannie Lou Hamer talking about — I’m sick and tired of being sick and tired — it sometimes creates the mood and the ambiance that allows me to kind of move forward,” Parham said when asked about the “black intellectuals” that are “meaningful in his life.” “When I see Fanon, which is kind of my daily mantra, say that Each generation, out of relative obscurity, must reach out and seek to fulfill its legacy or betray it — I go to work every day and go to bed every night deciding, have I fulfilled or betrayed the legacy that I’ve been blessed to inherit by my ancestors and my elders?”

In his farewell email to the university, obtained by Fox News Digital, Parham said he hoped his “lasting legacy” was his “commitment” to DEI measures. 

CSUDH’s interim president, Mary Ann Villarreal, appears to have made racial “equity” a key part of her resume as well, joining the university after serving as “vice president for institutional excellence at the American Association of Colleges and Universities, a global membership organization dedicated to advancing equity, innovation, and educational excellence,” according to her bio.

Before that, Villarreal served as the vice president for equity, diversity and inclusion.

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“I am excited to join CSUDH in advancing its vital mission of serving California students in all their diversity and promise,” Villarreal said after her appointment in a press release on the school website. “Dominguez Hills is a beacon of inclusivity and a vital anchor for its community.” 

A spokesperson for CSU Dominguez pointed Fox News Digital to their previous statement on April 27 that said, “CSUDH reiterates its condemnation for the act of violence at the WHCA dinner. The university community is grateful for law enforcement’s swift response and greatly relieved that no one was seriously injured.”

In response to questions about the climate on campus, the spokesperson said, “CSUDH is committed to creating a safe, healthy environment in which our campus community can thrive and exchange ideas. Our mission is to provide a transformative educational experience that helps students in their academic and career journeys.”

The statement continued, “CSUDH upholds the tenets of the First Amendment: our staff, faculty, and students, each of whom has their own perspectives and life experiences, are free to engage in dialogue and debate. No one is discouraged from speaking their mind, and the university cannot and will not intervene in individual expression unless it violates the law. CSUDH urges anyone experiencing retaliation or harassment to make a report so that the university can respond appropriately and provide any necessary supports.”

A Caltech spokesperson told Fox News Digital the shooting incident is “deeply troubling” and that “we unequivocally denounce all forms of political violence and extend our concern and support to all those impacted by this incident.”

“Caltech is firmly committed to—and solely focused on—advancing knowledge; promoting critical, data-driven inquiry; and providing the next generation of scientists and engineers with access to research and learning experiences that drive discovery, innovation, and technological advancement.”

The spokesperson also pointed to reporting on community members and classmates who have said Allen was  actively involved with the Caltech Christian Fellowship club and fencing during his time at Caltech.

Nicole Neily, president of the education watchdog Defending Education, pointed to a 2024 report her organization released highlighting the “activist pipeline” on college campuses.

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“Colleges of education have strayed far from their mission of providing best practices and tactics for teachers, instead focusing on leveraging pupils to combat a so-called ‘oppressor-oppressed matrix,’” Neily said. 

“For far too long, teachers have viewed their role as ‘agents of social change’ rather than of educators – and the results of this sea change are obvious when looking at test scores. America’s students deserve to learn reading, writing, and arithmetic – not be enlisted as child soldiers in progressives’ war on our country’s values.” 

Skeptic Research Center, a project of The Skeptics Society, released a study in 2025 suggesting a correlation between a high level of education and being more open to supporting political violence.

“Americans with the highest level of formal education were also the most supportive of political violence,” the study stated, adding, “[Thirty-six] percent of those with a graduate or professional degree agreed at least somewhat with the statement ‘If you are protesting something unjust, it is reasonable to damage property,’ while 40 percent agreed that ‘Violence is often necessary to create social change.’”

Addante told Fox News Digital that Saturday’s shooting should be a wakeup call to the threat of radical ideology on college campuses nationwide. 

“Where did the manifesto come from? Where did the ideas that drove the manifesto and the actions and the threats, where did they come from? They didn’t come from Reddit, they didn’t come from social media,” Addante said.

“They might have been exacerbated by Reddit and social media and Bluesky, and sure, blame them too. But we’re not going to solve anything by blaming BlueSky and Reddit. We’re going to solve things by addressing the root cause, which is actually the ideological breeding grounds and where he was trained to think this way by the actual employed people receiving federal funds who specifically spent five — four years, five years teaching him literally this. That is what we’re not doing as a country in focusing and that’s why it’s going to continue to happen over and over again because there are a thousand of these institutions around America.”

Fox News Digital’s Peter D’Abrosca and Asra Q. Nomani contributed to this report.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — On Saturday more than 150,000 spectators are expected to descend on the famed Churchill Downs for the Kentucky Derby, but the story of race day begins long before the crowd arrives.

For those behind the scenes, Derby Day on May 2 isn’t about crisp mint juleps and eye-catching hats — it’s the culmination of years of training, millions in investment and the final hours where it all comes together.

And spectators willing to spend a pretty penny for the elite experience could dole-out approximately $16,800 for a seat at a table above the track, while costs listed on the website for private turf suites start at $280,000.

“It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for these horses,” Stan Bowling, lead tour guide at the Kentucky Derby Museum, told Fox News Digital. And some fans feel the same way.

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Only 3-year-old thoroughbreds can qualify for the race, with training that begins early and intensifies in the years leading up to the Kentucky Derby, affectionately dubbed the “fastest two minutes in sports.”

“A lot is riding on that two minutes and a little bit of change for all these owners, trainers and jockeys,” said Bowling, a Kentucky native who has attended the race 28 times. “There are no do-overs on this track.”

While the race itself is quick, the road to Churchill Downs is anything but. Along the way, horses earn points through qualifying races, while trainers manage every detail to ensure the thoroughbreds peak at precisely the right moment.

Qualifying horses arrive in early March to adjust to the track and settle into life at Churchill Downs, which hosts roughly 750 races each year. But no other race on that track carries the same weight of the Kentucky Derby — the 12th in a 14-race lineup that anchors the day’s events.

“Every morning, from mid-March through the end of the year, the horses are going to be out on the track training between 5:30 and 10 a.m.,” Bowling said as he steered a golf cart beneath the famed track toward what’s known as the backside.

He noted that by mid-March, approximately 1,400 horses arrive at the stalls.

It’s here, beyond the grandstands and away from the pageantry, that Churchill Downs takes on a different identity. The backside operates like a small, self-contained community, with 47 barns housing the horses and as many as 600 workers living and working on-site.

The grounds include a chapel and even a small school — part of a self-contained world that runs parallel to the spectacle just steps away.

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The backside stretches across rows of mostly nondescript stalls, punctuated by a few bearing the names of famed horses and their jockeys.

“Want to take a guess how much it costs to rent one of these stalls at the most famous racetrack in the world?” Bowling asked.

“$7.50.”

That modest fee is just a starting point, a small figure compared to the millions that can go into preparing a single horse over the course of its training and care.

That level of investment is mirrored in the fan experience, where attending the Derby comes at a steep price.

“It’s an expensive ticket, I will grant you that, but for most people, coming to see the Kentucky Derby is a bucket list event,” Bowling said.

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Tickets range from about $160 for access to the 26-acre grassy infield — where the race is watched on large screens — to about $800 for one of the cheapest seats in the grandstand.

For grandstand ticket holders, food, alcohol and non-alcoholic drinks are included in the price, along with entry to races held on both Friday and Saturday.

“Among the 60,000 grandstand seats, those closer to the track and farther from the finish line tend to be the least expensive,” he added.

At the higher end, prices climb steeply.

“If you want to be in the Woodford Reserve Paddock Club for a very unique, elite experience, a table on the glass for six would cost you $16,800 a seat,” Darren Rogers of Churchill Downs told Fox News Digital.

“We have a number of different levels of packages to suit the experience guests are looking for, especially out-of-towners and bucket-list visitors.”

Meanwhile, tickets on a typical non-Kentucky Derby race day can cost as little as $10.

But for many, the lofty price is worth paying for a fleeting moment — two minutes that carry years of work, millions of dollars and a lifetime of ambition.

Democratic lawmakers are defending redistricting efforts across the country, calling their efforts a necessary foil to similar Republican-led plans, while arguing vulnerable Republicans should have fought harder to prevent the “arms race” reshuffling district lines nationally.

“I feel like the system is fundamentally broken, but let’s be clear, Republicans began the redistricting arms race. And so, Democrats are left with no choice but to level the playing field for the sake of democracy,” Rep. Jason Crow, D-Colo., told Fox News Digital.

Lawmakers’ comments come as the Supreme Court handed down a decision on Wednesday, reshaping the framework of the 1965 Voting Rights Act and opening the door to the possibility of fresh redistricting efforts ahead of the 2026 midterms.

In its 6-3 decision delivered along ideological lines on Wednesday, the court struck down Louisiana’s 6th Congressional District, which was redrawn in 2024 to have a predominantly Black electorate. The court also ruled that states may not use race to either draw districts that disenfranchise voters or help minority communities support their preferred candidates.

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It’s unclear which states may re-evaluate their maps in light of the decision.

“This is a very nefarious thing that the Supreme Court has done, and it’s a very desperate thing that Republicans are doing to cling to unearned power,” Rep. Mark Takano, D-Calif., said.

Since President Donald Trump urged state lawmakers to expand the GOP’s 217-213 majority by eliminating five Democratic seats in Texas, states including California, Utah, Missouri, Louisiana, Ohio, Virginia and North Carolina have followed suit.

Most recently, the Florida legislature approved a plan to eliminate up to four Democratic districts.

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While most Democrats have laid blame for the avalanche of redistricting efforts on Trump, others believe a desire to use redistricting to carve out partisan advantages goes back much farther.

“I put this all on Democrats,” Rep. Marc Veasey, D-Texas, said.

“In 2003, when Tom DeLay was majority leader, and he said that he wanted to get rid of five Democrats in Texas, we didn’t respond. We let him slap us around, we let him come around and slap us, and we didn’t do anything about it,” Veasey said, referring to another mid-decade Republican redistricting effort that went unchallenged by Democrats in other states.

Veasey believes this time around, vulnerable Republicans in Democratic-leaning states invited their own demise by not voicing opposition to the Republican efforts in Texas.

“They didn’t say anything. The time to speak up, especially the Republican members from California, the time for them to speak was back then and they didn’t,” Veasey said.

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Rep. Christian Menefee, D-Texas, like many of his Democratic colleagues, lamented the redistricting struggle but argued that pretending that the situation didn’t exist was unrealistic.

“Look, in a perfect world, we would not have any political gerrymandering. We wouldn’t have folks trying to draw black and brown people out of their districts and then putting the partisan cover over the top. But because we don’t live in that world, we’ve got to fight fire with fire,” Menefee said.

President Donald Trump appeared to joke during remarks at the Forum Club of the Palm Beaches in Florida Friday that the U.S. would be “taking over” Cuba “almost immediately,” while recognizing attendees including former Rep. Dan Mica.

“And he comes from, originally, a place called Cuba, which we will be taking over almost immediately,” Trump said.

“Cuba’s got problems. We’ll finish one first. I like to finish a job.”

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Trump then riffed on a hypothetical show of American force.

“On the way back from Iran, we’ll have one of our big — maybe the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier — the biggest in the world,” he said. 

“We’ll have that come in, stop about 100 yards offshore, and they’ll say, ‘Thank you very much, we give up.’”

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The president did not elaborate further.

The White House did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for clarification if the remarks were hypothetical or outlining policy plans.

The Pentagon will withdraw 5,000 U.S. troops from Germany, a spokesperson confirmed to Fox News Digital.

The redeployment comes amid President Donald Trump’s escalating feud with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and other NATO allies after tensions over their response to the conflict involving Iran.

“The Secretary of War has ordered the withdrawal of approximately 5,000 troops from Germany,” chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell told Fox News Digital. 

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“This decision follows a thorough review of the Department’s force posture in Europe and is in recognition of theater requirements and conditions on the ground.

“We expect the withdrawal to be completed over the next six to twelve months.”

About 38,000 U.S. troops are stationed in Germany, where U.S. European Command is headquartered at Ramstein Air Base. The base and other American installations have long served as key logistics hubs and command centers supporting U.S. military operations in Europe and the Middle East.

The U.S. troop presence in Germany has been a point of political debate in recent years. In 2020, Trump ordered the withdrawal of roughly 12,000 troops from the country, but the plan faced bipartisan resistance in Congress and was not completed before President Joe Biden took office.

Merz, speaking Monday in Marsberg, criticized the U.S. approach to Iran, saying Washington was being “humiliated by the Iranian leadership” and expressing hope the conflict would end “as quickly as possible.”

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Trump’s comments followed those remarks, marking the latest flash point between the two leaders, who have previously clashed on issues, including tariffs and defense spending.

On Wednesday, Trump said in a Truth Social post his administration was “studying and reviewing the possible reduction of Troops in Germany,” adding that a decision would be made “over the next short period of time.”

He also sharply criticized Merz, saying he “doesn’t know what he’s talking about” regarding Iran’s nuclear ambitions.

“The Chancellor of Germany, Friedrich Merz, thinks it’s OK for Iran to have a Nuclear Weapon,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post Tuesday.

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“He doesn’t know what he’s talking about! If Iran had a Nuclear Weapon, the whole World would be held hostage.

“I am doing something with Iran, right now, that other Nations, or Presidents, should have done long ago. No wonder Germany is doing so poorly, both Economically, and otherwise!”

Fox News Digital’s Alex Koch and Peter Doocy contributed to this report.

A federal appeals court on Friday blocked the mailing of the abortion pill mifepristone under current Food and Drug Administration (FDA) rules, a move the court acknowledged would, “as a practical matter, have a nationwide effect,” one that sets up a likely Supreme Court battle over abortion access.

The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling could restrict abortion pill access across the country, restoring rules supporters say protect patient safety and state authority, while critics warn it will make access harder even in states where abortion remains legal.

The decision means women will now have to see a medical professional to obtain a mifepristone prescription, restoring a requirement that had been lifted during the COVID-19 pandemic under former President Joe Biden.

Mifepristone is one of two drugs commonly used in medication abortions and accounts for a majority of abortions in the U.S., according to research from the Guttmacher Institute.

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The court’s order blocks mail-order distribution of the drug and effectively halts pharmacy-based dispensing allowed under recent FDA rule changes, requiring it to be dispensed in person under earlier safety protocols.

“It is true, as the district court noted, that a § 705 stay ‘would, as a practical matter, have a nationwide effect.’” the court wrote, putting in plain terms the sweeping implications of the decision.

Judges sharply criticized the FDA’s handling of the drug’s safety data, saying the agency had “previously eliminated the requirement to report mifepristone’s adverse events,” and calling it “unreasonable” to remove reporting requirements and then rely on the resulting lack of data to justify expanded access.

The ruling also sided with arguments from pro-life states, including Louisiana, which said federal policy undermined their abortion laws.

“Every abortion facilitated by FDA’s action cancels Louisiana’s ban,” the court wrote, adding that the state’s policy recognizes “every unborn child is [a] human being … from the moment of conception.

REPUBLICAN SENATORS BLAST FDA FOR EXPANDING ABORTION PILL ACCESS

“Once lost, that sovereign prerogative of protecting unborn life cannot be regained.”

The ruling marks a major escalation in the legal fight over abortion drugs, pitting federal regulators against states seeking to enforce stricter abortion laws after the Supreme Court’s 2022 decision overturning Roe v. Wade.

Pro-life groups quickly praised the decision.

“This is a win we’ve been waiting for, and we pray it holds,” Students for Life President Kristan Hawkins said.

“We can’t remain the United States of America if abortion-loving states allow criminal enterprises to be set up, breaking the laws of their pro-life neighbors.”

NEW YORK DOCTOR INDICTED FOR ALLEGEDLY PRESCRIBING ABORTION PILL TO PATIENT VIA TELEMEDICINE IN LOUISIANA

Family Research Council President Tony Perkins called the ruling “great news for the unborn,” adding that the issue “should be before the U.S. Supreme Court soon.”

Pro-choice advocates sharply criticized the decision.

New York Attorney General Letitia James said mifepristone is “safe, effective and essential,” calling the ruling “yet another cruel attack on abortion access.”

“Restrictions on abortion care are restrictions on life-saving health care,” she added.

As Fox News Digital previously reported, a federal judge had allowed mifepristone to remain available by mail on a temporary basis last month while legal challenges and federal review efforts continued.

PRO-LIFE MOVEMENT CONFRONTS HIGH ABORTION RATES THREE YEARS AFTER DOBBS

Judge David C. Joseph previously cautioned against “government by lawsuit,” emphasizing that the FDA’s ongoing safety review, not litigation, should determine long-term policy.

That review remains underway, with the Department of Health and Human Services and the FDA tasked with examining safety data, adverse events and the regulatory framework on mifepristone.

Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill had argued the policy caused “irreparable harm every day” it remained in place, warning expanded access was designed to “reach into jurisdictions like Louisiana” despite state-level abortion restrictions.

Friday’s ruling now sets up a likely appeal to the Supreme Court, where a new challenge to federal authority over abortion drug regulation could take center stage.

The Associated Press contributed to this reporting.

President Donald Trump informed Congress Friday that a ceasefire with Iran has ended hostilities and reset the clock on congressional war powers limits, but legal experts say ongoing military operations complicate that claim.

“For War Powers Resolution purposes, the hostilities that began on Saturday, February 28 have terminated,” a senior administration official told Fox News Digital. 

“Both parties agreed to a 2-week ceasefire on Tuesday, April 7 that has since been extended,” the official went on. “There has been no exchange of fire between U.S. Armed Forces and Iran since Tuesday, April 7.”

The White House formally notified Congress in a letter Friday under the War Powers Resolution that it considers hostilities to have ended following the ceasefire.

LIVE UPDATES: IRAN THREATENS ‘LONG AND PAINFUL STRIKES’ ON US POSITIONS AS TRUMP FACES WAR POWERS DEADLINE

“Despite the success of United States operations against the Iranian regime and continued efforts to secure a lasting peace, the threat posed by Iran and its proxy forces remains significant. Accordingly, the Department of War continues to update its force posture in the AOR in select areas to counter Iranian proxy forces’ threats and to protect the United States and its allies and partners,” Trump wrote in a letter to Congress Friday.

“As the situation evolves, I will continue to update the Congress on noteworthy changes in the United States Armed Forces presence, consistent with the War Powers Resolution.”

For decades, presidents of both parties have pushed the limits of the War Powers Resolution, seeking flexibility to conduct military operations without being hindered by a congressional vote.

The law requires the president to end the use of U.S. forces within 60 days of entering hostilities unless Congress authorizes the operation, with a limited extension allowed for withdrawal.

The more than two-month conflict has exposed sharply different interpretations of the law and whether the White House must seek congressional approval. Bombing ceased on April 7, but U.S. forces continue enforcing a naval blockade in the Strait of Hormuz — an operation widely considered an act of war.

“A ceasefire does not automatically suspend the War Powers 60-day clock,” said John Bellinger, who served as legal adviser to the State Department and National Security Council under President George W. Bush.

He pointed to the continued presence of U.S. warships and thousands of troops enforcing a blockade in the Strait of Hormuz, arguing American forces “are clearly still conducting military operations and are in potential danger.”

U.S. forces have continued boarding and seizing vessels suspected of violating the blockade, at times using force to disable ships before Marines conduct inspections.

Stephen Pomper, policy chief at the International Crisis Group and a former senior National Security Council official, was more direct.

“I don’t think it’s a very credible interpretation. It’s certainly not based on the text of the statute,” Pomper said.

“There’s still an enormous American deployment. There’s an active blockade, which is an act of war.”

Trump is far from the first president to test the limits of the War Powers resolution, experts noted. 

During the late 1980s “Tanker War” with Iran, the George H.W. Bush administration argued that individual naval engagements did not amount to sustained hostilities. In 1999, the Clinton administration maintained that congressional funding for the Kosovo campaign effectively constituted authorization.

More recently, the Obama administration argued that U.S. involvement in Libya did not rise to the level of “hostilities” under the War Powers Resolution, even as American forces supported air operations. The Biden administration made similar arguments in defending certain U.S. deployments tied to Yemen.

“We have seen Republican and Democratic administrations alike bypass the act in creative ways,” Nicholas Creel, Associate Prof. of Business Law at Georgia College and State University told Fox News Digital.

PELOSI’S WAR POWERS FLIP-FLOP EXPOSED IN RESURFACED OBAMA-ERA CLIP CONTRADICTS TRUMP CRITICISM ON IRAN

Congress has periodically challenged similar interpretations in past conflicts but has rarely forced a withdrawal of U.S. forces. Courts have also largely stayed out of War Powers disputes, leaving presidents with significant latitude to define the scope of hostilities.

If Congress does not act, the administration could continue operations without new authorization.

“It’s really up to Congress, and as often as not, Congress doesn’t want to push back,” Pomper said.

Matt Zierler, an international relations professor at Michigan State University, told Fox News Digital that Congress likely does not have the “real will” to fully execute the War Powers Act because other powers, such as passing appropriation bills that would restrict defense spending, would be more effective. Even so, Zierler said sequestration measures could come at a political loss.

“It’s a big political loss, potentially for Congress, if they start cutting off funding,” Zierler said, suggesting that the president could claim the cut in funds by Congress is hurting troops and national security. 

“It is a political or symbolic game, but it’s not necessarily something that most members of Congress want to play, because, you know, they don’t have all the intelligence,” Zierler said. “They don’t know what’s going on, and it can get really messy.”

Asked about the 60-day clock on Thursday, Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Roger Wicker, R-Miss., told reporters: “I have not spent a great deal of time worrying about that.”

President Donald Trump turned a microphone problem into a comic riff during remarks at The Villages in Florida, asking staff to “turn the mic up please” before joking that he was “screaming my a– off because the mic is no good.”

The moment came during a wide-ranging, joke-heavy speech before the Florida retirement community, where Trump bounced between policy remarks, crowd work and off-the-cuff riffs — at one point quipping, “What’s more secure than The Villages?” as he played to the audience.

Trump first flagged the audio issue while discussing immigration and inflation under former President Joe Biden.

“Tell them to turn up the microphone,” Trump said. “Will you please turn up the mic?”

TRUMP HIT IN THE FACE WITH MICROPHONE, QUIPS OPERATOR ‘BECAME A BIG STORY’

“You pay these guys a lot of money, and then you get up, and the mic isn’t on properly, and then they want their money,” he continued. “And I don’t believe in paying people to do a bad job.”

“I’m screaming my a– off because the mic is no good,” he added. “Turn the mic up please.”

Trump had opened the speech by joking about why he chose to appear at The Villages despite recent security concerns in the wake of the White House Correspondents’ Association (WHCA) dinner shooting on Saturday night.

TRUMP JOKES HE’D LOOK ’20 POUNDS HEAVIER’ IN A BULLETPROOF VEST, SAYS HE DOESN’T THINK ABOUT THREATS

“They say on my life I should be indoors at a secure facility where I can quietly, beautifully and safely play out my term,” Trump said. “I said, what’s more secure than The Villages?”

He also praised the Florida community as “the single largest community of seniors anywhere in the world,” before joking about the size of the overflow crowd.

“They have an overflow room that’s bigger than this,” Trump said. “Why the h— didn’t I go there? To start off.”

He repeatedly teased the crowd about age while arguing his administration had delivered for seniors.

“I don’t happen to be a senior,” Trump said. “I’m much younger than you. I’m a much younger man than you. Look at you old guys.”

“But I feel I can relate to you anyway,” he added.

TRUMP SAYS ‘LEGENDARY’ CROWD REACTION AT UFC 314 SHOWS THE ADMINISTRATION IS ‘DOING A GOOD JOB’

Trump also singled out his regular rally supporters near the stage, calling them “front row Joe’s.”

“They’re all over. I can’t get rid of them,” Trump said. “They are sick individuals, but we love them.”

At another point, Trump defended what he calls “the weave,” his term for jumping between topics mid-speech.

“I love the weave because the weave is great,” Trump said. “Someday I won’t come back, and they’ll say, ‘all right, he shot.’ That’s the weave. I call it the weave because you get a lot of stories into one little sentence. “

“I call it the weave because you get a lot of stories into one little sentence,” he added.

Trump later joked about traveling with Dr. Mehmet Oz while discussing Medicare and Medicaid.

TRUMP CLAIMS WHITE HOUSE DOCTORS REPORT HIM IN ‘PERFECT HEALTH,’ SAYS HE ‘ACED’ THIRD STRAIGHT COGNITIVE EXAM

“We have a man here who knows more about Medicaid, Medicare, medical crap than any human being,” Trump said.

“It’s the most boring trip I’ve ever made,” he added. “He’s telling me about Medicare, Medicaid. All I want to do is take care of you. I don’t care, I said, ‘You work out the details.’”

While discussing prescription drug costs, Trump also recounted a conversation with what he described as a wealthy friend seeking cheaper weight-loss medication overseas.

“He called it the fat shot,” Trump said. “I’ve given it that name, the fat shot.”

The microphone complaint was ultimately one of several unscripted moments as Trump moved between policy and personal banter, delivering a speech that at times resembled a stand-up-style riff more than a traditional political address.

Tahrohon Wayne (T.W.) Shannon, who was Oklahoma’s first African American speaker of the House, is pushing back on President Barack Obama’s pessimistic outlook for minority voters following the Supreme Court’s Wednesday ruling reshaping the landmark 1965 Voting Rights Act.

Where Obama saw the court “abandoning” principles of equal participation, Shannon believes the ruling further pushes race out of American politics, highlighting his own story as evidence that minorities don’t need special treatment to win office.

“This idea that you must have a racially drawn district in order to win and compete is just nonsense,” Shannon, who is currently running for lieutenant governor, said.

In its 6-3 decision delivered along ideological lines on Wednesday, the court struck down Louisiana’s 6th Congressional District, which was redrawn in 2024 to have a predominantly black electorate. The court also ruled that states may not use race to either draw districts that disenfranchise voters or help minority communities support their preferred candidates.

BLACK REPUBLICAN CALLS FOR TOTAL, PERMANENT ABOLITION OF DEI: ‘I WANT TO EARN EVERY OPPORTUNITY ON MERIT’

Obama, reacting to the decision on X, called the ruling disastrous for minorities.

“It serves as just one more example of how a majority of the current Court seems intent on abandoning its vital role in ensuring equal participation in our democracy and protecting the rights of minority groups against majority overreach,” Obama wrote.

Shannon disagreed fiercely, arguing that the former president’s framing would only inflame “racial division.”

“What the Supreme Court really did is say that you can’t fix discrimination by discriminating against people. Race should not be a deciding factor when it comes to redistricting,” Shannon told Fox News Digital.

“The entire country is just kind of tired and disappointed in the Obamas and their constantly whining about how awful and racist America is,” Shannon added.

CHICAGO’S SOUTH SIDE IS DROWNING IN EXCUSES, DEPENDENCY AND DECAY

While Democrats argue the ruling could be abused to dilute minority voting power under the pretext of nonracial factors, Shannon says his experience shows candidates can succeed regardless of how districts are drawn.

“When I was elected, I was 27 years old, to the Oklahoma House of Representatives, I was elected in a majority-white district. They elected me overwhelmingly. I was the first Republican to win my district,” Shannon said.

“And then when I got to the legislature, a predominantly white legislature elected me to be the leader of the Oklahoma State House of Representatives.”

FEDERAL JUDGE SCORCHES DEMS FOR PANDERING TO LATINOS WITH CALIFORNIA MAP IN FIERY DISSENT

Shannon noted that he still believes racism exists in America, calling it “sin” that is tied to the human condition.

“The things that made this country great are three. I call them the three C’s. It’s capitalism, it’s the Constitution, and it’s Christianity. The way you fix racism is by having more believers exercising the freedom that exists within Jesus Christ. That’s the only way I know to fix racism,” Shannon said.