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Former President Donald Trump dismissed a report Saturday that claimed he and his campaign were considering former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, his former GOP presidential primary opponent, to serve as his running mate in the 2024 presidential election.

“Nikki Haley is not under consideration for the V.P. slot, but I wish her well,” Trump wrote in a post to Truth Social.

Trump’s post came after a report from Axios, citing “two people familiar with the dynamic,” claimed Haley was in the running to be Trump’s nominee for vice president.

Haley launched her presidential campaign in February 2023, becoming the first major candidate to challenge Trump, who had announced his candidacy three months earlier. And she was the final rival to Trump, battling the former president in a two-candidate showdown from the New Hampshire primary in late January through Super Tuesday in early March.

NIKKI HALEY TO THANK DONORS, BUT TRUMP’S LAST GOP RIVAL NOT EXPECTED TO ENDORSE FORMER PRESIDENT

Haley announced she was suspending her White House campaign on March 6, one day after Trump swept 14 of 15 GOP nominating contests on Super Tuesday.

To date, Haley has declined to endorse Trump.

“It is now up to Donald Trump to earn the votes of those in our party and beyond it who did not support him. And I hope he does that,” Haley said in March, as she pointed to those who supported her during her White House run.

Haley has not spoken with Trump since exiting the race, a source in her orbit confirmed to Fox News earlier this week.

NIKKI HALEY WINS 150K VOTES IN PA REPUBLICAN PRIMARY DESPITE DROPPING OUT

In a sign of potential trouble for Trump in his general election rematch with President Biden later this year, Haley continues to grab votes in the Republican primaries even though she’s long gone from the presidential nomination race.

Haley won nearly 22% of the vote in Tuesday’s GOP presidential primary in Indiana, which was open to not only Republicans but also independents and Democrats.

During her White House bid, Haley advocated a muscular U.S. foreign policy to deal with global hot spots such as the war between Russia and Ukraine and the fighting between Israel and Hamas, often offering a stark contrast with Trump’s America First agenda of keeping the nation out of international entanglements.

Haley traded fire over America’s overseas role with rival Vivek Ramaswamy, an advocate of Trump’s America First philosophy, during the GOP presidential primary debates.

Reacting to his father’s dismissal of the report, Donald Trump Jr., the former president’s eldest son, wrote in a post to X, “Oh Thank God!!! Word on street is that her people were floating this bulls— because she has a PAC fundraiser [M]onday and is trying to sell attendance!!!”

Haley is expected to huddle early next week with some of the top donors to her Republican presidential campaign, sources confirmed to Fox News this week. She will reportedly use the two-day gathering on Monday and Tuesday in Charleston, South Carolina, to thank her major contributors.

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A Haley source said the former ambassador is not expected to encourage donors to contribute to Trump’s general election campaign and that no endorsement of the presumptive GOP presidential nominee is pending.

Fox News’ Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.

Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., was rebuked as an “elite” during a recent Oxford Union debate, where she argued that populism in the United States is a threat to democracy.

Pelosi — a self-described “devout” Catholic — said during the April 25 debate that certain Americans, whom she considered to be “poor souls who are looking for some answers,” refuse to accept the answers Democrats give them on particular topics due to their beliefs about “guns, gays, [and] God.”

Challenging Pelosi’s position in the debate about populism, Winston Marshall, a musician who was once a part of Mumford and Sons and now hosts the “Marshall Matters” podcast for The Spectator, spoke in opposition to the Oxford Union motion that “This House Believes Populism is a Threat to Democracy.” 

The Oxford Union at the UK’s famed university holds itself as a defender of free speech, and has hosted events with numerous U.S. politicians in the past, including former Republican House Speakers Newt Gingrich and Kevin McCarthy.

Marshall argued at the April 25 debate that the meaning of the word “populist” has been changed by “elites [who] have failed” to align with their own narrative.

PELOSI UNIVERSITY SPEECH INTERRUPTED BY ANTI-ISRAEL AGITATORS: ‘WARMONGER’

“‘Populism’ has become a word used synonymously with ‘racist.’ We’ve heard ‘ethno-nationalist,’ we have ‘bigot,’ we have ‘hillbilly,’ ‘redneck,’ we have ‘deplorable,’” Marshall said. Pelosi had argued in her remarks that contemporary American populism currently had an ethno-nationalist character. 

“Elites use it to show their contempt for ordinary people,” Marshall said.

Marshall argued that the change in meaning of the word “populist“ is “a recent change,” and pointed to a 2016 speech delivered by then-President Barack Obama, who he said “took umbrage with the notion that Trump be called a populist.”

“If anything, Obama argued that he was the populist. If anything, Obama argued that Bernie was the populist,” he said. “Something curious happens. If you watch Obama’s speeches after that point, more and more recently, he uses the word ‘populist’ interchangeably with ‘strong man,’ ‘authoritarian.’ The word changes meaning. It becomes a negative, a pejorative, a slur.”

Pelosi bristles at the comparison between January 6 and the Portland BLM riots

Highlighting the Capitol riots on January 6, 2021, which he believed to be “a dark day for America, indeed,” Marshall said: “I’m sure Congresswoman Pelosi will agree that the entire month of June 2020, when the federal courthouse in Portland, Oregon, was under siege and under insurrection by radical progressives, those, too, were dark days for America.”

At that point, Pelosi raised her hand and said: “There is no equivalence there. . . .  It is not like what happened on January 6th, which was an insurrection incited by the President of the United States.”

“My point, though, is that all political movements are susceptible to violence and, indeed, insurrection,” Marshall said. “Populism is not a threat to democracy. Populism is democracy. And why else have universal suffrage if not to keep elites in check?”

Marshall said he was “rather surprised” that Pelosi was arguing in favor of the motion as he thought “the left was supposed to be anti-elite” and that the “left was supposed to be anti-establishment.”

“Today, particularly in America, the globalist left have become the establishment,” he continued. “I suppose for Mrs. Pelosi to have taken this side of the argument, she’d be arguing herself out of a job.

Marshall went on to claim that “populism is the voice of the voiceless” and that the “real threat to democracy is from the elites.”

PELOSI ACCUSES MSNBC HOST OF BEING A TRUMP ‘APOLOGIST’ FOR ADDING CONTEXT TO JOB NUMBERS

“Now, don’t get me wrong, we need elites. If President Biden has shown us anything, we need someone to run the countries,” he said. “When the president has severe dementia, it’s not just America that crumbles, the whole world burns.”

Marshal shifted his focus to examining the elites, saying he believes that Trump should have accepted the results of the 2020 presidential election.

“So should Hillary in 2016, so should Brussels and Westminster in 2016, and so, too, should Congresswoman Pelosi instead of saying the 2016 election was, quote, ‘hijacked.’”

“It was,” Pelosi interjected, drawing laughter from those in attendance.

“That doesn’t mean we don’t accept the results of it,” she added.

During his speech in opposition of the motion, Marshall also took aim at the social media companies that suspended Trump from their platforms following the January 6 Capitol protests and the mainstream media.

“Mainstream media elites are part of a class who don’t just disdain populism, they disdain the people. If Democrats had put half their energy in delivering for the people, Trump wouldn’t even have a chance in 2024 … you’ve had power for four years. From the fabricated Steele Dossier, to trying to take him off the ballot in both Maine and Colorado, the Democrats are the anti-Democrat party,” he said.

“Populism is not a threat to democracy. But I’ll tell you what is: It’s elites ordering social media to censor political opponents,” Marshall said. “. . . It’s Brussels, D.C., Westiminster, mainstream media, big tech, big Pharma, corporate collusion and the Davos cronies.”

Delivering remarks prior to Marshall, Pelosi said, “Democracy is the rule of law, democracy is free and fair elections, democracy is about independent judiciary, it’s about freedom of the press to have transparency and to have accountability of elected officials to the people.”

“It’s about all of that, and that is everything that the populist regime in Washington, D.C., is against,” she added. “Ethno-nationalistic populism, as is the threat to democracy, is about threatening what they call elites, a free press,” she said. “It’s about fighting issues that relate to free and fair elections, where we have voter suppression to the nth degree under this regime and its resistance to passing the Voting Rights Act, the John Lewis Act, all of that.”

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At one point, while speaking about those who may consider themselves a part of the populist movement and/or are “poor souls who are looking for some answers,” Pelosi said, “We’ve given them to them, but they’re blocked by some of their views on guns – they have the three Gs, guns, gays, God, that would be a woman’s right to choose — and the cultural issues cloud some of their reception of an argument that really is in their interest.”

The motion debated by Marshall and Pelosi ultimately received a passing vote from those attending the Oxford Union event, 177 to 68.

Embattled Georgia prosecutor Fani Willis is facing a GOP challenger in the race for her post as district attorney this November, the first time a Republican has sought the office in more than two decades. 

Courtney Kramer, an Atlanta-based attorney, is likely to face Willis in November, assuming Willis defeats her one Democratic primary challenger, which she is expected to do. 

Kramer says she is running for office “because the citizens in Fulton County deserve someone who is going to fight for their safety, restore integrity and public confidence back into the office and advocate at the highest level for justice.

“Right now, we do not have a district attorney who is doing her job and, instead, victims are being languished and justice is being delayed for not just the victims, but their families, as well. Fulton County deserves an ethical, moral and honest DA who is committed to the job and the will of the people,” Kramer told Fox News Digital. 

GEORGIA COURT OF APPEALS TO REVIEW TRUMP’S BID TO DISQUALIFY DA FANI WILLIS

Willis has come under significant scrutiny for her handling of the sweeping racketeering case against former President Trump related to his alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election. 

Trump and his co-defendents’ bid to have Willis disqualified from the case is before the Georgia Court of Appeals. Willis was accused of having an “improper” affair with Nathan Wade, a special prosecutor she hired in her election interference case against Trump. 

After days of hearings, a Georgia judge said Willis could stay on the case but only after Wade was removed. Willis is also under investigation by Georgia state legislature committees.  

Kramer, an associate at the Katz Legal Group in Atanta, also worked in the Office of White House Counsel in the Trump administration in 2019. She said Willis “has made a mockery of the legal profession and the judiciary.”

“Using her position to pursue political prosecution is not part of the oath you take when you become DA,” Kramer said. 

FANI WILLIS SUGGESTS SHE WON’T TESTIFY IN ‘UNLAWFUL’ GEORGIA SENATE INVESTIGATION

“The job of the district attorney is to ensure safety in the community, put criminals away and make sure victims are being advocated for. Here, Willis is not zealously advocating for the people of Fulton County, she’s zealously advocating for herself,” Kramer said. 

Kramer said she would have to recuse herself from the Trump litigation due to her own conflict of interest, having worked with co-defendants in the case. 

HOUSE REPUBLICANS INVITE NATHAN WADE TO ‘INTERVIEW’ WITH JUDICIARY COMMITTEE REGARDING TRUMP ELECTION CASE

Kramer says Willis “cannot discern when she has a conflict of interest.”  

And Kramer added that if she’s elected, she plans to “immediately analyze the backlog of cases and figure out where our resources are going and where they are most needed.”

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“Transparency and accountability are needed now more than ever, and I hope to give that to the citizens of Fulton County,” she said.

Kramer’s bid is considered a long shot. Fulton County is a notoriously Democratic stronghold. Trump won only 26% of the vote in 2020. 

But she is hopeful the tide will turn. 

“This should not be about right versus left but about right versus wrong,” she said. 

Willis did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment. 

Longtime Pennsylvania Democratic Sen. Bob Casey has made “greedflation” and rising prices at stores a key election platform in 2024, but donor records reviewed by Fox News Digital show he’s benefited from the big stores he rails against on the campaign trail. 

“Bob Casey calls it greedflation, and he’s fighting back,” an ad published in March by the campaign says. 

“My plan gives the Federal Trade Commission the power to punish corporate price gouging. Let’s roll back their huge tax breaks to put money where money it belongs, in your pocket,” Casey says in the ad. 

Another ad, published in April, detailed that chicken, toilet paper and cereal prices have all increased, pinning blame on “big corporations.”

PENNSYLVANIA POLICE SLAM LONGTIME DEM SEN. CASEY ‘ALIGNING’ HIMSELF WITH DEFUND THE POLICE GROUP: ‘DANGEROUS’

Fox News Digital reviewed Casey’s donor contributions and found that despite sounding the alarm that chicken prices have increased by 35%, the Casey campaign received $9,000 from a PAC representing the largest poultry producer in the U.S., Cargill Inc., since 2017, Federal Election Commission data shows. 

LONGTIME PA DEM SILENT ON SUPPORT FOR FRESHMAN ‘SQUAD’ MEMBER AFTER HIS NAME IS QUIETLY REMOVED FROM SITE

“Toilet paper up 10% — profits increased $100 million,” an April ad declares. The corporate PAC of the company Procter and Gamble, the company behind Charmin, has donated $15,500 to Casey’s campaign since 2017, according to FEC data.

VULNERABLE DEM WHO DEMANDED ‘FAIR’ TRUMP SENATE TRIAL CHANGES TUNE ON MAYORKAS IMPEACHMENT

Casey has also benefited from massive cereal producer Kellogg’s despite slamming cereal companies for providing the “same packaging, smaller box, familiar logo, fewer servings amid the inflation woes under the Biden administration.”

A review of FEC data shows PACs associated with Kellogg’s donated a combined $16,000 to Casey’s campaign since 2017. 

Kellogg’s PAC, the Kellogg Company Better Government Committee, no longer exists after Kellogg’s split into two companies last year. The PAC that WK Kellogg Co. manages has since donated $1,000 to Bob Casey for Senate. 

“CEOs sneak around, downsize favorite brands, charging more for less. Same packaging, smaller box, familiar logo, fewer servings,” Casey said in the April ad. 

DEM SEN. BOB CASEY SLAMMED BY GOP FOR SHIFTING IMMIGRATION STANCES: ‘COMPLICIT IN THE CRISIS’

Fox News Digital reached out to the Casey campaign, asking if he plans to return the donations in light of railing against the big companies and their CEOs. 

“Bob Casey is an independent fighter who will always stand up for working people against corporate greed and companies ripping off Pennsylvanians,” Maddy McDaniels, spokesperson for Bob Casey for Senate, told Fox News Digital. 

The two ads did not cite the companies by name, but Casey has previously called out the corporations in various Senate reports published by his office.

“One of the sneakiest examples of shrinkflation is a change made to Dawn Ultra & Dawn Ultra Platinum dish soap. Proctor & Gamble [sic], the makers of Dawn, reduced the formerly 7-ounce dish soap to 6.5 ounces but left the bottle the same physical size with the same price. They simply filled the bottle with slightly less liquid and hoped families would not notice. The following year, P&G reported it did not see a need to offer sales or price cuts and celebrated returning ‘$3.8 billion of cash to shareowners via approximately $2.3 billion of dividend payments and $1.5 billion of common stock repurchases,” Casey wrote in his shrinkflation report published in 2023. 

“Frosted Flakes: Kellogg raised prices on its products over 14 percent between Q2 2022 and Q2 2023,” Casey’s Greedflation from November detailed.  

Inflation has fallen considerably since its peak in 2022 at 9.1%, the highest rate since 1981, and now sits at more than 3%, which is still higher than the Federal Reserve’s target rate of 2%. The economy and inflation under the Biden administration has since become a top voting issue heading into the 2024 election. 

BIDEN SAYS INFLATION IS TOP DOMESTIC PRIORITY, BUT FED ADMITS LACK OF PROGRESS

“Even as inflation has slowed, families are still paying higher prices, thanks to corporate greed, or greedflation. Under the guise of inflation, corporations are raising prices on American families and raking in record profits to boot. From July 2020 through July 2022, inflation rose by 14 percent while corporate profits rose by more than 74 percent — nearly five times the rate of inflation,” Casey adds on his official Senate page. 

Casey has served in the Senate since 2007 and is anticipated to have one of the most closely watched races this year as he faces off against Republican challenger Dave McCormick. 

INFLATION MAKES ESSENTIALS UNAFFORDABLE: YOUNGER GENERATIONS ARE ‘PAYING THEIR FAIR SHARE’ IN BIDEN’S ECONOMY

“It’ll be a close, tough race,” Casey told NBC earlier this year. “But, look, there’s a lot on the line every time. Every time I’ve run for public office in Pennsylvania, I’ve had to earn the vote and the trust of the people. And I got to do that again.”

McCormick’s campaign released an ad this week detailing the Bronze star recipient’s time at West Point.  

“I went to West Point with Dave McCormick, and Dave stood out as a leader there in every way,” former U.S. Army Captain Cliff Harris said in the video. “In the classroom. And as an athlete. Dave McCormick embodies the values of duty, honor and country that are instilled in us at West Point.” 

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Various polls from the last month show Casey ahead of McCormick, though the Republican challenger has recently closed in on the Democrat as the election season further intensifies.

Former President Donald Trump is headed back to the Jersey Shore.

“We have a tremendous rally and hope you’re all going to be there. It’s in Wildwood, New Jersey. It’s going to be a big crowd,” the former president touted on the eve of his Saturday rally.

Wildwood, at the southern tip of the Jersey Shore, is part of the Garden State’s Cape May County, a heavily Republican county in a longtime blue state.

Trump held a rally in Wildwood in January 2020. But the then-president ended up losing New Jersey by 16 points to President Biden four years ago.

WHERE THE BIDEN-TRUMP REMATCH STANDS SIX MONTHS UNTIL ELECTION DAY

For Trump, the weekend rally is a short distance from New York City, where he’s spending his weekdays in court, making history as the first former or current president to stand trial in a criminal case.

“We’re going to try and win the state of New Jersey. I want the people to know that I love it,” Trump predicted Friday in a local radio interview in the Garden State. “You know, it’s not just going to be like, gee, maybe we can get close. We’re going to win it.”

But Democratic Rep. Mikie Sherrill of New Jersey, a Biden surrogate, told reporters a few hours later that “Jersey is not going to be a welcoming place for Trump.”

And Biden campaign communications director Michael Tyler noted that “Trump’s team is talking about New Jersey. They’re talking about holding concerts in Madison Square Garden to turn out voters in states like New York. I think here on planet earth in the Biden campaign, we’re going to remain laser focused on winning 270 electoral votes.”

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While flipping the Garden State may not be at the top of the Trump campaign’s to-do list, it is spotlighting his chances in two other blue states Biden won comfortably in 2020 — Minnesota and Virginia.

As the Trump and Biden campaigns prepare for battle in seven crucial swing states that decided the 2020 election (Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, which were narrowly won by Biden, and North Carolina, which Trump carried by a razor-thin margin) and will likely once again in the 2024 rematch, both campaigns see opportunities to expand the map.

Last weekend at a closed-door National Republican Committee retreat for top-dollar donors that was held at a resort in Palm Beach, Florida, senior Trump campaign advisers Susie Wiles and Chris LaCivita and veteran pollster Tony Fabrizio spotlighted internal surveys that suggested both “Minnesota & Virginia are clearly in play.”

“In both states, Donald Trump finds himself in positions to flip key electoral votes in his favor,” the survey, which was shared with Fox News, emphasizes. 

Trump is set to return to Minnesota next weekend to headline a state GOP fundraising dinner.

And both states have sizable populations of rural white voters without college degrees who disproportionately support the former president.

Biden’s campaign disagrees that either Minnesota or Virginia are up for grabs.

While noting that they are “not taking any state or any vote for granted,” Biden campaign battleground states director Dan Kanninen told reporters earlier this week that “we don’t see polls that are six or seven months out from a general election, head-to-head numbers certainly, as any more predictive than a weather report is six or seven months out.”

TRUMP TRIES TO CLOSE HIS FUNDRAISING GAP WITH BIDEN

Kanninen highlighted that the campaign has teams on the ground in both states engaging voters.

“We feel strongly the Biden-Harris coalition in both Minnesota and Virginia, which has been strong in the midterms and off-year elections, will continue to be strong for us in the fall of 2024,” he added.

And Biden campaign spokesperson Lauren Hitt, pointing to the president’s current fundraising dominance and ground-game advantage in the key battlegrounds, argued that “Trump’s team has so little campaign or infrastructure to speak of they’re resorting to leaking memos that say ‘the polls we paid for show us winning.'” 

This is the second straight election where Trump aims to flip Minnesota.

At a late September 2020 rally in northern Minnesota, Trump boasted of the crowd size and insisted “this is not the crowd of somebody that’s going to finish second in this state to Sleepy Joe,” a derogatory term he used for Biden.

While Trump’s campaign looks for opportunities to expand the map in Minnesota and Virginia, Biden’s campaign appears to be eyeing battlegrounds North Carolina and Florida. 

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Trump carried the Sunshine State by less than four points in 2020, but two years ago Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis and GOP Sen. Marco Rubio each won re-election by nearly 20 points.

LaCivita argued the Biden campaign was playing “a faux game” in both states, but insisted that Trump has a “real opportunity in expanding the map in Virginia and Minnesota.”

Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.

The Secret Service is downplaying a report that a petition is circulating internally raising concerns about recent incidents linked to “inadequate training,” telling Fox News Digital that “our people are exceptional.” 

Bloomberg White House reporter Jennifer Jacobs tweeted Thursday that the petition has at least 39 signatures and calls for a congressional investigation into the Secret Service. 

She said the document “flags concerns about ‘a number of recent Secret Service incidents indicative of inadequate training,’ a double standard in disciplinary actions, and a vulnerability ‘to potential insider threats’ that could pose a risk to U.S. national security.“

But Secret Service Chief of Communications Anthony Guglielmi told Fox News Digital in a statement that “It’s evident that this anonymous petitioner does not embody the U.S. Secret Service’s values of service over self.” 

SECRET SERVICE AGENT ON VP HARRIS’ DETAIL REMOVED FROM ASSIGNMENT AFTER PHYSICAL FIGHT WHILE ON DUTY 

“Our agency is comprised of talented professionals from various walks of life who are dedicated to safeguarding the continuity of the presidency and the U.S. financial system. Our strength comes from our diversity, in the knowledge, skills, experience, and perspective each employee brings,” Guglielmi said. 

“Our people are exceptional, and we are incredibly proud to call them members of the U.S. Secret Service,” he added. 

In late April, Fox News Digital reported that a U.S. Secret Service agent with Vice President Kamala Harris’ detail was removed from their assignment after engaging in a physical fight with other agents while on duty. 

DEMOCRATS LOOK TO STRIP SECRET SERVICE PROTECTION FROM TRUMP IF HE’S CONVICTED 

“At approximately 9 a.m. April 22, a U.S. Secret Service special agent supporting the Vice President’s departure from Joint Base Andrews began displaying behavior their colleagues found distressing,” Guglielmi said in a statement at the time shared with Fox News Digital. 

He added, “The agent was removed from their assignment while medical personnel were summoned. The Vice President was at the Naval Observatory when this incident occurred and there was no impact on her departure from Joint Base Andrews. 

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The agent, who had been acting “erratically,” began punching the special agent in charge after getting on top of him, Real Clear Politics reported. 

Fox News’ Brie Stimson contributed to this report. 

In the unprecedented criminal trial of former President Donald Trump, Judge Juan Merchan’s gag order has added another layer of complexity to an already unique legal circumstance. 

Trump, the presumptive GOP nominee for the 2024 presidential election just six months away, is barred from speaking about any of the witnesses in his case, the jury and members of the district attorney’s staff – other than Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg himself. Anyone under Trump’s direction is also barred from speaking to or on any of those matters. 

On April 2, the gag order was expanded to include barring Trump from speaking about family members of the judge, including his daughter, who works as a Democratic consultant and has represented Democratic elected officials such as Vice President Kamala Harris and Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif. 

In a Truth Social post, Trump called out Merchan’s daughter by name, noting her place of work and referenced a social media post of a picture showing Trump behind bars. The Manhattan court has claimed that the account does not belong to Merchan’s daughter.

Trump’s legal team has appealed the gag order after Merchan found Trump in violation of it. The judge has also imposed $10,000 in fines and even threatened jail time if he continues to violate court rules. 

HOPE HICKS: COHEN CALLED HIMSELF ‘MR. FIX IT’ ONLY BECAUSE HE ‘BROKE IT’

New York’s Appellate Division on Wednesday granted the Trump team’s request for an expedited briefing timeline for appealing the gag order. 

The prosecution now has a deadline of May 15 to file a reply brief; Trump’s lawyers will have until May 20 to file their response. All of the briefing documents are under seal by court order, so the details of the appeal and the specific challenges to the order are not public. 

But a source close to the campaign says that the Appellate Division appears to be inclined to move more quickly than it normally would. 

Trump’s lawyers argued to Merchan that the gag order was unilateral and that it only applies to Trump and not to other expected witnesses. Trump’s ex-lawyer Michael Cohen, expected to take the witness stand Monday, has made disparaging comments about Trump on social media, fundraising off the case and wearing a T-shirt depicting Trump behind bars, but the gag order prevents Trump or his team from responding publicly.

EX-TOP BIDEN DOJ OFFICIAL NOW PROSECUTING TRUMP WAS ONCE PAID BY DNC FOR ‘POLITICAL CONSULTING’

Trump’s team had also argued that Merchan has an irretrievable conflict of interest, since his daughter is accused of actively helping her clients profit off of the trial. 

They have also argued the gag order wrongly bans Trump from commenting on Michael Colangelo’s involvement with the case. Colangelo is a former high-ranking Justice Department political official and worked in the New York Attorney General’s office on other Trump prosecutions. Trump’s lawyers have argued that the gag order wrongly prevents discourse about what they perceive as Colangelo’s possible political motivations.

Gregory Germain, a law professor at Syracuse University, told Fox News Digital that, if the issue were before the Supreme Court, he’s “quite confident “that the gag order would be overturned.  

“The Supreme Court would be very concerned about gagging a presidential candidate during an election from criticizing the court or the process in such a broad way. A very limited order to protect the identity of jurors or secret witnesses might stand, but gagging Trump from speaking about well-known witnesses like Stormy Daniels and Michael Cohen, who are on the lecture circuit talking about him, or criticizing the political nature of the process, could not be justified under the very restrictive standard for prior restraints on free speech,” Germain said. 

GOP AG LAUNCHES NEW PROBE INTO COMMUNICATIONS FROM DOJ AND TRUMP PROSECUTORS

Germain noted that the issue is a long way from the Supreme Court and that the Appellate Division “may not have the same respect for the serious constitutional issues posed by a gag order of this kind. They might slow-walk the request or try to tinker with the language.” 

“But the issue will become a constitutional crisis if Judge Merchan puts Trump in jail for contempt. If that happens, and it seems like a real possibility because Merchan and Trump are locked in a game of chicken over the issue, I would not be surprised to see an emergency petition to the Supreme Court being granted if the Appellate Division does not take the matter seriously now,” he said. 

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“If the Appellate Division is wise, they will send the order back to Judge Merchan with strict instructions to limit the order very specifically to threats that pose an imminent danger of violence or lawlessness. Mere fear that a deranged supporter might respond with violence does not meet the constitutional test.”

Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung said, “The gag order imposed by conflicted Judge Juan Merchan in the lawless Manhattan D.A. case is unconstitutional and un-American.”

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Republican senators believe President Biden’s “disgraceful” warning to cut offensive aid to Israel during its conflict with Hamas was a political decision to appease “the pro-Hamas wing of the Democrat Party” in November.

President Biden recently threatened to cut aid to America’s ally Israel if the country invades Rafah, a city in the Gaza Strip.

“If they go into Rafah, I’m not supplying the weapons that have been used historically to deal with Rafah, to deal with the cities — that deal with that problem,” the president told CNN Wednesday.

The decision comes after weeks of anti-Israel agitators causing chaos on college campuses across the nation, and lawmakers are connecting the two as the president seeks another term in the White House.

HOUSE GOP DRAFTING BIDEN IMPEACHMENT ARTICLES OVER ISRAEL AID CUTOFF THREAT

When asked about Biden’s decision coming amid the anti-Israel riots, Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., told Fox News Digital “the pro-Hamas wing of the Democrat Party is growing.” 

“I do think he caved to the folks on campus, who are calling for the death of Israel. And I think the pro-Hamas wing of the Democrat Party is growing. And these are political decisions, trying to meddle in another country’s elections,” Schmitt said.

“You know, Chuck Schumer and Joe Biden called for Benjamin Netanyahu to be ousted in the middle of a war, and now he’s withholding arms that have been appropriated. It’s really outrageous,” he added. “And I think, again, it just sort of shows how desperate Joe Biden is to try to again appease these radicals in his party. He’s willing to risk U.S.-Israel relations.”

Biden has received bipartisan backlash for his recent comment about aid to Israel, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his country “will stand alone” to defeat Hamas if necessary.

“Sadly, this administration has been the most anti-Israel administration we’ve ever seen,” Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, told Fox News Digital. “And right now, what do you see the Biden administration doing? They are simultaneously flooding cash to the Hamas terrorists while they’re cutting off weapons to Israel. They’re undermining our friend and ally Israel. It is disgraceful. And, yes, part of it is that today’s Democrat Party is terrified of the radical left in the party, the extreme anti-Israel, antisemitic protesters we see at college campuses all across the country.”

The senator added there is a “pro-Hamas wing” of the Democratic party.

NETANYAHU SAYS ISRAEL ‘WILL STAND ALONE’ IF NECESSARY AFTER BIDEN THREATENS TO WITHHOLD WEAPONS

When asked by Fox News Digital if the campus riots were linked to Biden’s recent warning to Israel, Sen. Ted Budd, R-N.C. said the two events are “absolutely” connected to Biden seeking another term.

Budd said Biden’s warning to Israel was about the November election and Biden “collapsing in these swing states.”

“I just got back from Israel this week, met with the prime minister. Met with many people here rather easily. They’re wondering, ‘What the heck is the U.S. doing?’ This is all about November, Joe Biden. This is about Minnesota. This is about Michigan. He’s collapsing in these swing states. And so he’s trying to stitch this together, and it’s completely off the rails. 

“It’s showing the world that you can’t trust the U.S.,” Budd added. “It’s very frustrating, particularly when you’re trying to get the eight U.S. hostages home and respect these families that have been waiting and waiting for over 200 days. This just demonstrates weakness and confusion to the world.”

Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., agreed Biden’s statement was in response to the protests, saying, “I think he’s caved to the college agitators. And just, in general, the Palestinian community. It just doesn’t make sense to any of us. And that’s why I encourage everybody to not listen to what he says. Watch what Joe Biden does. It makes no sense.

“I describe it as Biden’s schizophrenic national security policies,” he continued. “On the one hand, he says he wants to minimize casualties, public casualties. But, on the other hand, he keeps us from sending smart bombs. On the one hand, he says that he wants a minimum loss of life, that he wants the hostages released. But when he tells the world, ‘We’re not going to send any more weapons,’ what is the message? Do they back out of the negotiations? So, everything that Joe Biden touches when it comes to national security just turns to mud.”

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Rep. Cory Mills, R-Fla., filed articles of impeachment against Biden Friday for his threat against Israel, saying ahead of the move that “these are the same accusations made against President Trump, which resulted in his impeachment by Democrats. The same must happen for Joe Biden, which is why we’re drawing up articles of impeachment now.”

Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.

Fox News’ Elizabeth Elkind contributed to this report.

Disney heiress, Abigail Disney, evoked the classic Disney movie, Old Yeller, in a recent play to call on voters to oppose the Republican Party after South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem’s recent book detailed her shooting her ranch dog.

“My great-uncle Walt Disney knew the magic place animals have in the hearts of families everywhere,” Disney wrote in an email released by the Progressive Change Campaign Committee (PCCC) and obtained exclusively by the Guardian. 

Disney, the grandniece of Walt Disney, said that Noem’s anecdote of killing her dog in her new book, “No Going Back,” “shocked” her.

“When he released Old Yeller, the heart-wrenching story stayed with people because no one takes the killing of a family pet lightly,” Disney said. “At least that’s what I thought until I read about potential Trump VP Kristi Noem shooting her family’s puppy – a story that has shocked so many of us.”

‘YOU NEED TO STOP’: GOV. NOEM LASHES OUT DURING HEATED INTERVIEW OVER BOOK ANECDOTE ABOUT KILLING DOG

In “No Going Back,” the Republican governor described shooting her dog after it attacked a neighbor’s chickens.

Disney said that Noem’s description of killing her ranch dog was part of “the larger story of the 2024 election.”

“Walt Disney also understood story telling. Together, we must make sure all voters see how this sad Kristi Noem episode is part of the larger story of the 2024 election: America could vote into the White House extremists that glorify cruelty and lack basic empathy and compassion,” she told the PCCC.

Since facing backlash for the killing of her ranch dog, Noem has fiercely defended her actions, framing it as her ability to make “tough decisions.”

During an interview with FOX Business’ Stuart Varney, the Republican governor said that the dog was “vicious,” and called the backlash “ridiculous.” 

“This was a vicious, dangerous dog. That was a working dog. And I had to make a choice between the safety of my children and an animal that was killing livestock and attacking people,” Noem told Varney. “So it’s included because a lot of politicians have run from the truth. They want to try to hide from tough decisions.”

“I’m proud of this book,” Noem said. “I know that a lot of people are using attacks to try to take me down because they’re scared of me. I have so much support and all I’ve done is won.”

Disney said that unlike the compassionate shooting of Old Yeller, Noem shot the dog because it was “too hard to teach.”

“In Old Yeller, the family comes to see the lovable stray dog as an indispensable member of the family. The film’s climactic moment is a heartbreaking one, when the father has no choice but to shoot Old Yeller when the dog contracts rabies because of the inevitable threat to their lives – and, out of compassion, to end the suffering the dog would have to endure,” Disney said in the letter to the PCCC.

NOEM ADDRESSES FEELING ‘THREATENED’ BY NIKKI HALEY, A CONTROVERSIAL DOG KILLING, TRUMP VP SPECULATION IN BOOK

“Noem shot her family’s 14-month-old puppy after a hunting trip, in her own account, because she was too hard to teach,” Disney said. “‘I hated that dog,’ she wrote, framing the killing of a puppy as an example of strength.”

“Kristi Noem is not strong. Like Trump, she is cruel and selfish,” she said.

“If Kristi Noem was actually strong, she would stand up to the January 6 insurrectionists instead of celebrating them,” she said. “Or she would make billionaires pay their fair share of taxes instead of lining up for their campaign donations.”

KRISTI NOEM ERUPTS ON CBS ANCHOR AFTER VIRAL INTERVIEW ABOUT CONTROVERSIAL BOOK

“If she had real courage, she might even criticize the Supreme Court for abolishing abortion rights or making it easier to flood our streets and schools with guns,” Disney said.

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Fox News Digital has reached out to Gov. Noem’s office, the Progressive Change Campaign Committee and Abigail Disney for comment.

Fox News’ Audrey Spady contributed to this report.

Former White House official Steve Bannon‘s appeal of his contempt of Congress conviction was denied Friday, meaning he will still have to serve jail time for ignoring a subpoena from the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol. 

In a 20-page opinion, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, a three-body panel, said granting Bannon’s appeal would “hamstring Congress’s investigatory authority.”

Bannon claimed he acted on the advice of his legal team and did not intend to break the law. Judge Bradley Garcia wrote that acting on “advice of counsel” defense is “no defense at all.”

MICHAEL COHEN TIKTOK VIDEOS, FUNDRAISING STUN LEGAL OBSERVERS: MAY HAVE ‘TORPEDOED CASE AGAINST TRUMP’

“As both this court and the Supreme Court have repeatedly explained, a contrary rule would contravene the text of the contempt statute and hamstring Congress’s investigatory authority,” Garcia wrote. “Because we have no basis to depart from that binding precedent, and because none of Bannon’s other challenges to his convictions have merit, we affirm.”

Bannon, 70, was sentenced to four months in prison in October 2022, and a $6,500 fine for ignoring the congressional subpoena. 

“I want to say one thing — I respect the judge, the sentence he came down with today is his decision. I’ve been totally respectful to this entire process on the legal side,” Bannon said after the sentencing.

Bannon will appeal Friday’s ruling, his attorney, David Schoen, told Fox News Digital. 

MICHAEL COHEN TO TESTIFY IN TRUMP TRIAL ON MONDAY

“There are many fundamentally important constitutional issues at stake in this case,” Schoen said in a statement. “Today’s decision is wrong as a matter of law, and it reflects a very dangerous view of the threshold for criminal liability for any defendant in our country and for future political abuses of the congressional hearing process.”

Schoen noted that Bannon’s attorney at the time he received the subpoena, Robert Costello, advised his client that he was not permitted, as a matter of law, in any way to respond to the notice, saying executive privilege had been raised and that it was not his privilege to waive it. Costello wrote the committee to inform them that Bannon would comply if the panel worked out any privilege issues with former President Trump or if a court ordered him to comply, Schoen said. 

“In America, we do not criminally prosecute, let alone convict and send to prison people who not only don’t believe their conduct to be wrongful or in violation of the law, but, as in this case, people who follow the advice of their lawyers who tell them that the law does not permit them to comply with a congressional subpoena when executive privilege has been invoked,” Schoen said.

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Other officials who served under Trump have reported to prison. Former White House trade adviser Peter Navarro began his four-month sentence for contempt of Congress at a Miami correctional facility in March. 

“I will walk proudly in there to do my time,” Navarro said during a press conference before turning himself in. “I will gather strength from this: Donald John Trump is the nominee.”

Barron Trump, the 18-year-old son of former President Trump and former first lady Melania Trump, has declined participating as a Florida delegate to the Republican National Convention.

In a statement to Fox News, a spokesperson for the Office of Melania Trump said that Trump “regretfully declined” the delegate selection.

“While Barron is honored to have been chosen as a delegate by the Florida Republican Party, he regretfully declines to participate due to prior commitments,” the statement said.

EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE GAG ORDER IN NY V. TRUMP

The Republican National Convention is scheduled from July 15 through July 18 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. 

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According to a list released Wednesday by the Florida Republican Party, several members of the Trump family were chosen to be delegates, including Donald Trump Jr., Eric Trump and Tiffany Trump. Ivanka Trump is not on the list of delegates.

President Joe Biden was blasted on social media this week over a past anti-Trump tweet that critics said showed he should be impeached for withholding some weapons from Israel if it moves forward with a military operation in Rafah, Gaza.

“President Trump withheld Congressionally appropriated aid to Ukraine unless they granted him a political favor,” Biden tweeted as a candidate in 2019 about the impeachment push against Trump over a phone call with Ukraine that Democrats claimed was a “quid pro quo.”

“It’s the definition of quid pro quo. This is no joke—Trump continues to put his own personal, political interests ahead of the national interest. He must be impeached.”

Trump was ultimately impeached  for “abuse of power” and “obstruction of Congress” related to his dealings with Ukraine.

NETANYAHU SAYS ISRAEL ‘WILL STAND ALONE’ IF NECESSARY AFTER BIDEN THREATENS TO WITHHOLD WEAPONS

Biden’s 2019 post drew immediate push back on social media from conservatives who argued that Biden’s recent move to withhold some military aid from Israel due to his objection to their military campaign in Gaza was similar to what Democrats accused Trump of during the impeachment.

“Joe Biden endorses his own impeachment,” Red State writer Bonchie posted on X.

“Wow — how newly relevant,”  New York Post reporter Jon Levine posted on X.

“Joe Biden is withholding Congressionally appropriated aid to Israel unless they grant him a political favor. It’s the definition of quid pro quo,” conservative communicator Steve Guest posted on X.

“This is no joke—Biden continues to put his own personal, political interests ahead of the national interest. He must be impeached,” Federalist co-founder Sean Davis posted on X. 

GOP GOVERNOR FUMES OVER BIDEN’S THREAT TO CUT OFF ISRAEL AID: ‘HE’S NEGOTIATING FOR THE TERRORISTS’

“Joe Biden withheld Congressionally appropriated aid to uproot Hamas in a political pay off pro-Hamas radicals,” Trump adviser Stephen Miller posted on X. “This warrants impeachment and criminal investigation — including exploring all ties between Biden aides and Iran.”

Some have pushed back on the suggestion that Biden committed an impeachable offense, including those who have pointed to a 2020 report from the Congressional Research Service, a nonpartisan office that analyzes U.S. policy, that says, “The Arms Export Control Act of 1961 “prohibits the sale or delivery of U.S.-origin defense articles if the President finds that a recipient country has used such articles for unauthorized purposes.”

In a statement to Fox News Digital, a White House official dismissed the accusations of hypocrisy as “ridiculous.”

ISRAEL BOMBS RAFAH, PREPARES FOR GROUND INVASION AFTER CEASEFIRE TALKS WITH HAMAS FALL APART

“Senior administration officials had already made multiple public statements about Rafah similar to the President’s, including that we are also ensuring Israel gets every dollar appropriated in the supplemental,” the official said. “Trump failed to spend dollars appropriated by Congress that he was legally required to spend. This is about a purchase made by a foreign government using its own funds, not funds appropriated by Congress, and our decision whether to deliver that purchase right now, which could enable an operation we’ve publicly and privately objected to.” 

House Republicans disagree with the assessment from the White House as evidenced by news on Friday that articles of impeachment were filed against President Biden over the controversy.

“In violation of his oath to faithfully execute the office of President and to uphold the Constitution, President Biden abused the powers of his office by soliciting a ‘quid pro quo’ with Israel while leveraging vital military aid for policy changes,” GOP Rep. Cory Mills said in a statement first reported by Fox News Digital.

“This egregious action not only compromised the credibility of the United States but also undermined the interests of our longstanding ally, Israel. Therefore, President Biden’s conduct warrants impeachment, trial, removal from office, and disqualification from holding any future office under the United States.”

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Biden has faced criticism from members of his own party as well including Democratic Rep. Ritchie Tores, who said he suspects that Biden is “pandering to the far left.”

“It looks like election year politics was driving it,” Tores said. “That’s my impression.” 
 

At the close of the 15th day of the trial of N.Y. v. Trump, Judge Juan Merchan directed New York prosecutors to tell Michael Cohen to stop making comments about the case and former President Donald Trump, but did not impose a gag order. 

Merchan imposed a gag order on the former president that prevents him from speaking about the witnesses, the jury, and any prosecutors other than Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg. Cohen, his ex-lawyer, is expected to take the witness stand on Monday. 

Cohen has been making TikTok videos disparaging Trump and has been spotted wearing a T-shirt depicting Trump behind bars. Because of the gag order in place, Trump is not allowed to respond publicly, though he has broken that order several times. In court Friday, Trump’s lawyers argued that Cohen should also be restrained by a gag order. 

But Merchan told the prosecutors to tell Cohen to stop making such comments in a warning that “comes from the bench.” The states’ lawyers said they would relay the message. 

MICHAEL COHEN TIKTOK VIDEOS, FUNDRAISING STUN LEGAL OBSERVERS: MAY HAVE ‘TORPEDOED CASE AGAINST TRUMP’

A spokesperson for Trump’s campaign called the judge’s decision a “big win.” 

The warning does not impose any legal consequences should Cohen not heed the judges’ instructions.

Trump’s legal team has appealed the gag order to the appellate division. 

Cohen is expected to be the star witness for Bragg and his team for his role in arranging a purported $130,000 payment in 2016 to adult actress Stormy Daniels to silence her story that she had a sexual encounter with Trump in the early 2000s. 

MICHAEL COHEN TO TESTIFY IN TRUMP TRIAL ON MONDAY

Trump, later, made several payments of $35,000 to Cohen, who was his personal attorney at the time. Trump has denied the encounter with Daniels ever happened.

Those payments served as the basis for Bragg’s indictment of Trump on charges of falsifying business records. Bragg is trying to prove those payments were reimbursements for the payment to Daniels.

HOUSE GOP GOES AFTER ‘CONVICTED LIAR’ MICHAEL COHEN, URGES JUSTICE DEPARTMENT TO INVESTIGATE RECENT LIES

But Trump defense attorneys say that the $35,000 payments were “not a payback,” but instead, legal payments or attorneys fees. 

Trump has pleaded not guilty to 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree. 

Legal experts told Fox News Digital Cohen might have “torpedoed” the case before taking the stand by ranting about it on TikTok while fundraising.

“It is a major problem for prosecutors. It is not a problem for Cohen’s credibility because he has none – he is a convicted perjurer and fraudster whose current ‘defense’ of his fraud convictions is that he wasn’t telling the truth when he pled guilty,” former Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew McCarthy said. 

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“It’s a problem for prosecutors because they chose to build a case on a witness with a track record of bad conduct and deep bias and, not surprisingly, he can’t help himself but continue to act in character,” McCarthy said. 

Defense attorney Jeremy Saland, who used to work in the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, told ABC News that Trump’s legal team can use Cohen’s actions to “tear down his credibility.” 

“If I’m the prosecution, I’m on the phone right now saying, ‘Stop what you are doing — right now,'” Saland told ABC News. 

Fox News Digital’s Brian Flood and David Ruitz contributed to this report.

It has been over three decades since a Republican carried New Jersey in a presidential election.

One has to go back to then-Vice President George H.W. Bush, who carried the state in the 1988 election on his way to winning the White House. Since then, Democrats have won the state eight straight times in presidential elections.

However, former President Trump thinks he can clear the high hurdles he faces in the reliably blue state.

“We’re going to try and win the state of New Jersey. I want the people to know that I love it,” Trump predicted in a Friday morning local radio interview on New Jersey 105.1 in the Garden State. “You know, it’s not just going to be like, gee, maybe we can get close. We’re going to win it.”

WHERE THE BIDEN-TRUMP REMATCH STANDS SIX MONTHS UNTIL ELECTION DAY

Trump added that New Jersey “is supposed to be a Democrat state. I think it’s going to flip to Republican.”

The former president spoke on the eve of returning to the Garden State.

“We have a tremendous rally and hope you’re all going to be there. It’s in Wildwood, New Jersey. It’s going to be a big crowd,” the former president touted on Friday.

TRUMP TRIES TO CLOSE HIS FUNDRAISING GAP WITH BIDEN

Wildwood, at the southern tip of the Jersey Shore, is part of the Garden State’s Cape May County, a heavily Republican county in a longtime blue state.

Trump held a rally in Wildwood in January 2020. However, Trump ended up losing New Jersey by 16 points to President Biden. 

Four years earlier, he lost the state to 2016 Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton by 14 points.

For Trump, the weekend rally is a short distance from New York City, where he is spending his weekdays in court, making history as the first former or current president to stand trial in a criminal case.

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Democrats do not appear to be taking Trump’s prediction very seriously.

Democratic Rep. Mikie Sherrill of New Jersey, a Biden surrogate, told reporters on Friday that “Jersey is not going to be a welcoming place for Trump.”

Additionally, Biden campaign communications director Michael Tyler noted that “Trump’s team is talking about New Jersey. They’re talking about holding concerts in Madison Square Garden to turn out voters in states like New York. I think here on planet earth in the Biden campaign, we’re going to remain laser focused on winning 270 electoral votes.”

Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.

FIRST ON FOX: Rep. Cory Mills, R-Fla., formally filed articles of impeachment against President Biden on Friday over his recent comments about withholding offensive weapons aid to Israel, drawing parallels to House Democrats’ first impeachment of former President Trump.

The first-term House Republican told Fox News Digital it was his “constitutional duty” to do so.

His legislative text, first obtained by Fox News Digital, accuses Biden of “abuse of power” and charges that he tried to force Israel into changing its own defense policies by leveraging lethal aid.

“In violation of his oath to faithfully execute the office of President and to uphold the Constitution, President Biden abused the powers of his office by soliciting a ‘quid pro quo’ with Israel while leveraging vital military aid for policy changes. This egregious action not only compromised the credibility of the United States but also undermined the interests of our longstanding ally, Israel. Therefore, President Biden’s conduct warrants impeachment, trial, removal from office, and disqualification from holding any future office under the United States,” Mills said in a statement.

ANTI-ISRAEL OCCUPIERS COULD LOSE FEDERAL STUDENT LOANS UNDER NEW GOP SENATE BILL

Fox News Digital was first to report Mills’ intent to file the impeachment articles on Thursday. He and other GOP lawmakers have drawn comparisons between Biden’s comments on Israel and Trump’s leveraging of lethal aid to Ukraine unless Kyiv announced an investigation into the Bidens.

“Joe Biden is pressuring Israel, our biggest ally in the Middle East, by pausing their funding that has already been approved in the House, if they don’t stop all operations with Hamas. It’s a very clear message, ‘this for that,'” Mills said Thursday. “These are the same accusations made against President Trump, which resulted in his impeachment by Democrats. The same must happen for Joe Biden, which is why we’re drawing up articles of impeachment now.”

Biden made the high-stakes ultimatum to Israel’s government in a CNN interview that aired Wednesday night as it prepares for a ground invasion of the southern Gaza city of Rafah. The city is currently home to more than a million Palestinians who left other parts of the Gaza Strip, where Israel has conducted its mission to eradicate the terrorist group Hamas.

Biden said Israel would continue to see U.S. support for its defensive systems, like the Iron Dome, in the CNN interview. He added, however, that “if they go into Rafah, I’m not supplying the weapons that have been used historically to deal with Rafah, to deal with the cities, that deal with that problem.”

‘NO CHOICE’ BUT TO IMPEACH BIDEN OVER DELAYED ISRAEL AID, GOP SENATOR SAYS

Mills’ legislative text argues that in making those comments, Biden “used the powers of the presidency in a manner that compromised the national security of the United States and its ally Israel.”

It’s highly unlikely for the push to reach the level of a Senate trial, with the House’s current ongoing impeachment inquiry into Biden still searching for smoking gun evidence amid accusations of improper behavior and bribery, all of which the White House has denied.

But it shows the sky-high tensions that have taken over Washington amid Israel’s war on Hamas after the terrorist group’s Oct. 7 attack.

A White House official told Fox News Digital that Mills’ push was “ridiculous” on Thursday.

BIDEN’S DECISION TO PULL ISRAEL WEAPONS SHIPMENT KEPT QUIET UNTIL AFTER HOLOCAUST REMEMBRANCE ADDRESS: REPORT

“Senior administration officials had already made multiple public statements about Rafah similar to the President’s, including that we are also ensuring Israel gets every dollar appropriated in the supplemental. Trump failed to spend dollars appropriated by Congress that he was legally required to spend. This is about a purchase made by a foreign government and our decision whether to deliver that purchase right now, which could enable an operation we’ve publicly and privately objected to,” the official said.

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Meanwhile, White House national security communications adviser John Kirby told reporters on Thursday, “As the President said, Israel has not yet launched such an operation, so he was talking about what would happen in the future if they did.  That is a choice Israel will have to make.  We hope they don’t. We will keep working with them to develop alternative approaches that we think have a better chance of strategic success and a better chance of eliminating the threat that Israeli people still face from Hamas.”

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

Michael Cohen, ex-lawyer for former President Donald Trump, is expected to testify on Monday, Fox News has learned. 

Cohen is expected to be the star witness for Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg and his team for his role in arranging a $130,000 payment in 2016 to adult actress Stormy Daniels to reportedly keep her story that she had a sexual encounter with Trump in the early 2000s. 

Trump, later, made several payments of $35,000 to Cohen, who was his personal attorney at the time. Trump has denied the encounter happened.

Those payments served as the basis for Bragg’s indictment of Trump on charges of falsifying business records. Bragg is trying to prove those payments were reimbursements for the payment to Daniels.

HOUSE GOP GOES AFTER ‘CONVICTED LIAR’ MICHAEL COHEN, URGES JUSTICE DEPARTMENT TO INVESTIGATE RECENT LIES

But Trump defense attorneys say that the $35,000 payments were “not a payback,” but instead, legal payments.

Trump has pleaded not guilty to 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree. 

MICHAEL COHEN TIKTOK VIDEOS, FUNDRAISING STUN LEGAL OBSERVERS: MAY HAVE ‘TORPEDOED CASE AGAINST TRUMP’

Cohen pleaded guilty in 2018 to campaign finance violations, making false statements to Congress and tax evasion. He was sentenced to three years in prison.

The former president has previously called Cohen a “proven liar.” 

HOPE HICKS: COHEN CALLED HIMSELF ‘MR. FIX IT’ ONLY BECAUSE HE ‘BROKE IT’

Earlier this week, press secretary for the 2016 Trump campaign and White House communications director, Hope Hicks, testified that Cohen would call himself “Mr. Fix It,” but only because “he first broke it.” 

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She testified that he would often frustrate campaign staff and do things that were not helpful. 

The unprecedented trail of the former president and presumptive GOP nominee for the 2024 election resumed Friday for day 15 of witness testimony. 

Fox News Digital’s Chris Pandolfo contributed to this report. 

Former President Donald Trump is demanding President Biden coordinate a presidential debate after both 2024 candidates have expressed enthusiasm for the idea.

Trump wrote a short “letter to Joe” on Thursday via his proprietary social media platform, Truth Social.

“Dear Joe, now that you’ve committed to Debate on the now dying Howard Stern Show, no less, [sic] let’s set it up right now. I’m ready to go anywhere that you are,” Trump said.

BIDEN GIVES 3-WORD RESPONSE WHEN ASKED WHEN HE’LL DEBATE TRUMP

The former president reiterated venue ideas he’s mentioned in previous debate challenges, including the White House and New York City.

“We could do it in D.C., even pinpoint the White House, or in New York when your Radical Left Fascists are finished with ELECTION INTERFERENCE against your Political Opponent, ME,” Trump continued.

The two presidential candidates have traded challenges back and forth since Biden said that he would be “happy” to debate the presumptive 2024 Republican presidential nominee two weeks ago on the Howard Stern Show.

TRUMP CAMPAIGN DEMANDS BIDEN DEBATE HIM ‘MUCH EARLIER’ AND MORE OFTEN

The same day Trump posted his short “letter to Joe”, Biden was asked whether he would debate the former president prior to the election.

“Set it up,” Biden told reporters following a ceremony celebrating the WNBA Champions, the Las Vegas Aces, on Thursday afternoon.

Despite the bluster from both presumptive candidates, no progress seems to have been made setting up a debate.

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The Commission on Presidential Debates will proceed with its original schedule despite requests for earlier events.

“The CPD’s criteria […] will be applied in early September; afterward, the Commission will extend debate invitations to qualifying candidates,” the CPD told Fox News Digital last month.

The first presidential debate is scheduled for Sept. 16 at Texas State University in San Marcos, Texas. The second debate will be in Petersburg, Virginia, on Oct. 1, and the third will be held in Salt Lake City on Oct. 9. A vice presidential debate is scheduled for Sept. 25 in Easton, Pennsylvania.

Fox News Digital’s Sarah Rumpf-Whitten contributed to this report.

EXCLUSIVE: In the lead up to Mother’s Day, moms on the Trump campaign are pulling no punches in their criticisms that the Biden administration has left “working moms and families behind.” 

“Joe Biden can’t even define what a ‘woman’ is and his Administration disrespectfully refers to mothers as ‘birthing people.’ Joe Biden has left working moms and families behind by creating the worst inflation crisis in decades, welcoming millions of illegal immigrants into our country to commit crimes, and allowing violent protests to erupt on college campuses,” Trump national press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in exclusive comment to Fox News Digital. 

The comments come ahead of celebrating Mother’s Day on Sunday. The Biden administration has faced ongoing scrutiny for the use of “woke” terms that are viewed as degrading to mothers, as well as for recent policy changes that opened the doors to biological males playing against females on youth sports teams, and even changing a federal prison policy that allows inmates to be housed based on their gender identity instead of biological sex. 

The use of the term “birthing people” gained national attention during President Biden’s first year in office, when an Office of Management and Budget proposal removed the word “mother” with the gender-neutral term. 

Later that same year, when Democrats introduced a $3.5 trillion spending package, they also made use of “woke” terms to describe moms, dubbing them “pregnant, lactating, and postpartum individuals.”

PARENTS STRUGGLE TO AFFORD BASIC BABY NEEDS AS DIAPER PRICES CONTINUE TO RISE

RNC co-Chair Lara Trump, former President Trump’s daughter-in-law, told Fox News Digital that Trump is the only candidate vowing to “give rights back to parents” and “protect our children” from inappropriate lessons in schools. 

WOKE LIBERALS PUSH TO REPLACE ‘MOTHER’ WITH ‘BIRTHING PARENT’ TO APPEASE TRANSGENDER COMMUNITY

“Not only did Donald Trump show his commitment to working families while President through policies like extending the child tax credit and paid family leave, but, he is also the only candidate for President who has vowed to give rights back to parents, protect our children from learning inappropriate topics in our schools and keep all Americans, including and especially our children, safe from the disasters that have resulted from Joe Biden’s open border policy,” she said. 

“As the mother to two of President Trump’s grandchildren, I see daily how they follow in his footsteps of exuding love for this country and standing up for what they know is right, even in the face of unprecedented obstacle.”

INFLATION IS AFFECTING PARENTS’ ABILITY TO PAY FOR EDUCATION: SURVEY  

A campaign official noted to Fox News Digital that the Trump campaign employs dozens of moms this election cycle, including Leavitt who is expecting a baby this summer, and a top adviser for the campaign, mother and grandmother Susie Wiles. He has also hired hundreds of working moms since 2016, including high-profile names such as Kellyanne Conway, Sarah Huckabee Sanders and Kayleigh McEnany. RNC and Trump campaign senior adviser Danielle Alvarez and Trump’s legal spokeswoman Alina Habba are also both mothers of young kids. 

LAKEN RILEY’S MOTHER BLASTS BIDEN AS ‘PATHETIC’ FOR GETTING DAUGHTER’S NAME WRONG DURING SOTU

“Everywhere we go on the campaign trail with President Trump, we hear from mothers who have lost children due to Biden’s soft-on-crime policies and have courageously spoken out against Biden and in support of President Trump,” the spokesperson said, citing Gold Star moms whose children were tragically killed during Biden administration’s botched exit from Afghanistan in 2021, and the moms of both Laken Riley and Maddie Hines, who tragically died allegedly at the hands of illegal immigrants. 

GOLD STAR FAMILIES OUTRAGED BY BIDEN ADMIN’S ‘OBVIOUS’ LIES ON AFGHAN EXIT: ‘I’M NOT STUPID’

As the presidential election cycle continues to heat up, the economy and ongoing inflation is a top concern for voters. FOX Business reported last year that a whopping 67% of parents reported in a poll that inflation is affecting their ability to pay for their children’s education, school supplies and extracurricular activities. Diapers and the cost of child care, for example, both spiked by 32% last year compared to 2019 when Trump was president, while baby formula hit an all-time high under Biden. 

GOP LAWMAKERS SLAM BIDEN ADMINISTRATION’S NEW TITLE IX PROTECTIONS FOR ‘GENDER IDENTITY’

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“If mothers want a President who will build a prosperous economy for future generations, empower law enforcement to keep their neighborhoods safe, and bring peace back to this world — there is only one option to vote for in November, and that option is President Trump,” Leavitt concluded. 

A proposal that would reassign Air National Guard troops to the Space Force without the consent of governors is an “existential threat” to the part-time force that would erode operational efficiency and eliminate a longstanding precedent, critics say.

Legislative Proposal 480 was submitted to the Senate Armed Services Committee by the Department of Defense in an effort to bolster the Space Force, the U.S. military’s youngest branch created during the Trump administration. The move would override a longtime tradition that requires the Department of Defense to acquire gubernatorial approval before transferring Guard members to another military branch.

“This is really a wholesale harvesting of the units, the people, the structure, the equipment and the facilities in transferring them out of the National Guard from the governors and just placing them in the active component Space Force,” retired Maj. Gen. Francis M. McGinn, president of the National Guard Association, told Fox News Digital.

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Under LP480, Air National Guard troops who perform space missions could be brought over to the Space Force and designated as part-timers without approval from the governor of the state where the unit is based. 

The National Guard and Air National Guard are the primary combat reserve components for the active-duty Army and Air Force. They are called upon to perform a variety of missions when they respond to requests from civilian authorities during emergencies, including disaster relief and security.

The National Guard falls under the authority of the respective governors of the 55 states and territories of the United States, until they are federalized, such as when they are deployed to war zones. 

“The original intent of the National Guard was to have a force ready to respond to the needs of their state and country,” according to the more than 80 congressional lawmakers from both parties who were part of a Tuesday letter to the Senate and House Armed Service committees. “Because of this, authority was placed in the hands of each state’s individual governor. This is more than a matter of governance; governors bear the responsibility to protect the safety of their citizens by maintaining the readiness and deployability of their National Guard units.”

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All 55 governors have come out against the plan, arguing that it would usurp their authority. Several of them have spoken with Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall III to express their opposition to the measure.

“Federal law requires consultation and approval from Governors on any decisions to move National Guard units, plain and simple,” reads a Thursday statement from the National Governors Association (NGA) chair, Republican Utah Gov. Spencer Cox, and the vice chair, Democrat Colorado Gov. Jared Polis. “Until Air Force leaders withdraw LP 480, they are in violation of federal law. We cannot have productive conversations on this matter until LP 480 is set aside. Governors are united on this point.”

Last week, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who has mobilized National Guard soldiers to assist local authorities in handling illegal immigration at the southern border, called LP480 a “power grab.”

Fox News Digital has reached out to the Space Force and Kendall’s office. In a May 3 letter from Kendall to Cox, the Air Force secretary said the intent of the proposal isn’t to set a precedent or disregard the role of governors. 

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“Rather, the proposal would help complete the standing up of the U.S. Space Force,” reads the letter, which was obtained by Fox News Digital from a source familiar with the issue.

Kendall noted that the Space Force has integrated space missions previously performed by the Air Force, Army, Navy and Marine Corps. The Air Force has decided that such missions performed by the Air National Guard should also become part of the Space Force, he said. 

LP408 could impact 1,008 Air Guard troops across 14 units in seven states, according to Air National Guard Brig. Gen. Michael Bruno, the National Guard Association chair of the Space task force. The Space Force as a whole is made up of only a few thousand Guardians, Bruno told Fox News Digital.

Several Air National Guard members are part-time and hold civilian jobs, said Bruno, who noted that a majority would refuse to transfer, which could impact national security because new people would have to be recruited and trained to be mission capable. 

“What would happen is we would have a seven- to 10-year gap in capability and readiness,” Bruno said. “That capability gap for national security is the most important piece that we would lose, and they’re willing to take that risk.”

The Space Force states its mission is to protect the U.S. to operate freely in space as well as keep it secure, “stable and accessible for military space power and new waves of innovation.”

“Right now, we are providing 30% of the space missions in the National Guard for the total Space Force, and we’re providing 60% of the electronic warfare missions,” said McGinn, who added that many airmen surveyed said they would prefer to remain in the Air National Guard. 

“They joined the Guard for a reason,” he added. “They want to stay in their community. They like doing the state mission. They don’t have to relocate. So, they’re not going to go.”

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Another issue that will hamper operations in the future will be recruiting Guard members to fill the mainly administrative roles they will be assigned if transferred to the Space Force, McGinn said.

“No one is going to sign up for that,” he said. “And if they do get anyone dumb enough to be recruited, they’re not going to be retained because they’re going to be bored, and they’re going to leave.”