A former top aide in President Donald Trump’s first administration is arguing that Republicans raising taxes on wealthy Americans ‘makes no sense.’

Marc Short, the former chief of staff to ex-Vice President Mike Pence, was an integral part of negotiations for Trump’s 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA). He also served in Trump’s first White House as director of legislative affairs from 2017 to 2018.

‘Raising taxes on America’s highest earners and biggest job creators makes no sense. I don’t understand why there are some inside the current administration who are pushing Congress to raise the top rate, because again, these are America’s job creators,’ Short said.

‘So many small businesses file taxes as individuals. And so you’re actually going to be raising taxes on many small businesses, not just individuals.’

Congressional Republicans are working on a massive piece of legislation that Trump has dubbed his ‘big, beautiful bill,’ aimed at advancing his policies on tax, border security, immigration, energy, defense and the national debt.

The tax policy portion is expected to be the costliest, and House negotiators are working on identifying a number of areas to cut a total of at least $1.5 trillion to offset the new spending.

A source familiar with Trump’s thinking told Fox News Digital he’s considering allowing the rate on individuals making $2.5 million or more to revert from 37% to the pre-2017 39.6%. 

It will help pay for massive middle- and working-class tax cuts as well as protect Medicaid, the source said.

The TCJA lowered the tax rate for the top income bracket — currently $609,350 for single filers — to 37%, a cut that’s expiring at the end of this year.

Creating a new, higher tax bracket for people earning significantly more than that would help pay for extending the 2017 tax cuts as well as implementing Trump’s new priorities: eliminating taxes on tips, overtime pay and retirees’ Social Security checks.

But Short, who helped get the 2017 package passed, dismissed those new Trump priorities as short-sighted political sweeteners.

‘I feel like some of the administration’s new requirements are somewhat gimmicky. I’m not sure many Americans who earn their income based on tips are even paying taxes on those tips right now. And I think we should begin to extend that to say no tax on overtime,’ he said.

Short said those changes would create ‘a lot of additional hurdles for businesses to comply with.’

‘I think the no tax on Social Security, it seems like what we’re trying to do is different from 2017, when we passed the Tax Cuts and Job Act,’ he said. ‘We tried to simplify the tax code, make it flatter and fair for all Americans, as opposed to creating carve-outs for certain constituencies.’

Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for a response to Short’s remarks.

Some conservative groups like the Heritage Foundation and Americans for Prosperity are also wary of a potential tax hike for the wealthy.

Richard Stern, director of the Hermann Center for the Federal Budget at the Heritage Foundation, said the group is opposed to efforts to raise tax rates to 40% or higher.

‘Congress needs to get its fiscal house in order, but it must do so by tightening its own belt, not by forcing American taxpayers to tighten theirs. A higher top tax rate would be counterproductive, discouraging hard work and entrepreneurship,’ Stern said.

Americans for Prosperity chief government affairs officer Brent Gardner said in a statement, ‘Raising taxes on any American should be completely off the table.’

President Donald Trump is considering a small tax increase for wealthy Americans to help pay for his priorities to boost the middle and working classes.

A source familiar with Trump’s thinking told Fox News Digital that Trump is considering allowing the rate on individuals making $2.5 million or more to increase by 2.6%, from 37% to 39.6%.

He quietly pushed Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., on the idea in a phone call on Wednesday, two people familiar with conversations told Fox News Digital.

It comes as Republicans work on a massive piece of legislation advancing Trump’s priorities on taxes, border security, immigration, energy, defense and the national debt, which the president has dubbed his ‘big, beautiful bill.’

Differing projections show the bill is likely to add trillions of dollars to the country’s deficit over the next 10 years, so fiscal hawks are looking for ways to mitigate that and set up America for a less bloated government down the line by pairing the new priorities with deep spending cuts elsewhere.

The tax portion of the bill is expected to be the costliest portion. 

Republicans are hoping to extend the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) as well as pay for newer Trump priorities like eliminating taxes on tips, overtime wages and retirees’ Social Security.

TCJA previously lowered taxes for the highest bracket from 39.6% to 37%, but that’s set to expire at the end of 2025. Trump wants to restore that top bracket, albeit for people making significantly more money than the current threshold. The current top tax bracket is $609,350 for single income earners.

The source familiar with Trump’s thinking said doing so would help pay for his ‘massive’ tax cuts for the middle and working classes, as well as protect Medicaid coverage for millions of Americans.

Punchbowl News first reported details of the Trump-Johnson phone call.

It’s not clear yet what Republicans will decide, or even if they will ultimately decide to raise taxes on the highest earners – but details are expected to emerge in the coming days.

The Ways & Means Committee, the House’s tax-writing panel, is expected to meet on Tuesday afternoon to advance that portion of Trump’s bill.

Talks about potential tax hikes on the wealthy have triggered a deep rift within the Republican Party. 

Mainstream conservatives have balked at discussions of raising rates on anyone, arguing it would have a negative impact on job creators, while populist and more moderate Republicans have floated such ideas in order to pay for Trump’s priorities to benefit the middle and working classes.

‘Raising taxes on America’s highest earners and biggest job creators makes no sense,’ Marc Short, a former chief of staff to ex-Vice President Mike Pence and a key part of TCJA negotiations, told Fox News Digital.

‘I don’t understand why there are some inside the current administration who are pushing Congress to raise the top rate, because again, these are America’s job creators.’

Other Republicans told Fox News Digital in recent weeks that they believe the idea could be popular, however.

‘I’m open-minded to what the president or the treasury secretary may have in mind. And I would want to see some numbers behind it and how it would have an effect on the economy,’ conservative Rep. Marlin Stutzman, R-Ind., told Fox News Digital in late April.

‘What I’ve heard from people in the upper tax brackets is, you know, they’re willing to pay more as long as they know that it’s paying the debt down. They don’t want to see it go toward more spending.’

Fox News Digital reached out to the White House and Johnson’s office for comment.

A pair of hawkish, Trump-supporting Senate Republicans say that any ‘lasting’ Iran nuclear deal would need to be approved by Congress, ideally through a two-thirds majority treaty vote. 

But scoring a two-thirds majority in the Senate for treaty ratification would require Iran to fulfill a series of steep demands. In addition to getting rid of all of its enriched uranium and centrifuges, GOP lawmakers say it would need to dismantle its ballistic missile program and cease all support for terrorist groups across the Middle East.

‘If they want the most durable and lasting kind of deal, then they want to bring it to the Senate and have it voted on as a treaty,’ Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., said in response to a question from Fox News Digital. 

‘That was one reason why President Obama’s deal was so weak,’ Cotton went on. ‘An agreement between the American president, whoever he or she may be, and a foreign leader, can be reversed by future presidents, which President Trump rightly did seven years ago today.’

In 2015, Cotton led an open letter signed by Senate Republicans to Iranian leaders warning that any nuclear agreement not approved by Congress could be undone by a future administration. The move was widely viewed as a direct effort to undermine President Barack Obama’s ongoing negotiations.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., echoed the call for congressional oversight, saying that ‘at a minimum’ any deal must go through the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act (INARA), which passed Congress in 2015 with resounding bipartisan support and guarantees lawmakers a chance to review any accord reached with Tehran.

Graham said he had told Secretary of State Marco Rubio there was ‘no way’ to get 67 votes to ratify a treaty agreement without Iran totally dismantling its nuclear and missile programs and support for terrorism. 

The senators also drew a parallel with the so-called 123 agreements – the legal frameworks that govern U.S. civil nuclear cooperation with foreign nations. These agreements require strict safeguards to prevent the development of nuclear weapons.

‘It’s also customary in some cases for the Congress, not just the Senate, to pass ordinary legislation that supports the so-called 123 agreements,’ Cotton noted, suggesting that any comprehensive deal with Iran should be treated with similar legislative rigor.

Cotton and Graham spoke to reporters after introducing a resolution outlining ‘acceptable’ terms of an Iran deal, including total cessation of uranium enrichment. 

According to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Iran has amassed enough highly enriched uranium to potentially build several nuclear weapons if it chose to do so – though U.S. intelligence assessments maintain that Tehran has not yet made a decision to weaponize.

Both U.S. and Israeli officials have ramped up their threats against the regime. Trump has made clear that if talks go south, the U.S. will engage in direct military action to thwart Iran’s nuclear program. 

Graham suggested the regime only has ‘weeks’ to acquiesce to a deal. 

‘We’re not talking about long, protracted negotiations,’ the South Carolina Republican said. ‘We’re talking weeks, not months, not years. The potential of Iranian breakout looms large here. Israel’s desire to bring closure to this issue looms large here.’

President Donald Trump touted his administration’s efforts to rebuild and modernize U.S. air traffic control, as the Department of Transportation rolled out its three-year plan to build a brand-new, ‘state-of-the-art’ system to address critical safety needs, while blasting former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg for having ‘no clue.’ 

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy Thursday unveiled the proposal, which would replace the current, antiquated Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) system and ‘enhance safety in the sky, reduce delays and unlock the future of air travel.’ 

‘Under President Trump, America is building again,’ Duffy said Thursday, upon rolling out the new proposal for a ‘once-in-a-generation opportunity to build a brand new, state-of-the-art air traffic control system.’ 

‘Decades of neglect have left us with an outdated system that is showing its age,’ Duffy said, noting that building the new system ‘is an economic and national security necessity, and the time to fix it is now.’

Under the new air traffic control system proposal, the FAA would replace infrastructure, including radar, software, hardware and telecommunications networks, to manage modern travel. 

Officials say the current system was built ‘for the past,’ but the new proposal is to build a system ‘for the future.’ 

The plan would ensure facilities are equipped with better technologies to reduce outages, improve efficiency and reinforce safety. 

‘We’re going to be buying a brand-new, state of the art system that will cover the entire world,’ Trump said earlier Thursday. 

The plan consists of four infrastructure components: communications, surveillance, automation and facilities, according to the Transportation Department. 

Officials plan, by 2028, to replace current telecommunications systems with new fiber, wireless and satellite technologies at more than 4,600 sites, 25,000 new radios and 475 new voice switches. By 2027, 618 radars will also be replaced.  

The plan also would address runway safety by increasing the number of airports with Surface Awareness Initiative to 200. Officials expect this to be complete by 2027. 

The Transportation Department also proposed building six new air traffic control centers for the first time since the 1960s. It also proposes replacing 15 towers and 15 co-located TRACONs, or Terminal Radar Approach Controls, which are facilities that manage air traffic in the airspace surrounding busy airports. 

Officials also proposed the installation of new modern hardware and software for all air traffic facilities, which would create a common platform system throughout all towers, TRACONs and centers. 

The proposal also includes the deployment of additional technologies to the Caribbean and Alaska to provide accurate, real-time surveillance and weather information for air traffic control and pilots to ensure ‘safe and efficient flights for these critical locations.’ 

Officials stressed the need for a new air traffic control system, saying the FAA is grappling with a ‘rapidly growing, complex and demanding aviation sector,’ as commercial air travel returns to pre-COVID levels. Officials also pointed to novel challenges, including drones and advanced air mobility. 

Officials said the FAA’s current systems ‘are showing their age,’ which leads to ‘delays and inefficiencies.’ 

The Department of Transportation stressed that the current National Airspace System is ‘safe,’ but stressed that maintaining safety is necessary. 

The proposal is based on a three-year framework to reinvest in the National Airspace System, and called for an ’emergency supplemental funding increase.’ 

‘Modernization of the NAS can no longer take 10+ years to complete; it must be done now,’ the proposal states. ‘We need an immediate infusion of funding to address critical infrastructure needs.’ 

Duffy, on Thursday, said the project would take three to four years. 

‘I need help, I can’t do it by myself. And it’s going to take the help of the Congress to make that happen,’ Duffy said. ‘We need all of the money up front.’ 

Duffy said requesting the money in ‘small tranches’ over the course of several years would extend the project. 

‘Politics change, leadership changes, presidents change, interest changes, and it never gets built,’ Duffy said. ‘So I’m going to ask the Congress for upfront appropriations to give us all the money. I’ll come before the Congress every, every quarter and give them an update of how far we’ve built, how much money we’ve spent.’ 

Duffy added that if the Department of Transportation is not given the money, it would take ’10 to 15 years to build this.’ 

‘And by the time we get done with it, what we’re going to build is already going to be old technology,’ Duffy said. ‘So we want to build this in three to four years, and we can do it with the help of Congress.’ 

A report issued by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) in March shows that the Trump administration inherited an outdated FAA system from the Biden administration with ‘severe shortcomings’ that resulted in dangerous travel conditions across the country.

After Trump’s return to the White House, the GAO advised the administration that it had made nine recommendations to the FAA under the Biden administration that remain open, and that ‘urgent attention’ is needed to remedy the safety issues left by Biden.

GAO said that under the Biden administration the FAA ‘did not prioritize or establish near-term plans to modernize unsustainable and critical systems.’

The GAO’s 2025 report said the 2023 national airspace prompted an operational risk assessment, which found that of the 138 air traffic control systems, ’51 (37%) were deemed unsustainable by FAA and 54 (39%) were potentially unsustainable.’

Trump, on Thursday, blasted the current ‘ancient infrastructure,’ saying ‘it’s buckling under the weight of more than a billion flying passengers a year and supporting hundreds of billions of dollars.’  

‘Pete Buttigieg, who was the secretary of transportation, had no clue what the problem was,’ Trump said. ‘He had no clue. Zero. Zero.’ 

Trump said Buttigieg ‘wants to run for president.’ 

‘I don’t think he’s going to do too well,’ Trump said. ‘The federal government now pays $250 million annually just to keep up the old equipment and keep it running.’

Meanwhile, Duffy on Thursday said the administration has assembled an ‘unprecedented coalition of support’ from labor to industry, stressing that support is ‘indicative of just how important it is to this administration to get done what no one else could.’  

Duffy added: ‘The American people are counting on us, and we won’t let them down.’

The rollout of the proposal comes just days after the FAA issued a ground delay for Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey due to staffing shortages, weather and construction.

‘Our antiquated air traffic control system is affecting our workforce,’ an FAA statement said. ‘As Secretary Duffy has said, we must get the best safety technology in the hands of controllers as soon as possible.’

It also comes after air traffic controller audio was made public from when radar and radio communications with planes were briefly lost at Newark Airport on April 28. 

The April 28 outage lasted roughly 90 seconds. The National Air Traffic Controllers Association confirmed the incident to Fox News Digital, writing that the FAA’s operation in Philadelphia had ‘temporarily lost radar and communications with the aircraft under their control, unable to see, hear, or talk to them.’

Fox Business’ Grady Trimble contributed to this report. 

The White House will unveil a new nominee to serve as U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, following resistance to the administration’s current pick, according to President Donald Trump. 

Trump had nominated Ed Martin, a former defense attorney who represented Americans charged in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol, for the role. Martin has taken on the responsibilities of the interim U.S. attorney in Washington, D.C., since January. 

However, the Senate has held up confirming Martin, amid concerns from lawmakers. Republican Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, announced Tuesday he wouldn’t endorse Martin. 

Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin, the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, also opposed Martin’s nomination. Specifically, Durbin said Martin provided several false statements to the Senate Judiciary Committee. 

On Thursday, Trump suggested he would put forward another candidate who would receive broader backing than Martin. 

‘He wasn’t getting the support from people that I thought,’ Trump told reporters at the White House Thursday. ‘You know, he’s done a very good job. Crime is down 25% in DC during this period of time… I can only lift that little phone so many times of the day. But we have somebody else.’

‘I have to be straight. I was disappointed,’ Trump said. ‘A lot of people were disappointed. But that’s the way it works. Sometimes, you know, that’s the way it works. And he wasn’t rejected, but we felt it would be very – it would be hard. And we have somebody else that will be announcing over the next two days who’s going to be great.’ 

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital. 

Trump’s decision to replace Martin came amid a May 20 deadline to confirm the former defense attorney and ‘Stop the Steal’ organizer. That’s because if the Senate fails to confirm a U.S. attorney nominee within 120 days, federal district court judges may select an interim U.S. attorney, according to the Department of Justice. 

Judge James Boasberg is the current chief judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Boasberg has become intertwined in several key cases against the Trump administration and has attracted scrutiny from the White House for blocking deportation flights in March.

Fox News’ Emma Colton contributed to this report. 

Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts used a public appearance Wednesday to stress the importance of an independent judiciary, doubling down on defense of the courts under fire by President Donald Trump and his allies, who have accused so-called ‘activist judges’ of overstepping their bounds.

Asked during a fireside chat event in Buffalo, New York, about judicial independence, Roberts responded in no uncertain terms that the role of the federal courts is to ‘decide cases, but in the course of that, check the excesses of Congress or the executive.’

That role, he added, ‘does require a degree of independence.’

Roberts’ remarks are not new. But they come as Trump and his allies have railed against federal judges who have paused or halted key parts of the president’s agenda. (Some of the rulings they’ve taken issue with came from judges appointed by Trump in his first term.)

The Supreme Court is slated to hear a number of high-profile cases and emergency appeals filed by the Trump administration in the next few months, cases that are all but certain to keep the high court in the spotlight for the foreseeable future.

Among them are Trump’s executive orders banning transgender service members from serving in the U.S. military, restoring fired federal employees to their jobs and a case about whether children whose parents illegally entered the U.S. and were born here should be granted citizenship. Oral arguments for that last case kick off next week.

Just hours before Roberts spoke to U.S. District Judge Lawrence Vilardo, a high-stakes hearing played out in federal court in Washington, D.C.

There, U.S. District Judge James Boasberg spent more than an hour grilling Justice Department lawyers about their use of the Alien Enemies Act to summarily deport hundreds of migrants to El Salvador earlier this year. 

Boasberg’s March 15 order that temporarily blocked Trump’s use of the law to send migrants to a Salvadoran prison sparked ire from the White House and in Congress, where some Trump allies had previously floated calls for impeachment.

Roberts, who put out a rare public statement at the time rebuking calls to impeach Boasberg or any federal judges, doubled down on that in Wednesday’s remarks.

‘Impeachment is not how you register disagreement with a decision,’ Roberts said, adding that he had already spoken about that in his earlier statement.

In the statement, sent by Roberts shortly after Trump floated the idea of impeaching Boasberg, said that ‘for more than two centuries, it has been established that impeachment is not an appropriate response to disagreement concerning a judicial decision,’ he said.

‘The normal appellate review process exists for that purpose,’ he said in the statement. 

Fox News has exclusively obtained satellite imagery revealing what an opposition group says is a previously undisclosed Iranian nuclear weapons facility – raising fresh concerns amid ongoing negotiations between Tehran and the Trump administration.

The newly identified site, located in Iran’s Semnan Province, is far from the regime’s already-known nuclear facilities. According to the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), intelligence gathered from sources inside the country points to a sprawling compound covering nearly 2,500 acres.

Code-named the ‘Rainbow Site’ by Iranian officials, the facility has reportedly been in operation for more than a decade, masked as a chemical production company known as Diba Energy Siba.

According to NCRI sources, the primary function of the Rainbow Site is the extraction of tritium – a radioactive isotope used to enhance nuclear weapons. Unlike uranium enrichment, tritium has virtually no peaceful or commercial applications, casting further doubt on Iran’s longstanding claims that its nuclear ambitions are solely for energy or civilian use.

The revelations come as the Trump administration navigates sensitive negotiations with Tehran. When asked about the U.S. position on whether Iran can maintain a nuclear enrichment program short of weapons development, President Donald Trump told reporters Wednesday, ‘We haven’t made that decision yet. We will, but we haven’t made that decision yet.’

Despite the bombshell intelligence, senior officials maintain optimism. Vice President JD Vance, speaking Tuesday, said the talks remain on track.

‘Without prejudging the negotiation, I will say, so far so good,’ Vance told reporters. ‘We’ve been very happy with how the Iranians have responded to some of the points that we’ve made.’

The discovery of the Rainbow Site could complicate the already delicate diplomacy surrounding Iran’s nuclear capabilities and the possibility of a renewed agreement.

The House of Representatives voted 211-206 to make President Donald Trump’s name change for the Gulf of America permanent on Thursday morning. 

No Democrats voted for the bill, as was expected. Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., was the only Republican to vote against the bill. 

The legislation was led by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., a vocal ally of Trump’s in Congress.

‘This is such an important thing to do for the American people. The American people deserve pride in their country, and they deserve pride in the waters that we own, that we protect with our military and our Coast Guard and all of the businesses that prosper along these waters,’ Greene said during debate on the bill.

‘But Democrats today are outraged. They’re outraged because they love the cartels more than any other people in the world, more than the American people.’

Democratic lawmakers, meanwhile, panned the legislation as a waste of time.

‘Republicans think this juvenile legislation is the best use of this House’s time. This is the only work we’re doing today, folks,’ Rep. Steny Hoyer, D-Md., said in his rebuttal to Greene.

‘What a sick joke this is. Republicans worry about 400-year-old words on a map. I worry about families and every community in America that’s struggling to get by.’

The vast majority of Republicans supported the bill, with several arguing the name change would help boost tourism and a sense of patriotism in the region.

However, earlier this week, Fox News Digital was told that several GOP lawmakers privately expressed frustration at what they saw as a largely symbolic bill taking up their time instead of more meaningful legislation to move Trump’s agenda along.

‘I’ve heard criticisms from all corners of the conference. Conservatives to pragmatic ones,’ Bacon told Fox News Digital on Tuesday. ‘It seems sophomoric. The United States is bigger and better than this.’

One conservative GOP lawmaker vented to Fox News Digital, ‘125 other [executive orders], this is the one we pick.’

Greene hit back at the detractors, however, in response to Fox News Digital’s report.

‘Some of my Republican colleagues don’t want to vote for my Gulf of America Act, which is one of President Trump’s favorite executive orders. They say they would rather vote on ‘more serious EOs.’ Boys are you ready to vote to criminalize sex changes on kids?? Because I have that bill on that EO too,’ she wrote on X.

The legislation will now be sent to the Senate, where it must reach a 60-vote threshold — with Democratic support — before it can hit the president’s desk.

Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin met for formal talks on Thursday for the first time since President Donald Trump exacerbated the U.S.-China trade war last month. 

In a statement at the top of the meeting, Xi pledged to stand by his anti-Western ally against ‘power politics’ and ‘bullying on the international stage.’

‘Eighty years ago, the peoples of China and Russia made tremendous sacrifices to secure a great victory, contributing an indelible chapter to the cause of world peace and human progress,’ Xi said, according to a report by the South China Morning Post.

‘Today, in the face of unilateralist backflows and acts of power politics and bullying on the international stage, China will join Russia in shouldering our special responsibilities as major countries and permanent members of the U.N. Security Council,’ he added. 

The pair met on what is considered Victory Day in Europe, which marks the beginning of the end of World War II, when the Allied nations accepted the surrender of Nazi Germany on May 8, 1945, though Russia celebrates the anniversary one day later. 

Japan did not surrender until September 1945, though Xi and Putin convened for a joint celebration which will take place in Moscow’s Red Square on Friday and will include a large contingent of Chinese troops. Leaders from 20 nations, including Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula de Silva, will also reportedly be in attendance.

While Xi appeared to take direct aim at the U.S., which under Trump has slapped 145% tariffs on all Chinese exports, Putin’s language was more toned down when he said, ‘We are developing our ties in the interests of both our peoples and not aimed against anyone.’

Putin and Xi first expanded their relationship just ahead of Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, which resulted in the West’s attempt to isolate Moscow in retaliation for the deadly war. 

Russia, China, Iran and North Korea have since deepened ties in an alliance that has increasingly concerned Western partners, though the Trump administration has looked to step away from these divisions in what some have argued could weaken U.S. ties with Washington’s long-standing allies. 

Putin said the ties strengthened during its war years were ‘one of the fundamental foundations of modern Russian-Chinese relations’.

‘Together with our Chinese friends, we firmly stand guard over the historical truth, protect the memory of the events of the war years, and counteract modern manifestations of neo-Nazism and militarism,’ he added in reference to one of his long-debunked claims used to justify his illegal invasion of Ukraine. 

According to Russian news outlet TASS, both Xi and Putin pledged to help play a role in the Trump administration’s push to form a new nuclear agreement with Iran. 

While both were key players in the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), which Trump abandoned in 2018, it remains unclear how they intend to participate in this round of negotiations facilitated by Oman. 

‘The parties intend to play an active creative role in the settlement around the Iranian nuclear program, emphasizing that it will contribute to maintaining the international nuclear non-proliferation regime, peace and stability in the Middle East,’ the readout said. 

The White House did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s questions regarding any potential China-Russia involvement in the talks.

In a surprising twist of fate, Marco Rubio has gone from bitter presidential rival to President Donald Trump’s go-to guy. 

At the start of the new administration, current and former officials speculated Rubio would be one of the first Cabinet officials shown the door, as his America First credentials were called into question given his previously hawkish foreign policy views. 

Instead, Rubio has only continued to find favor with the president – so much so that he now holds an unprecedented four different roles within the administration.

‘When I have a problem, I call up Marco. He gets it solved,’ Trump quipped earlier this month. 

First, Rubio glided into the secretary of state role with a 99-0 Senate confirmation. Then, Trump and his team dismantled USAID and merged it under Rubio’s State Department leadership, naming him acting director. The secretary was subsequently tapped to lead the National Archives in an acting capacity, and as of last week, he’s also replaced Mike Waltz as acting national security advisor.

‘This is an expression of trust,’ said Andrew Tabler, a former senior official at State and the National Security Council (NSC). ‘It’s a sign that the president likes Secretary Rubio, despite the odds.’ 

Trump has suggested the interim arrangement could last up to six months, and while that may be an expression of the president’s confidence in Rubio, some are questioning whether one person can effectively juggle four high-profile roles.

‘Marco Rubio is very talented but no one can do that,’ said Joel Rubin, former senior State Department official. 

Henry Kissinger was the last person to serve as both secretary of state and national security advisor, holding both roles for over two years from 1975 to 1977. But that was half a century ago, and threats facing the nation have only multiplied. 

Rubin, who served under both Democratic and Republican administrations, called the workload ‘not fair to the individual, not fair to the taxpayer, and not fair to President Trump, who needs strong, independent advice from a national security advisor.’

‘The president has assembled an incredibly talented team that is fully committed to putting America and Americans first,’ a senior State Department official said in response to an inquiry on Rubio’s many duties. ‘Secretary Rubio looks forward to serving as his interim national security advisor while ensuring the mission-critical work at the State Department continues uninterrupted.’

The national security advisor is traditionally the president’s closest aide on matters of war, peace and global crisis – physically located near the Oval Office and ready to brief the president at any moment. That proximity is hard to maintain when the same person is flying overseas for diplomatic missions.

‘If he has to fly off to Pakistan to stop a nuclear war, then the president’s national security advisor, who usually is sitting right next to him, is not there.’

The reshuffling follows a broader shake-up inside the National Security Council, which lost Waltz, deputy advisor Alex Wong, and a number of staffers in early April. That thinning of personnel, several sources said, has only compounded the stakes.

‘There are major national security issues in three different theaters. Europe, Middle East and Asia. One’s a hot war, one is a half-hot war, and it’s really getting tense in Asia,’ said one former NSC official. ‘The president’s national security team needs to be filled out, and many people at State and DOD still need to be confirmed.’

National security advisor ‘is one of the president’s closest relationships,’ said Michael Allen, former special assistant to the president and senior director at NSC. ‘The national security advisor needs to be near the president all the time. Or at least able to brief the president all the time. So this is more duties for Rubio and they’re already short-handed.’

Still, Allen said the president’s personal comfort with his top national security aide may outweigh structural concerns – for now.

‘If the president feels like he needs Rubio there, then this is a good solution,’ Allen said. ‘At least for the short to medium term.’

Yet others say Rubio’s promotion might be more symbolic than operational, particularly in a White House where influence doesn’t always match job titles.

‘I think it’s not, ‘Can Marco Rubio do four jobs?’ It’s, ‘Is he allowed to do his one job – which is Secretary of State?’’ said Mark Feierstein, a former senior official at USAID. ‘Foreign counterparts may see him as pleasant in meetings, but they don’t necessarily believe he can deliver.’

Feierstein pointed to the dismantling of USAID, the rise of informal advisors like Stephen Miller, and the proliferation of special envoys like Steve Witkoff who bypass Rubio entirely. ‘You’ve got loads of people who report directly to Trump or others. So now it’s just chaos,’ he said.

Even Rubio’s ideological positioning raises questions. A staunch foreign policy hawk during his time in the Senate, Rubio has in recent months presided over a foreign policy apparatus that includes outreach to Russia and dramatic State Department budget cuts – moves he may once have opposed.

‘He’s decided to accommodate,’ Feierstein said.

But Rubio’s ability to meet voters where they are – and serve as the president’s happy warrior – may be the key to his longevity. Sparring with voices like Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and Vice President JD Vance on foreign policy would only cause further headaches for the president. 

Tabler, for his part, remained optimistic. ‘Rubio is energetic, he knows the issues. He’s been working on foreign policy for years,’ he said. ‘It’s a positive sign. But how long one person can do that job – and under what circumstances – is up to him.’