President Donald Trump on Saturday said Hamas needs to start returning the bodies of deceased hostages held captive by the terror group during the war in Gaza ‘quickly, or the other countries involved in this GREAT PEACE will take action.’

While all the living hostages have been returned from Gaza, the remains of 13 deceased hostages have not been handed over by Hamas.

‘Some of the bodies are hard to reach, but others they can return now and, for some reason, they are not,’ Trump wrote in a Truth Social post. ‘Perhaps it has to do with their disarming, but when I said, ‘Both sides would be treated fairly,’ that only applies if they comply with their obligations. Let’s see what they do over the next 48 hours. I am watching this very closely.’

Hours before Trump’s post, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee met with the families of Itay Chen and Omer Neutra, two U.S. citizens who were killed in the Oct. 7, 2023 attacks.

Their bodies are among those still being held by Hamas.

‘We will not forget the lives of the hostages who died in the captivity of Hamas,’ Rubio wrote in an X post. ‘We will not rest until their—and all—remains are returned.’

Authorities believed Chen, a 19-year-old dual U.S.-Israeli citizen, was kidnapped by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023, but was later declared dead by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).

Neutra, 21, an American-Israeli from New York, was killed in battle on Oct. 7, 2023.

Huckabee noted Rubio’s visit to Israel was ‘very productive in moving forward’ the U.S.-brokered Gaza peace plan, adding the plan cannot work until all hostages, living and deceased, are released.

While traveling to Asia Saturday, Trump met with Qatari leaders aboard Air Force One while refueling at Al-Udeid Air Base.

Qatar has played a significant role in efforts to negotiate peace and ceasefires in Gaza.

After a meeting with Qatar Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani, Trump said ‘The Emir is one of the great rulers of the world … and the Prime Minister has been my friend.’

Referencing the peace deal, the president said, ‘What we’ve done is incredible — peace in the Middle East.’

Fox News Digital’s Rachel Wolf contributed to this report.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Saturday said that the U.S., Israel and other mediators of the Gaza peace deal had shared intelligence to avoid a possible attack last weekend and would do so going forward. 

‘We put out a message through State Department, sent it to our mediators as well, about an impending attack, and it didn’t happen,’ he told reporters while flying from Israel to Qatar. ‘So that’s the goal here, is ultimately to identify a threat before it happens.’

This comes a week after the State Department said it had ‘credible reports’ that Hamas was planning an attack on Palestinian civilians in violation of the agreement.

Rubio said Saturday the U.S. has talked with countries like Qatar, Egypt and Turkey who are interested in contributing to an international stabilization force in the region. He added that Indonesia and Azerbaijan are also interested.

But, he said, ‘Many of the countries who want to be a part of it can’t do it without’ a United Nations resolution supporting the force.

Rubio also met with President Donald Trump in Qatar ahead of the president’s Asian tour.

Vice President JD Vance was also in Israel earlier this week along with special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner in an attempt to solidify the ceasefire deal, which took effect earlier this month.

Next week, Rubio said the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Dan Caine, is expected to travel to Israel as well.

Trump thanked Qatar for their part in helping secure the peace deal while meeting with Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thanimet and Qatar Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani.

‘This should be an enduring peace,’ Trump told reporters of the deal.

His visit to Qatar was part of a refueling stop before heading on to Asia.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report. 

For decades, the United States has fought the war on drugs as if it were exclusively a law enforcement issue. It never was. It has always had national security implications. 

After years of inaction, drugs now kill more Americans each year than every modern war combined. Fentanyl alone claimed more than 100,000 lives in 2021, a number that continues to rise despite billions spent on interdiction, prevention and policing. That is not a criminal nuisance. That is a sustained mass-casualty event inside the homeland.

President Donald Trump’s new approach finally treats the crisis for what it is. By designating major drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations and authorizing the use of military force against them, his administration has drawn a clear line between criminality and warfare. 

The cartels are not ordinary traffickers. They are transnational powers that control territory, wield military-grade arsenals and use terror as a tool of governance. In Trump’s words, they are ‘the ISIS of the Western Hemisphere.’

The numbers already justify the policy. In the first weeks of operations, the new Homeland Security Task Force has arrested more than 3,200 gang and cartel members, seized 91 tons of narcotics and captured over 1,000 illegal weapons. Those seizures represent tens of thousands of American lives saved. Every boat stopped and every shipment intercepted means fewer overdose deaths, fewer funerals, and fewer communities shattered by addiction and violence.

For too long, Washington treated the cartels as criminals who could be prosecuted rather than enemies who had to be defeated. That approach failed. The cartels wage war on America for profit. They assassinate, extort and kidnap while basking in riches captured through intimidation and terror.  They destabilize our neighbors and corrupt governments from Mexico to Venezuela. If America had the right to strike al Qaeda and ISIS abroad for killing Americans, it has an equal right to strike the cartels that kill Americans at home. 

The legal foundation is clear. In February 2025, the State Department designated Tren de Aragua, Sinaloa, Jalisco Nueva Generación, MS-13 and others as Foreign Terrorist Organizations. A presidential determination in September formally declared that the United States is in a non-international armed conflict with these groups. 

No court has challenged the policy because it aligns with both domestic and international law. When foreign networks deliberately kill American citizens, the president has not only the authority but the obligation to act.

The ethical case is equally strong. The Just War tradition requires a just cause, competent authority, proportionality and last resort. Every criterion has been met. The cause could not be more just when drug overdoses in the United States claimed more than 100,000 lives for a third consecutive year by 2023. 

Years of law enforcement, education campaigns and international coordination have not slowed the killing. When nonviolent means have failed, the duty of a government is to protect its citizens by every lawful means available.

Each go-fast boat in the Caribbean and each semi-submersible in the Pacific carries more than cocaine or methamphetamine. It carries a body count of Americans. These are not fishing vessels. They are militarized smuggling platforms crewed by combatants in a foreign network that profits from death. To treat them as anything less is to deny reality. The era of denial is over.

Critics argue that military strikes risk escalation. The cartels crossed this line long ago when they began murdering, intimidating and corrupting their way into power. These transnational criminal enterprises now operate as shadow governments. To continue treating them as mere criminal syndicates would be absurd.  In truth, it would be to accept defeat. 

Trump’s use of force is not about vengeance. It is about national defense. The Department of War, the CIA, the intelligence community, the DEA, FBI and Coast Guard are now unified in a single mission to dismantle the cartels’ capacity to kill Americans. 

Every strike on a drug boat denies the enemy profit and saves lives. As Secretary Pete Hegseth said, each destroyed vessel represents roughly 25,000 Americans who will not die from the poison it carried.

The cartels’ economic reach rivals that of small nations, generating hundreds of billions annually. They corrupt officials, weaponize migration and flood American streets with narcotics. This is not commerce. It is organized war for profit.

A government that fails to confront such an enemy is unworthy of the people it serves. Trump’s use of military force against the cartels is justified both legally and morally. It is long overdue. The United States has every right to defend its borders, its citizens and its sovereignty against a foreign network that profits from American death.

For decades, America fought this war with hesitation and half-measures. Now it is being fought with purpose. This is not a new war. It is the same one that has been killing Americans for generations. The difference is that, at last, America is fighting to win.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., is remaining quiet on the New York City mayoral race, despite his self-imposed deadline of weighing in before early voting fast approaches on Saturday morning.

The top House Democrat was asked multiple times about Democratic socialist candidate Zohran Mamdani, and whether he will endorse him, during a press conference at the U.S. Capitol on Friday.

Jeffries has said multiple times that he would speak about the race before early voting begins in New York City — which is coming at 9 a.m. ET on Saturday.

‘Stay tuned,’ he told one reporter when asked if he was ready to endorse Mamdani.

He was asked about Mamdani again a short while later, when a reporter queried, ‘Why are you refusing to endorse?’

‘I have not refused to endorse. I have refused to articulate my position, and I will momentarily, at some point in advance of early voting,’ Jeffries said.

A third reporter asked Jeffries whether he believed his refusal to endorse was ‘splitting the Democratic Party.’

‘I traveled throughout the country, and the Democratic Party is as unified as I’ve seen us throughout the entirety of this year, and you’re about to experience that in real time. So it won’t be hypothetical. You’re about to see it in real time in Virginia, in New Jersey, and in California as it relates to prop 50,’ Jeffries said, without mentioning his home state of New York.

‘As I’ve said, I will have more to say about the mayor’s race when I have more to say about the mayor’s race in advance of early voting, when I’m back home tomorrow.’

Fox News Digital then asked why Jeffries was waiting until the 11th hour to weigh in on the race, to which he tersely responded, ‘This question has been asked and answered repeatedly.’

Notably, Jeffries would not have been able to make his endorsement at the press conference. Lawmakers are barred from making political statements or solicitations on Capitol grounds.

Mamdani is the current frontrunner in the race between himself, Republican Curtis Sliwa, and former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who is running as an Independent.

While he’s gained support from progressives in Congress, including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., the top two Democrats on Capitol Hill — Jeffries and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. — have been silent.

Politico reported on Friday afternoon that Jeffries would endorse Mamdani later Friday.

The State Department has spent nearly $100 million less on travel this year than last amid a wider effort to trim budgets, according to documents exclusively obtained by Fox News Digital.

From January to September 2024, the Biden administration State Department spent $306 million on foreign and domestic travel. At the same point this year, the department under President Donald Trump spent $212 million, according to documents seen by Fox News Digital.

Some $37 million in cuts was focused on domestic travel, largely driven by a decrease in conference attendance, which made up nearly $7 million of the cuts.

Site visits and consultations within the U.S. also decreased by around $14 million and domestic special mission travel was down around $5.5 million.

Overseas travel decreased from $206 million from January-September 2024 to $149 million.

Site visits and consultations overseas were down around $12.5 million and travel for training was down around $15 million.

‘The Trump Administration has consistently been on the side of the American people and the American taxpayer, and these numbers prove that,’ principal deputy spokesperson Tommy Piggot said.

‘We believe in real diplomacy, not meetings for the sake of meetings.’

This travel-spending decline comes amid a broader effort by the Trump administration to shrink the department’s footprint and reduce overseas commitments. In April 2025, the Office of Management and Budget wrote a memo recommending the combined budget of the State Department and USAID be cut nearly in half in the upcoming fiscal year.

The plan would reduce the budget from about $55 billion to $28.4 billion, slash funding for humanitarian assistance and global health programs by more than 50%, and potentially shut down or significantly scale back dozens of U.S. missions abroad.

And as of July, the department had initiated layoffs of over 1,300 domestic staff.

Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., has canceled votes in the House of Representatives for a fourth straight week as the government shutdown shows no signs of ending.

Johnson’s move is a part of his continued pressure strategy on Senate Democrats and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., who have sunk the GOP’s federal funding plan 12 times since Sept. 19, when the House passed the measure.

Sept. 19 was also the last day the House was in session, meaning lawmakers have been largely in their home districts for over a month.

Republicans are pushing a short-term extension of fiscal year (FY) 2025 spending levels through Nov. 21 — called a continuing resolution (CR) — aimed at giving congressional negotiators time to strike a longer-term deal for FY2026. 

Democrats, furious at being sidelined in federal funding discussions, have been withholding their support for any spending bill that does not also extend COVID-19 pandemic-era enhanced Obamacare subsidies that are due to expire at the end of this year.

Johnson’s decision was made public on Friday afternoon during a brief pro forma session in the House. Under rules dictated by the Constitution, the chamber must meet for brief periods every few days called ‘pro forma’ sessions to ensure continuity, even if there are no formal legislative matters at hand.

Pro forma sessions can also be opportunities for lawmakers to give brief speeches or introduce legislation that they otherwise would not have. 

Democrats have criticized Johnson’s decision, with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., telling reporters that House Republicans have been ‘on vacation for the last four weeks.’

Republicans, however, have largely stayed united behind Johnson as the shutdown continues.

‘I mean, if all of a sudden the Senate wants to pass a clean CR, I would imagine there are some options on the table that we can pursue to get things back on track,’ said Rep. Adrian Smith, R-Neb., who presided over the House chamber on Friday. 

‘I would defer, ultimately, to [leadership’s] decisions for the schedule. But right now, I don’t see any sign that we need to change what has been on the counter.’

But there have been several notable defections. Both Reps. Kevin Kiley, R-Calif., and Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., have made their criticism of Johnson’s strategy known publicly for weeks.

‘I believe very strongly that it’s the wrong decision,’ Kiley told MSNBC earlier this week, adding House lawmakers were not ‘doing all the things we’re supposed to be doing’ aside from figuring out how to end the shutdown.

Multiple House lawmakers have also raised concerns about being out of session on private weekly calls that Johnson holds with members of the GOP conference.

Rep. Beth Van Duyne, R-Texas, was the most recent House Republican to suggest the GOP could be in a stronger position if they were back in Washington, Fox News Digital was told.

‘I think the longer that we are out, the messaging is starting to get old,’ Van Duyne told fellow House Republicans on their Tuesday call.

President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un should make a ‘bold decision’ to meet during the American president’s upcoming trip to Asia, South Korea’s unification minister declared Friday.

Chung Dong-young made the remark as Trump is set to leave Friday night for a five-day trip to Malaysia, Japan and South Korea, Reuters reported.

‘The leaders of North Korea and the U.S. must not miss this chance,’ Chung was quoted by Reuters as telling South Korea’s Yonhap news agency. ‘They need to make a bold decision.’

‘It would help North Korea’s international standing and improve its people’s lives … and for that, peace and stability need to be guaranteed and that’s only possible by meeting President Trump,’ Chung reportedly added.

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

The last time Trump and Kim met was on June 30, 2019, at the Demilitarized Zone between North and South Korea.

Earlier this month, a White House official told Fox News Digital that, ‘President Trump remains open to talking with Kim Jong Un, without any preconditions.’

‘President Trump in his first term held three historic summits with North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un that stabilized the Korean Peninsula. U.S. policy on North Korea has not changed,’ the official added.

In late September, Kim said he has ‘good personal memories’ of Trump from their first meetings and there is ‘no reason not to’ resume dialogue with the U.S. if it ‘abandons its delusional obsession with denuclearization,’ according to The Associated Press.

North Korea later test-fired multiple short-range ballistic missiles on Wednesday ahead of Trump’s departure to Asia.

Fox News Digital’s Jasmine Baehr, Morgan Phillips and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

The Trump administration took a shot at former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton after she rallied Americans to reject President Donald Trump’s White House ballroom construction project, accusing the former first lady of stealing furniture from 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. in 2001. 

‘Failed presidential candidate and former First Lady Crooked Hillary Clinton stole furniture from the White House on her way out until she was forced to return it,’ White House spokesman Davis Ingle told Fox News Digital Wednesday. ‘Crooked Hillary is shameless and a total disgrace.’ 

‘Meanwhile, President Trump is restoring the White House to its proper glory for Americans to enjoy for generations to come — at no expense to the taxpayer — something we should all celebrate,’ Ingle added. 

Clinton took to social media earlier in October to rally support against Trump’s ballroom construction at the White House — a privately-funded project to install a 90,000-square-foot entertaining space at the iconic residence. 

‘It’s not his house,’ Hillary Clinton wrote on X Tuesday morning. ‘It’s your house. And he’s destroying it.’ 

Clinton’s comment was quickly mocked, as conservatives rehashed a 2001 controversy when former President Bill Clinton and his wife took household items from the White House that were legally designated as White House property, according to The Washington Post at the time. 

The Clintons took, and then returned, an estimated $28,000 in White House furnishings provided by donors, and paid $86,000 to the federal government for other gifts they received in 2001, after Clinton’s tenure in the Oval Office came to a close, The Washington Post reported at the time. The former first couple denied wrongdoing while addressing the ‘catalogoing error.’ 

‘Gifts did not leave the White House without the approval of the White House usher’s and curator’s offices,’ the Clintons said in a 2001 statement. ‘Of course, if the White House now determines that a cataloging error occurred … any item in question will be returned.’

Conservatives, including lawmakers and social media influencers, knocked Clinton over the 2001 controversy in response to her comments against the ballroom construction. 

‘At least he didn’t steal the silverware,’ Texas Sen. Ted Cruz posted to X Tuesday lambasting Clinton.  

‘Hi Hillary, Remind us, wasn’t it you who walked off with $28,000 in White House furniture when you moved out?’ conservative influencer Benny Johnson posted to X. ‘And your husband who defiled the Oval Office during his presidency? President Trump’s funding a beautiful new ballroom out of his own pocket.’ 

‘A Clinton would never defile the White House,’ former White House staffer Alex Pfeiffer shot back in response. 

Fox News Digital reached out to Clinton’s office multiple times for additional comment on her anti-ballroom remarks and subsequent mockery of the 2001 controversy but did not receive replies. 

Trump announced Monday that construction for the ballroom had begun. 

‘I am pleased to announce that ground has been broken on the White House grounds to build the new, big, beautiful White House Ballroom,’ Trump wrote on Truth Social. ‘Completely separate from the White House itself, the East Wing is being fully modernized as part of this process, and will be more beautiful than ever when it is complete!’ 

‘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, etc. I am honored to be the first President to finally get this much-needed project underway — with zero cost to the American Taxpayer!’ he continued. ‘The White House Ballroom is being privately funded by many generous Patriots, Great American Companies, and, yours truly. This Ballroom will be happily used for Generations to come!’

The White House pushed back on reports claiming President Donald Trump will likely name the upcoming White House ballroom after himself, saying any name designation for the event space will come directly from the president. 

‘Any announcement made on the name of the ballroom will come directly from President Trump himself, and not through anonymous and unnamed sources,’ White House spokesman Davis Ingle told Fox News Digital Friday. 

Reports spread like wildfire Friday afternoon that Trump planned to name the ballroom after himself, with ABC News publishing a report that administration officials were reportedly already calling the project ‘The President Donald J. Trump Ballroom.’

‘I won’t get into that now,’ Trump told ABC News Thursday when asked about a potential name, the outlet noted. 

Trump announced Monday that construction had begun on the ballroom, after months of Trump touting the upcoming project to modernize the White House. The project does not cost taxpayers and is privately funded, the administration has repeatedly 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, etc. I am honored to be the first President to finally get this much-needed project underway — with zero cost to the American Taxpayer!’ Trump posted to Truth Social on Monday. ‘The White House Ballroom is being privately funded by many generous Patriots, Great American Companies, and, yours truly. This Ballroom will be happily used for Generations to come!’

The ballroom’s official construction set off a firestorm of criticisms among Democrats who have characterized Trump as destroying the iconic American residence. 

‘Oh you’re trying to say the cost of living is skyrocketing? Donald Trump can’t hear you over the sound of bulldozers demolishing a wing of the White House to build a new grand ballroom,’ Democratic Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren posted to X in response to Trump’s Monday announcement.

‘The White House became my home when I was twelve years old. I always understood that it wasn’t my ‘house’; it was The People’s House,’ former first daughter Chelsea Clinton posted to X. ‘The erasure of the East Wing isn’t just about marble or plaster — it’s about President Trump again taking a wrecking ball to our heritage, while targeting our democracy, and the rule-of-law.’

‘I wanted to share this photo of my family standing by a historic part of the White House that was just torn down today by Trump,’ New Jersey Sen. Andy Kim posted to X Monday. ‘We didn’t need a billionaire-funded ballroom to celebrate America. Disgusting what Trump is doing.’

The Trump administration has repeatedly hit back at the criticisms, including White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt saying on Fox News that presidents historically have wanted a large entertaining space at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. 

‘Nearly every single president who’s lived in this beautiful White House behind me has made modernizations and renovations of their own,’ Leavitt said on Fox News’ ‘Jesse Watters Primetime’ Tuesday. ‘In fact, presidents for decades — in modern times — have joked about how they wished they had a larger event space here at the White House, something that could hold hundreds more people than the current East Room and State Dining Room.’

‘President Obama even complained that, during his tenure, he had to hold a state dinner on the South Lawn and rent a very expensive tent.’

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, announced after a contentious nomination hearing Thursday that he would not support the Trump administration’s pick for ambassador to Kuwait.

Among other areas of concern, Cruz expressed alarm over Amer Ghalib’s refusal to outright condemn the Muslim Brotherhood, a group Cruz believes works against the geopolitical interests of the United States.

‘The Muslim Brotherhood is a global terrorist organization,’ Cruz said in a post on X. ‘Amer Ghalib refers to them as an inspiration. That is in opposition to President Trump and is disqualifying. I cannot support his confirmation for the Ambassador to Kuwait.’ 

Ghalib, the mayor of Hamtramck, Mich., sparred with Cruz and other members of the Senate earlier that day, clashing with several lawmakers over issues like the United States’ relationship with Israel, comments he had made about the war in Gaza and more.

According to the Department of State, Ghalib was born and raised in Yemen before coming to the United States at age 17. After working full-time in an auto parts factory, he attended the Ross University School of Medicine from 2006-2011 and went on to work as a healthcare professional at the Hamtramck Medical Group until his entry into politics. 

Ghalib made news when he was elected as mayor in 2021, becoming the first Muslim to fill the role. In that capacity, he endorsed Donald Trump for president in 2023.

‘Mr. Ghalib’s journey began as a farmer in Yemen, then as an autoworker in the United States, a healthcare professional, and then as an elected mayor of his city. His multicultural experience, deep regional knowledge and demonstrated success as a politician, leader and community organizer, make him a well-qualified candidate to serve as U.S. Ambassador to the State of Kuwait,’ the State Department wrote in its summary of the administration’s nominee. 

On Thursday, when asked by Cruz if he still considered Saddam Hussein, the former president of Iraq, a martyr, Ghalib initially skirted the question.

‘I was a private citizen in 2020,’ Ghalib answered, referring to the timing of a social media post when he had given that description.

‘I’m just asking your views. I asked you about today. Do you continue to believe that Saddam Hussein is a martyr today?’ Cruz asked again.

‘I don’t think that — there’s no doubt that Saddam was a dictator. I mean, I can say no. It wouldn’t matter. He’s in God’s hands; he’s going to get the treatment he deserves,’ Ghalib said. 

Hussein served as president from 1979 until his government was overthrown in the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq. In the aftermath, an Iraqi tribunal found him guilty of willful killing, illegal imprisonment, deportation and torture, among other abuses. He was hanged on Dec. 30, 2006.

Ghalib and the Hamtramck City Council entered the spotlight in 2024 when the city voted unanimously to approve a resolution that, in response to the war in Gaza, required the city to avoid investing in Israeli companies. Citing that resolution, Cruz and other senators expressed reservations that Ghalib would be able to faithfully carry out positions held by the administration. especially if it were to designate the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organization or other policy issues that could conflict with Ghalib’s personal views on the Middle East. 

Those hesitations stretched across the aisle.

‘You liked a Facebook comment comparing Jews to monkeys,’ Sen. Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., said. ‘You characterized leaders you don’t like as becoming ‘Jewish.’ As mayor, you failed to comment after one of your political appointees called the Holocaust ‘advance punishment’ for the War in Gaza, and you denied that Hamas used sexual violence as a weapon of war on Oct. 7.’ 

Ghalib did not deny authoring the posts. Instead, he defended himself by arguing that his comments had been taken out of context or that lawmakers had selectively misconstrued his actions. In response to Rosen’s remarks about liking a post comparing Jewish people to monkeys, Ghalib said that he had made it a practice to interact with all social media comments left on his page as a form of acknowledgment. He said those views did not reflect his positions. 

‘I think a lot of my posts were written in Arabic and mistranslated,’ Ghalib said in response to further questioning about some of the posts he had made himself.

The State Department and Ghalib’s office did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Rosen and other senators did not seem moved by Ghalib’s explanations.

‘That is beyond the pale. I will not be supporting your nomination,’ Rosen said. ‘And if you are confirmed — I want you to remember this, sir: You will be an ambassador for the United States of America. And, thus, as ambassador, we must show respect to everyone. We will be watching to see if that happens.’ 

No date has been set for a final vote on Ghalib’s nomination.