Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer announced Tuesday a ‘hold on all DOJ political nominees,’ as he is demanding answers from the Trump administration over a jumbo jet gift from Qatar’s royal family, which the Democrat is calling a ‘grave national security threat.’ 

‘News of the Qatari government gifting Donald Trump a $400 million private jet to use as Air Force One is so corrupt that even Putin would give a double take. This is not just naked corruption, it is also a grave national security threat,’ Schumer said on the Senate floor. 

‘So, in light of the deeply troubling news of a possible Qatari-funded Air Force One, and the reports that the Attorney General personally signed off on this clearly unethical deal, I am announcing a hold on all DOJ political nominees, until we get more answers,’ he added. 

A White House spokesperson told Fox News Digital in response that ‘Senator Schumer and his anti-law-and-order party are prioritizing politics over critical DOJ appointments, obstructing President Trump’s Make Safe Again agenda,’ and that ‘Cryin’ Chuck must end the antics, stop Senate stonewalling, and prioritize the safety and civil rights of Americans.’ 

Trump has defended the U.S. preparing to accept a jumbo jet gift from Qatar’s royal family to serve as a temporary Air Force One as Boeing failed to roll out a new Air Force One fleet in a timely manner.  

‘We’re very disappointed that it’s taking Boeing so long to build a new Air Force One,’ Trump said Monday morning. ‘You know, we have an Air Force One that’s 40 years old. And if you take a look at that, compared to the new plane of the equivalent, you know, stature at the time, it’s not even the same ballgame.’  

Reports spread Sunday morning that the Trump administration was expected to accept a $400 million Boeing 747-8 jumbo jet from Qatar’s royal family. ABC News reported that Trump would use the jet until the end of his term, when it would be given to his presidential library. 

In his speech Tuesday, Schumer said he is calling on the Justice Department’s Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) Unit to disclose all actions by those working as Qatari foreign agents in the U.S. ‘that could benefit President Trump or the Trump Organization.’ 

‘Since Attorney General Bondi took charge, the Department of Justice has not been doing its job when it comes to FARA. The FARA Unit needs to enforce the law, and inform the public about all activities not just on this luxury plane deal, but all deals involving foreign countries in the Middle East and President Trump, his family, and the Trump organization,’ he said. 

‘Second, with regards to this half-a-billion-dollar private jet deal, the American people deserve to know the facts. President Trump has told the American people that this is a ‘free jet.’ Does that mean the Qataris are delivering a ready-on-day-one plane with all the security measures already built in?’ Schumer continued. 

‘If so, who installed those security measures, and how do we know they were properly installed? Why would we take the risk of trusting any foreign country to do this sensitive work? If not, what security modifications would be needed to ensure a foreign-sourced Air Force One is safe to use? If this is, as President Trump promised, a ‘free jet’, will the Qataris pay for those highly sensitive installations or will American taxpayers have to cover those costs?’ Schumer wondered aloud on the Senate floor. 

‘The Attorney General must testify before both the House and Senate to explain why gifting Donald Trump a private jet does not violate the emoluments clause – which requires congressional approval – or any other ethics laws,’ Schumer declared. ‘Until the Attorney General explains her blatantly inept decision and we get complete and comprehensive answers to these and other questions, I will place a hold on all political nominees to the Department Of Justice.’ 

Fox News’ Emma Colton contributed to this report. 

President Donald Trump will drop sanctions against Syria and meet with the nation’s new president Ahmed al-Shaara on Wednesday. 

‘I will be ordering the cessation of sanctions against Syria in order to give them a chance at greatness,’ Trump said in a speech in Saudi Arabia. 

‘In Syria, which has seen so much misery and death, there is a new government that we must all hope will succeed in stabilizing the country and keeping peace,’ he went on. ‘So I say good luck, Syria.’

Trump is expected to meet briefly with al-Shaara in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday. 

The nation was cut off from the global financial system under ousted President Bashar al-Assad’s government, amid 14 years of civil war. 

Trump called the sanctions ‘brutal and crippling’ but ‘important at the time.

‘In Syria, they’ve had their share of travesty, war, killing many years. That’s why my administration has already taken the first steps toward restoring normal relations between the United States and Syria for the first time in more than a decade.’

Al-Shaara, who previously had a $10 million terrorist bounty on his head by the U.S., had been campaigning hard for a relationship with the U.S. and sanctions relief: he offered a Trump dower in Damascus, detente with Israel and U.S. access to Syria’s oil and gas. 

His group, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), led Assad’s ouster last year. Originally founded as an offshoot of al-Qaeda, has since worked to soften its image and lobbied to be delisted as a terrorist group.

The announcement came on the sidelines of a whirlwind Middle East tour where Trump is traveling to Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, whose government leaders were widely expected to press Trump to release the sanctions to help Syria’s economy. 

‘Oh, what I do for the crown prince,’ Trump said. 

This is a breaking news story. Check back for updates.

American and Israeli officials believe the release of Edan Alexander, 21, presents a ‘window of opportunity’ to free the remaining 58 hostages still held by Hamas after 585 days since their capture on Oct. 7, 2023. 

Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff and hostage envoy Adam Boehler will travel from Israel to Doha, Qatar, on Tuesday for further negotiations for the release of not only the 24 hostages still believed to be alive, but also the bodies of at least 34 individuals who have been held by the terrorist group including four Americans: Itay Chen, Omer Neutra, and Gadi Haggai and Judi Weinstein Haggai.

In a nearly two-hour meeting with Witkoff, Boehler and the Hostages Families Forum, both officials emphasized that they remain committed to returning all hostages and confirmed they would not be traveling to Doha if they did not believe there was a real chance in advancing negotiations. 

While Alexander’s return has been championed as a major success story, and both President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu were reported to have spoken with the Israeli American from a hospital in Tel Aviv, immense concern remains over the hostages still held in the Gaza Strip.

Though Israel ceased its military operations in the Gaza Strip to secure the safe transport of Alexander on Monday, it has not committed to any continued cessation of strikes. 

In Witkoff’s comments to the families of the hostages, he said President Trump would not ‘tolerate anything other than everybody coming home, and he will be relentless in that pursuit.’ He continued, ‘you saw what happened with the Houthis. You saw what happened when people don’t do well with the United States, we don’t do so well with them. So it’s a message of do what we ask you to do. And you know then things will be better.’

Israeli reports also suggested the envoy may be feeling frustrated with his Israeli counterparts.

‘We want to bring the hostages home, but Israel is not willing to end the war. Israel is prolonging it despite the fact that we don’t see where else we can go and that an agreement must be reached,’ Witkoff reportedly said during the meeting with the hostage families.

‘There is currently a window of opportunity that we hope Israel and all the mediators will take advantage of,’ he was reported to have added. ‘We are putting pressure on all the mediators and doing everything we can to bring the hostages home.’

The comments reportedly come following reports that Trump has also grown increasingly frustrated with his Israeli counterpart. 

Israel said last week that Trump’s visit to the Middle East would be ‘the window of opportunity’ to secure a ceasefire otherwise it would continue with its newly announced plans to capture all of Gaza, despite immense international pushback and concerns over human rights abuses and violations of U.N.-established borders. 

The comments came after Netanyahu prompted immense outcry after he said his number one priority was destroying Hamas, not returning the hostages, despite opposition to the plan by the majority of Israelis. 

On Monday, Netanyahu reiterated his intent to ‘destroy’ Hamas while speaking with injured reservists and confirmed that even if Hamas agrees to return the hostages, Israel will continue with its military operations. 

‘In the coming days, we are going in with full force to complete the operation. Completing the operation means defeating Hamas. It means destroying Hamas,’ he said. 

‘It’s possible that Hamas will say, ‘Time out — we want to release ten more [hostages].’ Fine, bring them. We’ll take them, and then we’ll go in. But there will not be a situation in which we stop the war. There may be a temporary ceasefire, but we’re going all the way,’ he confirmed.

Witkoff’s team did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s questions. 

Former President Joe Biden’s aides privately discussed the possibility of the president needing to use a wheelchair if he were re-elected in the 2024 race, as his physical deterioration spiraled in 2023 and 2024, a new book claims. 

‘Biden’s physical deterioration — most apparent in his halting walk — had become so severe that there were internal discussions about putting the president in a wheelchair, but they couldn’t do so until after the election,’ an upcoming book called ‘Original Sin: President Biden’s Decline, Its Cover-Up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again’ states. 

CNN’s Jake Tapper and Axios reporter Alex Thompson authored the upcoming book, which is set to be released Tuesday and is just the latest in a series of recent political books detailing the unprecedented 2024 presidential election, where calls mounted for Biden’s exit due to concerns over his mental acuity and age. 

‘Given Biden’s age, (his physician Kevin O’Connor) also privately said that if he had another bad fall, a wheelchair might be necessary for what could be a difficult recovery,’ the authors wrote. 

Concerns over Biden’s physical agility worsened in June 2023, when the president tripped over a sandbag at the Air Force Academy’s graduation ceremony, Axios reported. 

‘He’s fine. There was a sandbag on stage while he was shaking hands,’ a White House official posted to X at the time, while critics of the president denounced the fall as ‘sad’ and an example of ‘elder abuse’ of the president. 

Biden’s aides worked to create shorter walking paths for the president — and insisted that he use handrails while walking on staircases and wear sneakers — and took more care in guiding him while in public as the 2024 campaign cycle heated up, Axios reported of the book. 

Biden’s mental acuity had been under conservatives’ microscope since before the 2020 election, with concerns heightening in February 2024 when special counsel Robert Hur, who was investigating Biden’s alleged mishandling of classified documents as vice president, announced he would not recommend criminal charges against Biden for possessing classified materials after his vice presidency, calling Biden ‘a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory.’ 

Concern over his mental acuity hit a fever pitch in June 2024, when Biden took the debate stage to face off against then-Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump. Biden’s debate performance was seen as a failure, with traditional allies soon joining conservatives in their concern over the president’s health in the context of encouraging Biden to pass the mantle to a younger generation of U.S. leaders. 

Biden dropped out at the end of July 2024, giving his successor for the nomination, former Vice President Kamala Harris, just over 100 days to rally support. Trump and Vice President JD Vance secured the election win after locking down support in the top seven battleground states. 

A Biden spokesperson told Axios when asked about the claims in the upcoming book that, ‘Yes, there were physical changes as he got older, but evidence of aging is not evidence of mental incapacity.’

The spokesperson defended that Biden’s ‘stiffened gait’ seen while he was in office was due ‘in part, by wear and tear to his spine — but that no special treatment was necessary and that it had not worsened.’

‘We are still waiting for someone, anyone, to point out where Joe Biden had to make a presidential decision or make a presidential address where he was unable to do his job because of mental decline. In fact, the evidence points to the opposite — he was a very effective president,’ the unidentified spokesperson told Fox Digital. 

Fox News Digital reached out to Biden’s office Tuesday morning for additional comment on the matter but did not immediately receive a reply. 

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Tx., has introduced a proposal for the federal government to provide $1,000 in an account for every American child.

The ‘Invest America Act’ would create ‘a private tax-advantaged account with a $1,000 seed investment from the federal government for every American child at birth,’ according to a press release. 

People would also be able to add funds to the account.

‘Each Invest America account will be open to contributions from individuals, family members, friends, and businesses up to $5,000 annually,’ the release states. ‘The account investments can be placed in a broad, low-cost fund that tracks the S&P 500, growing tax-deferred until the individual reaches age 18. Distributions after age 18 would be taxed at the capital gains rate.’

Cruz’s proposal comes as the U.S. national debt is more than $36.2 trillion, and is likely to keep climbing.

‘Every child in America will have private investment accounts that will compound over their lives, enhancing the prosperity and economic participation of the vast majority of Americans. When people years from now talk about the changes created by Republican efforts this Congress, this is one of the landmark achievements they will talk about,’ Cruz said, according to the press release.

The House Ways and Means Committee is slated to markup ‘The One, Big, Beautiful Bill’ on Tuesday. The legislation under consideration includes a pilot program for providing $1,000 in ‘MAGA accounts’ for children born during a certain period of time. 

‘What is powerful is enabling every child in America to have an investment account and a stake in the American free enterprise system,’ Cruz noted, according to Semafor. 

House Republicans are moving to put stricter work requirements on food stamps in a bid to cut government waste and find taxpayer savings for President Donald Trump’s ‘big, beautiful bill.’

Cobbling the vast piece of legislation together takes coordination by 11 different House committees, each working on a portion of it under their panel’s jurisdiction.

The portion released on Monday night would raise the upper age limit for work requirements for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), from certain able-bodied adults up to age 54 to those up to age 64.

Whereas the current rules exempt people with dependents under age 18, the new provision would now include SNAP recipients with children above age 7 who otherwise qualify for work requirements.

The House Agriculture Committee, which oversees federal food programs in addition to America’s farmers, was tasked with finding $230 billion in spending cuts out of a sum total of $1.5 trillion to $2 trillion dollars – cuts that conservatives had demanded to offset the cost of Trump’s other priorities.

‘For far too long, the SNAP program has drifted from a bridge to support American households in need to a permanent destination riddled with bureaucratic inefficiencies, misplaced initiatives, and limited accountability,’ Committee Chairman Glenn Thompson, R-Pa., said in a statement.

‘This portion of the One Big, Beautiful Bill restores the program’s original intent, offering a temporary helping hand while encouraging work, cracking down on loopholes exploited by states, and protecting taxpayer dollars while supporting the hardworking men and women of American agriculture.’ 

The legislation also would eventually have the states cover some SNAP costs. Currently, the federal government fully covers SNAP costs for all 50 states and half the states’ administrative costs to run it.

The new bill would impose a 5% baseline benefit cost share for all states, beginning in 2028. States with higher rates of erroneous payments would pay more as well.

It would also lower the ‘match rate’ for which the government reimburses states for those administrative costs, from 50% to 25%.

Fox News Digital first reported in late February that Republicans were looking to heighten work requirements for food stamps via reconciliation, when similar legislation was introduced by Rep. Dusty Johnson, R-S.D., a member of the Agriculture panel.

House and Senate Republicans are working on advancing Trump’s agenda via the budget reconciliation process this year. 

Reconciliation allows the party controlling both houses of Congress and the White House to move a massive piece of legislation, provided it addresses budgetary matters like spending, taxes or the national debt.

It makes that possible by lowering the Senate’s passage threshold from 60 votes to 51, lining up with the House’s own simple majority threshold – meaning Democrats are completely sidelined in the process.

Trump wanted Republicans to craft a bill advancing his priorities on the border, immigration, taxes, energy, defense and raising the debt limit.

The House Agriculture Committee, along with two other top committees, are advancing their own portions of the bill on Tuesday.

When that is done, all 11 House committees that have crafted individual reconciliation pieces will put them together into a massive bill, identical versions of which must pass the House and Senate before reaching Trump’s desk.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., has said he wants the House to finish its portion of the effort by Memorial Day.

As Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders continues to travel around the country on his ‘Fighting Oligarchy’ tour, while at the same time defending his use of private jets to do so, an energy watchdog group has calculated the true scope of the carbon emissions his flights have emitted.

During the 16 stops of the tour, which Sanders embarked on with the help of progressive Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, his private jet emitted a total of 62.15 tonnes, or metric tons, of carbon dioxide, according to an estimate from Power the Future.

To put that in perspective, Power the Future said in a press release that the emissions equate to burning 62,600 pounds of coal, driving a gas-powered SUV 150,000 miles, powering every home in Sanders’ hometown of Burlington, Vermont, for weeks, and powering nine U.S. homes for an entire year.

Power the Future also calculated that Sanders generated more carbon dioxide emissions on this single tour than the average American produces in five years. Additionally, the group says that the emissions undo the carbon-capturing work of nearly 2,900 trees over the course of a year.

‘Sen. Sanders has voted for legislation punishing people for their carbon footprint and threatening fossil fuel executives with prison for climate change hysteria, but his personal actions demonstrate he’s just another limousine liberal, a fake socialist, unwilling to live what he wants to impose on you,’ Dan Turner, Power the Future founder and executive director, told Fox News Digital. 

‘The climate movement is dead, and Bernie Sanders’ hypocrisy helped kill it.’

Sanders, in a recent interview with Fox News, refused to apologize for his private jet travel and argued that oftentimes it is not possible or feasible to fly commercially. 

‘That’s the only way to get around,’ Sanders told Bret Baier. ‘No apologies for that. That’s what campaign travel is about. We’ve done it in the past. We’re gonna do it in the future.’

‘You run a campaign, and you do three or four or five rallies in a week. [It is] the only way you can get around to talk to 30,000 people. You think I’m gonna be sitting on a waiting line at United…while 30, 000 people are waiting?’ 

Power the Future noted that one of the private jet flights taken by Sanders was from Washington, D.C., to Los Angeles, a route that offers more than a dozen commercial flights per day. 

Sanders’ campaign committee, Friends of Bernie Sanders, spent over $221,000 chartering private jets during the first quarter of 2025, according to Federal Election Commission filings reviewed by Fox News Digital and first reported by The Washington Free Beacon. The filing, which was released last month, shows that Sanders dropped the massive haul between three private jet companies: Ventura Jets, Cirrus Aviation Services and N-Jet.

Last month, Fox News Digital exclusively reported that Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez were spotted using a private jet worth up to a staggering $15,000 an hour for several West Coast stops on their ‘Fighting Oligarchy’ tour. 

‘Champagne socialists Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez demand Americans surrender their pick-up trucks, air conditioning and meat from the luxe leather seats of their private jets that cost more per hour than most Americans earn in months. Their hypocrisy is staggering,’ National Republican Congressional Committee spokesperson Ben Petersen told Fox News Digital at the time.

Fox News Digital reached out to Sanders’ office for comment. 

Saudi Arabian fighter jets appeared to escort Air Force One as President Donald Trump arrived in the country on Tuesday for a meeting with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

‘Air Force One about to go wheels down in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia with Saudi F-15 fighter jets bringing us in. On behalf of President Trump, THANK YOU!’ White House deputy chief of staff Dan Scavino posted on X while sharing a video of jets flying alongside the U.S. president’s plane.

Two jets flew on the left side of AF1 and three flew on the right.

Scavino also shared a video of the crown prince greeting Trump on a purple carpet after he landed at King Khalid International Airport. The two leaders had a coffee ceremony shortly after greeting one another.

The president brought a slew of administration leaders with him, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Energy Secretary Chris Wright.

Trump arrived at the Royal Court in Riyadh at around 5:30 a.m. EST where he was welcomed with a ceremony and then participated in greetings with Saudi officials and U.S. guests. Trump is expected to have lunch and meetings over a three-hour period.

On border security, support for Israel and diplomacy with President Donald Trump, Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., has bucked the Democratic Party on key issues since assuming office in 2022. 

A string of media reports emerged this month detailing Fetterman’s alleged cognitive decline and waning support within the Democratic Party. A New York Magazine report sparked questions about Fetterman’s mental stability. Subsequent reports by the Associated Press, detailing an outburst during a union meeting, and by Politico, which indicated he is losing traction among Pennsylvania Democrats, were slammed by several of his Capitol Hill colleagues as a coordinated smear campaign.

In an era of partisan politics, Fetterman has embraced bipartisanship with newly elected Sen. Dave McCormick, R-Pa. When McComrick was elected in November, the Pennsylvanians traded jabs for joint dinners as Fetterman built his reputation for being willing to reach across the aisle. Fetterman also met with Trump’s controversial Cabinet picks and worked with Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., to pass the Laken Riley Act this year. 

While Fetterman, who suffered a stroke during his 2022 Senate campaign, shut down questions about his mental fitness amid the relentless reports, it’s not the first time a Democrat has been targeted after falling out of line with the party. 

Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., faced the ire of the Democratic Party earlier this year when he joined Fetterman in voting to pass the Republicans’ spending bill and avoid a government shutdown. Schumer, currently Senate minority leader, was slammed by progressive Democrats while the future of party leadership hangs in the balance. 

Former Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, I-Ariz., was once a Democrat but later registered as an independent. While she continued to caucus with her party, Sinema ruffled liberal feathers by opposing efforts to eliminate the filibuster rule and opposed former President Joe Biden’s ‘Build Back Better’ plan.

In 2022, Sinema said she was leaving the party, adding that ‘nothing will change about my values or my behavior.’

Sinema became the first senator to switch parties since the late Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter – then Republican – famously announced that ‘my change in party will enable me to be re-elected’ in 2009.

Soon after Sinema came now-former West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin. Long seen as a moderate thorn in the side of the increasingly liberal Democrats, Manchin often clashed with his former party on environmental issues, given the Mountain State’s reliance on the fossil fuel industry.

Things came to a head in Charleston when then-Gov. Jim Justice held up his bulldog Babydog backward in the legislative chamber and told actress Bette Midler – who had trashed the state over one of Manchin’s such votes – to ‘kiss her heinie.’

Former Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard was once considered a rising star in the Democratic Party until her comments and behavior drew the ire of party elders like Hillary Clinton. The anti-interventionist Gabbard, who had appeared in the Moscow media, was anonymously slammed by Clinton in 2019 when she said that ‘somebody who is currently in the Democratic primary’ was a ‘favorite of the Russians.’ An advisor later said Gabbard was the figure in question.

Since then, Gabbard has gone on to make a full partisan 180, becoming a member of President Donald Trump’s Cabinet.

During Rep. Nancy Pelosi’s, D-Calif., historic speakership, another Democrat famously bucked the party and ultimately retired soon after trying to proverbially oust the queen.

North Carolina Rep. Heath Shuler became disaffected by the liberal progression of the party and mounted an unsuccessful challenge to Pelosi’s leadership role after Democrats suffered massive losses in the 2010 midterms.

Shuler, a former then-Washington Redskins quarterback, had been the leader of the moderate Blue Dog Democrat caucus when he took aim at the speakership.

Fetterman’s office did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

Hell hath now frozen over. 

President Donald Trump’s decision to accept a $400-million plane from Qatar, as a gift, has prompted stinging criticism from Laura Loomer.

She’s the hard-right activist who specializes in getting the president to fire top officials and withdraw nominees, or at least claims credit for doing so.

If you’ve lost Loomer, you’re losing the argument.

Not according to Donald Trump. He told reporters yesterday that this was a ‘great gesture’ by Qatar, done because ‘we keep them safe,’ referring to Qatar and the UAE, which he’ll be visiting after Saudi Arabia.

He said the maintenance costs on the 40-year-old Air Force One planes are astronomical, and noted that the Reagan Library has such a plane. The decommissioned Qatar aircraft will go to a future Trump Library.

But the Gipper’s plane didn’t come from Qatar.

‘How are we supposed to ever see the US under the Trump admin designate the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization,’ Loomer wrote, ‘if the US is now going to accept a $400 million jet from Qatar to fly the US President and his staff around on?’

Calling the episode a ‘stain’ on his tenure, she added: ‘I love President Trump. I would take a bullet for him. But, I have to call a spade a spade. We cannot accept a $400 million ‘gift’ from jihadists in suits. The Qataris fund the same Iranian proxies in Hamas and Hezbollah who have murdered US Service Members. The same proxies that have worked with the Mexican cartels to get jihadists across our border.’

The media are in an uproar as well, and the story has only grown bigger since it was first reported by ABC News.

Of course, the luxury 747 will have to be upgraded with secure communications and military equipment. That would take at least till the end of the year. 

But one Pentagon official told the New York Times ‘we’re talking years, not months.’

Trump consulted Elon Musk, the DOGE leader and head of SpaceX, who told him that the plane could be delivered in a year.

Two loyalists – Attorney General Pam Bondi and White House Counsel David Warrington – approved the arrangement, according to the Times. Trump toured the 747 in February when it was parked at the Palm Beach airport.

There was a Plan B that got derailed. The Qataris offered to donate the plane immediately to the future Trump Library.

But administration lawyers said that would violate the Constitution’s emoluments clause – which as Beltway insiders know, bars any federal official from accepting personal gifts from a foreign nation without the approval of Congress. 

The president’s ‘flood the zone’ approach has ensured that this isn’t the only story out there.

He announced that after two days of talks, the U.S. and China reached a 90-day agreement that would reduce tariffs on Beijing from 145% to 30%, and Chinese tariffs would be cut to 10%.

It’s clear that Trump blinked. Having tanked the markets (which soared yesterday), he was under enormous pressure to undo the damage. So now we’re back to square one, roughly where we might have been without igniting a global crisis.

But perhaps Xi Jinping blinked as well. His government was feeling the impact of the sky-high tariffs as well. The Chinese, with considerably less enthusiasm, said the ‘mistake’ would only lead to further negotiations.

Trump also was able to announce a cease-fire in the escalating war between India and Pakistan, thanks to some weekend diplomacy by Marco Rubio and JD Vance.

Trump also was able to announce that Hamas was freeing the last living American hostage being held by the terrorist group.

Trump also sided with Vladimir Putin, who wants to meet for peace talks with Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who first wants a 30-day cease-fire, so that Moscow doesn’t continue the killing and gain more territory while stalling on any pause in the fighting.

Trump also was able to unveil a plan that he says will lower the cost of prescription drugs by 30 to 80%.

But circling back to the 747, the president chided ABC’s Rachel Scott when she tried to question him about the plane:

‘You’re ABC fake news, right? Only ABC — well, a few of you would… Let me tell you, you should be embarrassed asking that question. They’re giving us a free jet. I could say, ‘No, no no, don’t give us. I want to pay you a billion, or 400 million, or whatever it is’ Or I could say, ‘thank you very much.”

Scott tried again: ‘Respectfully, sir, as a businessman, some people may look at this and say, have you ever been given a gift worth millions of dollars and then not —’

‘It’s not a gift to me, it’s a gift to the Department of Defense,’ Trump said. ‘And you should know better, because you’ve been embarrassed enough, and so has your network. Your network is a disaster. ABC is a disaster.’

Whether the president is right or wrong, it seems like these are legitimate questions. And the media are always a great foil for him. So I don’t see him backing down.