The Pentagon has sent at least six B-2 bombers – 30% of the US Air Force’s stealth bomber fleet – to the Indian Ocean island of Diego Garcia, in what analysts have called a message to Iran as tensions once again flare in the Middle East.
The deployment comes as US President Donald Trump and his defense chief Pete Hegseth warn of further action against Iran and its proxies, while US jets continue to attack the Tehran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen.
Images taken by private satellite imaging company Planet Labs on Tuesday show the six US bombers on the tarmac on the island, as well as shelters that could possibly conceal others. Tankers and cargo aircraft are also at the island airbase, a joint US-British base which is 3,900 kilometers (2,400 miles) from Iran’s southern coast.
Planet Labs images from Sunday show four B-2s and six support aircraft on the Diego Garcia tarmac.
Without mentioning the B-2s directly, Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell confirmed that the US military is sending additional aircraft and “other air assets” to the region to improve America’s defensive posture in the region.
“The United States and its partners remain committed to regional security … and are prepared to respond to any state or non-state actor seeking to broaden or escalate conflict in the region,” Parnell said.
“The deployment of these B-2s is clearly designed to send a message – perhaps several messages – to Iran,” said the former US Air Force colonel.
“One of them could be a warning to cease supporting the Houthis in Yemen. Another message the Trump administration might be sending to Iran is that it wants a new nuclear deal (to replace the ‘bad’ deal Trump withdrew the US from in his first term) and if Iran doesn’t start to negotiate with the US the consequences could be the destruction of Iran’s nuclear weapons program,” Leighton said.
Trump began ramping up military action against the Houthis in mid-March, with airstrikes that killed at least 53 people and wounded almost 100 others in Yemen, according to the Houthi-run Health Ministry.
Strikes have continued since, as Houthis threaten US warships in the region, in attacks that the militants say are in solidarity with Gaza as it faces bombardment by Israel, a key US ally.
In disclosures that caused a major controversy for the Trump administration, Hegseth shared sensitive information last month on pending military strikes against Houthi militants on an unsecured group chat with top national security officials — a chain to which The Atlantic’s editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg was accidentally added.
Trump, in a Tuesday post on his social media platform Truth Social, on Tuesday threatened more could be coming.
“Stop shooting at U.S. ships, and we will stop shooting at you. Otherwise, we have only just begun, and the real pain is yet to come, for both the Houthis and their sponsors in Iran,” Trump posted.
Trump has also been pushing Iran to make a deal over its nuclear capabilities, saying on March 19 that he would give Tehran two months to come to an agreement or face the consequences.
There “are two ways Iran can be handled: militarily, or you make a deal. I would prefer to make a deal, because I’m not looking to hurt Iran,” Trump told Fox News last month.
But Iran this week rejected any direct negotiations.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth “continues to make clear that, should Iran or its proxies threaten American personnel and interests in the region, the United States will take decisive action to defend our people,” Parnell said.
“Six is a serious number. For Houthi deeply buried targets, two or maybe three, but six B-2s is a major effort,” Layton said.
“Such targets would potentially include Iranian nuclear and weapons storage facilities,” the former US Air Force officer said.
Layton, the aviation analyst, noted that the six B-2s likely represent the entire deployable fleet of the aircraft.
“I assume there are one or two at home for training and another few standing nuclear alert. Rest in maintenance,” said Layton, a former Royal Australian Air Force pilot and now visiting fellow at the Griffith Asia Institute.
Parnell, the Pentagon spokesperson, said the aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman, which has been carrying out strikes on Houthi rebels in Yemen, will stay in the region through this month, though its deployment there was scheduled to have ended at the end of March.
Hegseth “also ordered the deployment of additional squadrons and other air assets that will further reinforce our defensive air-support capabilities,” Parnell said. It’s unclear what squadrons or assets will be moving to the region.
Parnell added that the Nimitz Strike Group is deploying to the Western Pacific “to preserve our warfighting advantage in the Indo-Pacific.”
Leighton said that the presence of the B-2s on Diego Garcia would be noted across Asia.
“It’s unlikely the deployment of six B-2s to Diego Garcia is meant to deter actions by other powers, such as China or Russia, but they are surely taking note of this deployment as well. Of course, we can’t forget that Iran is an ally of those two countries,” he said.
The United States has approved the potential sale of 20 F-16 fighter jets to Manila, giving the key US ally in the Indo-Pacific a major upgrade to its air force just days after US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth vowed to counter “China’s aggression.”
The US Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) announced the proposed sale of the F-16s and related equipment, worth an estimated $5.58 billion, in a statement on Tuesday.
“This proposed sale will support the foreign policy and national security of the United States by helping to improve the security of a strategic partner that continues to be an important force for political stability, peace, and economic progress in Southeast Asia,” DSCA said.
The announcement comes less than a week after Hegseth visited the Philippines, his first trip to Asia as defense chief, and said Washington will enhance its military alliance with Manila as it aims to “reestablish deterrence” to counter “China’s aggression” in the Indo-Pacific region.
On Wednesday, China cautioned Manila on the deal.
“Any defense and security cooperation that the Philippines engages in with other countries should not target or harm the interests of any third party, nor should it threaten regional peace and security or escalate tensions in the region,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said.
“As for who is fueling the flames, who is provoking military confrontation, and who is turning Asia into a powder keg, we believe that regional countries can see the situation clearly.”
The Philippines has been on the front lines of China’s increasingly aggressive posture in Asia. Beijing seeks to assert its claim over the bulk of the South China Sea, despite an international ruling denying its sovereignty over the waterway.
Hegseth said Friday the US would deploy additional advanced military capabilities to the US ally for joint training, enhance interoperability for “high end operations” and prioritize defense industrial cooperation.
In its statement, DSCA said Manila had requested to buy 16 F-16Cs – single-seat, single-engine fighter jets – and four F-16Ds, dual-seat jets that are usually used for training purposes.
The F-16s are the block 70/72 newest variant of the workhorse military warplane, which entered service with the US Air Force in the late 1970s.
Manufacturer Lockheed Martin says the new F-16s are the world’s most advanced fourth-generation fighter, touting a “structural service life” of more than 12,000 hours.
The F-16s, along with advanced avionics, radar and weaponry included in the deal, are a significant upgrade to the Philippine Air Force’s fighter fleet. Currently, it has only 12 South Korean-made FA-50 jets, a lighter ground attack and fighter jet.
The F-16s have a top speed of more than 1,500 miles per hour, Lockheed Martin says, about 350 mph faster than the FA-50.
Speaking alongside Philippine Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro on Friday, Hegseth called the US-Philippine relationship an “ironclad alliance, particularly in the face of Communist China’s aggression in the region.”
The Trump administration has vowed to “truly prioritize a shift” to the Indo-Pacific, Hegseth said, with the “recognition that for the 21st century to be a free century, America needs to stand alongside our allies and partners shoulder to shoulder.”
The American military presence in Asia is seen by allies as a critical counterbalance in a fractious region where China has been rapidly expanding its military might and a belligerent North Korea has been empowered by closer ties with Russia.
Trump has repeatedly questioned the structure of US military alliances and whether the US was getting enough out of such partnerships and basing arrangements, including those in Asia where tens of thousands of troops are stationed in sprawling bases in Japan and South Korea.
Hundreds of men and women stand in rows, divided by nationality, in the courtyard of a white-walled compound, flanked by armed guards in fatigues.
The group were among around 7,000 people recently released from scam centers run by criminal gangs and warlords operating along Myanmar’s border with Thailand, where many are held against their will and forced to work conning ordinary people, including American citizens, out of their life savings.
Some volunteer to work in the compounds. But many others are lured by promises of well-paying jobs or other enticing opportunities, before being trafficked across the border into Myanmar to carry out fraudulent investment schemes and romance scams.
For years, the scam centers and cyber fraud compounds – many run by Chinese crime syndicates – have proliferated along the mountainous frontier, raking in billions of dollars from scams, money laundering and other illicit activities. The Chinese and Thai governments finally launched a highly publicized crackdown in February.
Those included in the releases are a fraction of an estimated 100,000 people trapped along the border.
“Billions of dollars are being invested in these kinds of businesses,” said Kannavee Suebsang, a Thai lawmaker leading his country’s efforts to release those held in scam centers. “They [the scam syndicates] will not stop.”
Hundreds of people freed from scam centers in KK Park in February, 2025.CNN
The scam underworld, analysts say, is agile and professional, and is rapidly expanding cyber fraud operations through illicit online marketplaces to target new demographics of victims.
The syndicates have quickly adopted cryptocurrency and are investing in cutting-edge technological developments to move money more quickly, as well as making the scams more effective.
Crime groups are using artificial intelligence to write scamming scripts and are exploiting increasingly realistic deepfake technology to create personas, pose as a love interests, and mask their identity, voice and gender.
“Fundamentally, this is a situation the region has never faced before,” said John Wojcik, an organized crime analyst at the United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime.
“It’s clear that the evolving situation is trending towards something far more dangerous than scams alone – and rolling out at an unprecedented scale if left unchecked.”
There is also evidence of Asian crime syndicates expanding into other parts of the world, with networks found in parts of Africa, South Asia, the Gulf, and the Pacific, according to the UNODC.
“These syndicates are quickly maturing into more sophisticated cyber threat actors capable of deploying malware, deepfakes and other powerful tools, fuelled by the rise of new illicit online markets and crypto-based laundering services,” said Wojick.
The scale of the problem is too vast for one government or agency to combat. Experts say a global response is needed.
Inside KK Park in Myawaddy, Myanmar in February, 2025.CNN
Scam city
The scam compounds in Myawaddy lie in territory controlled by two Myanmar ethnic militia groups, the Karen Border Guard Force and the Democratic Karen Benevolent Army (DKBA).
One such complex is KK Park, a sprawling, purpose-built city that experts say is dedicated to online gambling and cyber fraud.
Ringed by mountains and corn fields, the huge, heavily guarded compound of multi-story buildings and telecoms towers stands just inside the country’s border with Thailand – a blot on the otherwise untouched landscape.
But in what looked like an office building, dozens of men were packed together in a whitewashed room, sitting or lying on duvets on the floor.
In a nearby courtyard, dozens more men and several women sit crouched in lines. Most wear masks to obscure their identities. Clothes and towels hang drying on overhead balconies.
The Border Guard Force militia had invited local journalists inside KK Park on a heavily restricted visit. Armed BGF soldiers carried semi-automatic rifles and rocket-propelled grenade launchers, as the media were escorted into a select few buildings.
The several hundred people inside are the recently released victims and workers of the scam compound, the BGF said.
“They deceived many people, from South America, from North America, from Africa and Arabic-speaking countries,” said Kannavee.
Chinese pressure
The armed groups agreed to help put a stop to illegal trafficking and scamming operations in their territories after pressure from Chinese and Thai authorities following the high-profile abduction of a Chinese actor to a scam center in Myawaddy earlier this year.
The compounds have operated for years, shielded by corruption and lawlessness that has long saturated Myanmar’s border regions. But the criminal syndicates and the armed groups hosting them have exploited four years of devastating civil war to greatly expand their business.
Since seizing power in a coup in February 2021, Myanmar’s military junta has waged a brutal war against its people. On multiple fronts, the military is fighting against resistance groups and long-established ethnic minority armed forces, which the opposition government says now control about 60% of the country.
More than $43 billion is lost to scams in Southeast Asia by regional crime groups a year — almost 40% of the combined gross domestic product of Laos, Cambodia, and Myanmar, according to the US Congress-founded United States Institute of Peace.
Previous crackdowns in Myanmar meant the syndicates moved operations further into the country’s interior or to major cities such as Yangon. And traffickers involved in bringing people into the centers became more sophisticated, experts say.
Even as thousands of people are being released in Myawaddy, there’s continued illicit activity and ongoing recruitment inside.
“There is already indication of an ongoing partial displacement into other neighboring scam hubs in the region,” said UNODC’s Wojcik.
The BGF and militias are positioning themselves as helping to eradicate the scam centers in their territories, even leading press tours into the scam compounds.
But they are also accused of direct involvement in operations inside the centers and benefiting financially from them.
A member of the Karen Border Guard Force guards alleged scam center workers, many of whom say they were trafficked and forced to work at the compound, during a crackdown operation on February 23.
AFP/Getty Images
Alleged scam center workers and victims stand together during the crackdown operation by the Karen Border Guard Force.
AFP/Getty Images
The BGF was one of the architects of the criminal hub in Myawaddy starting from 2016, when it rented land to Chinese syndicates, according to analysts, and business soared after the 2021 military coup.
“The Border Guard Force has shares in every single one of these projects, and that’s the mainstay of its economy. It’s drawing most of its revenue from this,” said Jason Tower, country director for Myanmar at the United States Institute of Peace.
“These armed groups have very direct relationships with the mafia,” he added. “They’re using that revenue to purchase weapons, to recruit new troops. So, it’s a very clear alignment of interests that’s there between these armed groups and the criminal syndicates.”
Thailand’s Department of Special Investigation is seeking an arrest warrant for BGF leader Saw Chit Thu – who is linked to another notorious compound, Shwe Kokko – and two of his associates, on human trafficking charges.
Police said the prosecutor’s office is reviewing the case.
Chit Thu has denied knowing about or benefiting from the scamming and trafficking operations in his territory, and said in a recent press conference that the BGF is raiding the compounds with the aim of eradicating them.
China has taken the lead in putting pressure on Thailand to stop scam operations on its border. For years, China has been the main supporter of Myanmar’s military, but the proliferation of scam operations has strained that relationship.
Analysts say Beijing could be leveraging the situation to increase its security presence in Myanmar and influence the trajectory of the civil war, which has had a destabilizing effect on its own border with Myanmar.
“It potentially could use that growing presence there to assist the Myanmar military in gaining additional intelligence on some of the movements of resistance forces in the Myanmar, Thailand borderland,” said Tower.
Myint Kyaw of the junta-controlled Myanmar information ministry said the government is “actively investigating online scams and online gambling, and is working with foreign countries, including foreign organizations, to combat them.”
While Myanmar remains fractured and in a state of civil war, without a legitimate government to negotiate with, the scam industry in Myanmar won’t be dismantled.
“As long as peace is not a reality in Myanmar,” said Kannavee. “This is the reality here along the border.”
Adding further uncertainty to efforts to eradicate the scam compounds, is that Myanmar is now struggling to respond to a massive earthquake that has devastated the country’s central Sagaing region, killing more than 2,700 people.
Satellite images from Maxar Technologies show construction at KK Park in Myawaddy from 2020 to 2024.Maxar Technologies
Fears for those left behind
Even for the about 7,000 victims and workers rounded up in the recent operations, there is little clarity on how or when many will be able to go home.
The armed groups have demanded that Thailand let the individuals cross the border so they can be repatriated, saying they don’t have food or capacity to care for them.
China, whose nationals make up the largest proportion of people caught up inside the centers, has flown several thousand of its citizens home, and last week more than 500 freed Indian nationals were repatriated.
But Thailand has struggled to process a backlog of thousands of people from more than 20 countries.
“The situation is really getting to the point where it’s almost a humanitarian crisis, and it’s a very unique crisis in so far as you have people from such a wide range of countries,” said Tower. “This is a particularly complex operation to have to manage, and it’s all happening with very little time to plan, very little time to raise resources.”
Kannavee led a successful rescue operation of 260 people in February after negotiating with the DKBA. Video from the release shows dozens of people streaming onto a small Thai-flagged ferry to cross the Moei River – the demarcation line between Thailand and Myanmar. Carrying bags and suitcases, many look relieved and happy to finally be on Thai soil. But their ordeal was not over.
“Many of them are still stuck in the temporary shelters in Thailand,” said Kannavee.
Victims, who were tricked or trafficked into working in Myanmar scam centers, stand on a vessel floating toward the Thai side of the border on February 12.
Krit Phromsakla Na Sakolnakorn/Reuters
As they watch others be released, families of those still inside the centers have had to anxiously await news of their loved ones.
Chelsea’s husband left their home in the Philippines in April last year for what he was told was a tech support job in Thailand. Chelsea, who asked to use a pseudonym to protect her husband, was pregnant with their second child at the time, and the family needed the cash.
But after arriving in Bangkok, her husband was driven to the Thai border town Mae Sot, where “soldiers with guns” forced him get on a boat across the river to Myanmar, she said. Instead of tech support, Chelsea said her husband worked 17-hour days for no salary conning people out of their money online.
“I cannot sleep. I’m just thinking about how he’s been doing,” Chelsea said.
A member of the Karen Border Guard Force stands guard as those freed from online scam centers arrive at the border checkpoint with Thailand, in Myawaddy, Myanmar, on February 20.
AFP/Getty Images
Alleged scam center workers and victims from China arrive at the border checkpoint with Thailand in Myawaddy, Myanmar, on February 20.
AFP/Getty Images
Chelsea had kept in touch with her husband via a used phone he bought from someone in the compound. But in December he suddenly stopped responding to her. Three months later, he got back in touch. He had been caught with the phone and the scam bosses threatened to sell him to another compound.
“They told him that if we catch you again having a phone, we’re going to sell you. We’re going to get your kidney or your eyes,” Chelsea said.
Her husband was in a DKBA camp, hoping to be released home. Last week, he was finally released.
One woman from China, who requested anonymity because she feared retaliation, said she believed her sibling was moved to a different compound in February.
Until her sibling was unexpectedly released in recent weeks, information had dried up for months.
“Ever since they started releasing people in February, their freedom has been monitored even more strictly, no one is allowed to chat with (each) other,” she said. “I dare not imagine how terrible it must be to be in there.”
Victims of scam centers, who were tricked into working in Myanmar, are assembled at a compound inside the KK Park, after a crackdown operation by the Karen Border Guard Force on February 26.
Democrats and Republicans repeatedly clashed on Tuesday during a lengthy hearing on what the GOP calls ‘activist judges’ blocking President Donald Trump’s agenda.
The House Judiciary Committee’s subcommittees on the Constitution and on courts held the joint hearing in preparation for a House-wide vote on legislation that would limit district judges’ ability to issue nationwide injunctions. That bill is currently stalled, however, after an unrelated fight on proxy voting paralyzed the House floor.
During the hearing, Democrats repeatedly tried to press Republicans on the issue of judicial impeachments — something pushed by conservatives but that House GOP leaders have shown little appetite for pursuing.
‘Some guy I’ve never heard of, he, might be in Congress, introduced an impeachment resolution, and he’s not here,’ Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., said of an impeachment resolution targeting U.S. district Judge James Boasberg by Rep. Brandon Gill, R-Texas.
‘He hasn’t been here for at least the last hour, and every witness here is in agreement that we really shouldn’t be impeaching judges. I haven’t heard a single colleague on the other side say we should be impeaching judges.’
Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., who was co-chairing the hearing alongside Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, asked Swalwell to yield his time — but the California Democrat refused.
‘I don’t think they have anything to talk about with the bills, since they offered a similar bill, and even the solicitor general, as late as October of last year in the Biden administration, wanted exactly what we’re moving out of committee today,’ Issa told Fox News Digital about Democrats’ ploy.
Rep. Jared Moskowitz, D-Fla., compared conservatives’ push to impeach judges to House Republicans’ impeachment inquiry efforts into former President Joe Biden — which ultimately did not end in any such proceedings.
‘I guess we’re taking a page out of [House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer’s] playbook, we’re just doing fake impeachments,’ Moskowitz told Fox News Digital.
But Roy, who co-led the hearing with Issa, told Fox News Digital it was about ‘trying to make clear that you’ve got a handful of judges acting, clearly politically, to stop the administration from acting.’
‘It’s pretty clear that my Democratic colleagues prefer to defend the right of an MS-13 gang member, clearly here illegally, from being deported,’ Roy said.
But Rep. Scott Fitzgerald, R-Wis., another member of the committee, said at least one goal was to ‘raise the profile of the issue.’
‘Maybe the more headlines a hearing like this gets, it clearly sets it on the plate of Chief Justice Roberts, right, to take action and try to get control of the courts again,’ he said.
It’s not immediately clear when Issa’s bill will get a vote, after House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., announced House floor activity was canceled for the rest of this week.
The White House is warning President Trump may veto a Democrat-led resolution that would undo his tariffs against Canada if it passes the Senate on Tuesday.
In a statement of administrative policy obtained exclusively by Fox News Digital, the Trump White House said that if the resolution came to his desk, ‘his advisors would recommend that he veto it.’
Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., led several other Democrats in introducing the privileged resolution, which would specifically roll back the tariffs that the Trump administration levied on Canada.
The resolution would reverse the national emergency that Trump declared on Feb. 1 at the northern border.
A White House official told Fox News Digital in an exclusive statement, ‘President Trump promised to secure our borders and stop the scourge of fentanyl that’s poisoning our communities, and he’s delivering. Democrat Senator Tim Kaine is trying to undermine the President’s Emergency Declaration at our Northern Borders—a measure that prioritizes our national security—for reasons that defy logic.’
‘Under Joe Biden’s failed leadership, criminal networks, fentanyl, and terrorists ran rampant along the northern border. Today’s stunt by Tim Kaine proves once again how woefully out of touch the Democrat Party is with the American people as they use a matter of national security for political gamesmanship. The stakes are too high to reverse course; the declaration must stay in place.’
Kaine responded with his own statement, telling Fox News Digital, ‘The Trump Administration’s own threat assessment report on fentanyl did not mention Canada—not even once. Trump’s order is a blatant abuse of his authority, and it is critical that Congress push back before he inflicts even more damage to our economy and to the relationship with one of our top trading partners and closest allies.’
In a recent op-ed in the Washington Post, Kaine wrote, ‘The emergency powers Trump is invoking — based on provisions of the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act — are intended for use in legitimate emergencies related to foreign threats and adversaries.’
The senator claimed that ‘Trump’s rationale for an ‘emergency’ that justifies billions in taxes on American consumers doesn’t make sense in Canada’s case.’
He also accused the president of making ‘spurious claims of a fentanyl crisis at the northern border on par with the drug situation at the southern border, but his numbers don’t add up.’
According to the White House, since the emergency was declared, border crossings from the north have fallen by 65%.
The White House also pointed to the significant increase in encounters along the northern border under former President Joe Biden, who saw a more than 420% increase in encounters at their peak.
In 2024, the White House further claimed U.S. Customs and Border Protection seized enough fentanyl to kill nearly 10 million people.
Trump took to Truth Social himself on Monday to rail against Kaine’s resolution: ‘Senator Tim Kaine, who ran against me with Crooked Hillary in 2016, is trying to halt our critical Tariffs on deadly Fentanyl coming in from Canada. We are making progress to end this terrible Fentanyl Crisis, but Republicans in the Senate MUST vote to keep the National Emergency in place, so we can finish the job, and end the scourge.’
‘By their weakness, the Democrats have allowed Fentanyl to get out of hand. The Republicans and I have reversed that course, strongly and quickly. Major additional progress is being made. Don’t let the Democrats have a Victory. It would be devastating for the Republican Party and, far more importantly, for the United States. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!’ he continued.
Republican leadership is echoing Trump’s message in the Senate, with Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso, R-Wyo., set to make similar arguments in a floor speech on Wednesday.
In prepared remarks obtained by Fox News Digital exclusively, Barrasso will say, ‘For four years, America’s attention has been on the southern border. Meanwhile, the criminal cartels noticed how Joe Biden and the Democrats threw open the northern border.’
He will note that Trump recognized its unique threats and ‘is taking bold, swift action to secure it.’
‘Why would we let up?’ Barrasso will ask, also pointing to the facts that ‘Canada is making changes. Canada agreed to deploy to the border more technology and more law enforcement officers. Canada also created its first ever National Fentanyl Czar.’
The resolution is expected to get a vote on Tuesday. However, it could be moved depending on the length of Sen. Cory Booker’s record-breaking floor speech, which is still ongoing.
It will only require a simple 51-vote majority to be agreed to. This means there’s a significant chance that it advances, with some Republicans, such as Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., having expressed concerns about the tariffs.
Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., spoke out against President Donald Trump and Elon Musk on the Senate floor throughout the night after beginning his marathon speech at 7 p.m. Monday.
The senator was still speaking on the floor as of Tuesday afternoon, more than 18 hours after he had begun.
Over 24 hours later, at 7:20 p.m. on Tuesday, Booker had broken the record for the longest Senate floor speech.
Booker yielded to Sen. Chuck Schumer so he could ask the New Jersey Senator a question.
‘Do you know you have just broken the record?’ Schumer asked. ‘Do you know how proud this caucus is of you? Do you know how proud America is of you?’
Everyone in the chamber, besides the press, gave Booker a standing ovation, including those in the gallery and senate pages.
Sen. Tina Smith, D-Minn., was seen wiping a tear from her face, while Sen. Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo., was also seen standing and applauding.
Booker received some support from other Senate Democrats, whom he allowed to speak at times during his hourslong show of opposition against the Trump administration.
Booker said toward the beginning of his speech that Trump, in 71 days, ‘has inflicted so much harm on Americans’ safety, financial stability, the core foundations of our democracy, and even our aspirations as a people for, from our highest offices, a sense of common decency.’
The senator claimed that the Trump administration and congressional Republicans are targeting Medicaid and Medicare programs to fund tax cuts for billionaires and corporations.
He spent some of his time reading messages from people who wrote about various topics, including concerns about Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security.
Trump has previously indicated that he will not ‘touch’ Americans’ Social Security, Medicare, or Medicaid benefits, but wants to weed out fraud.
Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., who said he planned to join Booker ‘for the entirety of his speech,’ noted that he was ‘returning the favor’ as Booker joined him when he ‘launched a filibuster to demand action on gun violence nine years ago.’
Murphy was among the Democrats who provided Booker with some relief by speaking at times to punctuate the marathon session.
In the social media video, Murphy described his colleague’s effort as ‘extraordinary.’
Booker said in a video before he began his demonstration that he plans to continue speaking as long as he is ‘physically able.’
The National Security Council (NSC) has clarified reporting about National Security Advisor Michael Waltz and his staffers using personal Gmail accounts for government communications.
A report published by the Washington Post on Tuesday claimed that one of Waltz’s senior aides used Gmail ‘for highly technical conversations with colleagues at other government agencies involving sensitive military positions and powerful weapons systems relating to an ongoing conflict,’ according to the piece.
‘While the NSC official used his Gmail account, his interagency colleagues used government-issued accounts, headers from the email correspondence show,’ the Post reported.
The piece comes a week after Waltz took responsibility for one of his staffers accidentally adding The Atlantic editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg to a sensitive Signal chat with other officials, including Vice President JD Vance.
NSC spokesperson Brian Hughes told Fox News on Tuesday that the Post report was an attempt ‘to distract the American people from President Trump’s successful national security agenda that’s protecting our nation.’
‘Let me reiterate, NSA Waltz received emails and calendar invites from legacy contacts on his personal email and cc’d government accounts for anything since January 20th to ensure compliance with records retention, and he has never sent classified material over his personal email account or any unsecured platform,’ Hughes said.
Hughes said that he could not verify the Post’s report about the senior NSC official because the journalist ‘refused to share any part of the document reported.’
‘Any correspondence containing classified material must only be sent through secure channels and all NSC staff are informed of this,’ the official said. ‘It is also made clear to NSC personnel that any non-government correspondence must be captured and retained for record compliance.’
Speaking to a room full of reporters last week, President Donald Trump said he believes Waltz is ‘doing his best,’ and did not fault him for the Signal leak.
‘I don’t think he should apologize,’ the president said. ‘I think he’s doing his best. It’s equipment and technology that’s not perfect.’
‘And, probably, he won’t be using it again, at least not in the very near future,’ Trump continued.
The House Foreign Affairs Committee (HFAC) is demanding that the United Nations not reappoint Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese. Rep. Brian Mast, R-Fla., who chairs the committee, is leading the charge to oppose Albanese.
In a letter to U.N. Human Rights Council (UNHRC) President Jürg Lauber, the committee accuses Albanese of failing to uphold the council’s code of conduct. They also condemn Albanese for comments she made about Israel in the wake of Hamas’ Oct. 7 attacks.
‘Albanese unapologetically uses her position as a UN Special Rapporteur to purvey and attempt to legitimize antisemitic tropes, while serving as a Hamas apologist,’ the committee wrote in its letter. ‘In her malicious fixation, she has even called for Israel to be removed from the United Nations while likening Israel to apartheid South Africa.’
The committee not only criticized Albanese but also slammed the UNHRC, saying its leaders ‘allowed antisemitism and anti-Americanism to thrive within, with a seeming unwillingness to hold the most egregious violators of human rights to account.’
‘Francesca Albanese is an unabashed anti-Israel activist who has consistently done the bidding of Hamas terrorists responsible for the heinous October 7th attacks. Her appointment is a disgrace to the U.N. It’s time for the U.N. to claw back the integrity and accountability it has surrendered,’ Mast told Fox News Digital.
U.N. Watch Executive Director Hillel Neuer lauded the ‘much needed’ action from Congress. In a statement to Fox News Digital, Neuer said that Albanese’s reappointment would be ‘unlawful’ and called for ‘consequences’ from the U.S. if she visits the country.
‘Francesca Albanese openly supports Hamas, spreads antisemitic tropes, and tramples the U.N.’s own Code of Conduct. Under the U.N.’s own rules, the president of the Human Rights Council is now duty-bound to convey to the plenary this and other substantial objections that have been submitted, and for the delegates to formally consider Albanese’s many violations. And yet every indication is that the 47-member body — with the EU’s complicity — is instead barreling ahead with Albanese’s reappointment,’ Neuer said in a statement to Fox News Digital.
Albanese, who was appointed special rapporteur in 2022, has been condemned by the governments of multiple countries and faced accusations of antisemitism. Her response to French President Emmanuel Macron calling the Oct. 7 attacks ‘the largest antisemitic massacre of our century’ sparked backlash from France, the U.S. and Germany.
The U.S. slammed Albanese for her ‘history of using antisemitic tropes,’ and said her comments were ‘justifying, dismissing [and] denying the antisemitic undertones of Hamas’ October 7 attack are unacceptable [and] antisemitic.’
The French Mission to the U.N. condemned Albanese’s response in a post on X. According to the Anti-Defamation League’s (ADL) translation, the post read: ‘The October 7 massacre is the largest antisemitic massacre of the 21st century. To deny it is wrong. To seem to justify it, by bringing in the name of the United Nations, is a shame.’ This was just a few months after the mission condemned her ‘hate speech and antisemitism.’
Germany retweeted France’s statement and said, ‘To justify the horrific terror attacks of 7/10 & deny their antisemitic nature is appalling. Making such statements in a UN capacity is a disgrace and goes against everything the United Nations stands for.’
The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., spoke out against President Donald Trump and Elon Musk on the Senate floor throughout the night after beginning his marathon speech at 7 p.m. Monday.
More than 24 hours later, at 7:20 p.m. on Tuesday, Booker had broken the record for the longest Senate floor speech, before finally calling it quits at 8:05 p.m.
In the lead up to breaking the speech record formerly held by former Sen. Strom Thurmond, D/R-S.C., nearly 70 years ago, Booker yielded to Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., so he could ask the New Jersey Senator a question.
‘Do you know you have just broken the record?’ Schumer asked. ‘Do you know how proud this caucus is of you? Do you know how proud America is of you?’
Everyone in the chamber, besides the press, gave Booker a standing ovation, including those in the gallery and senate pages.
Sen. Tina Smith, D-Minn., was seen wiping a tear from her face, while Sen. Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo., was also seen standing and applauding.
Forty-five minutes later, Booker had concluded his speech.
Booker received some support from other Senate Democrats, whom he allowed to speak at times during his hours-long show of opposition against the Trump administration.
Booker said toward the beginning of his speech that Trump, in 71 days, ‘has inflicted so much harm on Americans’ safety, financial stability, the core foundations of our democracy, and even our aspirations as a people for, from our highest offices, a sense of common decency.’
The senator claimed that the Trump administration and congressional Republicans are targeting Medicaid and Medicare programs to fund tax cuts for billionaires and corporations.
He spent some of his time reading messages from people who wrote about various topics, including concerns about Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security.
Trump has previously indicated that he will not ‘touch’ Americans’ Social Security, Medicare, or Medicaid benefits, but wants to weed out fraud.
Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., who said he planned to join Booker ‘for the entirety of his speech,’ noted that he was ‘returning the favor’ as Booker joined him when he ‘launched a filibuster to demand action on gun violence nine years ago.’
Murphy was among the Democrats who provided Booker with some relief by speaking at times to punctuate the marathon session.
In the social media video, Murphy described his colleague’s effort as ‘extraordinary.’
Booker said in a video before he began his demonstration that he plans to continue speaking as long as he is ‘physically able.’
After pontificating for 25 hours, Booker took a brief moment in his office before facing a group of reporters.
He told reporters that despite fasting for days and drinking water, his muscles started to cramp up during the marathon speech. He even said he was tired and sore.
‘There’s just a lot of tactics I was using to make sure that I could stand for that long,’ Booker said.
But when asked if he felt his speech moved the needle in any way and whether Democrats should employ the same tactic going forward to protest the Trump agenda, Booker said he had not had much time to digest and think about it.
‘There’s a lot of people out there asking Democrats to do more and to take risks and do things differently,’ he said. ‘This seemed like the right thing to do, and from what my staff is telling me…a lot of people watched. And so, we’ll see what it is. I just think a lot of us have to do a lot more, including myself.’
Booker said he was aware of Strom Thurmond’s record speech, but always felt it was a strange shadow to hang over in the Senate.
‘All the issues that have come up on noble causes that people have done, or the things it took to try to stop, I just found it strange that he had the record,’ he said. ‘I didn’t want to set expectations. [The] mission was really to elevate the voices of Americans to tell some of their really painful stories, very emotional stories, and to let them let go and let God do the rest.’
President Donald Trump called out GOP Sens. Mitch McConnell and Rand Paul of Kentucky, Susan Collins of Maine, and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, in an effort to apply public pressure before the Senate votes on a measure to scuttle his Canadian tariff policy.
The joint resolution would terminate the national emergency Trump declared regarding illicit drugs and Canada — in his executive order, Trump called for slapping tariffs on America’s northern neighbor.
In a lengthy Truth Social post shortly before 1 a.m. on Wednesday, the president suggested that the four GOP senators have ‘Trump Derangement Syndrome.’
‘Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, and Rand Paul, also of Kentucky, will hopefully get on the Republican bandwagon, for a change, and fight the Democrats wild and flagrant push to not penalize Canada for the sale, into our Country, of large amounts of Fentanyl, by Tariffing the value of this horrible and deadly drug in order to make it more costly to distribute and buy,’ Trump declared.
‘They are playing with the lives of the American people, and right into the hands of the Radical Left Democrats and Drug Cartels. The Senate Bill is just a ploy of the Dems to show and expose the weakness of certain Republicans, namely these four, in that it is not going anywhere because the House will never approve it and I, as your President, will never sign it. Why are they allowing Fentanyl to pour into our Country unchecked, and without penalty,’ he continued.
Trump blasted the four lawmakers as ‘disloyal’ to the GOP.
‘What is wrong with them, other than suffering from Trump Derangement Syndrome, commonly known as TDS? Who can want this to happen to our beautiful families, and why? To the people of the Great States of Kentucky, Alaska, and Maine, please contact these Senators and get them to FINALLY adhere to Republican Values and Ideals. They have been extremely difficult to deal with and, unbelievably disloyal to hardworking Majority Leader John Thune, and the Republican Party itself. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!’
Paul is a cosponsor of the joint resolution.
Murkowski reportedly informed Politico’s Lisa Kashinsky that she will vote for the resolution, while Collins has said she is ‘very likely’ to back it, according to the outlet.
McConnell declared in an op-ed earlier this year that ‘tariffs are bad policy.’
