Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is accusing the GOP-led House Oversight Committee of using her to ‘distract’ from President Donald Trump during her high-stakes testimony in Congress’ Jeffrey Epstein probe.

‘A committee endeavoring to stop human trafficking would seek to understand what specific steps are needed to fix a system that allowed Epstein to get away with his crimes in 2008,’ she is telling the panel, according to her opening remarks.

‘But that’s not happening. Instead, you have compelled me to testify, fully aware that I have no knowledge that would assist your investigation, in order to distract attention from President Trump’s actions and to cover them up despite legitimate calls for answers.’

Clinton is telling lawmakers, ‘As I stated in my sworn declaration on January 13, I had no idea about their criminal activities.’

‘I do not recall ever encountering Mr. Epstein. I never flew on his plane or visited his island homes or offices. I have nothing to add to that,’ her remarks state.

‘Like every decent person, I have been horrified by what we have learned about their crimes. It’s unfathomable that Mr. Epstein initially got a slap on the wrist in 2008, which allowed him to continue his predatory practices for another decade.’

The House Oversight Committee’s deposition is officially kicking off on Thursday morning after months of back-and-forth.

‘No one’s accusing, at this moment, the Clintons of any wrongdoing. They’re going to have due process,’ Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., told reporters shortly before it began. ‘But we have a lot of questions, and the purpose of the whole investigation is to try to understand many things about Epstein.’

Hillary Clinton’s deposition comes a day before her husband, former President Bill Clinton, will testify before the panel as well.

‘Today will be a long deposition, I would assume, and tomorrow will be an even longer deposition,’ Comer said.

Both Democrats and Republicans on the committee, as well as the panel’s staff, traveled to the Clintons’ hometown of Chappaqua, New York for the two-day affair.

It’s part of an agreement struck between the GOP-led panel and the former first couple’s lawyers in order for them to appear in person.

Lawmakers on either side will have the opportunity to question Hillary Clinton in addition to their staffs. 

Fox News Digital was told that Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., will be the first lawmaker to question the former first lady and Obama administration official.

Mace was one of four House Republicans who successfully forced a vote late last year on getting the Department of Justice (DOJ) to release files on Epstein, despite pressure from GOP leaders.

The South Carolina Republican, who is running for governor of the Palmetto State, told reporters on Thursday that she would also be questioning Hillary Clinton on Trump Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, among other names that have been mentioned in relation to Epstein.

Comer told reporters she would also be questioned on her ties to Epstein accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell, pointing out that Maxwell was present at Chelsea Clinton’s wedding in 2010, after the first allegations against Epstein surfaced.

He also suggested that Epstein and Maxwell’s ties to the nonprofit Clinton Foundation would also see scrutiny.

‘Again, we’re not accusing Hillary Clinton of wrongdoing. We know that Jeffrey Epstein said many times in emails that he was the first person to raise money for the Clinton initiative, the Clinton Foundation, that he solicited money at some of his properties for the Clinton Foundation,’ Comer said. 

‘Again, that’s not saying anything illegal, but there are a lot of questions pertaining to Secretary Clinton with respect to Epstein and his involvement in the Clinton initiative and her relationship with Ghislaine Maxwell.’

But Clinton’s prepared remarks show her accusing Republicans of going on a ‘fishing expedition’ to find information that is not there.

‘If this committee is serious about learning the truth about Epstein’s trafficking crimes, it would not rely on press giggles to get answers from our current president on his involvement. It would ask him directly, under oath, about the tens of thousands of times who showed up in the Epstein files. If the majority was serious, it would not waste time on fishing expeditions. There is too much that needs to be done,’ her remarks said.

Neither of the Clintons has been accused of wrongdoing related to Epstein, nor has Trump. But both the current and former president’s names appear in the Epstein files numerous times, alongside other well-known figures like Bill Gates and Leslie Wexner.

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President Donald Trump’s administration is pushing for the U.S. Supreme Court to allow it to nix temporary protected status for Syrians.

‘This application marks the third time that the government has been compelled to seek a stay from this Court after lower Courts have baselessly blocked the Secretary of Homeland Security’s determinations regarding Temporary Protected Status (TPS) just before they took effect,’ the filing declares.

The document notes that the high court previously issued stays amid legal wranglings pertaining to the administration’s move to terminate TPS for Venezuela.

‘Both times, this Court’s orders reflected that the government is likely to succeed on the merits of its purely legal arguments—including that 8 U.S.C. 1254a(b)(5)(A) expressly bars judicial review of direct or indirect challenges to the Secretary’s TPS determinations,’ the filing asserted. ‘And both times, the Court’s orders reflected that the government established irreparable harm and that the balance of the equities weighed in its favor.’

‘The lower courts’ arrogation of core Executive Branch prerogatives irreparably harms the government, and respondents’ alleged harms were inherent in the temporary nature of the program that Congress designed,’ the administration argued.

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem moved to terminate TPS for Syria last year.

The notice declared that the termination of TPS for Syria was supposed to take effect ‘at 11:59 p.m., local time, on November 21, 2025.’ 

But the move has been stymied by the courts.

‘As in the two prior TPS applications, this Court should again stay a materially similar order with materially similar flaws. Moreover, given the lower courts’ persistent disregard for this Court’s stay orders, this Court should also grant certiorari before judgment,’ the filing on the administration’s push to terminate TPS for Syria declares.

The filing warned that, ‘Otherwise, lower courts will … continue to impede the termination of temporary protection that the Secretary has deemed contrary to the national interest, tying those decisions up in protracted litigation with no end in sight.’

This is a breaking news article and will be updated.

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Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer vowed to veto any legislation targeting the LGBTQ community just one night after President Donald Trump talked about banning minors’ gender transition surgeries without parental consent.

‘I want you to know that you are welcome in Michigan,’ Whitmer said in her State of the State Address on Wednesday night. ‘You belong, you matter, and no matter who comes after you, I’ll stand in the way.’

The Democrat leader added: ‘In Michigan, we look out for each other. That’s why I’ll always fight for your freedom and safety. And I’ll veto any legislation that diminishes your humanity. I got your back.’

Trump vowed to ban sex changes for minors without parental consent in his State of the Union, while Whitmer’s remarks spoke right past parents’ rights – flash points in both the 2022 midterms and 2024 presidential election cycle – with a presumptive vow to veto any sex change bans.

‘Surely we can all agree, no state can be allowed to rip children from their parents’ arms and transition them to a new gender against the parents’ will,’ Trump said in his State of the Union on Tuesday night. ‘Who would believe that we’re even talking about it? We must ban it, and we must ban it immediately.’

Trump’s effort to ban gender transitions for minors without parental consent puts the political onus on the parents’ rights to decide their children’s fate. Any Whitmer vow to veto legislation of such a ban would pit the state’s rights against the parent.

Whitmer is term-limited, opening up the key battleground state of Michigan as the top of the 2026 midterm election cycle, potentially setting her up to get an early start on a 2028 Democratic presidential primary campaign.

‘Gretchen Whitmer’s vow to veto protections for children facing irreversible sex-change procedures is beyond extreme — it’s outright deranged,’ Republican National Committee national press secretary Kiersten Pels told Fox News in a statement. ‘While President Trump and Republicans are fighting to protect minors, including the young girl he recognized at the State of the Union who was saved from mutilation surgery, Whitmer is siding with radical activists pushing permanent medical procedures on children. Democrats would rather defend the sterilization and castration of minors than stand with parents and basic common sense, and Republicans will continue fighting to stop this dangerous agenda.’

Fox News reached out to Whitmer’s office for a response, but they did not immediately answer.

With Whitmer termed out, the 2026 Michigan gubernatorial race is shaping up to be a defining test for both parties.

Democrats face the challenge of defending one of five governorships in states carried by Trump in 2024. The primary battle lines are already drawn, with Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson currently leading the Democrat charge and Rep. John James, R-Mich., fronting the Republican ticket.

While the last two cycles saw decisive Democrat victories, the 2026 gubernatorial contest introduces a new variable: former Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan. Running as an independent, his presence on the ballot could fracture traditional voting blocs and turn a once-predictable race into a three-way toss-up.

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White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles was reportedly in shock after hearing that the FBI under former President Joe Biden subpoenaed her and current FBI Director Kash Patel’s phone records in 2022 and 2023.

Wiles — who ran President Donald Trump’s 2024 campaign — reportedly told associates, ‘I am in shock,’ Axios reported on Thursday.

Reuters first disclosed the subpoenas, which were issued during the Biden administration, while special counsel Jack Smith was investigating Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election and his handling of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago.

The subpoenaed toll records included phone numbers and the dates and times of calls, but not the content of the conversations, Fox News has learned.

Smith eventually charged Trump in 2023 with multiple felony offenses related to alleged efforts to challenge the results of the 2020 election and his handling of documents. The election interference case was later dismissed by a federal judge after Smith moved to drop it following Trump’s reelection. Smith also dropped the Justice Department’s appeal of a separate ruling that dismissed the classified documents case. Trump has denied any wrongdoing in both matters.

In 2023, the FBI recorded a phone call between Wiles and her attorney, two FBI officials told Fox News. Additionally, the officials said that Wiles’ attorney was aware that the call was being recorded and consented, but the now-White-House-chief-of-staff did not.

‘It is outrageous and deeply alarming that the previous FBI leadership secretly subpoenaed my own phone records — along with those of now White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles — using flimsy pretexts and burying the entire process in prohibited case files designed to evade all oversight,’ Patel, the current FBI director, told Fox News on Wednesday.

Patel has said that he recently ended the FBI’s ability to categorize files as ‘Prohibited.’

At least 10 FBI employees were also fired Wednesday, Fox News was told. Names were not given due to privacy reasons. 

Eric Daugherty, assistant Chief Content Officer for RightLine, an offshoot of Florida’s Voice, applauded the firings, telling Patel to ‘keep purging.’ Additionally, conservative influencer Nick Sortor wrote on X that ‘The amount of ROT in the FBI is INSANE.’

The FBI Agents Association (FBIAA) later issued a scathing statement criticizing the firings.

‘The FBIAA condemns today’s unlawful termination of FBI Special Agents, which — like other firings by Director Patel — violates the due process rights of those who risk their lives to protect our country,’ the organization said in a statement. ‘These actions weaken the Bureau by stripping away critical expertise and destabilizing the workforce, undermining trust in leadership and jeopardizing the Bureau’s ability to meet its recruitment goals — ultimately putting the nation at greater risk.’

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The top Senate Republican said the congressional Democrats’ actions during President Donald Trump’s State of the Union showed a jarring disconnect from reality.

As Trump moved through his record-breaking speech, pointing out Olympians, war heroes and others, congressional Democrats largely sat still, refusing to stand. Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., contended it was the manifestation of the political divide in Congress.

‘I was, like, watching two Americas,’ Thune said.

Trump challenged congressional Democrats to get out of their seats during the speech, catching them flat-footed in a request that came roughly through the midway mark of his address.

‘I’m inviting every legislator to join with my administration in reaffirming a fundamental principle,’ Trump said. ‘If you agree with this statement, then stand up and show your support: The first duty of the American government is to protect American citizens, not illegal aliens.’

At that moment, like several others throughout the night, Democrats didn’t budge.

‘And clearly, I think you saw in the chamber us as Republicans expressing support,’ Thune said. ‘That contrast, when he asked the question and asked people to stand up and every Democrat was seated, I don’t know how you explain that. We are living, literally, in two Americas.’

Several congressional Democrats opted to skip the speech altogether, either attending counter-programming events in Washington, D.C., or watching from afar.

Some who did attend opted to act disruptively during the State of the Union, like Rep. Al Green, D-Texas, who was escorted out of the chamber for the second year in a row — this time for flashing a sign that read ‘Black people aren’t apes’ — or Reps. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., and Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., who shouted insults and rebuttals to Trump as he continued through the night.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., showed up and blasted Trump’s address the next morning.

‘Last night was not America’s State of the Union,’ Schumer said on the Senate floor. ‘It was Donald Trump’s state of delusion. For two long hours, the president stood in the House chamber congratulating himself, inflating his own ego, but offering no solutions to our country’s many problems. He’s in a bubble.’

Thune contended that Democrats’ actions were indicative of their policy positions and charged that what Americans saw was ‘a party that is for open borders, a party that’s for sanctuary cities, a party that is basically the pro-defund law enforcement.’

‘The way the Democrats were reacting to what the president had to say — whoever the president is, Democrat or Republican — you ought to have people who want to do what’s in the best interest of the American people,’ Thune said. ‘And I hope there are still some Democrats around who want to do that.’

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Oman’s foreign minister met Thursday in Geneva with President Donald Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner, as efforts intensify to reach a new agreement over Iran’s nuclear program.

The minister, Sayyid Badr bin Hamad Al Busaidi, said the talks focused on Tehran’s proposals and perspectives, as well as questions and responses from the U.S. negotiating team regarding key aspects of Iran’s nuclear program and the guarantees required for a potential agreement.

‘His Excellency the Minister of Foreign Affairs clarified that the efforts are continuing intensively and in a constructive spirit, under the negotiators’ unprecedented openness to new and creative ideas and solutions, while preparing the supportive conditions for progress and reaching a fair agreement with sustainable guarantees,’ the ministry said in a post on X.

The closely watched meeting comes amid heightened regional tensions and a visible U.S. military buildup in the Middle East, including the repositioning of naval assets and additional air defense capabilities.

The USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier and multiple guided-missile destroyers are operating in the Arabian Sea, as well as additional destroyers stationed in the Mediterranean and Red Seas.

Several combat ships are also positioned in the Persian Gulf near Iran’s southern coastline.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters on Wednesday that while Trump prefers a diplomatic solution, Washington views Iran as a ‘grave threat’ and remains deeply concerned about both its nuclear ambitions and expanding missile arsenal.

He said the talks in Geneva would be ‘largely focused on the nuclear program’ but warned that Tehran’s refusal to discuss its ballistic missiles poses a major obstacle.

‘Iran possesses a very large number of ballistic missiles, particularly short-range ballistic missiles that threaten the United States and our bases in the region and our partners in the region, and all of our bases in the UAE, in Qatar, in Bahrain,’ he explained. ‘I want everybody to understand that, and beyond just the nuclear program, they possess these conventional weapons that are solely designed to attack America and attack Americans, if they so choose to do so. These things have to be addressed.’

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A Senate Democrat is demanding that the Trump administration refund billions in tariff revenue to Americans following last week’s Supreme Court decision, according to a letter first obtained by Fox News Digital.

Sen. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., wrote in a letter to President Donald Trump charging that he was concerned over the White House’s ‘lack of action’ to issue refunds to families and small businesses impacted by tariffs.

His appeal to the president comes after the Supreme Court ruled in a 6-3 decision last week that Trump’s use of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), the law undergirding his sweeping duties, ‘does not authorize the President to impose tariffs.’

‘The invalidation of these IEEPA tariffs is a chance to make American families and small businesses whole — not to retain unlawfully collected funds or enable additional corporate profit,’ Gallego wrote.

Gallego’s letter comes as Congress wrestles with its next move on tariffs and as Trump has vowed to sidestep lawmakers in his quest to continue levying duties on other countries.

Some Republicans want to see Trump’s tariffs considered through budget reconciliation — the same party-line move used to pass his ‘big, beautiful bill’ last year — to meet the deliberative parameters established in the court’s decision.

Others think Trump doesn’t need to come to Congress. The president already moved to reinstate 10% tariffs that are set to last for 150 days and will require lawmakers to weigh in on continuing them.

Several congressional Democrats want to see the administration tender full refunds from the billions raked in under Trump’s tariffs — 25 Senate Democrats back a newly introduced bill led by Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., to refund all duties with interest.

And Gallego specifically wants guardrails to ensure that money ends up in the hands of families and small businesses.

‘Absent action from this administration, over $100 billion in tariff revenue collected under those unlawful tariffs will not make it into the hands of American families and small businesses but instead will remain either in government coffers or in corporate accounts,’ Gallego wrote.

Since the start of the current fiscal year in October, Trump’s IEEPA tariffs are estimated to have generated roughly $155 billion, according to data from the Treasury Department.

He also raised concerns about large corporations taking advantage of the ‘chaotic and expansive nature of the IEEPA tariffs’ to crank up prices on products in response to the duties.

Gallego included several requests of the administration in his letter to be met no later than March 4, including whether the administration will issue tariff refunds, who will be eligible, how much revenue has been collected as of Feb. 20 and whether corporations will be required to disclose tariff costs passed on to consumers, among several others.

He also warned that corporations, armed with the financial firepower to hire ‘high-priced lawyers and lobbyists,’ would have a leg up on Americans without the same means.

‘Without your administration providing a structured process to determine how refunds should be distributed, American families and small businesses will once again be left behind,’ Gallego wrote.

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A Senate Democrat is demanding that the Trump administration refund billions in tariff revenue to Americans following last week’s Supreme Court decision, according to a letter first obtained by Fox News Digital.

Sen. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., wrote in a letter to President Donald Trump charging that he was concerned over the White House’s ‘lack of action’ to issue refunds to families and small businesses impacted by tariffs.

His appeal to the president comes after the Supreme Court ruled in a 6-3 decision last week that Trump’s use of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), the law undergirding his sweeping duties, ‘does not authorize the President to impose tariffs.’

‘The invalidation of these IEEPA tariffs is a chance to make American families and small businesses whole — not to retain unlawfully collected funds or enable additional corporate profit,’ Gallego wrote.

Gallego’s letter comes as Congress wrestles with its next move on tariffs and as Trump has vowed to sidestep lawmakers in his quest to continue levying duties on other countries.

Some Republicans want to see Trump’s tariffs considered through budget reconciliation — the same party-line move used to pass his ‘big, beautiful bill’ last year — to meet the deliberative parameters established in the court’s decision.

Others think Trump doesn’t need to come to Congress. The president already moved to reinstate 10% tariffs that are set to last for 150 days and will require lawmakers to weigh in on continuing them.

Several congressional Democrats want to see the administration tender full refunds from the billions raked in under Trump’s tariffs — 25 Senate Democrats back a newly introduced bill led by Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., to refund all duties with interest.

And Gallego specifically wants guardrails to ensure that money ends up in the hands of families and small businesses.

‘Absent action from this administration, over $100 billion in tariff revenue collected under those unlawful tariffs will not make it into the hands of American families and small businesses but instead will remain either in government coffers or in corporate accounts,’ Gallego wrote.

Since the start of the current fiscal year in October, Trump’s IEEPA tariffs are estimated to have generated roughly $155 billion, according to data from the Treasury Department.

He also raised concerns about large corporations taking advantage of the ‘chaotic and expansive nature of the IEEPA tariffs’ to crank up prices on products in response to the duties.

Gallego included several requests of the administration in his letter to be met no later than March 4, including whether the administration will issue tariff refunds, who will be eligible, how much revenue has been collected as of Feb. 20 and whether corporations will be required to disclose tariff costs passed on to consumers, among several others.

He also warned that corporations, armed with the financial firepower to hire ‘high-priced lawyers and lobbyists,’ would have a leg up on Americans without the same means.

‘Without your administration providing a structured process to determine how refunds should be distributed, American families and small businesses will once again be left behind,’ Gallego wrote.

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Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is set to be deposed by the House Oversight Committee late Thursday morning, as lawmakers continue to investigate the federal government’s handling of Jeffrey Epstein’s case.

The deposition is expected to begin at 11 a.m. ET in Chappaqua, N.Y., Fox News Digital was told. The Clintons have owned a home in the affluent New York City suburb since 1999 and have primarily lived there since former President Bill Clinton left office.

And while closed-door depositions normally just require a committee staff presence in most cases, a source familiar with planning told Fox News Digital that House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., will be there in person.

At least 10 House Republicans on the committee will also attend, the source said.

Hillary Clinton will be deposed on Thursday, while Bill Clinton’s deposition is scheduled for Friday. Both interviews will be closed to the press, but they will be transcribed and videotaped.

Comer told Fox News Digital on Wednesday that the former first couple’s testimony ‘is critical to understanding Epstein and [Ghislaine Maxwell’s] sex trafficking network and the ways they sought to curry favor and influence to shield themselves from scrutiny.’

‘Their testimony may also inform how Congress can strengthen laws to better combat human trafficking. Our goal for this investigation is straightforward: We seek to deliver transparency and accountability for the American people and survivors,’ Comer said.

The Clintons’ testimony comes after months of back-and-forth with the committee on the circumstances and conditions of the interviews.

They are two of several people and entities whom Comer subpoenaed for information on Epstein back in August.

Their attorneys initially pushed back on the subpoenas, calling them legally invalid and a violation of the separation of powers, but House Republicans responded by pressing forward with resolutions to hold both Clintons in contempt of Congress.

The lawyers finally agreed to Comer’s terms just days before a full House vote was expected to move forward.

But not all members of the committee are satisfied with how the situation is playing out.

‘I don’t know why the heck we didn’t bring them here. If you or I got in trouble, guess what? We’d be here, or we’d be in chains, and they’d be dragging us in. Having them up in Chappaqua to me is an insult to the public,’ Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., told reporters on Wednesday. ‘I realize they got to cut a deal, but it’s not a deal I would have cut.’

Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Calif., the top Democrat on the committee, told reporters, ‘We have a good group going up to New York.’

‘I think that anyone that has information about Jeffrey Epstein or spent any time with him, I think it’s important to ask questions. I mean, personally, I think one of the things that we’ve been hearing a lot about lately is whether Jeffrey Epstein had any sort of foreign ties, whether there were any sort of…wealth of foreign governments,’ Garcia said.

But both sides have largely accused the other of politicizing the probe. Democrats have accused Republicans of trying to create a narrative that persecutes figures on the left while attempting to clear President Donald Trump, and Republicans are arguing that Democrats are using the investigation to purposefully target the sitting commander-in-chief.

Neither Clinton has been accused of any wrongdoing in relation to Epstein, nor has Trump.

But both Trump and Clinton have appeared numerous times in the Epstein files released so far and are known to have had relationships with the late pedophile before his federal investigations.

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Republican and Independent voters reacted favorably when President Donald Trump brought up how his administration has cracked down on drug cartels and fentanyl, but Democrats appeared less motivated by Trump’s aggressive foreign policy stance. 

‘For years, large swaths of territory in our region, including large parts of Mexico, really large parts of Mexico, have been controlled by murderous drug cartels. That’s why I designated these cartels as foreign terrorist organizations, and I declared illicit fentanyl as a weapon of mass destruction,’ Trump said to applause as he turned to look at Republicans. 

Per a panel assembled by polling group Maslansky & Partners of 29 Democrats, 30 Independents, and 40 Republicans, which tracked their real-time reactions during Trump’s SOTU address, Democrats appeared to go slightly below baseline when Trump began touting his aggressive stance towards cartels in Central and South America, specifically his administration’s bombing campaign against them which has included attacks in the open ocean off the South American coastline and in the eastern Pacific.

Meanwhile, Republicans and Independents showed a much stronger favorable reaction to the president’s remarks about the actions his administration has taken against drug cartels and illegal fentanyl. 

During his address, Trump also highlighted the U.S.’s help in capturing drug kingpin ‘El Mencho’ earlier this month in Mexico. Ruben ‘Nemesio’ Oseguera Cervantes, known as ‘El Mencho,’ the leader of the CJNG, was killed Sunday in a Mexican military operation in Tapalpa, Mexico, authorities said. Though the operation was carried out by Mexican forces, the United States laid the groundwork, making El Mencho’s fall possible.

On President Donald Trump’s first day in office, he signed an executive order directing the State Department to designate several cartels and international criminal groups ‘foreign terrorist organizations’ (FTOs), a designation unlocking military-grade surveillance and ‘material support’ prosecutions. Though lesser known than MS-13 or Tren de Aragua, CJNG was one of the groups designated an FTO by the administration.

Shortly after Trump’s executive order, Attorney General Pam Bondi sent a policy memorandum to all Department of Justice employees, announcing a ‘fundamental change in mindset and approach’ to cartels and transnational criminal organizations to a policy of ‘total elimination.’

The Trump administration has engaged in an aggressive bombing campaign against cartel boats throughout both 2025 and 2026. The U.S. has also conducted non-lethal maritime drug interdiction efforts as well.

In early 2026, Venezuelan President Nicholas Maduro was captured by U.S. forces and extradited to New York on drug trafficking and narco-terrorism charges, with Trump accusing him at the time of being a ‘kingpin of a vast criminal network.’

The recent violence and capture of El Mencho this month has led American tourists to be trapped in Mexico. According to White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, the State Department has been taking ‘hundreds of calls a day’ providing Americans with travel support and advice.

‘We are unaware of any reports of any Americans being hurt, kidnapped, or killed, and the Mexican drug cartels know not to lay a finger on a single American or they will pay severe consequences under this president – and they already are,’ Leavitt told Fox News. 

Fox News Digital’s Peter Pinedo contributed to this report.

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