President Donald Trump said the U.S. will be "flooded with jobs" as foreign trading partners move industries to American soil to avoid tariffs. 

"They can build a factory here, a plant or whatever it may be, here," Trump said Thursday afternoon from the Oval Office. "And that includes the medical, that includes cars, that includes chips and semiconductors. That includes everything. If you build here, you have no tariffs whatsoever. And I think that's what's going to happen. I think our country is going to be flooded with jobs."

Trump said U.S. consumers could see prices rise in the "short term" due to the tariffs, but that prices will lower and that industries across the board would benefit. 

"And I think the farmers are going to be helped by this very much because product is being dumped into our country and our farmers are getting hurt very badly by the last administration," Trump said. "The last administration hated our farmers, like, at a level that I've never seen before. I think our farmers are going to be helped. Jobs are going to be helped. But our farmers are going to be helped, our manufacturers are going to be helped." 

TRUMP SIGNS 'RECIPROCAL' TARIFF PLAN FOR COUNTRIES THAT TAX US GOODS

"And again, if somebody wants to come in, including the car companies, if they want to come in and build car plants, they'll do it without tariffs. And therefore, prices won't go up. There could be some short-term disturbance, but long term, it's going to it's going to make our country a fortune," he added. 

FENTANYL'S FINANCIAL GRIP ON US SKYROCKETED TO $2.7T AT HEIGHT OF BIDEN ADMIN: STUDY

Trump announced on Thursday that he will impose "fair and reciprocal" tariffs on all major U.S. trading partners. 

The plan includes tapping Howard Lutnick, Trump's nominee for commerce secretary, to produce a report on reciprocal trade relations within 180 days. Lutnik said Thursday that he will have the report ready for Trump by April 1. 

"On trade I have decided for purposes of fairness, that I will charge a reciprocal tariff – meaning whatever countries charge the United States of America, we will charge them no more, no less. In other words, they charge us a tax or tariff and we charge them the exact same tax or tariff. Very simple," Trump said at the White House of the tariff plan. 

Trump's reciprocal tariff announcement follows him leveraging tariffs against Mexico, Canada and China earlier in February. The tariffs were created in light of "extraordinary" threats stemming from "illegal aliens and drugs, including deadly fentanyl," according to Trump's executive order authorizing the tariffs. 

Trump's order authorized tariffs through the new International Emergency Economic Powers Act. It included 25% tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico and a 10% tariff on imports from China. Energy resources from Canada would have a lower 10% tariff.

TRUMP IMPOSES TARIFFS ON IMPORTS FROM CANADA, MEXICO AND CHINA: 'NATIONAL EMERGENCY'

Both Canada and Mexico agreed to concessions with Trump the day before the tariffs were set to take effect, pledging to send additional security personnel to their respective borders with the U.S. Trump agreed to pause the tariffs on the two nations for one month in light of the border security concessions. 

China, on the other hand, imposed tariffs on some U.S. imports in response to Trump's tariffs. 

Fox News Digital's Greg Norman contributed to this report. 

President Donald Trump has found an ally in the Senate, at least on his plan to stop creating new pennies.

Sen. Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., came out in support of Trump's latest proposal on Tuesday, calling it a "common sense move." 

The Democrat represents a battleground state that both she and Trump won in 2024. 

SCOOP: TRUMP BUDGET CHIEF VOUGHT TELLS GOP SENATORS $175B NEEDED 'IMMEDIATELY' FOR BORDER SECURITY

Over the weekend, Trump announced that he "instructed my Secretary of the US Treasury to stop producing new pennies."

"For far too long, the United States has minted pennies which literally cost us more than 2 cents," the president wrote on Truth Social. 

"Let’s rip the waste out of our great nation’s budget, even if it’s a penny at a time."

NOEM, HEGSETH, BONDI PLEAD WITH CONGRESS FOR MORE BORDER FUNDING AMID LARGE-SCALE DEPORTATIONS

Rosen took to X on Tuesday, writing, "I’m not afraid to embrace a good idea when it comes from the other side of the aisle, and I agree with President Trump on this."

"Eliminating the penny is a common sense move that’ll save taxpayer dollars," she said. 

She isn't the only Democrat who has come out in support of Trump's idea. 

LORI CHAVEZ-DEREMER: THE LITTLE-KNOWN TRUMP NOMINEE WHO MAY NEED TO RELY ON DEMS

"As well as saving taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars, there are major environmental benefits to eliminating the penny. This is a great move," Gov. Jared Polis, D-Colo., said of the president's plan. 

Trump's unlikely Democratic backers come as much of the party has revolted amid his Department of Government Efficiency's efforts to aggressively audit and slash spending at executive branch agencies and departments. 

President Donald Trump unveiled plans Sunday to halt production of the penny — but getting that initiative underway requires a few additional steps and possibly congressional approval. 

Additionally, while Trump said he instructed the Treasury Department to stop minting them due to their high costs, supporters of the penny claim it’s wiser to evaluate changes to the nickel instead. 

"For far too long, the United States has minted pennies which literally cost us more than 2 cents," Trump wrote on Truth Social on Sunday. "This is so wasteful! I have instructed my Secretary of the US Treasury to stop producing new pennies."

MUSK'S NEXT TARGET? TRUMP SAYS DOGE WILL LOOK AT DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, PENTAGON FUNDING 

In fact, producing pennies is even more expensive than Trump’s numbers. According to a 2024 U.S. Mint report, it costs nearly 3.69 cents to mint a single penny. The coins are primarily made of zinc and then covered in copper. 

Trump’s statement comes after Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, who is heading up the new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), posted on X in January how expensive minting pennies is. 

DOGE is tasked with identifying ways to eliminate waste, and has so prompted changes, including gutting the $40 billion U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), which provides aid to impoverished countries and development assistance.

Still, proponents of the penny exist. Americans for Common Cents, an organization that provides Congress and the White House with research on the value of the penny, claimed that efforts are better targeted at reducing the cost of the production for the nickel. 

Nickels, worth five cents, cost approximately 13.8 cents to mint, according to the 2024 U.S. Mint report. 

"The logical and fiscally responsible solution is not to eliminate the penny but to focus on producing a cheaper nickel," Americans for Common Cents Executive Director Mark Weller said in a Jan. 23 statement. "This approach would address the real driver of losses while preserving the functionality of small denominations in everyday transactions." 

While the waters are a little murky on the next steps, experts say Congress likely would need to become involved and pass legislation to fulfill Trump’s wishes. And, historically, previous attempts in Congress to eliminate the coin have failed. 

USAID STAFFERS STUNNED, ANGERED BY TRUMP ADMIN'S DOGE SHUTDOWN OF $40B AGENCY

"The process of discontinuing the penny in the U.S. is a little unclear. It would likely require an act of Congress, but the Secretary of the Treasury might be able to simply stop the minting of new pennies," Robert Triest, an economics professor at Northeastern University, told the Northeastern Global News.

Even so, there is bipartisan interest on Capitol Hill to modify minting pennies. In 2023, Sens. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, and Maggie Hasson, D-N.H., reintroduced legislation to alter the composition of the penny to cut down on costs. 

"It’s absolute non-cents that American taxpayers spend ten cents to make just one nickel. Only Washington could lose money making money," Ernst said in a statement in April 2023. "This commonsense, bipartisan effort will modify the composition of certain coins to reduce costs while allowing for a seamless transition into circulation. A penny saved is a penny not borrowed."

Even so, a composition change will unlikely yield cheaper results. The 2024 Mint Report said that options for different metal compositions aren’t available to reduce production costs down to face value. 

There’s still some precedent for change though, and Congress has acted previously to discontinue minting new coins. The legislative branch authorized discontinuing new half-cent coins in 1857. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

The Trump administration has filed a motion to vacate or modify a court's temporary restraining order blocking the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, and political appointees from accessing sensitive Treasury Department payment records.

In the motion, Cloud Software Group, Inc. CEO Tom Krause argued that "it is important that high-level political appointees, such as the Treasury Secretary, Deputy Secretary, Chief of Staff, and Under Secretaries, retain the ability to attend briefings concerning information obtained from the data or systems from Treasury employees with appropriate access to the data or systems in order to perform their job duties."

Although Krause, who was working at Treasury as a special government employee, admitted that "these high-level officials do not ordinarily need to receive access to or review data from such systems," he said an event could conceivably occur that could warrant them needing access.

Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly wrote in a temporary restraining order on Saturday that "political appointees, special government employees and any government employee detailed from an agency outside the Treasury Department access to Treasury Department payment systems or any other data maintained by the Treasury Department containing personally identifiable information."

FEDERAL JUDGE ORDERS LIMITED DOGE ACCESS TO SENSITIVE TREASURY DEPARTMENT PAYMENT SYSTEM RECORDS

Anyone covered under those categories who was given previous access to the sensitive data must "immediately destroy any and all copies of material downloaded from the Treasury Department’s records and systems," the judge said.

This comes after a group of 19 attorneys general filed a lawsuit against President Donald Trump, the U.S. Treasury and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent alleging that the Trump Administration illegally provided DOGE with unauthorized access to the Treasury Department’s payment systems.

Kollar-Kotelly had earlier said in a temporary restraining order on Thursday that Treasury officials "will not provide access to any payment record or payment system of records maintained within the [Treasury] Bureau of Fiscal Service," a program that handles an estimated 90% of federal payments.

Thursday's order came a day after the Justice Department agreed in a proposed court order to limit access to the sensitive records to only two special government employees within DOGE who will have read-only permission. Kollar-Kotelly approved the motion in a brief order on Thursday.

The case in the Thursday order was brought by several government employee unions that sued over who could access the material as part of a government-wide evaluation of programs and systems led by DOGE. It argued that Bessent allowed DOGE improper access.

‘AMERICA HAS DOGE FEVER’: STATES FROM NEW JERSEY TO TEXAS DRAFT SIMILAR INITIATIVES AS FEDERAL LEADERS CELEBRATE

Under that order, only Krause and Marko Elez — an engineer and former Musk company employee — were allowed continued access to Treasury’s Fiscal Service, but that changed with Saturday's order.

Krause and Elez were both named as special government employees in the Department of the Treasury, but Elez has since resigned.

President Donald Trump's tariffs on China have raised significant concern over their potential impact on healthcare costs, but while the move could have a broad effect on the industry, it is likely they will not produce the devastating results that some may be expecting, health policy and trade experts say. 

A survey by market research group Black Book Research found that 84% of the healthcare consumers they questioned said they expect to see higher costs due to increased pricing on medical treatments and drugs as a result of Trump's new tariffs. But health policy expert Chris Pope posited that healthcare is "not a very highly tradable sector" and that the sectors that do rely on trade relations, like pharmaceutical drugs or medical devices, will hinge on the magnitude of any Trump tariffs.

"There's not much international trade for most of healthcare. The biggest parts of healthcare – physician services, these are all provided domestically already, and hospitals are a domestic part of healthcare, so you take out those two things, and you've kind of ruled out almost three-quarters of all healthcare spending," Pope said in an interview with Fox News Digital. "So, for the most part, we're talking about drugs and devices, which are, at most, about a quarter of healthcare spending."

DEMS CLAIM TRUMP TARIFF COULD ‘DRIVE UP’ COSTS DESPITE DEFLECTING BLAME FROM BIDEN'S INFLATION

"In terms of prices for the industry, whether it's absorbed in their margins, or they do less research and development, or they pass it on to consumers … it's not completely devastating, but it's definitely annoying," said Christine McDaniel, a senior economist at George Mason University's Mercatus Institute.

Experts told Fox News that drug prices are among the most vulnerable aspects of the healthcare system, largely due to the U.S.' reliance on China for certain precursor chemicals and compounds that are essential for producing important medications. However, Pope said that the impact will likely only affect generic drugs and not branded drugs that are based on demand rather than supply. Generic drugs are already relatively cost-efficient, with many of them ranging under $10, he said.

Monica de Bolle is an immunologist and a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank. She painted a bleaker picture of how many drugs could be impacted by the tariffs.

‘MAKING AMERICA EXPENSIVE AGAIN’: DEMOCRATS FIND A TAX THEY DON'T LIKE IN TRUMP TARIFFS   

"If you go through a list of the kinds of things that we import from China when it comes to active drug ingredients, or anything else that goes into the making of over-the-counter drugs, everything is in there. If you look at the list, it basically spans the range of potential medications that anyone takes at any point in their lives," said de Bolle. "It includes things like over-the-counter NSAIDS, so non-steroidal, anti-inflammatory drugs, things like Motrin, ibuprofen, even Tylenol, because Acetaminophen is on that list."

She added that drugs that are more dependent on China include medications for anxiety and other psychiatric disorders, such as antidepressants, and following Trump's tariffs, "those prices are going to go up, for sure," she said.

Experts say costs in healthcare could also rise due to disruptions in the supply chain for medical devices, but they noted that the impact will be a lot harder to generalize, compared to the impact on drug pricing. 

"Maybe before [the supply chain] was broken up into five stages. Well, now maybe they've broken it up into six or seven stages. So there are certain things that they have to stay in China for, or they have to source from China, but then they do the next step in India or another nearby country . . . which is going to be more expensive," McDaniel said.

‘THIS IS ABOUT FENTANYL’: TARIFFS ARE CRUCIAL TO COMBATING ‘DRUG WAR,’ TRUMP AND CABINET OFFICIALS SAY

However, Pope argued that prices could change, depending on the device and the magnitude of Trump's tariffs. 

"It's going to vary a lot, according to where the devices are manufactured, where the components are manufactured, what kind of subsidies are available from other countries and domestically, and the degree of retaliation," he said.

While Trump's tariffs might be new, the experts say that getting out of China is not. Reducing the U.S.' dependency on Chinese products tied to healthcare, particularly drugs like antibiotics, has been talked about among lawmakers for some time due to the potential national security risks. Parallel to these discussions, companies have been preparing for future tariffs in light of increased geopolitical tensions.

"There has been a lot of discussion coming from both the Democratic camp, as well as the Republican one, about the necessity to bring some of the production of certain types of drugs back to the U.S. to reduce dependency on China," said de Bolle. "This whole deal about drugs and medical equipment and all of that that was under discussion before Trump. So, it's not even Trump-related."

"In essence, you know what's happening now with the tariffs that Trump imposed isn't any different from the sorts of things that these people were thinking of doing anyway."

A federal judge's order barring DOGE from accessing Treasury Department data is vague enough that some legal experts believe it even blocks the agency's secretary from reviewing records and systems, prompting Republicans to blast what they consider judicial overreach. 

U.S. District Judge for the Southern District of New York Paul Engelmayer, an appointee of former President Barack Obama, issued a temporary restraining order Saturday that sided with 19 Democratic state attorneys general who claimed that giving DOGE "full access" to the Treasury’s payment systems violates the law. The lawsuit was spearheaded by New York Attorney General Letitia James, a longtime Trump foe who said her office is "prepared to fight back" after President Donald Trump's November election win. 

"The judge’s order is rightly being attacked as, at worse, barring the secretary of the Treasury from accessing the Treasury Department’s databases and at best, at being hopelessly ambiguous and confusing," the Federalist's senior legal correspondent Margot Cleveland told Fox News Digital on Sunday of the order.

The judge's sweeping order, issued Saturday, bars DOGE from accessing the Treasury system until at least Feb. 14, when Engelmayer scheduled a hearing to revisit the matter. 

ELON MUSK ALLEGES $50B IN FRAUD AT TREASURY AFTER JUDGE BLOCKS DOGE AUDIT

The language of the order specifically bars "political appointees, special government employees, and any government employee detailed from an agency outside the Treasury Department access to Treasury Department payment systems or any other data maintained by the Treasury Department containing personally identifiable information." Trump, Secretary Scott Bessent and the U.S. Treasury are named as defendants in the case. 

FEDERAL JUDGE BLOCKS ELON MUSK'S DOGE FROM ACCESSING TREASURY RECORDS AFTER DEMOCRATIC AGS FILE LAWSUIT

Conservatives and legal experts on social media have slammed the language of the order for reportedly also barring Bessent from Treasury data. 

Fox News Digital reached out to the Treasury, White House and the Southern District on Sunday for comment, but did not immediately receive replies. 

ELON MUSK'S DOGE MAKES ANOTHER HIRING PUSH

"To comprehend how bad Judge Engelmayer's decision was granting [a temporary restraining order] barring the Secretary of the Treasury Dept as well as DOGE & every other political appointee from accessing data, you need to compare to parallel case where a judge denied injunction," Cleveland posted to X. 

Others on social media argued the order does not bar Bessent from accessing the data, only barring him from granting access to the data to political appointees, special government employees, and government officials outside of the Treasury Department. 

Cleveland told Fox News Digital on Sunday that beyond the vague language in the order, the attorneys general lack standing to challenge DOGE and the Treasury.  

PRESIDENT TRUMP PREDICTS ELON MUSK WILL FIND 'HUNDREDS OF BILLIONS' IN WASTE IN NEXT DOGE DIRECTIVES

"There is a more fatal flaw to the [temporary restraining order]: The Plaintiffs utterly lack standing to challenge DOGE and the Treasury Department’s decision to grant read-only access to select members of that executive agency’s team. With read-only access, DOGE cannot possibly use access to the Treasury Department’s system to freeze grants to the Blue States or their citizens; nor does such read-only access subject Plaintiffs to a higher hack-risk.  And without standing, there is no basis to bring a lawsuit, much less to justify the TRO," she said. 

Bessent sent a letter to Congress early last week detailing that DOGE was given "read only" access to the Treasury data, and that the investigation has "not caused payments for obligations such as Social Security and Medicare to be delayed or re-routed."

DOGE, led by Musk, has been on an investigation blitz of the federal government to stamp out government overspending and fraud. Musk reported after Engelmayer's ruling that DOGE had already reportedly uncovered fraud at the national treasury. 

"[Friday], I was told that there are currently over $100B/year of entitlements payments to individuals with no SSN or even a temporary ID number. If accurate, this is extremely suspicious," Musk wrote hours after the ruling. 

"When I asked if anyone at Treasury had a rough guess for what percentage of that number is unequivocal and obvious fraud, the consensus in the room was about half, so $50B/year or $1B/week!! This is utterly insane and must be addressed immediately."

Vice President JD Vance also weighed in on the order Sunday, slamming it as a judge trying to control "the executive's legitimate power." 

PALANTIR CEO TOUTS ELON MUSK'S DOGE, ABILITY TO HOLD ‘SACRED COW OF THE DEEP STATE’ ACCOUNTABLE

"If a judge tried to tell a general how to conduct a military operation, that would be illegal. If a judge tried to command the attorney general in how to use her discretion as a prosecutor, that's also illegal. Judges aren't allowed to control the executive's legitimate power," he posted to X. 

Musk seethed following the order that Engelmayer should be "impeached."

"A corrupt judge protecting corruption. He needs to be impeached NOW!" he said in response to another social media post reporting Bessent was reportedly blocked from accessing his own agency's data. 

Fox News Digital's Andrea Margolis contributed to this report.

Office of Management and Budget director Russell Vought is now also the acting director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, where he has directed staff to not issue any new rules, to suspend effective dates of all final rules and to stop any new investigations.

Vought, also a Project 2025 author, was named acting director of the CFPB on Friday.

"I am honored that President Trump designated me as Acting Director of the Bureau on February 7, 2025," Vought said in an email to CFPB colleagues obtained by RealClearPolitics. "As Acting Director, I am committed to implementing the President's policies, consistent with the law, and acting as a faithful steward of the Bureau's resources."

He issued several directives that, effective immediately, must be followed by all employees, contractors and other CFPB personnel "unless expressly approved by the Acting Director or required by law," according to RealClearPolitics.

RUSSELL VOUGHT CONFIRMED TO HEAD GOVERNMENT'S LEADING BUDGET OFFICE AFTER DEMS HOLD 30-HOUR PROTEST

The directives include not approving or issuing any proposed or final rules or formal or informal guidance and for the bureau to suspend the effective dates of all final rules that have been issued or published but have not gone into effect.

Vought also ordered the bureau not to "commence, take investigative activities related to, or settle enforcement actions." CFPB must not open any new investigation in any manner and must cease any pending probes, he said.

The acting director said the CFPB shall not issue public communications of any type, including research papers.

Additionally, the CFPB must not approve or execute any material agreements, including those related to employee matters or contractors, and must not make or approve filings or appearances by the bureau in any litigation except to ask for a pause in proceedings.

The bureau was also told to cease all supervision and examination activity and to cease all stakeholder engagement.

Vought also sent a letter to the Federal Reserve requesting no money for the CFPB's third quarter of fiscal year 2025.

SENATE DEMOCRATS SPEAK ALL NIGHT AGAINST TRUMP OMB NOMINEE, DELAYING CONFIRMATION VOTE

"Pursuant to the Consumer Financial Protection Act, I have notified the Federal Reserve that CFPB will not be taking its next draw of unappropriated funding because it is not 'reasonably necessary' to carry out its duties," Vought wrote on X. "The Bureau's current balance of $711.6 billion is in fact excessive in the current fiscal environment. This spigot, long contributing to CFPB's unaccountability, is now being turned off."

This comes after Vought was confirmed by the Senate on Thursday to lead the Office of Management and Budget.

Fox News Digital has reached out to CFPB for further comment. 

HBO host Bill Maher got real about the Democratic Party’s new leadership on Friday, saying it doesn’t reflect the party moving to give voters what they want. 

The "Real Time" host torched the newly elected Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin, stating his election does not reflect that the party is making the changes it needs to win back voters.

"I was not aware of who he was before. I did not think it got off to a great start because I think they need to completely reroute themselves, and I don’t think they did it," Maher told his guest, MSNBC anchor Chris Hayes.

JOURNALISTS SOUND ALARM OVER TRUMP'S ‘PREPOSTEROUS’ GAZA COMMENTS, WARN OF ‘ETHNIC CLEANSING’

The DNC elected Ken Martin, the Minnesota party leader, to the position last Saturday, beating out Martin O'Malley, the former two-term Maryland governor. 

Following his victory, he said, "We have one team, one team, the Democratic Party. The fight is for our values. The fight is for working people. The fight right now is against Donald Trump and the billionaires who bought this country." 

During his program, Maher didn’t hide his frustrations with the new leader, accusing him of relaying the same tired talking point that the party employed up until their defeat last November.

"I mean, this Ken Martin guy, he said something I’ve heard Democrats say a lot, ‘We didn’t get our message out’ – And maybe I’m paraphrasing... And I’ve said this before to Democrats – No, you did. That’s the problem."

"You did get your message out and people don’t like the message," he declared.

Maher reinforced his point later in the episode when talking to Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., and reporter Tara Palmeri. He paraphrased a line from a recent New York Times article, stating, "Many Americans say they do not believe the Democratic Party is focused on the issues that matter most to them."

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Adding his own thought, he said, "So, if you think all this Trump stuff is going to go away because the other party is going to come in, well that may not be the case."

Continuing to read from The Times piece, Maher said, "Here’s what people think is important to the Democrats, ‘abortion, L.G.B.T.Q. rights and climate change.’"

The host pointed out that the party hasn’t prioritized the issues voters care about. 

"To me, as a voter, my issues were democracy and the environment," he said, noting those weren’t focused on by the party. "And now I have no one who’s a champion of those issues in the government, and I blame the Democrats for that."

"The people do not feel they’re representing them, and they’re losing," he said, adding that The Times reported how voters saw "the economy, inflation, healthcare and immigration" as the main issues in the last election. 

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President Donald Trump has for weeks suggested that Canada become the United States’ 51st state, and while opinion has been divided about whether Trump is serious or merely trolling its neighbor, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has reportedly said that it’s the former, according to reports.

In a closed-door meeting with Canadian business and labor leaders, Trudeau reportedly affirmed that Trump’s ambitious aims of annexation are "a real thing."

"Mr. Trump has it in mind that the easiest way to do it is absorbing our country and it is a real thing. In my conversations with him on …" Trudeau said before the microphone cut out, according to CBC.

TRUMP IMPOSES TARIFFS ON IMPORTS FROM CANADA, MEXICO AND CHINA: 'NATIONAL EMERGENCY'

The news media had been asked to leave the room before Trudeau delivered his comments, but CBC and The Toronto Star were able to hear them and record them.

"I suggest that not only does the Trump administration know how many critical minerals we have, but that may be even why they keep talking about absorbing us and making us the 51st state," Trudeau added according to people in the room who listened to his comments. "They’re very aware of our resources, of what we have, and they very much want to be able to benefit from those."

Gil McGowan, president of the Alberta Federation of Labor, confirmed what Trudeau said in a post on social platform X.

"Yes, I can confirm that Trudeau said his assessment is that what Trump really wants is not action on fentanyl or immigration or even the trade deficit, what he really wants is to either dominate Canada or take it outright," McGowan wrote. "Tariffs are a tactic towards that end."

Trump first pitched the idea during a dinner at Mar-a-Lago with Trudeau in late November. Trump has also suggested annexing Greenland.

Canada is home to more than 40 million people and is a founding NATO partner. It is a natural resource-rich nation that provides the U.S. with commodities such as oil.

Trump has long said Canada – as well as Mexico – has failed to do enough to prevent the flow of illegal migrants and drugs, particularly fentanyl into the U.S. In addition, Trump claims the U.S. has subsidized Canada to the tune of $200 billion annually. 

CANADA WILL NOT BE '51ST STATE,' AMBASSADOR PROTESTS AMID TRUMP TARIFF THREAT

Last weekend, Trump again repeated his suggestion of absorbing Canada, noting that it would not be subjected to his incoming tariffs should the country join the U.S.

"We pay hundreds of Billions of Dollars to SUBSIDIZE Canada. Why? There is no reason," Trump wrote on Truth Social. "We don’t need anything they have. We have unlimited Energy, should make our own Cars, and have more Lumber than we can ever use. Without this massive subsidy, Canada ceases to exist as a viable Country. Harsh but true!" 

"Therefore, Canada should become our Cherished 51st State," Trump added. "Much lower taxes, and far better military protection for the people of Canada – AND NO TARIFFS!" 

But Trump agreed to pause the tariffs for 30 days on Monday after a call with Trudeau, who made some concessions to temporarily stave off the levies. 

Trudeau said Canada will implement a $1.3 billion border plan and appoint a fentanyl czar. In addition, Canada will reinforce its border with new helicopters, technology, personnel and enhanced coordination with American authorities. He added that nearly 10,000 personnel are and will be working on border protection.

"We will list cartels as terrorists, ensure 24/7 eyes on the border, launch a Canada-U.S. Joint Strike Force to combat organized crime, fentanyl and money laundering," Trudeau wrote on X. "I have also signed a new intelligence directive on organized crime and fentanyl and we will be backing it with $200 million."

The U.S. imports approximately 60% of its crude oil from Canada, with Alberta alone supplying 4.3 million barrels per day. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the U.S. consumes about 20 million barrels a day, while domestically producing about 13.2 million barrels a day. This means about a quarter of the oil the U.S. consumes every day is from Canada.

Canada is the top export destination for 36 U.S. states. Nearly $2.7 billion worth of goods and services cross the border each day.

Meanwhile, Canada is home to dozens of minerals considered critical for use in various industries, including for electric car batteries, solar panels, and semiconductors, according to the New York Times. Some commonly recognized examples of critical minerals include lithium, nickel, cobalt, graphite and zinc.

Fox News’ Danielle Wallace and Louis Casiano, as well as The Associated Press, contributed to this report. 

A federal judge on Friday said he would not immediately block the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, from accessing systems at the Labor Department.

U.S. District Judge John Bates said he had concerns about DOGE but that the labor unions who sued to block their access to the systems have not yet provided evidence of any legal injury.

"Although the court harbors concerns about defendants’ alleged conduct, it must deny plaintiffs’ motion at this time," Bates wrote.

The Labor Department has investigated companies like SpaceX and Tesla that are owned by Elon Musk, who leads DOGE, and keeps records on these investigations. The department also has information about these companies' competitors' trade secrets, the unions said in the lawsuit.

FEDERAL JUDGE ORDERS LIMITED DOGE ACCESS TO SENSITIVE TREASURY DEPARTMENT PAYMENT SYSTEM RECORDS

The department's Occupational Safety and Health Administration has investigated and fined SpaceX and Tesla over worker safety, the unions said.

The Labor Department's systems contain medical and financial records of millions of Americans, including those who have filed safety complaints about their employers.

The ruling comes after the Trump administration agreed earlier this week that DOGE would not receive access to the Labor Department until this court decision.

The Justice Department said there are three DOGE staffers assigned to the Labor Department and reporting to its acting secretary, although they have been made special government employees and are required to follow the law with any sensitive information about corporations or workers as they conduct a review.

Musk’s DOGE team had gained access to sensitive Treasury Department payment systems, although a judge has since blocked that access to Treasury records containing sensitive personal data such as Social Security and bank account numbers for millions of Americans. DOGE has also largely dismantled the U.S. Agency for International Development and offered financial incentives to millions of federal workers to resign.

"At every step, DOGE is violating multiple laws, from constitutional limits on executive power, to laws protecting civil servants from arbitrary threats and adverse action, to crucial protections for government data collected and stored on hundreds of millions of Americans," labor union lawyers represented by the advocacy group Democracy Forward wrote.

ELON MUSK DUNKS ON SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER, DECLARING 'HYSTERICAL REACTIONS' DEMONSTRATE DOGE'S IMPORTANCE

Labor Department leadership told a union member this week that DOGE would be visiting and workers should let them do "whatever they ask, not to push back, not to ask questions," the unions wrote.

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The Justice Department said there is no evidence of wrongdoing and the judge should not issue "a sweeping, prophylactic order … based on plaintiffs’ rank speculation that DOL will violate the law."

Nineteen states have sued over DOGE's access to federal payment systems.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Tech billionaire Elon Musk ripped alleged "fraudulent" Treasury payments on Saturday as reports circulated that the Department of Government Efficiency has gained acces to the federal government's payment system as the second Trump administration continues cutting what they say is government fat and overspending. 

"The @DOGE team discovered, among other things, that payment approval officers at Treasury were instructed always to approve payments, even to known fraudulent or terrorist groups. They literally never denied a payment in their entire career. Not even once," Musk, the chair of DOGE, posted early Saturday morning to X. 

Musk's post came just ahead of the New York Times reporting Saturday afternoon that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent granted DOGE personnel access to the payment system. The Treasury spends roughly $6 trillion per year on payments for federal agencies. 

The ranking Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden, posted to social media on Saturday that he has also been informed that DOGE was granted access to the system. 

DOGE ANNOUNCES MORE THAN $1B IN SAVINGS AFTER CANCELING 104 FEDERAL DEI CONTRACTS

"Sources tell my office that Treasury Secretary Bessent has granted DOGE *full* access to this system. Social Security and Medicare benefits, grants, payments to government contractors, including those that compete directly with Musk's own companies. All of it," Wyden posted to social media site BlueSky on Saturday evening. 

DOGE's reported access to the payment system comes after the Washington Post reported on Friday that the former acting director of the Treasury, David A. Lebryk, was planning to exit the finance department of the federal government following a clash over granting DOGE access to its payment system. Lebryk oversaw the Treasury Department in the days between President Donald Trump's inauguration on Jan. 20 and Bessent's confirmation to lead the department on Jan. 27. 

TOP DOGE LAWMAKER SAYS TRUMP ‘ALREADY RACKING UP WINS FOR TAXPAYERS’ WITH EFFICIENCY INITIATIVES

On Friday, reports also spread that civil servants within the Office of Personnel Management, which works as the federal government's HR department, were reportedly locked from the office's computer systems by DOGE. 

Musk quipped on X on Saturday that working over the weekend is a "superpower," where the "opposing team" disappear for two days. 

"Very few in the bureaucracy actually work the weekend, so it’s like the opposing team just leaves the field for 2 days! Working the weekend is a superpower," he posted. 

‘DOGE’-MEETS-CONGRESS: GOP LAWMAKER AARON BEAN LAUNCHES CAUCUS TO HELP MUSK ‘TAKE ON CRAZYTOWN’

Trump officially created DOGE via an executive order signed on his first day in office. The EO outlines that government agency chiefs provide DOGE with access to internal government platforms such as, "software systems, and IT systems."

"Agency Heads shall take all necessary steps, in coordination with the USDS Administrator and to the maximum extent consistent with law, to ensure USDS has full and prompt access to all unclassified agency records, software systems, and IT systems.  USDS shall adhere to rigorous data protection standards," the executive order reads. 

Trump and Musk had long previewed the creation of DOGE while on the campaign trail, championing that the team would weed out overspending and fraud within the federal government. DOGE is not a government department, but instead operates as a team within the Trump administration. 

Before Trump's win in November, Musk hosted the Republican president for an interview on X in August, where Musk railed against government overspending and inflation that has gripped the nation in recent years. 

"A lot of people just don’t understand where inflation comes from. Inflation comes from government overspending because the checks never bounce when it’s written by the government. So if the government spends far more than it brings in, that increases the money supply. If the money supply increases faster than the rate of goods and services, that’s inflation," Musk said during their conversation. 

MUSK RENEWS HARSH REBUKE OF DEMS WHO REJECTED DEPORTING SEX OFFENDERS: VOTE OUT ‘EVERY ONE’

"So really we need to reduce our government spending, and we need to re-examine… I think we need a government efficiency commission to say like, ‘Hey, where are we spending money that’s sensible. Where is it not sensible?’"

Since its official creation last month, DOGE's X account has provided updates on its work to cut government spending, including announcing last week that it has cut more than $1 billion from federal spending through now-defunct diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives and personnel. 

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Fox News Digital reached out to the White House and Treasury Department on Sunday morning, but did not immediately receive replies. 

The Trump administration announced on Saturday that it is imposing tariffs through its new International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA).

President Donald Trump signed an executive order authorizing the tariffs Saturday, which will go into effect Tuesday, consisting of a 25% additional tariff on imports from Canada and Mexico and a 10% tariff on imports from China.

Energy resources from Canada will have a lower 10% tariff, according to the White House. In a statement obtained by Fox News Saturday, the Trump administration said the legislation is a response to an "extraordinary threat posed by illegal aliens and drugs, including deadly fentanyl, (that) constitutes a national emergency."

REAGAN NATIONAL AIRPORT CRASH: MILITARY BLACK HAWK HELICOPTER COLLIDES MIDAIR WITH AMERICAN AIRLINES JET

"This challenge threatens the fabric of our society," the executive order states. "Gang members, smugglers, human traffickers, and illicit drugs of all kinds have poured across our borders and into our communities.

"Canada has played a central role in these challenges, including by failing to devote sufficient attention and resources or meaningfully coordinate with United States law enforcement partners to effectively stem the tide of illicit drugs."

In a fact sheet released by Trump officials, the White House said the tariffs are meant to hold the three countries accountable for "their promises of halting illegal immigration and stopping poisonous fentanyl and other drugs from flowing into our country."

The move was widely criticized by foreign leaders on Saturday. In an X post, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said that he "did not want this, but Canada is prepared."

RNC CHAIR, AFTER CRUISING TO RE-ELECTION, VOWS TO BE ‘TIP OF SPEAR’ TO PROTECT TRUMP

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said that her country "categorically reject[s] the White House's slander against the Mexican government of having alliances with criminal organizations, as well as any intention of intervention in our territory."

"Mexico not only does not want fentanyl to reach the United States, but anywhere," the statement read. "Therefore, if the United States wants to combat criminal groups that traffic drugs and generate violence, we must work together in an integrated manner, but always under the principles of shared responsibility, mutual trust, collaboration and, above all, respect for sovereignty, which is not negotiable."

The changes were widely expected after White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters Friday the tariffs would roll out over the weekend.

On the same day, Trump told reporters the U.S. may also increase tariffs on imports from the European Union, arguing the tariffs would make the U.S. "very rich and very strong." 

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"We need to protect Americans, and it is my duty as President to ensure the safety of all," Trump wrote in a Truth Social post Saturday. "I made a promise on my Campaign to stop the flood of illegal aliens and drugs from pouring across our Borders, and Americans overwhelmingly voted in favor of it."

Fox News Digital's Brooke Singman and Diana Stancy contributed to this report.

President Donald Trump floated moving nearly 90,000 IRS agents hired under the Biden administration to the border to patrol the area while armed with guns. 

"On day one, I immediately halted the hiring of any new IRS agents. They hired, or tried to hire, 88,000 new workers to go after you. And we're in the process of developing a plan to either terminate all of them or maybe we'll move them to the border. And I think we're going to move them to the border," Trump said during a rally at Circa Resort & Casino in Las Vegas on Saturday evening. 

"Where they're allowed to carry guns, you know, they're so strong on guns, but these people are allowed to carry guns, so we'll probably move them to the border," he continued. Certain special IRS agents are permitted to carry firearms as part of their duties, according to IRS Code, 26 U.S. Code § 7608. 

Trump joined supporters in Las Vegas this weekend after touring destruction in North Carolina left by Hurricane Helene in September, as well as California, where he toured Los Angeles and met with local leaders about the wildfires that have ripped through the area this month. 

TRUMP VOWS TO DELIVER ON 'NO TAX ON TIPS' CAMPAIGN PROMISE DURING LAS VEGAS SPEECH: '100% YOURS'

While floating moving the thousands of IRS agents to the border, Trump also suggested ending income tax across the board, saying his plans on tariffs could fill the financial gaps. 

"How about just no tax," he said to cheers, while he chuckled. "You could do that. You know if the tariffs work out like I think, a thing like that could happen, if you want to know the truth." 

‘FLOODING THE ZONE’ TRUMP HITS WARP SPEED IN FIRST WEEK BACK IN OFFICE

"Years ago, 1870 to 1913, we didn't have an income tax. We had, what we had is tariffs, where foreign countries came in and they stole our jobs, they stole our companies, they stole our product. They ripped us off. And, you know, they used to do numbers. And then we went to tariff, a tariff system. And the tariff system made so much money. It was when we were the richest from 1870 to 1930. Then we came in with the – brilliantly came in – with an income tax," he continued, explaining the Great Depression rocked the U.S. shortly after moving away from the tariff system of the 1800s and early 1900s.

Democrats in 2022 approved $80 billion in funding for the IRS, including to hire roughly 87,000 new agents across a 10-year period as part of the Inflation Reduction Act. President Joe Biden signed the legislation into law that year. 

IRS BANNED FROM BUYING GUNS, AMMO WITH TAXPAYER FUNDS UNDER NEW BILL FROM SEN. ERNST

Trump's Vegas speech focused on taxes, hearkening back to his June campaign rally in the state when he first announced he would eliminate taxes on tips.

"Any worker who relies on tips [as] income, your tips will be 100% yours," Trump said on Saturday in the city that is run by service workers at flashy hotels and casinos and restaurants. 

DEMOCRATS HIRE ARMY OF AGENTS AT IRS TO SQUEEZE HONEST TAXPAYERS FOR GREEN NEW DEAL

Trump also touted that a handful of his campaign promises are already unfolding into real results, including withdrawing from the World Health Organization (WHO) and dismantling some federal diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) practices.

"We got rid of the woke crap," Trump said Saturday. "A lot of crap… you know, these people were petrified of it. I'll tell you, these companies, they run these big companies, they were petrified of it."

Fox News Digital's Andrea Margolis contributed to this report. 

President Donald Trump's recent AI announcement has the potential to jumpstart a technological "renaissance" in the United States and serve as a strong declaration, similar to former President John F. Kennedy's pledge to put a man on the moon, according to a top former White House information technology (IT) official.

During a speech at the White House, Trump announced that Softbank, OpenAI and Oracle have joined forces for Stargate, a project to build data centers in the U.S. for powering AI. The initial investment for the project will be $100 billion, with plans to expand to $500 billion over the next four years. The first data center built under the initiative will be in Texas, and it will eventually expand to other states.

Speaking with Fox News Digital, Theresa Payton, the first female White House Chief Information Officer during President George W. Bush's administration, says the news, which Trump calls the "largest AI infrastructure project, by far, in history," has her attention.

TRUMP'S AI DEAL FUELING EARLY CANCER DETECTION: ORACLE'S LARRY ELLISON

"I do really believe that very much like when you read in the history books about how President Kennedy said, we're going to put a man on the moon. This is one of those big declarations that's so important to the future of America. This has the potential to be sort of the beacon of America's technological progress. And I really think our true success, though, is going to hinge on what goes behind the big headline," she said.

To ensure success and a U.S. lead in AI, Payton says the project should set a "gold standard" for the rest of the world regarding responsible innovation, considering safety, security, individual rights, and privacy.

The first data center built under the initiative will be in Texas, eventually expanding to other states. The Trump administration claims that the venture could create 100,000 new jobs.

Payton told Fox News Digital that the people involved in the project have been through several technology innovation changes and have had to reimagine their companies and the skillsets needed to thrive—with the potential to offer firsthand knowledge on what is needed to mitigate workforce displacement.

A LOOK AT PRESIDENT TRUMP'S FIRST FULL DAY IN THE WHITE HOUSE

"If you think about the typing pools of the past and how they were replaced by word processing if you think about manufacturing jobs that were replaced by robotics and machinery, we need to be thinking about that upfront and showing people who are in jobs impacted. You can be retrained, you can be upskilled, things can be retooled. And I do believe it will create sort of the next technology renaissance," she said.

Payton believes that Trump's foray into AI infrastructure can have great economic impacts if the United States "dreams" the project upfront and sets the proper requirements.

The project represents a growing entanglement between Trump and Big Tech leaders, a relationship that has some critics worried. On Monday, CNN referred to Trump's return to the White House as the "inauguration of the oligarchs."

President Biden warned in his farewell speech of an "ultra-wealthy" "oligarchy" posing a threat to America as big tech CEOs were warming up to then President-elect Trump in recent months.

However, Payton says that how Trump handles these relationships will be the true test of their success or failure.

AI EXECUTIVES PRAISE TRUMP'S STARGATE PROJECT: 'THIS IS A VERY LARGE INVESTMENT THAT AFFECTS ALL OF HUMANITY'

"There are career government employees, there are private sector companies. There are different industry sectors. And each one of them plays a role in making our economy strong and improving our national security. And, you know, I think you could probably say about every president, they bring with them a set of relationships. And so, the key is really just understanding how are those relationships utilized in a way that benefits the United States and, you know, kind of let the results and the deliverables be, the proof of, you know, how those relationships are being leveraged," she said.

Payton also noted that the Trump administration's transparency will be key to the success of AI, infrastructure and energy projects in the U.S.

This week, Trump live-streamed the signing of executive orders, calling out loud what they are as he held them up and letting reporters ask questions. She suggested that level of transparency on large administration projects would be "incredible."

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However, her greatest fear is that short-term deliverables regarding massive spending and big strategic projects will not be announced or met.

"I saw this when I worked in financial services, and you can see it in government projects is what are the deliverables in 30, 60, 90 days. So that, to me, hopefully, they're going to start releasing an approach that shows you sort of 90-day sprints over the next year, over the next two years for the Stargate project, so that we actually see kind of how the money is being spent, the successes and keep people sort of behind the success, rooting, cheering for it, but also that level of transparency that's going to be needed," she added.

Payton also stressed that the computers from large datacenters must be properly appropriated and designated for important causes and not frivolously overspent on low-level AI tasks. 

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Massachusetts must pay the federal government $2.1 billion over the next 10 years to resolve a debt after the state under former GOP Gov. Charlie Baker's administration mistakenly used federal pandemic funds to cover unemployment benefits.

Current Gov. Maura Healey, a Democrat, and her deputies released details on Monday of a settlement they reached with the outgoing Biden administration last week in which the state will repay most of the money it owed because of the error, the State House News Service reported.

In 2023, Healey announced that her administration uncovered that the prior administration improperly used about $2.5 billion in federal pandemic relief funds to cover unemployment benefits that should have been funded by the state.

The total liability exceeded $3 billion, including fees and interest, according to Healey’s office. Negotiations with the U.S. Department of Labor dropped the total owed to $2.1 billion over the next decade.

DEM MASSACHUSETTS NOW WANTS TO LIMIT ILLEGALS IN CRIME-RIDDEN MIGRANT SHELTERS

"We were dismayed to uncover early on in our term that the previous administration misspent billions of dollars in federal relief funds and that our state was facing what could have been a more than $3 billion tab to pay it back," Healey said in a statement on Monday.

"For the past year and a half, we have engaged in extensive negotiations with the U.S. Department of Labor to minimize the impact on Massachusetts residents, businesses and our economy," she continued. "Today, we have reduced our potential liability by over $1 billion and negotiated a decade-long payment window to mitigate the impact."

The governor added that it is "incredibly frustrating that the prior administration allowed this to happen" but that the current administration is "going to use this as a moment to come together with the business and labor community to make meaningful reforms to the Unemployment Insurance system."

Payments will begin Dec. 1 and continue each year for the next decade.

The agreement states that principal payments must come from the Unemployment Insurance (UI) Trust Fund, which is funded by a tax on employers and is also used to cover benefits, according to the State House News Service. Interest payments will come from the state’s General Fund.

Healey’s office said businesses will not face higher rates on their unemployment insurance payments through at least the end of next year, at which point rates will depend on system reforms.

BLUE STATE GOV CHANGES TUNE AFTER VOWING TO FIGHT TRUMP DEPORTATION EFFORTS, NOW HOPES HE FIXES BORDER

The governor vowed to pursue changes to soften the burden on employers, who already face higher costs to support an uptick of claims during the pandemic, according to the State House News Service.

Healey directed state Labor Secretary Lauren Jones and Administration and Finance Secretary Matthew Gorzkowicz to "conduct a comprehensive review of the solvency of UI and assess potential reforms."

The Healey administration projected the UI Trust Fund would be hundreds of millions of dollars in debt by the end of 2028, even before taking into account the $2.1 billion in additional payments.

President Donald Trump has made no secret that his – second – first 100 days in office will be incredibly fast paced. 

To that end, the country should be prepared for a "shock and awe" period of executive orders, addressing everything from mass deportations of illegal migrants, tariffs, ending sanctuary cities and more. 

Where executive orders fall short, Trump is pushing his allies in Congress to take up parts of his agenda as legislation.  

DNC HIRES FORMER HARRIS STAFFERS BEHIND @KAMALAHQ FOR SOCIAL MEDIA RESPONSE TO TRUMP

Among other things, Trump wants to push through legislation extending the 2017 tax cuts, increasing the debt limit while also slashing federal spending, comprehensive immigration reform and giving tax breaks to energy companies. 

However, what Trump envisions, and the realities of Congress are two different things. 

With Republicans’ ultra-slim majority in the House, and divisions in the Republican caucus and party generally – as the conflict between Steve Bannon and Elon Musk suggests – there is the potential for problems in various areas of Trump’s proposed agenda. 

That being said, presidential powers in certain areas like immigration, national security and even tariffs, are broad enough that much, if not all, of Trump’s agenda will likely be enacted rather quickly.  

All of this leaves Democrats, dispirited after an election that saw Republicans sweep the White House and both chambers of Congress, in a precarious position.

Do they continue blindly opposing Trump, despite the will of the voters who decisively elected him and handed Congress to the GOP?  

Or, recognizing that "resistance at all costs" is an exercise in futility, do Democrats adopt a policy of strategic bipartisan cooperation?  

With pre-election polling from Fox News showing that voters trusted Donald Trump rather than VP Kamala Harris by wide margins on issues like immigration (+15%), as well as the economy and crime (+8% each), doubling down on resistance would be a costly mistake. 

In no uncertain terms, Democrats would be significantly better served – as would the country – if they choose the latter, and emphasize a new, moderate agenda centered on bipartisan compromise on key issues such as the economy, immigration, crime and government excess.  

Positively, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jefferies has indicated that he understands the importance of this cooperation. He recently said, "House Democrats will work to find bipartisan common ground whenever and wherever possible with the incoming administration." 

Indeed, moderate Democrats should take the lead and work with their GOP colleagues to forge compromise where it can easily be found. Securing the border, for example, is a commonsense policy that both parties can work towards together.  

Moreover, by working with Republicans, Democrats would be able to ensure some of their own policies make it into final legislation.  

Returning to the border and immigration, a compromise could surely be struck that minimizes the extent of Trump’s planned mass deportations by limiting them to adults who entered the country illegally and those who have committed crimes while here. 

In exchange, Democrats could push for a pathway to citizenship for children who were brought here. 

Further, bipartisan efforts can be made to increase the number of H1B visas for the highest skilled migrants so that America preserves its technological advantage over China.  

Over the objections of many on the far-right, Trump recently came out in support of the H1B program. Democrats should take him up on that in exchange for wholly necessary steps to address illegal immigration.  

Similarly, a moderate Democratic agenda must entail the end of support for sanctuary cities and soft-on-crime policies. Too often, progressives have been allowed to dictate Democrats’ position on these related issues, damaging the entire party.   

To be sure, while immigration is one high-profile area for compromise, Democrats would be wise to adopt a moderate agenda across the board.  

On the economy, there are middle-of-the-road policies that can keep taxes low, spur growth, and lower the cost of living – an issue that seriously hurt Democrats in the election. 

A key part of this would be working with Republicans to reform education and job training programs.  

There are potential deals to be made that increase funding for vocational training and school choice programs while also making education more accessible for all Americans. 

In that same vein, with Republicans targeting federal spending, Democrats must finally admit that they cannot simply spend with impunity.  

The national debt, now sitting at more than $36 trillion was a significant concern for voters, and the combination of inflation and high interest rates needed to combat it risk strangling the American economy.  

By working with the Department of Government Efficiency, Democrats can contribute to reining in the debt while protecting core programs such as social security and Medicare.  

Finally, even though foreign policy is largely the purview of the president, the challenge for Democrats here is two-fold.  

They must embrace a more moderate foreign policy that recognizes the need to expand the Abraham Accords and support Israel, while finding a compromise with Trump on other issues. 

Under President Joe Biden, America’s foreign policy was often prodding, weak, and relied on the misguided strategy of "diplomacy at all costs."

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Democrats should look to support Trump’s more muscular foreign policy, in exchange for Trump’s commitment to NATO and not forcing Ukraine into a deal that overly favors Russian President Vladimir Putin.  

Taken together, Democrats would be wise to heed the lessons of former President Bill Clinton. During my time in that administration, Clinton moved to the right on certain issues – the debt, crime and welfare reform – taking the mantle from Republicans and contributing to a boost in his approval. 

Ultimately, during and after Trump’s first 100 days, Democrats cannot afford a strategy of total resistance, lest they be consigned to minority status for the foreseeable future. 

If Democrats hope to demonstrate that they are a viable alternative, they must develop a new, moderate agenda that shows the American people that they are capable of putting actual governance over petty politics. 

Importantly, this is not to say that Democrats need to surrender on everything, particularly on issues that go against their core principles.  

Rather, it is to underscore that working with Trump and Republicans to find compromise and address issues facing all Americans is to everyone’s benefit. 

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President Trump did not pardon or commute the prison sentence of Ross Ulbricht, the founder of the anonymous marketplace website Silk Road, despite his promise on the campaign trail to free him on "day one."

Ulbricht was convicted because his website, which was founded in 2011 and used cryptocurrency for payments, was used to sell illegal drugs, even though he did not sell any of the illicit substances himself.

After being sworn into office on Monday, Trump issued several executive actions, including efforts to reduce immigration, designating cartels as foreign terrorist organizations, a move to resume federal executions and pardoning or commuting sentences to time served of people convicted in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot.

But Trump's first day back in the White House came to an end with Ulbricht still behind bars without a pardon or commutation from the president, who pledged to do so last spring.

TRUMP VOWS TO COMMUTE PRISON SENTENCE OF SILK ROAD FOUNDER ROSS ULBRICHT

In May, Trump delivered a speech at the Libertarian National Convention to a hostile crowd of boos in an attempt to win over Libertarian voters. Libertarians believe government investigators overreached in their case against Silk Road and generally oppose the War on Drugs.

While the attendees were not favorable to Trump for most of the event, they did give a big cheer when he said he would commute Ulbricht's sentence to time served, as the crowd chanted "Free Ross" in the hopes that the then-presidential candidate would take action if elected to allow the Silk Road founder to return home to his family after more than a decade behind bars.

"If you vote for me, on day one I will commute the sentence of Ross Ulbricht, to a sentence of time served. He’s already served 11 years. We’re going to get him home," Trump told the crowd of Libertarians, many of whom were holding signs that read "Free Ross."

Ulbricht reacted to Trump's comments the following day on the social media platform X.

"Last night, Donald Trump pledged to commute my sentence on day 1, if reelected," he wrote. "Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. After 11 years in prison, it is hard to express how I feel at this moment. It is thanks to your undying support that I may get a second chance."

Last month, Ulbricht wrote: "For my last monthly resolution of 2024, I intend to study every day and to get up to speed as much as I can as I prepare for freedom."

Trump later reiterated his promise to commute Ulbricht's life sentence at a bitcoin conference, which he received loud cheers for.

Despite Trump failing to deliver on his promise to free Ulbricht on his first day back in office, the president reportedly may still grant him clemency as early as Tuesday.

"Pres. Trump's staff just confirmed to me Ross's pardon will be issued late tonight or tomorrow morning," Libertarian Party chair Angela McArdle wrote Monday night on X.

Elon Musk, who serves in the newly formed Department of Government Efficiency in the Trump administration, also said Ulbricht would be released soon.

"Ross will be freed," Musk wrote on X.

Many Libertarians have said they supported Trump in November's election, citing, in part, his commitment to free Ulbricht.

TRUMP PARDONS NEARLY ALL 1/6 DEFENDANTS

During his first term, Trump considered intervening to release Ulbricht before ultimately deciding against a pardon.

Ulbricht, now 40, operated the website from 2011 until his arrest in 2013. He was sentenced two years later to life in prison.

"I was trying to help us move toward a freer and more equitable world," Ulbricht said from prison in 2021. "We all know the road to hell is paved with good intentions, and now here I am. I'm in hell."

"Trump is done signing EOs and pardons for the night," 2024 Libertarian presidential candidate Chase Oliver wrote on X. "Hopefully, we will see a #FREEROSSULBRICHT commutation in the morning."

The Wall Street Journal argued that California Gov. Gavin Newsom should waive environmental regulations for all Californians, not just victims of the fires in Los Angeles.

The paper's editorial board said Newsom should use the same logic behind waiving environmental regulations to aid in the rebuilding of Los Angeles to help make life easier for Californians in general. 

"California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Sunday waived the state’s environmental laws in areas affected by the fires to expedite rebuilding," the editorial board wrote in an article published Tuesday. 

CALIFORNIA WILDFIRES: ESSENTIAL PHONE NUMBERS FOR LOS ANGELES-AREA RESIDENTS AND HOW YOU CAN HELP THEM

"Wonderful, but that raises a question: Why not ease regulations for all projects if the rules are such a barrier to development?" The Journal asked. 

The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) requires that a review be conducted to weigh any potential environmental effects before a building permit is approved. Another state law, the California Coastal Act, focuses on development as it relates to "the preservation of sensitive coastal and marine habitat and biodiversity."

Both laws were halted on Sunday for those who tragically lost their homes after Newsom signed an executive order to suspend the environmental review process.

NEWSOM SUSPENDS CA ENVIRONMENTAL LAW TO ELIMINATE ‘ROADBLOCKS’ FOR WILDFIRE VICTIMS REBUILDING HOMES

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"California's environmental laws also delay and inflate costs of needed public works, when they don't kill them," The Journal wrote. 

"If Mr. Newsom agrees that the state's environmental laws are a problem, why doesn't he at least try to reform them?" the editorial board asked. 

"The reason is Democrats in Sacramento are beholden to the green lobby, which opposes most development and uses the laws to extort businesses," The Journal wrote. "It's nice of Mr. Newsom to ease permitting so L.A.'s affluent can rebuild. Perhaps he's worried they might leave if it takes too long or costs too much to rebuild. Moonscape neighborhoods wouldn't look good if he runs for President in 2028, or when the Olympics comes to town the same year."

Houses along the scenic Pacific Coast Highway in California burned down in a monstrous fire that destroyed more than 10,000 homes and structures beginning on Jan. 7. 

California's onerous environmental regulations have become a target of criticism amid the crisis, with some even suggesting they served as a contributing factor to the spread of the wildfires. 

Fox News' Aubrie Spady contributed to this report.

President Biden released a farewell letter Wednesday saying that "It has been the privilege of my life to serve this nation for over 50 years." 

"Today, we have the strongest economy in the world and have created a record 16.6 million new jobs. Wages are up. Inflation continues to come down," he added ahead of a speech tonight from the Oval Office. 

Biden began his letter by writing that four years ago when he took office, "We were in the grip of the worst pandemic in a century, the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, and the worst attack on our democracy since the Civil War.  

"But we came together as Americans, and we braved through it. We emerged stronger, more prosperous, and more secure," he said. 

BIDEN SAYS HE'S BEEN CARRYING OUT ‘MOST AGGRESSIVE CLIMATE AGENDA’ IN HISTORY AS HE DESIGNATES CALIFORNIA MONUMENTS

While touting economic growth, Biden said "We’re rebuilding our entire nation -- urban, suburban, rural, and Tribal communities.  

"Manufacturing is coming back to America. We’re leading the world again in science and innovation, including the semiconductor industry. And we finally beat Big Pharma to lower the cost of prescription drugs for seniors," he continued. "More people have health insurance today in America than ever before." 

Biden said he "ran for president because I believed that the soul of America was at stake. 

"The very nature of who we are was at stake. And, that’s still the case. America is an idea stronger than any army and larger than any ocean," he declared. 

WHITE HOUSE REMOVE'S CUBA'S STATE SPONSOR OF TERRORISM DESIGNATION, REVERSING TRUMP ADMINISTRATION MOVE

Biden is now set to leave office next week with President-elect Donald Trump returning to the White House for a second term. 

"It has been the privilege of my life to serve this nation for over 50 years. Nowhere else on Earth could a kid with a stutter from modest beginnings in Scranton, Pennsylvania, and Claymont, Delaware, one day sit behind the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office as President of the United States," Biden wrote. "I have given my heart and my soul to our nation. And I have been blessed a million times in return with the love and support of the American people. 

At one point in the letter, Biden wrote that "Vice President Harris and I asked our staff to prepare a detailed summary of the progress we’ve made together throughout the last four years."

The White House released an accompanying fact sheet titled "The Biden-Harris Administration Record," which is nearly 26,000 words in length.

It mentioned accomplishments including "Ending the COVID-19 Pandemic," "Catalyzing a Small Business Boom," protecting Americans "from Terrorism and Wrongful Detention" and "Advancing the Most Ambitious Environmental Justice Agenda in History."

Biden concluded his letter by saying that history, power and "the idea of America" is in the hands of its citizens. 

"We just have to keep the faith and remember who we are. We are the United States of America, and there is simply nothing beyond our capacity when we do it together," he said. 

A Washington state Democrat is floating a policy to help protect unemployed illegal immigrants who are unable to receive unemployment benefits.

The news comes as President-elect Trump and his border czar-designate Thomas Homan signal a crackdown on illegal immigration and talk of "mass deportation" plans in a reversal of the Biden-era status quo.

State Sen. Rebecca Saldaña is introducing a bill that would ensure Washington residents legally ineligible to work in the U.S. – a group for which illegal immigrants compose the vast majority – have access to assistance.

Saldaña, of Seattle, declined to comment further on her bill to Fox News Digital, but a representative for the lawmaker noted she had previously highlighted "undocumented workers' … substantial contributions to Washington’s economy."

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That group collectively paid almost $400 million in unemployment taxes over the past 10 years, and the bill will aim to ensure those who pay into the system are able to rely on it when they need to, her office said.

The representative said Saldaña has reintroduced similar legislation during both Democrat and Republican administrations in the past because the "inequities in our immigration system" are systemic and longstanding.

Saldaña has previously argued that providing unemployment benefits to undocumented workers who qualify will help stabilize the workforce and prevent future cases of poverty and homelessness due to job loss.

It will therefore have lasting positive effects on the Evergreen State’s economy, her office said.

Senate Minority Leader John Braun, R-Centralia, said he had not seen the text of the bill as of Monday afternoon but was aware of the proposal itself.

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"We have a lot of work to do on immigration, both on undocumented immigrants and on legal immigration in our state. That's largely a federal issue," Braun said.

"I look for the folks in D.C. to handle [the immigration issue] and for us [in state government] to stay clear."

Under federal law, illegal immigrants are not eligible to apply for work permits and, therefore, unable to register or file for unemployment compensation. Neither are individuals with expired work authorizations and dependents of people living in the U.S. under several visa classifications.

The excluded visa classes include O – "extraordinary ability"; R – Religious worker; and F – student visas.

According to a 1985 memo from the Department of Labor, "an alien must be legally authorized to work in the United States to be considered ‘available for work’ – Therefore, an alien without current, valid authorization to work from the INS is not legally ‘available for work’ and not eligible for benefits."

The memo referred to the INS, or Immigration and Naturalization Service, a predecessor entity to today’s Department of Homeland Security.

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Elsewhere in the U.S., the Colorado Office of New Americans allows undocumented workers to access a "Benefit Recovery Fund" to help those who have been "separated from employment through no fault of their own" and meet several other specifications.

In California, however, Democrat lawmakers sought to offer assistance similar to that Saldaña is seeking but were blocked by fellow liberal Gov. Gavin Newsom.

Newsom vetoed that legislation in September and also blocked a proposal that would have allowed illegal immigrants better access to home loans and mortgages.