President Donald Trump’s envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, said Sunday that he would aim to negotiate an ‘extension’ of Phase One of the Israel-Hamas hostage release and ceasefire deal when he returns to the region this week. 

‘We have to get an extension of Phase One. And, so I’ll be going into the region this week, probably Wednesday, to negotiate that,’ Witkoff said during an appearance on CNN’s ‘State of the Union.’ ‘And we’re hoping you have the proper time to finish off to begin Phase Two and finish it off and get more hostages released. And move this – move the discussion forward.’ 

Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, a close confidante of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, reportedly met with Witkoff in Washington, D.C., last week. 

In regard to the meeting, CNN’s Jake Tapper asked Witkoff if he believes Netanyahu ‘wants to move forward with the ceasefire, or does he want to resume the war to try to eliminate Hamas?’

Witkoff said he believes the prime minister ‘is well-motivated’ and wants to see ‘the hostages released,’ as well ‘to protect the state of Israel.’ 

‘And so he’s got a red line,’ Witkoff said. ‘And he said what the red line is, and that is that Hamas cannot be involved in a governing body when this thing is resolved.’ 

‘They can’t be any part of governance in Gaza,’ the U.S. envoy said of Hamas. ‘And, you know, as to existing, I’d leave that – that detail to the prime minister.’ 

In another Sunday show appearance on CBS’ ‘Face the Nation,’ Witkoff said he would arrive ‘probably Wednesday evening’ in the Middle East and would visit various countries, including Qatar, Egypt, Israel, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia. He added that the last remaining living American hostage, Edan Alexander, remains a top priority in negotiations.

‘He’s front and center for us,’ Witkoff said. ‘I know his parents. We talk all the time. He’s critical. It’s one of President Trump’s most important objectives is to get all Americans home. And we’re going to be successful in getting Edan home, I believe.’ 

According to the May 27 protocol agreement, Witkoff explained that Phase Two involves both ‘a permanent ceasefire, a cessation of all violence,’ as well as ‘the fact that Hamas cannot be allowed to come back into the government’ in Gaza. 

‘And I think the way you square that circle is that Hamas has to go. They’ve got to leave,’ Witkoff said, adding, ‘I would say physically, that’s correct.’ The envoy said he was not at liberty to say which countries might take in people from Gaza during ongoing negotiations, but stressed that Gaza would not be a safe living environment for another 15 to 20 years following the war and requires an extension reconstruction plan.

The Israeli Prime Minister’s Office announced Saturday night that ‘in light of Hamas’s repeated violations, including the ceremonies that humiliate our hostages and the cynical exploitation of our hostages for propaganda purposes, it has been decided to delay the release of terrorists that was planned for yesterday until the release of the next hostages has been assured, and without the humiliating ceremonies.’ 

In a video message Friday, Netanyahu condemned how Hamas ‘brutally murdered’ two young Israeli boys, whose bodies were initially returned to Israel without the remains of their mother, Shiri Bibas. In what Netanyahu decried as a ‘brazen violation of their agreement,’ Hamas initially handed over the wrong body for Bibas, whose actual remains were later returned and identified Saturday following an intense standoff with the terrorist group. 

Hamas handed over another six Israelis on Saturday in the latest scheduled release of living hostages.

The most remarkable thing about President Donald Trump’s whirlwind first five weeks back in office has not been the pace at which his administration has been making major changes, but rather that it has done so without spending much political capital, or, in laymen’s terms, losing much support.

Trump’s slew of executive orders, covering everything from establishing only two genders, to freezing federal spending, cutting energy regulations and much more have been fast and furious.

The pace of change has left Democrats and their media allies flatfooted and confused, punching at quickly changing shadows, as when they laughably pointed to a fired national parks employee who had the only keys to the restroom as evidence of chaos. It’s actually just evidence of incompetence.

But it isn’t just politicians and pundits whose heads are spinning as Trump sprints his way through his first 100 days. The American people, too, especially those not locked into the news cycle like a homing missile, are also at risk of confusion, which is why radical transparency has been the administration’s most effective tool.

Not only do the American people hear from Trump almost every day, he almost always takes questions, and, unlike his predecessor, he can effectively answer them.

When concern was growing that Elon Musk had too much independent authority to fire federal workers and cut spending, Trump made crystal clear, with the billionaire standing next to him, that Musk answers to the president, and his position is advisory.

As Democrats attempt to paint Trump as a backwards troglodyte for seeking to shut down the Department of Education, he has been on camera day in and day out, explaining how broken our schools are right now, and why ending the agency will help make them better.

As for his foreign policy, including a warmer relationship with Israel and a chillier one with Ukraine, Trump has once again been out in front, the explainer in chief. And after four years of a president who basically just said, ‘Trust us, Tony Blinken and Jake Sullivan went to great schools,’ it is refreshing.

Trump’s outstanding customer relations this time around remind me of my days working as a mover in New York City, because even if people are moving into their dream house, or a bigger apartment, it’s still a day filled with enormous change, and the possibility of mishaps.

As long as this radical transparency continues, the Trump administration will have a long runway of good will to land its policies and transform America.

Watching the transformation of the federal government, hoping that it helps and that nothing breaks, is a bit like watching all your earthly belongings roll away in a box truck driven by a guy you met three hours ago.

The best thing that the foreman of a moving crew can do to quell the nerves of jumpy customers, and I have seen it in action a thousand times, is to explain, upon arrival, in detail, exactly what is going to happen, and then inform them, in a timely manner, as those things do, indeed, occur.

Even if a customer’s concern seems overly paranoid, the best thing to do is walk them through exactly how you will protect their prized piece of art or antique chair.

This explains why in the coming days Trump has vowed to visit Fort Knox, complete with cameras, to assure Americans that its fabled gold reserve is still there. Yet more radical transparency.

In a healthy society, it would be absurd to think the government could be lying about the gold, but during COVID alone the feds lied to us to us over and over about social distancing and masks and don’t touch doorknobs. So, yeah, a lot of Americans are rightfully distrustful.

Trump is riding higher in the polls than anybody could have anticipated in the midst of our recent heated election with all its recriminations and anger, and while this is owing in part to the actions he is taking, it is really his ability to explain them that is keeping voters on the farm.

There are few things that have gone down the tubes faster in our society than customer service. Who among us has not screamed the words ‘speak with a representative!’ into our phone only to have the line go dead? 

So far, like a good foreman of a moving company, Trump has done everything he can to guide Americans through his vast and lofty plans and actions. As long as this radical transparency continues, the Trump administration will have a long runway of good will to land its policies and transform America.

Hunter Schafer, a transgender actor and star of the HBO series ‘Euphoria,’ revealed that her new passport was issued with a male gender marker because of an executive order signed by President Donald Trump.

Schafer, 26, posted a video on social media detailing how her passport had been stolen while she was filming in Spain. After receiving an emergency passport, she later had to apply for a new, permanent one in Los Angeles. Schafer, who transitioned to female when she was a teenager, said her original passport identified her as female, but the new one she received marked her as male.

Schafer said she wasn’t posting the video to ‘create drama,’ ‘fearmonger’ or ‘receive consolation,’ but rather because she thought it was worth noting ‘the reality of the situation and that it is actually happening.’

‘Trans people are beautiful. We are never going to stop existing. I’m never gonna stop being trans,’ she said in the video. ‘A letter and a passport can’t change that. And f— this administration.’

Trump signed the executive order, ‘Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government,’ on his first day in office. The order mandates the federal government to recognize only two sexes — male and female — based on immutable biological characteristics, which must be reflected on official documents, like passports.

The State Department, responsible for passports, is no longer issuing passports with the ‘X’ marker that’s been available since 2021 and is not honoring requests to change gender markers between ‘M’ and ‘F.’

Schafer acknowledged the executive order in her TikTok video: ‘Because our president, you know, is a lot of talk, I was like, ‘I’ll believe it when I see it.’ And, today, I saw it,’ Schafer said, holding up her new passport page with the ‘M’ marker. 

The 26-year-old said she has had female gender markers on her license and passport since she was a teenager, though she noted that she did not have her birth certificate amended.

‘It doesn’t really change anything about me or my transness. However, it does make my life a little harder,’ Schafer said in the video, saying she has to travel for the first time with the new passport next week.

‘Trans people are beautiful. We are never going to stop existing. I’m never going to stop being trans. A letter and a passport can’t change that,’ she concluded.

Seven people represented by the American Civil Liberties Union have already filed a lawsuit claiming the policy violates privacy and First Amendment rights. 

The ACLU has said it has been contacted by more than 1,500 transgender people or family members, ‘many with passport applications suspended or pending, who are concerned about being able to get passports that accurately reflect their identity.’

Fox News Digital’s Louis Casiano and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Billionaire Elon Musk said Saturday that ‘the bar is very low’ after announcing that all federal employees must report their productivity if they wish to keep their jobs.

Musk, a senior advisor to President Donald Trump, said earlier on Saturday that employees will receive an email giving them a chance to explain how productive they were the previous week. If an employee fails to respond to the email, Musk said the government will interpret that as a resignation.

‘Consistent with President @realDonaldTrump’s instructions, all federal employees will shortly receive an email requesting to understand what they got done last week,’ Musk wrote on X. ‘Failure to respond will be taken as a resignation.’

Later on Saturday, Musk said the report should take under five minutes for employees to write. The deadline to respond to the email is 11:59 p.m. Monday.

‘To be clear, the bar is very low here. An email with some bullet points that make any sense at all is acceptable! Should take less than 5 mins to write,’ Musk wrote on X.

In another post, Musk responded to the White House’s Rapid Response account in which it laid out what the administration has done in the last week, which included Trump signing executive orders to expand access to in vitro fertilization (IVF) and to end benefits for illegal immigrants.

‘That would be a very impressive and long list indeed for you!’ Musk responded.

‘However, the passing grade is literally just ‘Can you send an email with words that make any sense at all?” he continued. ‘It’s a low bar.’

A spokesperson from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) confirmed Musk’s plans.

‘As part of the Trump Administration’s commitment to an efficient and accountable federal workforce, OPM is asking employees to provide a brief summary of what they did last week by the end of Monday, CC’ing their manager,’ the spokesperson said in a statement to Fox News Digital. ‘Agencies will determine any next steps.’

New FBI Director Kash Patel, however, has instructed agency employees not to respond yet to the OPM email, according to ABC News.

‘FBI personnel may have received an email from OPM requesting information,’ Patel told employees. ‘The FBI, through the Office of the Director, is in charge of all of our review processes, and will conduct reviews in accordance with FBI procedures. When and if further information is required, we will coordinate the responses. For now, please pause any responses. Thank you, Kash Patel.’

The American Federation of Government Employees labor union said it plans to ‘challenge any unlawful terminations of our members and federal employees across the country.’

‘It is cruel and disrespectful for federal employees to be forced to justify their job duties to this out-of-touch, privileged, unelected billionaire who has never performed one single hour of honest public service in his life,’ the union wrote on X.

The productivity reports came as the Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency continues efforts to cut suspected waste across the federal government.

Fox News’ Andrea Margolis and Patrick Ward contributed to this report.

The Senate GOP has been working in overdrive to confirm key officials for President Donald Trump’s administration faster than his predecessors.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., and Republicans in the upper chamber have successfully approved 18 of the 22 Cabinet positions. 

The most recent was former Sen. Kelly Loeffler, who was confirmed to lead Trump’s Small Business Administration (SBA). 

With the successful confirmation of Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick last week, the 17th official put in place, Republicans and Trump officially outpaced former President Joe Biden, who had just seven nominees confirmed at the same point in 2021. 

Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso’s office pointed out that former President Barack Obama had only 16 Cabinet officials confirmed by February 18, 2009, during his first term, meaning that Trump outpaced him as well with Lutnick’s confirmation. 

His office noted that 17 Cabinet nominees were not confirmed for Obama in 2009 until he had been in office for 36 days, citing official congressional records. Biden did not see 17 Cabinet nominees confirmed for 56 days. 

The GOP-led Senate confirmed Kash Patel as FBI director last week, giving Trump another win, even though Patel is not a member of the president’s Cabinet.

‘By the end of today, we will have confirmed 18 of President Trump’s nominees. These nominees are bold and well-qualified,’ Barrasso said on the Senate floor before Patel’s vote. 

‘That is more nominees than President Obama had in 2009. It is more than President Biden had in 2021. More than twice as many,’ he said. 

‘Americans voted for a bold, new direction in Washington. Senate Republicans are delivering it,’ he said.

While they still have a handful of Cabinet nominees left to confirm, the approval of Patel marked a crucial accomplishment for the party, as they officially put in place each of the president’s most controversial picks. 

Trump nominated Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Tulsi Gabbard and Patel, each of whom managed to lose the support of at least one Republican. 

And while their confirmations were at some points uphill battles for the administration, each of them successfully got past the finish line. 

Those still left to be confirmed to Trump’s Cabinet are Lori Chavez-DeRemer for Secretary, of Labor Linda McMahon for Secretary of Education, U.S. Trade Representative nominee Jamieson Greer and Elise Stefanik to be ambassador to the United Nations.

Chelsea Handler is relieved her planned seduction of former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo didn’t pan out. 

According to Page Six, the 49-year-old comedian detailed in her upcoming memoir how she became captivated by Cuomo, 67, while watching his daily briefings at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

At the time, Handler publicly revealed her crush on the politician. In her forthcoming book, ‘I’ll Have What She’s Having,’ she wrote that the two began exchanging flirty texts until Cuomo abruptly ghosted her after agreeing to a date in New York.

In a recent interview with Page Six, Handler said she ‘dodged a bullet’ when Cuomo stopped contacting her.

‘My life is filled with dodging bullets,’ the former ‘Chelsea Lately’ host told the outlet, citing her unfulfilled romance with Cuomo as ‘just one example.’ 

In 2021, several women accused Cuomo of sexual harassment, which contributed to his resignation. Cuomo has denied all the allegations made against him.

In 2020, Handler gushed about her crush on Cuomo several times. She wrote of her adoration for Cuomo on social media, penned a ‘love letter’ for Vogue titled ‘Dear Andrew Cuomo, I Want To Be Your First Lady’ and spoke of her sexual attraction to the former governor and her preference for older men during her HBO comedy special ‘Evolution.’

While appearing on ‘The View’ via Zoom in October 2020, Handler expressed her desire for Cuomo.

‘First of all, he’s like a big giant. He came in like the Incredible Hulk,’ she told the hosts. ‘We needed somebody to come on the scene. We were so dehydrated for real leadership that when he came on the scene looking like this big Italian hunk. 

‘He was like, ‘Wear a mask.’ I was like, ‘I’ll wear a mask, I’ll put a mask on every part of my body. I wanna flatten your curve, and you can flatten my curve, and then we can both apex together.’

However, she explained she asked Cuomo out on a date, but he never followed up. With Cuomo due to appear on ‘The View’ later that week, Handler asked the hosts to ask him about ghosting her.

‘I do want you to follow up on something with him for me, ladies, if you wouldn’t mind,’ she said. ‘I did have a conversation with Cuomo a few months ago, and I did ask him out on a date. And he did say yes, and then I never heard from him.’

‘My life is filled with dodging bullets.’

— Chelsea Handler 

During his appearance on ‘The View,’ Cuomo responded to Handler’s crush on him.

‘I’ve had a lot of conversations about flattening the curve, but never quite that way,’ Cuomo said with a laugh. ‘I’m a big fan of Chelsea, and she is great. We have fun.

‘But, on my dating life, you know, I am only dating, at this point, in-state residents. I’m dating New York residents. So, if Chelsea changes her residence, then maybe we can work it out.’

According to Page Six, Handler wrote in her memoir that Cuomo had called her from an unknown number and left her a long voicemail three days after her appearance on ‘The View.’

‘I’m going to f— the governor!’ Handler recalled exclaiming to a friend at the time.

Handler wrote that she intended for the sexual liaison with Cuomo to take place during an upcoming trip to New York.

However, she noted that ‘the big hiccup here was that Mr. Cuomo stopped responding to my texts as soon as I arrived on the East Coast.’

Undeterred by Cuomo’s ghosting, Handler recalled that she continued texting him photos of herself, including images in which she was ‘swimming topless while wearing a face mask’ and ‘smoking a joint topless.’

Looking back, Handler believes she took the wrong approach while pursuing Cuomo. 

‘If I hadn’t been so forward and declared what I was looking for, I could have ended up in bed with him,’ she wrote. ‘It seemed he preferred touching women who weren’t interested in him, rather than touching women who were.’

Israel will delay the seventh hostage-prisoner exchange in protest of Hamas’ ‘humiliating’ treatment of hostages, according to Israeli officials.

The release of 620 Palestinian prisoners, which was scheduled for Saturday, has been postponed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. On Sunday morning, Netanyahu’s office issued a statement condemning Hamas propaganda generated during the exchange.

‘In light of Hamas’s repeated violations, including the ceremonies that humiliate our hostages and the cynical exploitation of our hostages for propaganda purposes, it has been decided to delay the release of terrorists that was planned for yesterday until the release of the next hostages has been assured, and without the humiliating ceremonies,’ the office’s statement said.

The statement came after reports of Hamas fighters exploiting Israeli prisoners while they were being released. On Saturday, five of the six freed hostages were accompanied by armed militants in front of a crowd, including three Israeli hostages who posed alongside terrorists.

Omer Wenkert, Omer Shem Tov and Eliya Cohen were among the hostages forced to pose with the terrorists. Shem Tov was also forced to appear cheerful, kiss two militants on the head and blew kisses to the crowd. 

The three also wore fake army uniforms, though they were not enlisted when they were captured by Hamas.

In another recent ceremony orchestrated by Hamas, four coffins were placed in front of a caricature of Netanyahu with a banner that said, ‘The war criminal Netanyahu & his Nazi army killed them with missiles from Zionist warplanes.’

Speaking to Fox News Digital, Israeli United Nations Ambassador Danny Danon called the gesture ‘evil and depraved.’

‘For 16 months, Israel has been fighting a deranged terrorist organization that places no value on human life, especially if it is Israeli or Jewish — all while international institutions like the U.N. refrained from condemning Hamas and formally demanding the immediate return of our hostages,’ Danon said.

The United Nations also condemned the coffin incident.

‘Under international law, any handover of the remains of [the] deceased must comply with the prohibition of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, ensuring respect for the dignity of the deceased and their families,’ the United Nations Geneva said on X, attributing the quote to High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk.

The Associated Press and Fox News Digital’s Rachel Wolf contributed to this report.

FBI Director Kash Patel will be tapped to run the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), two sources confirmed to Fox News Digital on Saturday. 

The news comes a day after Patel was sworn in as the ninth FBI director in a narrow Senate vote. 

Former FBI Director Christopher Wray resigned at the end of former President Biden’s term and Attorney General Pam Bondi fired the ATF general counsel, Pamela Hicks, on Thursday. 

‘Earlier today, I was served official notice from the Attorney General of the United States that I was being removed from my position as the Chief Counsel of ATF and my employment with the Department of Justice terminated,’ Hicks posted on her LinkedIn page Thursday, confirming her termination. 

Hicks had served as ATF’s chief counsel since 2021 under the Biden administration, and served as deputy chief counsel for ATF under President Donald Trump’s first administration. She spent 23 years overall as an attorney within the Department of Justice (DOJ), she posted to LinkedIn. 

‘Serving as ATF Chief Counsel has been the highest honor of my career and working with the people at ATF and throughout the Department has been a pleasure,’ Hicks continued in her post. ‘I thank my colleagues for their friendship and partnership over the years.’ 

‘These people were targeting gun owners,’ Bondi told Fox News on Thursday of the ATF. ‘Not gonna happen under this administration.’ 

Both the FBI and ATF are part of the DOJ. 

President Donald Trump celebrated his whirlwind first four weeks back in the Oval Office in a speech before the Conservative Political Action Conference Saturday afternoon, mentioning what he called ‘flagrant scams’ uncovered by Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency. 

‘I signed an order creating the Department of Government Efficiency — you probably haven’t heard of it — which is now waging war on government waste, fraud and abuse. And Elon is doing a great job,’ Trump said at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center Saturday in Oxon Hill, Maryland, just outside the nation’s capital. ‘He’s doing a great job.’

Musk is leading DOGE as investigators scrutinize various federal agencies in an effort to curb government overspending and stamp out fraud. DOGE’s work has become a lightening rod for criticism among Democratic lawmakers and government employees, who have filed a number of lawsuits attempting to end the investigations and audits. 

‘Here are some of the flagrant scams that, as an example, they’ve spent money on, and we’ve been able to recapture a large dose of it at least. Five hundred and 20 million dollars for a consultant … [on] environmental, social governance and investments in Africa,’ he said. 

‘Twenty-five million dollars to promote biodiversity conservation and socially responsible behavior in Colombia. This is Colombia, South America, not Columbia University. Of course, that might be worse. … Forty million to improve the social and economic inclusion of sedentary migrants.

‘Forty-two million for social and behavior change in Uganda. Ten million for Mozambique medical male circumcisions. Why are we going to Mozambique to do circumcisions?’ Trump asked, before continuing to rattle off a handful of other pricey initiatives funded by taxpayers uncovered by DOGE. 

CPAC is an annual conference of conservative lawmakers, leaders and voters, which kicked off on Wednesday and wraps up Saturday after Trump’s speech. 

Earlier in the day, Trump sent a message on his Truth Social platform calling on Musk to ‘get more aggressive’ with his DOGE work. 

‘Will do, Mr. President!’ Musk responded just a few hours ahead of Trump’s CPAC speech. 

Musk later added on X, ‘Consistent with President @realDonaldTrump’s instructions, all federal employees will shortly receive an email requesting to understand what they got done last week. Failure to respond will be taken as a resignation.’

‘We have a very corrupt group of people in this country, and we’re finding them out,’ Trump said during his speech. ‘We’re removing all of the unnecessary, incompetent and corrupt bureaucrats from the federal workforce.’

Trump said he and Musk will head to Fort Knox in Kentucky to ensure the United States Bullion Depository still houses a reported $425 billion in government gold. The Trump administration and Republican allies have called for more transparency about the vault.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt visited the vault in 1943, which was followed by Treasury Secretary William Simon opening the vault to journalists and lawmakers in 1974 and again during the first Trump administration when Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin and lawmakers, including Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell, inspected the vault.

‘We are also going to Fort Knox. I’m going to go with Elon. And would anybody like to join us? Because we want to see if the gold is still there. We want to see,’ Trump said. 

‘Wouldn’t that be terrible? We open [it] up, and this Fort Knox has got nothing. It’s just solid granite that’s five feet thick. The front door, you need six musclemen to open it up. I don’t even think they have windows. Wouldn’t that be terrible if we opened it up and there was no gold there? So, we’re going to open those doors, we’re going to take a look. And if there’s 27 tons of gold, we’ll be very happy,’ he added. 

‘I don’t know how the hell we’ll measure it, but that’s OK.’

Trump ended his first full month back in the White House this week, which has included a breakneck pace of executive orders and actions. 

He took a victory lap for his whirlwind first month, touting in his speech the administration’s work to end the ‘weaponization’ of the government under the former Biden administration, his plan to soon impose reciprocal tariffs on foreign trading partners and celebrating the deportation of illegal immigrants from communities across the nation. 

‘We’re liberating communities like Aurora, Colorado, and Springfield, Ohio, that have been occupied by illegal alien criminals from all over the world,’ Trump said. 

‘We’re rescuing the Americans whose jobs have been stolen, whose wages have been robbed and whose way of life has been absolutely destroyed. And, under the Trump administration, our country will not be turned into a dumping ground.’