President Donald Trump directed a profanity-laced message to Iran on Sunday, signaling the U.S. will target the regime’s power plants and bridges on Tuesday if the Strait of Hormuz is not reopened.
“Tuesday will be Power Plant Day, and Bridge Day, all wrapped up in one, in Iran,” Trump’s post read. “There will be nothing like it!!!”
“Open the F—– Strait, you crazy bastards, or you’ll be living in Hell – JUST WATCH!” read Trump’s message to Iran’s leaders. “Praise be to Allah.”
Trump on Sunday told Fox News chief foreign correspondent Trey Yingst that he believes he’ll be able to make a deal with Iran by tomorrow — the president’s deadline for Iran to reopen the strait.
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“I think there is a good chance tomorrow, they are negotiating now,” the president said.
If Iran fails to make a deal, Trump said, “You’re going to see bridges and power plants dropping all over their country.”
“If they don’t make a deal and fast, I’m considering blowing everything up and taking over the oil,” he said.
EX-NATO AMBASSADOR WARNS US AND ALLIES MUST ‘STOP THE SNIPING’ AND UNITE TO END IRAN CONFLICT
Iran has hampered passage through the narrow waterway, which is crucial for the global oil trade, since the onset of the war to use as one of its bargaining chips. Iranian interference in the strait has significantly impaired the movement of oil tankers along the waterway, causing global oil prices to rise.
Trump’s latest message shows the president is hardening his threats to strike Iran’s critical infrastructure if Tehran doesn’t reopen the Strait of Hormuz by his Monday deadline.
On Saturday, Trump posted a reminder to Iran about his 10-day deadline to reopen the strait, writing, “Time is running out – 48 hours before all Hell will reign down on them.”
The president has previously issued such threats before extending them when mediators have claimed progress toward ending the war on agreeable terms.
Trump earlier announced that he would be holding a press conference at the White House on Monday alongside members of the military.
Fox News Digital’s Peter Pinedo and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
The daring U.S. military rescue of a seriously wounded airman is being hailed as an American success story, as President Donald Trump announced “we got him!” and detailed the “AMAZING show of bravery and talent,” turning a potential American setback into a show of might.
Details about the rescue are trickling in, including senior administration officials telling Fox News how the CIA deflected enemy attention with a “deception campaign.”
The CIA spread word in Iran through multiple sources that U.S. forces had already found the second of two airmen who ejected from their F-15, and were moving him out of Iran in a maritime exfiltration elsewhere, sources told Fox News, but that was designed to buy time to find the stranded weapons system officer.
The CIA picked up a distress signal, passing the intelligence on to the Pentagon and White House, which ordered the immediate rescue mission, according to sources.
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There was initial fear the “beacon signal” was an Iranian “trap,” sources said.
“There was a lot at stake here,” the source said.
Once the CIA confirmed Saturday morning that this was not a trap, the missing airman was located using advanced technical capabilities.
CIA Director John Ratcliffe informed Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Gen. Dan “Raizin’” Caine and, ultimately, Trump.
“Within eight hours, we had planes in motion,” the source said. “Within almost 12 hours we were on the ground in Iran.
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“We’ve seen before what they do with prisoners. We were going to expend every effort to make sure we got to him first.”
The U.S. used MQ9 Reaper drones to protect the area around where the airman was hiding and fired on anything that came close to that area and any area where U.S. forces were operating to prevent crowds or any Iranians from approaching, sources confirmed to Fox News.
“We executed multiple large-scale strikes in the surrounding area using every tactical jet in the U.S. inventory and B-1 Bombers to keep him safe,” according to a senior U.S. official.
Trump saluted the complex operation to exfiltrate the “highly respected colonel.”
“We have rescued the seriously wounded, and really brave, F-15 Crew Member/Officer, from deep inside the mountains of Iran,” Trump wrote Sunday morning on Truth Social, announcing an Oval Office news conference set for 1 p.m. ET Monday. “The Iranian Military was looking hard, in big numbers, and getting close.”
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“This type of raid is seldom attempted because of the danger to ‘man and equipment.’ It just doesn’t happen!” Trump said. “The second raid came after the first one, where we rescued the pilot in broad daylight, also unusual, spending seven hours over Iran. An AMAZING show of bravery and talent by all!”
One night earlier, Trump hailed “one of the most daring Search and Rescue Operations in U.S. History.”
“My fellow Americans, over the past several hours, the United States Military pulled off one of the most daring Search and Rescue Operations in U.S. History, for one of our incredible Crew Member Officers, who also happens to be a highly respected Colonel, and who I am thrilled to let you know is now SAFE and SOUND!” Trump wrote Saturday night on Truth Social.
“This brave Warrior was behind enemy lines in the treacherous mountains of Iran, being hunted down by our enemies, who were getting closer and closer by the hour, but was never truly alone because his Commander in Chief, Secretary of War, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and fellow Warfighters were monitoring his location 24 hours a day, and diligently planning for his rescue,” he said.
The injured airman was the second of two crew members from the warplane Iran claimed it had brought down with its air defenses on Friday.
Several aircraft were destroyed during the U.S. rescue mission, Iran’s elite Islamic Revolutionary Guards claimed Sunday according to the Tasnim news agency. An Iranian military spokesperson said a C-130 military transport plane and two Black Hawk helicopters were among the downed craft.
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Israeli intelligence had assisted the CIA in determining the location of the missing WSO and removing doubt about an Iranian “trap,” halting its attacks in the area to facilitate the mission, an Israeli security official told Reuters.
“All Israelis rejoice in the incredible rescue of a brave American pilot by America’s dauntless warriors,” Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wrote in a statement Sunday morning. “This proves that when free societies muster their courage and their resolve, they can confront seemingly insurmountable odds and overcome the forces of darkness and terror.”
The weekend rescue left Trump resolute in swift and decisive victory amid a 10-day deadline to reopen the Hormuz Strait to oil tankers, issuing a stunning expletive-laced warning Sunday morning.
“Tuesday will be Power Plant Day, and Bridge Day, all wrapped up in one, in Iran,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “There will be nothing like it!!!
“Open the F–in’ Strait, you crazy bastards, or you’ll be living in Hell – JUST WATCH! Praise be to Allah,” he added.
Fox News’ Jennifer Griffin, Trey Yingst and Reuters contributed to this report.
The Trump administration filed an emergency motion to restore White House ballroom reconstruction, warning “time is of the essence” and saying President Donald Trump and his staff’s “security and safety” are at risk by the judge’s “untenable” ruling.
In the filing, Justice Department lawyers said the partially built project includes “deep Top Secret excavations, foundations, and structures” that must be completed quickly to protect sensitive construction and security features from exposure.
“This order is untenable and must be stayed in that the building is under construction, with deep Top Secret excavations, foundations, and structures, already built, and ready to receive heavily fortified, for security reasons, steel, bullet, ballistic, and blast proof glass, and drone proof roofing materials, which must be finished quickly, and not allowed to be exposed to the conditions and elements of an open construction site,” Friday night’s motion urges.
“Time is of the essence!”
JUDGE WARNS TRUMP ADMINISTRATION AGAINST ‘IRREVERSIBLE’ WHITE HOUSE BALLROOM CONSTRUCTION WORK
The appeal asks the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit to stay U.S. District Judge Richard Leon’s order halting the project, which Leon ruled cannot proceed without congressional approval.
The administration argues the judge himself acknowledged that work needed to secure the White House grounds and protect the president and staff can continue.
“In granting this shocking, unprecedented, and improper injunction, one that could have been sought long ago, prior to the start of construction (in that there was full knowledge, through large scale media attention and publicity, that the White House ballroom was planned to be built, and there would have been a great deal of time for them to object, long before the start of construction, even though their objection would likewise have been baseless and frivolous), the district court took the erroneous, sweeping view that Congress did not authorize the ballroom construction at the White House — yet correctly allows construction ‘necessary to ensure the safety and security of the White House and its grounds, including the ballroom construction site, and provide for the personal safety of the President and his staff,’” the DOJ argued.
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Also, the lawyers wrote, the judge ignored the administration’s overtures to have him visit the site to see the privately funded $400 million project.
“The judge was given an opportunity to see the construction taking place at the site, but surprisingly, never responded to our invitation,” Trump Assistant Attorney General Brett Shumate wrote.
Preservationists challenging the construction say the administration unlawfully bypassed federal review and authorization requirements, but the DOJ rejected the judge’s claims that congressional approval is needed for a privately funded ballroom.
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“For decades, Congress has vested the President with overlapping statutory authorities that allow the President to make the improvements he deems necessary to White House grounds and structures,” Shumate wrote. “Yet, a district judge ordered the President to halt ongoing reconstruction of the East Wing of the White House by April 14, leaving a massive excavation and structurally completed site adjacent to the now open and exposed Executive Mansion and threatening grave national-security harms to the White House, the President and his family, and the President’s staff.”
“Almost 400 Million Dollars of private donations and contributions (No taxpayer dollars are being used to build this long sought, and desperately needed, ballroom!) have already been committed, or spent, in the purchase of heavy, large scale, and other types of building materials. The path to this injunction confirms its unfairness, untenability, and danger to the White House and the people working and living within its walls,” he added.
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The new motion filed by the National Park Service said the federal district court lacks the constitutional authority “to entertain this suit, which rests on a single pedestrian’s subjective architectural feelings.”
The initial lawsuit against the construction was brought by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, a nonprofit organization, alleging Trump exceeded his authority when he razed the historic East Wing and launched construction on the new building.
Friday’s motion argues the claims are “legally baseless” and “no Trust member has standing.”
TRUMP ADMIN DEFENDS WHITE HOUSE BALLROOM AS NATIONAL SECURITY MATTER
“The President has complete authority to renovate the White House,” Shumate concluded.
The East Wing was originally built in 1902 and expanded four decades later during Franklin D. Roosevelt’s presidency.
The ballroom is part of Trump’s broader push to reshape Washington’s monumental core, which also includes plans for a 250-foot (76-meter) arch and changes at the Trump Kennedy Center.
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“I would like to thank the hardworking Commissioners and Staff of the National Capital Planning Commission, who just voted overwhelmingly, 8-1, to approve the magnificent White House Ballroom now rising on this Hallowed Ground,” Trump wrote Thursday night on Truth Social.
“I am pleased to announce that even Board Member Senator Rand Paul, known as an extraordinarily difficult vote, voted a strong YES,” Trump said. “For more than 150 years, every President has dreamt about having a Ballroom at the White House to accommodate people for Grand Parties, State Visits, and even, in the Modern Day, Inaugurations.”
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“I am honored to be the first President to finally get this much-needed project, which is on time and under budget, underway,” the president added. “When completed, it will be the Greatest and Most Beautiful Ballroom of its kind anywhere in the World, and a fabulous complement to our Beautiful and Storied White House!”
Trump has lamented legal challenges to his administration’s agenda, rebuking “rogue judges” siding with “baseless” Democrat lawyers and lawsuits.
“In the Ballroom case, the Judge said we have to get Congressional approval,” Trump wrote this week on Truth Social. “He is WRONG! Congressional approval has never been given on anything, in these circumstances, big or small, having to do with construction at the White House.”
Tax season is stressful enough, but avoidable mistakes can turn a routine filing into an expensive headache.
With Tax Day just 10 days away, even small errors can mean the difference between a smooth refund and frustrating delays. In some cases, they can even trigger IRS notices or unexpected penalties.
Here are five common filing missteps to watch out for and how to avoid them:
1. Choosing the wrong filing status
Your filing status is one of the most important choices on your tax return because it helps determine your tax rate, your standard deduction and which credits you may be eligible to claim. Pick the wrong one, and you could end up paying more than you owe, getting a smaller refund or triggering delays if the IRS flags the return for review.
For many taxpayers, the confusion comes from life changes that happened during the year, like getting married or divorced, having a child, moving in with a partner, supporting an aging parent or sharing custody. Even if your situation feels straightforward, the IRS rules can be less intuitive, especially for taxpayers who aren’t sure whether they qualify as “head of household” or whether they can still file as “qualifying surviving spouse” after a spouse has died.
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Head of household, in particular, can be costly to get wrong. It typically comes with a larger standard deduction and more favorable tax brackets than filing as single – but it has strict requirements tied to paying more than half the cost of keeping up a home and having a qualifying dependent. If you don’t meet the rules and claim it anyway, you may have to pay back tax benefits later, plus penalties and interest.
When in doubt, the IRS has an online filing-status tool, and many tax software programs will walk you through the questions to help you choose the right category.
2. Leaving credits on the table
One of the biggest and most expensive tax-season mistakes is failing to claim every credit or deduction you qualify for. That can mean a smaller refund or a higher bill.
“I think the top mistake people make is not fully understanding or taking the time to really research what are all the different deductions and the ways that you can put a little bit of extra money in your pocket that are available to you,” said Bill Sweeney, senior vice president of government affairs at AARP.
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Sweeney also warned taxpayers not to rely on last year’s return as a blueprint for filing because of recent changes to the tax code from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
“This would be a good year given that there are these changes to the tax code, to make sure not to assume that what you did last year will convey over to this year. Really take a fresh look at your tax situation and see if there’s money that you’re leaving on the table,” he said.
3. Missing key deadlines
An extension can buy you time to file your paperwork, but it doesn’t give you extra time to pay. For most taxpayers, the IRS deadline to pay what you owe is April 15, 2026 – even if you request an extension to file later.
“Remember that even if you claim an extension, the money is owed on April 15,” said Mike Faulkender, co-chair of American Prosperity at the America First Policy Institute.
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Faulkender, a former Treasury official and IRS commissioner, said taxpayers who need more time should still estimate their bill and pay by the filing deadline to help avoid added costs.
“You have to actually send in a check or have the payment deducted from your account by the filing deadline,” he said.
If you can’t pay in full by April 15, pay what you can to help limit penalties and interest on top of your tax bill.
4. Entering bank account details incorrectly
If you choose direct deposit for your refund, the IRS relies on the routing and account numbers you provide. One wrong digit can lead to delays.
If you pay what you owe by direct debit, incorrect banking details can also lead to a rejected payment and potentially result in penalties and interest.
5. Filing before all your tax forms arrive
Timing matters when it comes to filing your taxes. Submitting your return before you’ve received all your key paperwork, like W-2s or 1099s, can lead to errors, missing income or a return you have to amend later.
Faulkender said there’s a simple way to double-check what’s been reported under your name before you file.
“One of the things that I learned last year when I was IRS commissioner, was that if you create an account on irs.gov, you can see everything that’s been filed under your tax ID,” he said.
“We’re supposed to receive all of our W-2s and our 1099 forms in the mail in January and February. But if you’re missing one, or you misplaced it rather than requesting it again, you can actually go and see what was filed under your taxpayer identification number if you create an account on IRS.gov.”
Filing late can also cost you extra money, especially if you owe. The goal is to wait until you have what you need, then file as soon as you’re ready.
Fourth-generation Iowa farmer Mark Mueller is no stranger to the ups and downs of the agriculture industry. But right now, he thinks America is on the cusp of a farm crisis.
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“I am more concerned now than I have been in my 30 years of farming,” Mueller told NBC News.
Even before the Iran war, Mueller said, many farmers felt they were being squeezed. Consolidation in the fertilizer industry and increased competition from abroad have resulted in higher prices for fertilizer and feed — and smaller returns on Mueller’s corn and soybean crops.
Many farmers who couldn’t pay their bills in recent years went under. In 2025, the number of Chapter 12 farm bankruptcies reached 315, according to the American Farm Bureau Federation. That was up 46% from the previous year.
Now, the Iran war is putting even more pressure on farmers.
Before the war, roughly a third of the world’s fertilizer ingredients and a fifth of its oil supplies passed every day through the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow waterway off Iran’s southern coast. But since the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran on Feb. 28, the strait has been effectively closed by Tehran, leaving scores of tankers stranded.
The strait’s closure has driven up global prices for fertilizer and for the diesel fuel that powers most of America’s heavy agricultural equipment.
The double whammy is hitting farmers just as they head into the spring planting season.
“This is that perfect storm where everything comes together and hammers the farmer,” said Mueller, who also serves as the president of the Iowa Corn Growers Association.
Mueller said his fertilizer supplier was selling a nitrogen fertilizer he needs for $795 per ton on Feb. 22, a few days before the war started. At the end of March, it was $990, Mueller said, a nearly $200 jump in just a few weeks.
Meanwhile, the price he’s paying for diesel has jumped, too. Diesel is now averaging $5.51 nationwide, up from $3.76 right before the war, according to AAA.
Mueller said he got most of the fertilizer he needs for spring before the war — but had to buy some at the higher prices. He’s holding off on purchasing the additional fertilizer he needs for summer, hoping prices will come down.
Mark Mueller, a farmer and president of the Iowa Corn Growers Association, thinks America is on the cusp of a farm crisis.Courtesy of Iowa Corn
President Donald Trump’s tariffs have also added to the cost of goods that farmers import from overseas — and frustrated many of the foreign buyers of America’s agricultural products.
“Our government made our life more difficult by walking away from trade deals or instituting tariffs or just basically making our customers angry — our customers being other nations and companies in other nations,” said Mueller.
Lance Lillibridge, a corn and cattle farmer from Vinton, Iowa, told NBC News he plans to use less fertilizer this year.
“I’m probably going to see a reduction in yield,” said Lillibridge. “If there’s not the supply out there, then the price is going to go up.”
If the war continues, the higher prices could ripple through the supply chain and ultimately result in higher prices at the supermarket.
“We’re talking about all the crops and all the food products that we consume on a daily basis,” said Gregory Daco, chief economist at EY-Parthenon.
“Anything that is grown and that requires fertilizers, which is most of everything that we consume, is potentially affected by this rise in fertilizer prices,” said Daco. “And as a result, we may see these prices rise rapidly across grocery stores in the U.S.”
Take corn, for example. If corn prices spike, then feeding cattle becomes more expensive for many farmers. Plus cattle farmers are also dealing with the higher fuel prices. The cost of beef has already hit record highs — in part from shrinking cattle herds and drought — and it could surge even more.
“I worry about how much more consumers will continue to pay for beef,” said Will Harris, a fourth-generation cattle farmer in Bluffton, Georgia. “I think that I can produce it as cheap as anybody else, but I don’t know where consumers draw their lines.”
It may take a while for price increases on the farm to show up at the grocery store. Farmers are just planting their spring crops now, and it could take months for them to be harvested and sent off to distribution centers and eventually grocery stores.
But consumers may see higher prices sooner rather than later, because of higher transport costs with pricier diesel.
“If you’re feeling these costs now, it’s only going to continue to increase as the supply chain fills with higher-cost goods,” said Lillibridge.
“Corn is used in over 4,000 products,” he added. “It’s not just food — it’s industrial products, like your paper that you would put in your printer has cornstarch in it, plastics, just tons of things have industrial uses from corn.”
Economists say the longer the war stretches on, the larger the effects could be.
Newly harvested corn in Inwood, Iowa. Consumers may see higher prices sooner rather than later because of higher transport costs with pricier diesel. Jim West / UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty images file
“Right now, our farmers can get the product — it’s just really expensive,” said Faith Parum, an economist at the American Farm Bureau Federation, an advocacy group for farmers and ranchers. “We’re slowly starting to hear the longer this goes on, we’re also going to have issues with even the availability of the fertilizer.”
That could further strain farmers.
“We’re going on to year four of losses across the farm economy,” said Parum. “It’s going to become harder and harder for them to put a crop in the ground.”
Before the war, the Agriculture Department estimated that farm sector debt could reach a record $624.7 billion in 2026.
Farmers have received some financial assistance from the federal government over the years. In December, the Trump administration announced a new tranche of $12 billion in aid to farmers.
At a White House event for farmers in March, Trump said that he would push for more aid and urged Congress to pass a new farm bill.
Trump also pledged to ask Congress to permit year-round sales of E15, an unleaded fuel blended with 15% ethanol that the American Farm Bureau Federation says could save consumers money at the gas pump and create markets for American-grown crops.
Farmers listen as President Donald Trump speaks at the White House on Friday. During the event, Trump urged Congress to pass a new farm bill. Alex Wong / Getty Images
Mueller was among the farmers last month at the White House, where he listened to Trump.
“I guess I would liken it to empty calories,” he said of the president’s remarks. “It was like a pep rally with very little being said.”
Mueller fears that the mounting pressures on farmers, exacerbated by the war, could lead some to hang up their hats for good.
“I really do see fewer farmers when it’s all done,” he said. “In the end, the consumer will still have fewer choices, probably have a little higher prices, and farmers will have less margin than they did before.”
Two relatives of slain Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps Maj. Gen. Qasem Soleimani living in Los Angeles were taken into custody by federal agents after Secretary of State Marco Rubio revoked their green cards, officials said.
Hamideh Soleimani Afshar, identified as Soleimani’s niece, and her daughter were arrested and are now being held by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), according to an announcement Saturday from the State Department.
The Trump administration says Afshar has been a supporter of Iran’s “totalitarian, terrorist” regime.
“Afshar is the niece of deceased Iranian Major General Qasem Soleimani,” Rubio wrote on X. “She is also an outspoken supporter of the Iranian regime who celebrated attacks on Americans and referred to our country as the ‘Great Satan.’
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“This week, I terminated both Afshar and her daughter’s legal status and they are now in ICE custody, pending removal from the United States.”
In January 2020, a U.S. airstrike in Baghdad killed Soleimani during President Donald Trump’s first term in office.
While living in the U.S., Afshar “promoted Iranian regime propaganda, celebrated attacks against American soldiers and military facilities in the Middle East, praised the new Iranian Supreme Leader, denounced America as the ‘Great Satan,’ and voiced her unflinching support for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, a designated terrorist organization,” the State Department said.
“[Afshar] pushed this propaganda for Iran’s terrorist regime while enjoying a lavish lifestyle in Los Angeles, as attested to by her frequent posting on her recently deleted Instagram account,” the department said.
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According to the Department of Homeland Security, ICE officers arrested Afshar and her daughter Friday in Los Angeles.
DHS said Afshar entered the U.S. on a tourist visa in June 2015, was granted asylum in 2019 and became a green card holder in 2021 under the Biden administration.
“In July 2025, she filed a naturalization application, where she disclosed she traveled to Iran at least four times since being issued a green card. Her trips to Iran illustrate her asylum claims were fraudulent,” a DHS spokesperson told Fox News.
Her daughter entered the U.S. on a student visa in July 2015, was granted asylum in 2019 and became a green card holder in 2023, according to DHS.
“It is a privilege to be granted a green card to live in the United States of America,” the spokesperson added. “If we have reason to believe a green card holder poses a threat to the U.S., the green card will be revoked.”
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In addition to revoking Afshar and her daughter’s lawful permanent resident status, officials said Afshar’s husband has been barred from entering the U.S.
Earlier this month, the State Department also terminated the legal status of Fatemeh Ardeshir-Larijani, the daughter of a former senior Iranian official, and her husband.
Both are no longer in the U.S. and are barred from reentry.
“The Trump Administration will not allow our country to become a home for foreign nationals who support anti-American terrorist regimes,” the announcement said.
The State Department and ICE did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
The White House on Friday proposed a sweeping fiscal year 2027 budget that would dramatically increase military spending to roughly $1.5 trillion while cutting billions from domestic programs, marking a sharp shift in federal priorities toward national security and border enforcement.
The proposal outlines roughly $1.5 trillion in total defense resources, a figure the administration says is needed to address growing threats from China, Russia and other adversaries.
The request includes about $1.1 trillion in base discretionary funding for the Department of War, along with an additional $350 billion in mandatory funding to support priorities such as munitions production and expansion of the defense industrial base.
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If enacted, the plan would represent one of the largest increases in U.S. defense spending in decades, though the total includes a mix of discretionary funding and mandatory resources that are not typically combined in standard Pentagon budget comparisons.
Weapons production, ships and emerging technologies
The budget places heavy emphasis on rebuilding weapons stockpiles and strengthening domestic manufacturing capacity, areas that defense officials have identified as key vulnerabilities in recent years.
It calls for accelerated procurement of critical munitions and expanded investments in the defense industrial base, alongside increased funding for nuclear modernization.
Shipbuilding is another major focus, with $65.8 billion requested to procure 18 Navy battle force ships and 16 non-battle force vessels as part of a broader effort to expand maritime capacity.
The proposal also continues funding for the “Golden Dome” missile defense system, which aims to develop a layered homeland defense using space-based sensors and interceptors.
Emerging technologies play a central role in the plan.
The budget highlights investments in artificial intelligence, drones and counter-drone systems, and next-generation aircraft, including continued development of the F-47 — a sixth-generation fighter designed to operate alongside autonomous systems — with the program targeting a first flight as early as 2028.
Defense increases paired with domestic cuts
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The increase in defense spending is paired with a proposed 10% reduction in nondefense discretionary spending.
Budget tables show nondefense funding dropping to about $660 billion, while defense-related funding rises significantly, with base defense funding reaching roughly $1.15 trillion.
The fiscal year 2026 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) authorized approximately $890 billion to $901 billion in defense spending.
The administration also is proposing continued reductions in nondefense spending in future years, signaling a longer-term effort to rebalance federal spending toward national security priorities.
Several major agencies would see significant reductions under the plan, including: NASA, cut by about $5.6 billion, or 23%, State Department and international programs, down roughly $15.5 billion, or 30%, Environmental Protection Agency, cut by more than half, Department of Labor, reduced by about $3.5 billion and Department of Housing and Urban Development, down $10.7 billion.
The reductions are likely to face pushback from lawmakers, particularly over cuts to scientific research, housing programs and foreign aid.
“Donald Trump’s budget is rotten to the core, and Democrats will make sure it never passes,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said in a statement. “Trump is already spending massive sums on never-ending wars abroad, and now he’s pushing for a record-breaking $1.5 trillion in defense spending while slashing programs that Americans and seniors care about and rely on.”
Border security and law enforcement funding expands
The budget also increases funding tied to immigration enforcement and domestic security.
The Department of Homeland Security would continue to rely on more than $190 billion in multiyear funding provided through prior legislation to support border wall construction, detention capacity and enforcement operations, including tens of thousands of detention beds.
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At the same time, the Department of Justice would receive $40.8 billion in discretionary funding, a 13% increase, with additional resources aimed at addressing violent crime, drug trafficking and cartel activity.
The proposal also includes continued support for military involvement in border operations, as well as expanded funding for the Coast Guard.
Foreign aid reduced as priorities shift
The budget proposes a roughly 30% reduction in funding for the State Department and international programs, including cuts to humanitarian aid, global health initiatives and contributions to international organizations.
At the same time, it creates a new $5 billion fund intended to support strategic partnerships and national security priorities, along with expanded financing for allied nations purchasing U.S. defense equipment.
The changes reflect a broader shift toward prioritizing security-focused spending over traditional foreign assistance programs.
Industrial policy tied to national security
Beyond military spending, the budget links national security more directly to economic and industrial policy.
It includes funding to expand domestic production of critical minerals and support supply chains, alongside investments in advanced computing, including artificial intelligence supercomputers at national laboratories.
Officials say those efforts are intended to reduce reliance on foreign suppliers and improve the United States’ ability to sustain long-term competition with adversaries.
Economic assumptions and next steps
The budget is based on projections that assume steady economic growth of about 3% annually and inflation stabilizing near 2%, estimates that could face scrutiny from outside analysts.
The proposal now moves to Congress, where it is expected to face significant debate over both the scale of defense spending and the extent of domestic cuts.
Lawmakers also will likely scrutinize the administration’s use of mandatory funding and reconciliation to support defense increases, an approach that differs from traditional budget negotiations.
While presidential budgets are rarely enacted as written, the proposal provides a clear outline of the administration’s priorities heading into the next fiscal year, with a focus on military strength, border enforcement and a reduced role for many domestic programs.
The Department of Homeland Security revealed that a suspect who fled to China after allegedly planting a deadly explosive device at a military base is the child of two Chinese illegal immigrants.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested Chinese nationals Qiu Qin Zou and Jia Zhang Zheng, both of whom were living in the U.S. illegally, Homeland Security said.
They were arrested after two of their adult children, Ann Mary Zheng and Alen Zheng, were connected to a failed plot to detonate an improvised explosive device (IED) at MacDill Air Force Base in Florida in mid-March.
The base is home to U.S. Central Command, which oversees military operations in the Middle East, and Special Operations Command, which oversees all special operations forces across the Department of War.
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The alleged perpetrators of the attempt were born in the U.S. after their parents illegally entered the country, according to the Department of Homeland Security.
The agency asserted the case “illustrates why the improper recognition of ‘birthright citizenship’ for children of illegal aliens is not only inconsistent with the Constitution, but endangers all Americans.”
Birthright citizenship refers to the principle that anyone born on U.S. soil is automatically granted U.S. citizenship.
The FBI said Alen Zheng, who is believed to have planted the improvised explosive device at MacDill Air Force Base March 10, is currently in China. He is facing charges of attempted damage to government property by fire or explosion, unlawful making of a destructive device and possession of an unregistered destructive device, which carry a potential sentence of up to 40 years in prison.
FBI Tampa arrested Ann Mary Zheng March 17 after her return to the U.S. from China, where she had fled with her brother. She was charged as an accessory after the fact and tampering with evidence, facing up to 30 years in prison.
She is accused of hiding or damaging a 2010 Mercedes-Benz to prevent its use in legal proceedings, court documents show.
Prosecutors allege the siblings attempted to cover their tracks by selling the vehicle to car dealer CarMax. Despite the vehicle being vacuumed and cleaned, investigators later discovered trace explosive residue inside the vehicle.
The day after Ann Mary Zheng’s arrest, ICE apprehended both parents, Qiu Qin Zou and Jia Zhang Zheng. They are in ICE custody, according to the Department of Homeland Security.
Both parents applied for asylum in the U.S. but were denied and ordered removed by an immigration judge in 1998, according to the agency.
The Department of Homeland Security said the Bureau of Immigration Appeals denied multiple attempts by the parents to have their case reopened. Despite this, both remained living in the U.S. illegally for nearly three decades.
The department said the case highlights the “grave danger” of current U.S. law granting automatic citizenship to anyone born on American soil, including the children of illegal immigrants.
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After the parents’ arrests, acting Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis said “automatically granting citizenship to children of illegal aliens born in the U.S. … poses a major national security risk.”
“That reality became apparent last week when two U.S.-born children of Chinese illegal aliens were indicted for planting a potentially deadly explosive device outside MacDill Air Force Base in Florida,” said Bis.
“This incident underscores the severe national security threat that illegal immigration and birthright citizenship pose to the United States.”
Bis also asserted that the policy of granting automatic birthright citizenship “is based on a historically inaccurate interpretation of the Citizenship Clause” of the 14th Amendment.
The Supreme Court is weighing the constitutionality of an executive order signed by President Donald Trump that would end birthright citizenship for the children of illegal immigrants. Trump signed the order on his first day back in the Oval Office in 2025.
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The court held oral arguments on the case Wednesday, and justices appeared skeptical of Trump’s order.
Amy Swearer, a senior legal fellow at Advancing American Freedom, described the court’s line of questioning as “disappointing” for proponents of Trump’s stance on birthright citizenship.
“Most people understood coming into this, and I suspect even the government understood coming into this, that this was probably going to be a bit of an uphill battle,” Swearer said.
“I do think there’s a path forward” for a Trump victory, though it would likely be narrow and partial.
Fox News Digital’s Alex Nitzberg and Alexandra Koch contributed to this report.
After being scorned on social media, “Dirty Jobs” television show veteran Mike Rowe doubled down on his criticism of Jimmy Kimmel’s “tone deaf” monologues mocking new Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin for being a former plumber.
Rowe said he had not noticed his post about late-night host Kimmel “belittling plumbers” had gone viral, because he had been too busy working.
“I want to apologize for not responding to any of the 22 thousand comments my last post inspired,” he wrote. “I’ve been filming all week and just noticed my observations about Jimmy Kimmel and a former plumber named Markwayne Mullin have gone viral.”
Rowe said that Kimmel’s digs at Mullin for being a former plumber are evidence of “longstanding stigmas and stereotypes” against blue-collar skilled trade workers as “uneducated, one-dimensional workers who never made it to college.”
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“I did not suggest – even remotely – that a plumber was inherently qualified to hold a cabinet position,” he wrote on X. “What I said was that being a plumber should not disqualify a person from holding such a position.”
Kimmel, a regular critic of the Trump administration, was recently criticized as elitist for using Mullin’s prior experience as a plumbing business owner as evidence that he is unqualified to lead the Department of Homeland Security.
“Trump’s got a whole new generation of thinkers lined up, including his newly confirmed secretary of Homeland Security, Markwayne ‘Chuck Mike Bruce Dave’ Melon — Mullin. Maybe Melon’s better,” Kimmel said on air March 24. “He’s the now former senator of Oklahoma. Before he was elected to the Senate, Markwayne Mullin was a low-level MMA fighter and a plumber. That’s right. We have a plumber protecting us from terrorism now. It worked for Super Mario. Why not Markwayne?”
He continued, “But honestly — I mean, if Trump is going to keep picking these unqualified people to run the department, why not have more fun with it? I mean, next time, instead of Markwayne, how about Lil Wayne for Homeland Security? At least we can get a concert out of it, right?”
Kimmel later doubled down, saying, “I’m not upset that the head of Homeland Security used to be a plumber. I’m upset that he isn’t still a plumber.”
JIMMY KIMMEL REFUSES TO BACK DOWN AFTER MOCKING SECRETARY MULLIN OVER PLUMBING BACKGROUND
Rowe had ripped late-night host Kimmel for the dig, saying he took offense at the “suggestion that skilled workers should never evolve into something new.”
He asked if Mullin’s career progression from plumbing business owner to Congress and then to a top Cabinet official is “not the embodiment of the American Dream?”
On Friday, he wrote that stereotypes reinforced by jokes like Kimmel’s are contributing to a critical shortage of American skilled laborers.
“Reasonable people can disagree as to what is funny and what isn’t. Frankly, I couldn’t care less. What I do care about,” he wrote, “is the extraordinary shortage of plumbers and electricians our country is facing, and the longstanding stigmas and stereotypes that continue to discourage people from considering a lucrative career in the skilled trades.”
“Jimmy’s joke – and his audience’s reaction to it,” wrote Rowe, “is proof positive that those stigmas and stereotypes are alive and well.”
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Digging even deeper, Rowe asked, “What do their credentials and diplomas have to do with their actual competency? Are we not already surrounded by a legion of perfectly qualified experts who don’t know what the hell they’re doing?”
“Jimmy is entitled to his opinion, along with anyone else who believes that Mullin is unqualified to lead the DHS,” he wrote on X. “The Constitution, however, says otherwise, and so does the Senate.”
Rowe, who runs a nonprofit promoting skilled labor careers called the mikeroweWORKS Foundation, concluded by encouraging people to launch a career in the skilled trades, saying, “Who knows? Could be the first step on your road to President.”
Fox News Digital reached out to spokespeople for Kimmel for comment.
The White House on Friday requested $152 million to begin reopening Alcatraz as an operational prison.
The funding proposal, included in the Trump administration’s fiscal year 2027 budget request, would cover the initial phase of rebuilding the long-closed facility into what officials describe as a “state-of-the-art secure prison facility.”
Congress will ultimately decide whether to approve the funding.
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President Donald Trump first pushed the idea last year, directing the Bureau of Prisons, the Department of Justice and other federal agencies to reopen and expand Alcatraz to detain what he called America’s “most ruthless and violent offenders.”
“REBUILD, AND OPEN ALCATRAZ!” the president said in a Truth Social post last May. “For too long, America has been plagued by vicious, violent, and repeat Criminal Offenders, the dregs of society, who will never contribute anything other than Misery and Suffering.
Located in San Francisco Bay, Alcatraz has been closed since 1963 and currently operates as a popular tourist destination under the National Park Service.
Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., slammed the proposal in a post on X on Friday.
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“Rebuilding Alcatraz into a modern prison is a stupid notion that would be nothing more than a waste of taxpayer dollars and an insult to the intelligence of the American people,” Pelosi wrote. “Alcatraz is a historic museum that belongs to the public, and San Franciscans will not stand for Washington turning one of our most iconic landmarks into a political prop.”
Originally opened as a federal prison in 1934, Alcatraz was widely considered one of the most secure facilities in the country.
The prison once housed notorious criminals including mob boss Al Capone.
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Alcatraz first served as a military prison in the 1850s. At its peak, the facility held more than 300 inmates, along with staff and their families.
Despite its reputation, Alcatraz was ultimately shut down because of high operating costs.
According to the Bureau of Prisons, it was nearly three times more expensive to run than other federal prisons at the time.
The White House and the Bureau of Prisons did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.