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.

China is eager to hash out a trade deal with the U.S., according to President Donald Trump. 

Trump’s remarks come as Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is poised to launch trade negotiations with China in Switzerland on Saturday amid a steep tariff battle between Washington and Beijing.  

‘Scott’s going to be going to Switzerland, meeting with China,’ Trump told reporters Thursday at the White House. ‘And you know, they very much want to make a deal. We can all play games. Who made the first call, who didn’t make them? It doesn’t matter. Only matters what happens in that room. But I will tell you that China very much wants to make a deal. We’ll see how that works out.’

The Trump administration announced widespread tariffs for multiple countries on April 2, following criticism that other countries’ trade practices are unfair toward the U.S.

The administration later adjusted its initial proposal and announced on April 9 it would immediately impose a 145% tariff on Chinese goods, while reducing reciprocal tariffs on other countries for 90 days to a baseline of 10%. China responded by raising tariffs on U.S. goods to 125%.

Bessent said Tuesday that negotiations between the U.S. and China had not started, after China said Friday that Beijing was open to holding talks if the tariffs were rescinded. 

Trump told reporters on Air Force One Sunday he wants a ‘fair’ trade deal with China, claiming discussions with Beijing were in the works on multiple issues.  

Trump has voiced support for tariffs for decades. The White House has called for tariffs to address the nation’s 2024 record $1.2 trillion trade deficit, and said the tariffs will bring back U.S. manufacturing jobs. 

Bessent cautioned in April that the tariffs could cost China up to 10 million jobs, and said it’s incumbent upon Beijing to remove current tariffs on U.S. imports. 

‘I think that over time we will see that the Chinese tariffs are unsustainable for China. I’ve seen some very large numbers over the past few days that show if these numbers stay on, Chinese could lose 10 million jobs very quickly,’ Bessent told reporters at the White House on April 29. ‘And even if there is a drop in the tariffs that they could lose 5 million jobs.’

‘So remember that we are the deficit country,’ Bessent said. ‘They sell almost five times more goods to us than we sell to them. So the onus will be on them to take off these tariffs. They’re unsustainable for them.’

Bessent also told lawmakers Tuesday that the U.S. has launched discussions with various countries, and indicated that major trade deals could be announced ‘as early as this week.’ 

A coalition of more than 150 former judges joined together in a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi, accusing the Trump administration of perpetrating ‘attacks’ against the judiciary.

‘We are former state and federal judges who join together to condemn the Trump Administration’s attacks on the judiciary, including its recent arrest of Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge Hannah Dugan in her courthouse,’ the letter begins.

Dugan allegedly escorted a wanted illegal immigrant ‘out of the courtroom through the ‘jury door,’ which leads to a nonpublic area of the courthouse,’ according to an affidavit, which notes that authorities at the courthouse to arrest the wanted individual were still ultimately able to apprehend him.

‘This latest action is yet another attempt to intimidate and threaten the judiciary after a series of rulings by judges appointed by presidents of both parties holding the Trump Administration accountable for its countless violations of the Constitution and laws of the United States,’ the former judges declared in their letter.

They asserted that the Justice Department ‘at your direction decided to create an embarrassing spectacle that included the FBI’s arrest and handcuffing of Judge Dugan and the Director of the FBI, Kash Patel, posting a photo of the perp walk on X.’

The letter links to an April X post that features a photo and declares, ‘No one is above the law.’

Fox News Digital reached out to the Justice Department for comment but did not receive a response by the time of publication.

President Donald Trump’s second-term agenda has been bogged down by judicial roadblocks, and the president has been outspoken in registering his complaints with the judiciary.

‘Our Court System is not letting me do the job I was Elected to do. Activist judges must let the Trump Administration deport murderers, and other criminals who have come into our Country illegally, WITHOUT DELAY!!!’ he declared in a Wednesday Truth Social post.

Despite fears of first-day chaos over the new REAL ID requirement, airports reported smooth sailing Wednesday, with no major disruptions tied to the rollout, according to security officials.

‘We didn’t see long lines,’ one passenger arriving at South Carolina’s Greeneville-Spartanburg Airport from Washington-Dulles told a local reporter. ‘It was a walk in the park.’

TSA spokesperson Lorie Dankers said in April that about 20% of the public still lacks REAL ID compliance. When asked whether this could affect travel times starting Wednesday, she said it’s ‘reasonable’ to expect travelers may need to arrive early.

‘I am extremely concerned there will be long lines and a lot of confusion,’ Henry Harteveldt, a travel industry analyst and president of Atmosphere Research Group, added in comments to travel website The Points Guy ahead of the rollout. Meanwhile, Philadelphia International Airport urged passengers to arrive two-and-a-half hours early for domestic flights Wednesday. 

However, reporters at various airports across the country found that the delays some feared never came to fruition, and wait times were minimal. Airport and security officials confirmed their reports.

‘We are pleased to share that the TSA lines are moving efficiently,’ Nashville International Airport said Wednesday. ‘Smooth operations this morning,’ Baltimore-Washington International Airport reported.    

‘Smooth’ operations were reported by airports and security officials alike. There was an increased presence of Homeland Security officials at Hartsfield-Jackson in Atlanta, but no complaints were reported to Fox News reporters on the ground there from passengers.

Travelers on social media and in news reports shared stories of getting through airport security without a REAL ID, or its compliant equivalent such as a passport, which federal officials indicated would be possible with additional screening ahead of Wednesday’s rollout.

Several passengers without compliant identification were given a notice indicating their IDs were not REAL ID compliant, and they should expect delays the next time they travel if they don’t have one.

The federal government’s REAL ID requirement is two decades in the making and has faced several delays over the years.

The law stemmed from long-held concerns from federal officials about false identification, but gained momentum and was enacted following the 9/11 attacks.

‘REAL ID will keep us more secure. It gives us more information so that we know who is traveling on our federal transportation systems and our airlines,’ Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Wednesday in a video from Washington-Reagan International Airport.

‘Thank you everybody for all of your cooperation, and we’re looking to make America more secure in following our federal law.’

President Donald Trump made the surprise announcement this week that the U.S., after weeks of intense strikes, will halt all bombing campaigns on the Houthis in Yemen – but experts have warned the Iran-backed group will not sit idle. 

In Trump’s Tuesday announcement from the Oval Office, he claimed the Houthis ‘just don’t want to fight…and we will honor that. We will stop the bombings.’

The president would not say who provided him with this confirmation by the terrorist network, which for years has attacked U.S. and allied ships in the Red Sea in a major threat to freedom of navigation, but in a laugh following the question, he replied that it came from a ‘very good source.’

Less than two hours later, Badr bin Hamad Al Busaidi, the foreign minister of Oman, took to X to say, ‘Following recent discussions and contacts conducted by the Sultanate of Oman with the United States and the relevant authorities in Sana’a, in the Republic of Yemen, with the aim of de-escalation, efforts have resulted in a ceasefire agreement between the two sides.’

‘In the future, neither side will target the other, including American vessels, in the Red Sea and Bab al-Mandab Strait, ensuring freedom of navigation and the smooth flow of international commercial shipping,’ he added. 

The post suggests that Oman, which has also played an intermediary in the U.S.-Iran nuclear talks, was heavily involved in securing the ceasefire.

However, a new report obtained by Fox News Digital ahead of the president’s surprise announcement warns that the Trump administration must remain vigilant against major security threats posed by the Houthis and the international actors supporting the terrorist network.

The report, dubbed ‘The Houthi Challenge: Forging a Strategy to Defeat the Iran-Backed Terror Group in Yemen’ by Ari Heistein for the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) and research fellow at the Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security, highlighted that it is not only Iran that have helped facilitate the Houthi operational capabilities. 

While Tehran has backed the Houthis since at least 2014 – and possibly as early as 2009 during the war in Yemen – through training and advanced weapons like ballistic missiles, Oman has also played a role by allowing the group to operate from its territory and serving as a key smuggling route for Iranian arms.

Jonathan Schanzer, a former terrorism finance analyst at the U.S. Department of the Treasury and the current executive director of the FDD, called Oman’s role in negotiations between Washington and Middle East adversaries ‘outrageous.’ 

‘To hold them up as responsible intermediaries when they are in fact hosting the very group that we’re trying to dismantle, there’s very little logic [in] this position,’ he told Fox News Digital.

The report found that Iranian arms are smuggled into Yemen through the port of Hodeidah – which was targeted in a series of Israeli strikes on major infrastructure in and around the Houthi-controlled capital of Sana’a this week – but also through smaller ports or overland through Oman.

Omani private banking institutions and businesses are also reportedly known to be ‘servicing the Houthi economy and even supplying the group with arms.’ 

‘More must be done to prevent bulk cash smuggling across the border between Oman and Yemen,’ Heistein found. ‘Muscat must begin to feel pressure from the international community to address a threat finance challenge that has gone unchecked for too long.’

The report breaks down the varied steps that need to be taken to effectively undermine and counter the Houthis as repeated military strikes by first, Saudi Arabia starting in 2015, then recently by the U.S. and Israel, have not significantly degraded the terrorist group.

Those steps include continued military action – similar to Israel’s recent strikes on Yemen’s Hodeidah port and Sana’a International Airport, which are expected to have far-reaching economic impacts and increase internal pressure on the Houthis. But military action alone isn’t enough; economic, diplomatic, and other soft power strategies are also needed to weaken the group, according to the report. 

The report also highlighted that the Houthis have utilized previous lulls in fighting with nations like Saudi Arabia, the U.S. and Israel to regroup and rebuild. 

‘Compelling the Houthis to halt attacks on shipping is a meaningful achievement only if it is part of a broader, long-term strategy,’ Heistein told Fox News Digital. ‘However, if a Red Sea ceasefire becomes the centerpiece and endpoint of U.S. policy toward the Houthis, it risks empowering an increasingly dangerous regime to escalate and de-escalate at will.

 ‘Without a comprehensive approach to addressing the Houthi threat, the U.S. and its allies could soon be confronting a more dangerous, better-armed terrorist group,’ Heinstein warned. 

A bill aimed at cracking down on the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and its practice of forced organ harvesting passed with overwhelming support on Wednesday – though one House lawmaker voted against it.

Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., was the lone Republican to oppose the Stop Forced Organ Harvesting Act, which passed 406-1.

‘It’s just another example of us trying to stick our nose in another country’s business and write their laws,’ Massie told Fox News Digital after the vote. ‘And at the end of the day, they’re gonna do what they’re gonna do, and it’s just sort of a virtue signal over here.’

Massie, a conservative libertarian, often votes against House bills that weigh in on another country’s affairs.

The Kentucky Republican pointed out that he opposed the legislation when it was up for a vote during a previous Congress.

But his pushback is also notable now given his status as an open critic of Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and at times, of President Donald Trump. 

The bill was introduced by Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., and would authorize the Secretary of State to deny U.S. passports and visitor visas to people involved in organ trafficking circles.

It would also call for sanctions on entities and individuals found to have participated in the gruesome illicit industry.

U.S. lawmakers have accused China of forced organ harvesting of its ideological opponents, including Falun Gong practitioners and Uyghur Muslims. 

President Donald Trump’s executive order ending diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs in the federal government has returned financial power to the people, OJ Oleka, CEO of the State Financial Officers Foundation, told Fox News Digital. 

Oleka said there’s a ‘new sheriff in town’ and that Trump is ‘making good’ on his promise to eliminate DEI by shifting financial policies ‘away from the left and back to the center,’ empowering state financial officers and building trust with the American people. 

‘We know that when companies focus on business, their business does better. If their business does better, shareholders make more money, their employees have a better quality of life within their business and their consumers get a better product,’ Oleka told Fox News Digital at the State Financial Officers Foundation conference in Orlando, Florida. 

Oleka said focusing on financial returns and merit-based incentives over DEI or environmental, social and governance (ESG) policies creates ‘more money for shareholders, better culture in the office for employees and better products for consumers and customers,’ exactly what state financial officers have been asking for. 

‘The American people want every individual to succeed,’ Oleka said. ‘They want people to succeed on their merit, on their ability, on their skill. It’s very important to us as Americans. But what they don’t want is for people to get preferences just because of some political ideology.’ 

He said there are misconceptions about DEI ‘because people hear diversity, equity and inclusion, and they think, ‘Well, those are good things. I support diversity. I want people to be included, and people should have the resources that they need.’

‘To be very clear, when we’re talking about DEI, we’re saying that DEI is trying to provide racial or gender preferences for people based on past grievances. It effectively has nothing to do with merit or looking at somebody’s skill for a job or for an opportunity.’ 

Equal opportunity is giving people access to create their own opportunities, to try to be as successful as they can be with their skills, ability and merit, according to Oleka. 

Oleka explained that DEI is subjective because it prefers ‘folks based on what you think is important, based on your own politics.’

‘It’s bad to say, from a company’s perspective, ‘Let’s just hire people based on race, based on gender,’ as opposed to skill and ability,’ Oleka said.

‘It’s bad because it can harm the performance of what that company actually does with their business responsibilities. That matters to our financial officers because they invest in a lot of these companies. It’s their job as fiduciary leaders to make sure that the pensions that they invest, the public funds that they invest by virtue of their positions, are actually done so by companies and with funds where the returns are going to be high.

‘We can’t guarantee that the returns are going to be as high as they can be if the companies aren’t even focusing on their specific mandate, on their responsibility. Instead, they’re focusing on their politics and trying to force an ideology or social agenda through their businesses. That’s not what business is for.’ 

Oleka said his experience as someone with a Ph.D. in higher education who is also the son of Nigerian immigrants informs his rejection of political ideology or agendas in government-funded programs, including in public education, because these policies don’t improve students’ learning experience or academic performance. 

‘That doesn’t actually contribute to kids’ learning,’ Oleka said. ‘It doesn’t contribute to human flourishing. There really is no reason why people’s taxpayer dollars should be spent on that.’

Oleka told Fox News Digital the Orlando conference was critical to reminding state financial officers across the country they are not alone in pushing back against DEI and ESG policies that were promoted by former President Joe Biden’s administration. 

‘It goes back to what I think most Americans believe. Their state government is closer to them than the federal government,’ he said. ‘As a result, state leaders should have more power, as it relates to their finances, than the federal government, and what a state leader should do with that power is give it back to the people.’

By empowering state financial officers to focus on financial returns and fiduciary duty instead of ideology and politics, Oleka said more Americans are incentivized financially. 

‘It’s important that we have that same kind of leadership in the White House at the state level, making good on their promise to bring a Golden Age to America and to each state,’ he said. 

President Donald Trump revealed a new pick for surgeon general on Wednesday, saying he will now nominate Dr. Casey Means for the job.

‘Casey has impeccable ‘MAHA’ credentials, and will work closely with our wonderful Secretary of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., to ensure a successful implementation of our Agenda in order to reverse the Chronic Disease Epidemic, and ensure Great Health, in the future, for ALL Americans,’ Trump said late Wednesday afternoon in a post on his social media platform Truth Social. ‘Dr. Casey Means has the potential to be one of the finest Surgeon Generals in United States History.’

Means, a vocal ‘Make America Healthy Again’ proponent, played a significant role in helping shape the administration’s agenda surrounding health, alongside her brother, Calley Means. She is a Stanford-trained physician and has made a name for herself as a wellness influencer alongside her brother. In 2024, both Casey and Calley co-wrote a book about the chronic disease epidemic titled ‘Good Energy,’ and Casey is also the co-founder of a health-tech company called Levels.

Calley Means was previously tapped by the administration to serve as a top special advisor to Secretary Kennedy.

Trump previously announced he would nominate Dr. Janette Nesheiwat, a former Fox News contributor, to be surgeon general.

It’s unclear why Nesheiwat’s nomination was pulled. Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for more information. 

Trump added in his post that Secretary Kennedy ‘looks forward to working with Dr. Janette Nesheiwat in another capacity at HHS.’

Meanwhile, in a follow-up post on X, Nesheiwat also said she was ‘looking forward’ to continuing to support Trump while working closely with Secretary Kennedy ‘in a senior policy role.’ 

‘My focus continues to be on improving the health and well-being of all Americans, and that mission hasn’t changed,’ Nesheiwat concluded in her public social media remarks.  

Nesheiwat is the sister-in-law of recently fired National Security Advisor Michael Waltz, who the president indicated he will now be nominating to be the next ambassador to the United Nations after dropping his initial nominee, New York GOP Congresswoman Elise Stefanik. 

President Donald Trump wants India and Pakistan to cease fighting and is open to helping both countries broker a peace agreement, following strikes from India against Pakistan early Wednesday. 

India launched missiles against at least nine sites ‘where terrorist attacks against India have been planned,’ according to India’s Defense Ministry. Meanwhile, Pakistan’s military reported that the strikes killed at least 26 people — including women and children — and claimed the strikes amounted to an ‘act of war.’ 

‘Oh, it’s so terrible. My position is, I get along with both,’ Trump told reporters Wednesday. ‘I know both very well, and I want to see them work it out. I want to see them stop. And hopefully they can stop now. They’ve got a tit for tat, so hopefully they can stop now. But I know both. We get along with both countries very well. Good relationships with both. And I want to see it stop. And if I can do anything to help I will. I will be there as well.’

Tension between India and Pakistan escalated in April after a gunman killed 26 people who were primarily Indian Hindi tourists in the India-controlled portion of Kashmir. India pinned the blame on Pakistan, and a militant group India claims is affiliated with a Pakistani militant group ultimately claimed responsibility for the attack. 

After India’s Wednesday strikes, Pakistan said it shot down five Indian fighter jets, claiming that the move was justified given India’s actions. 

‘Pakistan has every right to give a robust response to this act of war imposed by India, and a strong response is indeed being given,’ Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said. 

The Associated Press, Fox News’ Greg Wehner and Nick Kalman contributed to this report. 

President Donald Trump is reportedly to rename the Persian Gulf to the Arabian Gulf ahead of his trip to the Middle East in the coming days. 

The expected announcement was first reported Wednesday by the Associated Press, which clashed with the Trump administration earlier this year over the president renaming the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America. 

Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for comment but did not immediately hear back. The AP cited two U.S. officials who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the matter.

Iran’s foreign minister slammed the reported change, writing that, ‘politically motivated attempts to alter the historically established name of the Persian Gulf are indicative of hostile intent toward Iran and its people, and are firmly condemned.’

‘Such biased actions are an affront to all Iranians, regardless of their background or place of residence. Let’s hope that the absurd rumors about the PERSIAN Gulf that are going around are no more than a disinformation campaign by ‘forever warriors’ to anger Iranians all over the world and agitate them,’ Seyed Abbas Araghchi wrote on X. 

The foreign minister said the name Persian Gulf ‘is deeply rooted in human history’ and that Iran ‘has never objected to the use of names such as the Sea of Oman, Indian Ocean, Arabian Sea, or Red Sea.’

‘The use of these names does not imply ownership by any particular nation, but rather reflects a shared respect for the collective heritage of humanity,’ Abbas Araghchi wrote, adding that he is confident Trump ‘is aware that the name PERSIAN Gulf is centuries old and recognized by all cartographers and international bodies and was even used by all leaders of the region in their official communications until as recently as 1960’s.’ 

‘While any short-sighted step in this connection will have no validity or legal or geographical effect, it will only bring the wrath of all Iranians from all walks of life and political persuasion in Iran, the U.S. and across the world,’ he said. 

Trump is traveling in the coming days to the Middle East, where he will visit Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, which all lie on the body of water. 

U.S. and Iranian officials are also expected to meet for the fourth round of nuclear talks in Oman in the coming days. Vice President JD Vance said Wednesday the U.S. was negotiating toward a ‘complete cessation’ of Tehran’s nuclear program. 

Arab nations have pushed for a change to the geographic name of the body of water off the southern coast of Iran, while Iran has maintained its historic ties to the gulf under the Persian Empire. 

The Persian Gulf has been widely known by that name since the 16th century, although usage of ‘Gulf of Arabia’ and ‘Arabian Gulf’ is dominant in many countries in the Middle East, according to the AP. The government of Iran – formerly Persia – threatened to sue Google in 2012 over the company’s decision not to label the body of water at all on its maps.

On Google Maps in the U.S., the body of water appears as the ‘Persian Gulf’ followed by ‘Arabian Gulf’ in parentheses. Apple Maps only says the Persian Gulf.

The U.S. military for years has unilaterally referred to the Persian Gulf as the Arabian Gulf in statements and images it releases.

A spat developed in 2017 during Trump’s first term when he used the name Arabian Gulf for the waterway. Iran’s president at the time, Hassan Rouhani, suggested Trump needed to ‘study geography.’

‘Everyone knew Trump’s friendship was for sale to the highest bidder. We now know that his geography is, too,’ Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif wrote online at the time.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.