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Trump calls for nuclear experts to work on 'new, improved, and modernized treaty'
President Donald Trump on Thursday called for U.S. nuclear experts to begin work on what he described as a "new, improved, and modernized Treaty," arguing that the United States should move away from extending the existing New START nuclear arms agreement.
Trump made the remarks in a post on Truth Social as the administration weighs the future of U.S. nuclear arms control policy and whether it will seek to extend or replace New START, the last remaining nuclear arms control treaty between Washington and Moscow.
"Rather than extend ‘NEW START’ (A badly negotiated deal by the United States that, aside from everything else, is being grossly violated), we should have our Nuclear Experts work on a new, improved, and modernized Treaty that can last long into the future," Trump wrote.
"The president wants to have our nuclear experts work on a new, improved and modernized treaty that can last long into the future," White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said during a press briefing. "And that's what the United States will continue to discuss with the Russians."
Trump also made broader claims in his post about his role in preventing nuclear conflict, writing that he stopped "Nuclear Wars from breaking out across the World between Pakistan and India, Iran and Israel, and Russia and Ukraine."
A White House official told Fox News that the Trump administration is still weighing next steps on nuclear arms control and that no final decision has been announced.
"The President will decide the path forward on nuclear arms control, which he will clarify on his own timeline," the official said.
TRUMP STUNS WITH CALL TO RESUME NUCLEAR TESTS — WHY NOW, AND WHAT IT COULD MEAN
The official added that Trump "has spoken repeatedly of addressing the threat nuclear weapons pose to the world and indicated that he would like to keep limits on nuclear weapons and involve China in arms control talks."
Axios reported Thursday that U.S. and Russian officials have been discussing whether both sides could continue to observe the terms of New START after its expiration, citing multiple sources familiar with the talks. The outlet reported that no formal extension has been approved and that any arrangement would not be legally binding.
In his Truth Social post, Trump wrote that the U.S. should pursue a new agreement rather than extend New START.
According to the Associated Press, New START’s expiration leaves no caps on the U.S. and Russia’s nuclear arsenals for the first time in more than a half-century.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Wednesday that Trump has made clear that future arms control efforts must include China, telling reporters that "in order to have true arms control in the 21st century, it’s impossible to do something that doesn’t include China because of their vast and rapidly growing stockpile."
Businessman Rick Caruso considers running for LA mayor in wake of Palisades Fire report
Businessman Rick Caruso, who last month announced that he would not seek elected office after an unsuccessful run against Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, indicated this week that he is reconsidering in light of new allegations that Bass pushed for a report on the Palisades Fire to be watered down.
Caruso, who lost the 2022 Los Angeles mayoral contest to Bass, slammed the mayor in a Wednesday post on X.
"Today’s @latimes report is an absolute outrage. Karen Bass actively covered up a report meant to examine the most significant disaster in Los Angeles history. When it comes to life safety matters, this is no longer a matter of making poor judgement, apologizing and moving forward," Caruso asserted in the post.
PALISADES FIRE DISASTER PUSHES RING TO CLOSE CRITICAL GAPS IN EMERGENCY VISIBILITY
"This is a complete loss of public trust and an intentional act of covering up the actions that led to people dying. Everyone should read this article and consider what action is warranted. She has completely failed us," he added.
In a statement issued last month, Caruso had said that he "decided not to pursue elected office at this time."
But he indicated to KTTV on Wednesday that he was reconsidering based on the Los Angeles Times report.
Asked if he was reconsidering his decision, Caruso told the outlet that he was "certainly thinking about it."
Asked if it was the article on Wednesday that made him reconsider, he said, "Yeah, yeah. Because incompetence is one thing. But it's very different to mix incompetence, and now you've got somebody who is actively lying to the people that she has sworn to serve," Caruso said.
TRUMP VOWS TO BLOCK LOW-INCOME HOUSING IN PACIFIC PALISADES: ‘I’M NOT GOING TO ALLOW IT TO HAPPEN'
Sources reportedly told the Times that two individuals close to the mayor informed them about Bass' part in watering down the fire report. The newspaper noted that one source claimed to have spoken with both individuals, while the other source claimed to have spoken with one of the individuals. The Times reported that one person asserted to one of the sources that "the mayor didn’t tell the truth when she said she had nothing to do with changing the report."
The mayor's office blasted the Times' report in a statement to Fox News Digital.
"Mayor Bass has been unequivocal for months — she reviewed an early draft of the report and only asked the LAFD to make sure it was accurate on issues like weather and budget. She and her staff made no changes to the drafts," the statement provided to Fox News Digital asserted.
TRUMP BYPASSES CALIFORNIA'S ‘NIGHTMARE’ BUREAUCRACY TO UNLOCK $3.2B FOR WILDFIRE SURVIVORS
"The Mayor has been clear about her concerns regarding pre-deployment and the LAFD’s response to the fire, which is why there is new leadership at LAFD and why she called for an independent review of the Lachman Fire mop-up. There is absolutely no reason why she would request those details be altered or erased when she herself has been critical of the response to the fire – full stop," Bass' office added. "She has said this for months."
"This is muckraking journalism at its lowest form. It is dangerous and irresponsible for Los Angeles Times reporters to rely on third hand unsourced information to make unsubstantiated character attacks to advance a narrative that is false," the statement added.
'Yellowstone' fans shocked as new trailer for Luke Grimes-led spinoff hints major character may be dead
"Yellowstone" fans expressed their shock and dismay over hints that a major character from the original flagship series may have been killed off in the upcoming spinoff show "Marshals."
"Marshals," which will air on CBS, follows Kayce Dutton (Luke Grimes), the youngest son of the Dutton family, as he leaves ranch life behind and becomes a U.S. Marshal in rural Montana after the events of "Yellowstone."
In the 2024 series finale of the hit Paramount+ Western show, Kayce and his wife, Monica Dutton (Kelsey Asbille), chose to walk away from the violence of the Dutton legacy as the ranch is sold off, planning to embrace a peaceful life with their son, Tate (Brecken Merrill).
‘YELLOWSTONE’ STAR KELLY REILLY CALLS DRAMA SURROUNDING HIT SHOW'S FINAL SEASON A ‘SHAME’
However, in the latest trailer for "Marshals," which was released last week, Asbille was noticeably absent and fans online pointed to several scenes that they believe hinted at Monica's death.
As the trailer begins, Kayce is seen waking up alone in a bed and the other side appears untouched. In one shot, a medical worker is seen pulling a sheet over a motionless body lying in the same bed, with bottles of prescription medications visible on a nightstand.
"The only thing I ever wanted was taken from me," Kayce is heard saying in a voiceover that plays over the scene.
Later in the trailer, Kayce is seen kneeling beside what appears to be a grave.
'YELLOWSTONE' SPIN-OFF RUMORS SWIRL: WILD THEORIES, DREAM CASTING AND WHAT’S REALLY TRUE
Meanwhile, Asbille is not listed among the cast members on the IMDB page for "Marshals" and she has not appeared in any promotional materials for the show. Asbille starred in 53 episodes as Monica throughout "Yellowstone's" five-season run from 2018 to 2024.
After the trailer was released, fans shared their reactions to the apparent clues in the trailer that indicated Monica's demise.
"It looks like Monica has died," one commenter wrote, adding a crying smiley face emoji.
MICHELLE PFEIFFER AND KURT RUSSELL REVEALED IN FIRST IMAGES FROM 'YELLOWSTONE' SPINOFF 'THE MADISON'
"I knew that was the only thing that makes sense for him to leave his family life. Still sucks," another added.
"That totally sucks," another YouTube user agreed, while another chimed in, "That's what I was thinkin?!?!?! WTH??"
"So Monica’s actually dead?!! Why?!!!" one fan lamented.
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Fox News Digital has reached out to CBS, Grimes and Asbille for comment.
"Marshals" marks another expansion of creator Taylor Sheridan's "Yellowstone" universe. An official synopsis for the show notes that Grimes is returning as Kayce Dutton, adding, "With the Yellowstone Ranch behind him, Dutton joins an elite unit of U.S. Marshals, combining his skills as a cowboy and Navy SEAL to bring range justice to Montana, where he and his teammates must balance family, duty and the high psychological cost that comes with serving as the last line of defense in the region’s war on violence."
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While Asbille may not be reprising her role as Monica, some familiar faces from the original series are set to return in "Marshals."
Merrill is returning as Tate, while Gil Birmingham will once again play Thomas Rainwater, the Chairman of the Broken Rock Indian Reservation. Mo Brings Plenty is also returning as Mo, Rainwater's trusted ally and enforcer.
Among the new cast members are Logan Marshall-Green, who plays Pete Calvin, an old friend of Kayce’s from his Navy SEAL days, while Arielle Kebbel stars as Belle Skinner, Ash Santos as Andrea Cruz, and Tatanka Means as Miles Kittle, all of whom are part of the youngest Dutton son's new U.S. Marshals unit.
Additionally, Brett Cullen appears in a recurring role as Harry Gifford, the head of the Montana U.S. Marshals.
"Marshals" is premiering March 1 on CBS, and it will also be available to stream on Paramount+.
Washington Post top editor admits morale issues plagued paper long before brutal layoffs
Washington Post executive editor Matt Murray admitted he has work to do in order to boost morale at the "Democracy Dies in Darkness" paper after the company laid off hundreds of staffers on Wednesday.
The Post announced during a somber Zoom webinar it is shuttering the sports desk in its current form, dialing back its international coverage, shrinking its Metro staff and eliminating its books section in a layoff round that impacted one-third of the company. Staffers are stunned and upset, but Murray doesn’t believe those feelings are anything new.
"I think morale has been a challenge at the Post for a while. It was a problem when I showed up, and it remains one in some ways now," Murray told Fox News Digital.
WASHINGTON POST CLOSES SPORTS DEPARTMENT, CUTS OTHER SECTIONS AS PART OF SWEEPING LAYOFFS
Murray, who was tasked with delivering the news to Post staffers, said much of the journalism industry is grappling with morale issues because of "cost pressures" and the constant changes to the way people consume media.
Murray said Post leaders have tried to be forthright about the challenges that resulted in layoffs, and he’s hoping to "turn the page."
"That's going to be partly on me," Murray said. "But people, I hope, would feel ‘they're really tackling some stuff that's been building up for a while, and we're in a different position.’ It'll be up to us to bear that out in the coming months, but I'm pretty confident we can do that."
One of the ways Murray hopes to boost morale among remaining employees is to promote their work. He said the Post will continue to "produce an awful lot and break a lot of scoops and stories," and internal changes will help journalists "get more mileage and leverage out of those stories."
"That also happens to be the most fun thing you can do in a newsroom, so I want to continue to try to help encourage people to develop, to find and get great stories, and we're going to continue to stand behind those stories and put them out there," Murray said.
WASHINGTON POST'S TOP EDITOR BACKS JEFF BEZOS AS CRITICS LASH OUT OVER STRUGGLING PAPER'S LAYOFFS
"The Post has been dealing with different kinds of problems for some number of years now," he added. "We want to be in a different period, [after] this painful exercise, and that's a period of collaboration, growth, innovation, and reinventing the place for the future."
Indeed, the Post has been battling internal morale issues for several years, while grappling with large financial losses. There have been multiple leaders, and therefore directions, since billionaire Amazon founder Jeff Bezos' $250 million purchase of the Post from the Graham family dynasty in 2013.
Publisher and CEO Will Lewis angered many in 2024 when he bluntly told staffers, "We are losing large amounts of money. Your audience has halved in recent years. People are not reading your stuff. Right. I can’t sugarcoat it anymore."
Previous rounds of layoffs and cost-cutting measures have also aggravated the rank-and-file, and Bezos famously upset liberals in 2024 by scrapping the Post's planned endorsement of Kamala Harris. The last-minute move sparked massive subscription cancellations and sparked ire inside and outside the newsroom.
Bezos announced last year the Post's editorial pages would promote "personal liberties and free markets" going forward and vowed not to publish pieces opposing those principles, further antagonizing his critics.
Things were so bad that last July Lewis urged staffers who didn’t "feel aligned" with the paper's direction to take a buyout and leave. In addition to rounds of layoffs and buyout offers, the Post has faced an exodus of top talent in recent years, many of whom fled to outlets like The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, CNN and The Atlantic.
While times have been tough at the Post, the bloodbath that occurred on Wednesday has sparked even more backlash.
Ukraine correspondent Lizzie Johnson announced she was "just laid off by The Washington Post in the middle of a warzone," in a post that has nearly 13 million views on X as of Thursday afternoon.
Thousands of comments, including many from fellow journalists across the industry, pointed to her situation to blast the Post and its billionaire owner.
When asked about Johnson being let go specifically, Murray said he has "a lot of appreciation" and understands her frustration.
"Lizzie's a terrific reporter who's done great work in a very difficult situation for us, and I'm incredibly grateful to her and in awe of her courage and her talent. I don't blame her for being upset. That's a natural reaction, and it's understandable," Murray said.
"We have different employees in different sensitive situations. And we've been as proactive as we can be in anticipating and dealing with all of those, and we are going to help everybody in the best circumstances that they can," he added. "They’ve been out there risking their lives for us."
Murray said these types of cuts are "obviously tough on a human level," but he’s confident the Post needed to drastically slash its headcount to land on "sounder footing."
"We are still a large, robust newsroom with hundreds and hundreds of journalists here, some of whom are the best in the world," he added. "And so, I think we're well-positioned once we get past this difficult moment and have a strong foundation for the future."
Fox News Digital’s Joseph A. Wulfsohn contributed to this report.
Trump claims DNI Tulsi Gabbard was at Georgia election hub search because AG Pam Bondi wanted her there
President Donald Trump addressed a recent controversy over Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Tulsi Gabbard's presence at an FBI search of the Fulton County Election Hub and Operation Center in Georgia.
"She took a lot of heat two days ag,o because she went in at Pam's insistence. She went in, and she looked at votes ... because Pam wanted her to do it," Trump said, referring to Attorney General Pam Bondi, while speaking at the National Prayer Breakfast on Thursday.
The president went on to slam critics who said that Gabbard's presence during the FBI search was inappropriate and outside of her job description.
GEORGIA'S FULTON COUNTY FILES MOTION SEEKING RETURN OF 2020 ELECTION MATERIALS SEIZED BY FBI
Trump had previously spoken about the controversy at the premiere of first lady Melania Trump's movie "MELANIA" at The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center For The Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. He defended Gabbard and said she was "working very hard on trying to keep the election safe."
In a letter to Senate Intelligence Committee Vice Chair Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., and House Intelligence Committee Ranking Member Rep. Jim Himes, D-Conn, which was obtained exclusively by Fox News Digital, Gabbard said that Trump had "specifically directed" her to be present at the raid. The letter was written in response to one that Warner and Himes sent in late January, in which they requested Gabbard brief them on why she was present at the FBI search.
KASH PATEL CONFIRMS FBI HAD 'PROBABLE CAUSE' FOR FULTON COUNTY ELECTION HUB RAID
In the letter, Gabbard said that her "presence was requested by the President and executed under my broad statutory authority to coordinate, integrate, and analyze intelligence related to election security, including counterintelligence (CI), foreign and other malign influence, and cybersecurity."
"The FBI’s Intelligence/Counterintelligence divisions are one of the 18 elements that I oversee," she said.
Additionally, Gabbard said in the letter that the Office of the Director of National Intelligence's (ODNI) Office of General Counsel found that her actions had been "well within my statutory authority."
Gabbard announced in April 2025 that the ODNI was investigating electronic voting systems.
On Jan. 28, the FBI searched Fulton County’s main election facility in Union City, near Atlanta, for records connected to the 2020 election. The county's officials have since filed a motion seeking the return of the 2020 ballots and other documents seized during the search.
The motion, which remains under seal, asks a federal court to compel the return of approximately 656 boxes of original 2020 election materials.
A warrant cover sheet provided to the county includes a list of items that the agents were seeking related to the 2020 general election: all ballots, tabulator tapes from the scanners that tally the votes, electronic ballot images created when the ballots were counted and then recounted, and all voter rolls.
Trump has long insisted that the 2020 election, which he lost to former President Joe Biden, was not conducted fairly.
Fox News Digital's Alex Nitzberg and Louis Casiano contributed to this report.
Canadian pop star Tate McRae responds to fan backlash over Team USA support in Olympics ad
Canadian-born pop star Tate McRae doubled down on her roots after fans were left outraged on social media by her support of Team USA in a recent ad promoting the Milan Cortina Olympics and Super Bowl LX.
McRae, who was born in Calgary, Alberta, appeared to intensify the sporting rivalry between Canada and the U.S. when she appeared in an ad for NBC. In the clip, shared on Instagram with her nine million followers, McRae expressed excitement about meeting U.S. athletes, including Olympic gold medalist Lindsey Vonn.
"I'm trying to get to Milan for an amazing opening ceremony and meet Team USA," she said in the ad. "Gonna spend the week with some of America's best skating for gold and Lindsey Vonn's epic comeback. And back to the states for the big game, Super Bowl LX," she said in the commercial.
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Amid rising political tensions between the two border nations – which made their way to the sporting world during the 4 Nations Face-Off, McRae’s support for Team USA did not appear to sit well with Canadians, who called her a "traitor" among other things.
But McRae took to social media to respond to the backlash, and perhaps reveal where her loyalties truly lie.
McRae posted a childhood picture of herself holding the Canadian flag with a caption that read, "... y’all know I’m Canada down."
CANADIAN-BORN SINGER TATE MCRAE SPARKS FURY AFTER BACKING TEAM USA IN OLYMPICS AD: ‘TRAITOR’
But not everyone on social media appeared to accept McRae’s response.
"Yeah, no. Her saying ‘Y'all’ says otherwise," one person wrote on X.
"Well then why support the US team? Sometimes it is important to support your own country and not just go for the money and especially during times like this," another added.
"Damage control," another response read.
Backlash over McRae’s ad set the stage for escalating tensions between the U.S. and Canada.
Most recently in the skeleton competition, many Americans remain outraged over the absence of five-time Olympian Katie Uhlaender in Milan Cortina, after Team Canada was found to have manipulated an Olympic qualifier last month that prevented Uhlaender from being able to earn enough points to make this year's Winter Games.
Fox News Digital’s Jackson Thompson contributed to this report.
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Britain drags feet on IRGC terror designation as Iran-linked center allegedly sells extremist merchandise
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Labour government is facing intense criticism over its failure to swiftly outlaw Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. The development comes as a London-based Islamic center has been accused of selling merchandise supporting terrorism.
Potkin Azarmehr, a British-Iranian expert on Iran who has written extensively on Iran’s influence operations in the United Kingdom, told Fox News Digital the "Islamic Centre of England is a regime outpost.
"The head of the center is directly appointed by Iran’s supreme leader. The letter of the appointment is publicly read during the inauguration ceremony. There is not a shred of doubt that the center is used to peddle the influence of Iran’s political Islam. It is also used to recruit disgruntled British individuals who are sent to Iran for training."
The Daily Telegraph reported in late January that U.K. authorities were investigating the Islamic Centre of England for allegedly selling Hezbollah phone cases and pro-Iranian regime key rings. Britain has sanctioned the Iran-backed Lebanese terrorist movement, Hezbollah.
TRUMP’S IRAN THREATS FACE ‘OBAMA RED LINE’ TEST AS WHITE HOUSE PIVOTS TO DIPLOMACY
The pro-Hezbollah and pro–Islamic Republic goods were reportedly sold at a bazaar Dec. 14, 2025, according to the paper. One key ring displayed the words, "With the kindness of God, Seyyed Ali [Khamenei] is our leader." The Islamic Republic of Iran’s supreme leader, Khamenei, would order the murder of thousands of Iranian demonstrators just weeks later.
The bazaar also allegedly had stickers of late IRGC global terrorist Qassem Soleimani, who was responsible for the murders of over 600 military personnel, according to the Trump administration. President Trump ordered a drone strike in January 2020 that killed Soleimani in Iraq.
Emma Schubart, a research fellow at Britain's Henry Jackson Society, told Fox News Digital, "The Islamic Centre of England is not an isolated religious institution; it is part of a wider ecosystem of Iranian state-linked influence operating openly in the U.K., and at the center of that ecosystem sits the IRGC.
"The U.K. Government is dragging its feet over designating the IRGC. By delaying action, ministers are allowing hostile Iranian networks to continue operating under the cover of civil society and religious life. This is a dangerous blind spot in Britain’s national security."
The Islamic Centre of England is a registered charity. When asked about reports of the Islamic Center’s role in selling pro-terrorist merchandise, a spokesperson for the U.K.’s Charity Commission told Fox News Digital, "As part of our ongoing statutory inquiry into (the) Islamic Centre of England, we have raised concerns with the trustees about material sold by third parties at a recent event hosted at the charity’s premises. We take very seriously any alleged links between a charity and extremism or terrorism. Such links are abhorrent and corrosive to the trust on which the charitable sector depends."
Azarmehr, however, countered, "The U.K. Charity Commission, the regulatory body, has been ‘investigating’ the center for five years with no decisions and no updates other than appointing an interim director, but the center carries on business as usual.
"The only tangible result is that every time you make a complaint to the charity about the center, they reply by saying that because they are investigating the center, they cannot comment.
IRAN REGIME OPENED FIRE WITH LIVE AMMUNITION ON PROTESTERS, DOCTOR SAYS: ‘SHOOT-TO-KILL’
"The first head of the center, Ayatollah Mohsen Araki, is now a member of Iran’s powerful Assembly of Experts and a key figure in propagating Iran’s soft power abroad. Araki’s family have U.K. citizenship. The previous U.K. government, in which Alicia Kearns was part of its administration, even paid the center in excess of £100,000 in COVID-19 furlough."
Kearns, who is the shadow minister for home affairs for the opposition Conservative party, is now demanding that the Islamic Center be shuttered.
"These latest revelations of terrorist tat being sold by the Islamic Centre of England are yet more evidence of why the center must be closed and those responsible for propagating terrorist propaganda face the law," she told the Telegraph.
"The figures being idealized are responsible for the cold-blooded murder of tens of thousands of young Iranian protesters, adding to the many regional and international crimes of the Islamic Republic of Iran."
A spokesperson for the Islamic Centre of England told Fox News Digital, "The trustees take all concerns about the center very seriously. We are currently reviewing matters pertaining to the Dec. 14 event and, in light of this, are unable to comment further at this time."
The EU announced last week that it has classified the IRGC a terrorist entity. The U.S., Canada and Australia have previously designated the IRGC a foreign terrorist organization. The IRGC played a key role in the massacre of Iranian demonstrators last month.
The proliferation of pro-Iran activism unfolded last weekend in London. Nigel Farage, leader of the Reform Party in the United Kingdom, posted on X, "When people in Britain are chanting support for the thuggish regime in Iran, we are in serious trouble as a nation."
Video footage embedded in Farage’s post and other clips on social media shows a mix of pro-Palestinian and pro-Iran regime messaging at the protests.
Multiple Fox News Digital inquiries to the British prime minister’s office went unanswered.
Jill Biden's ex-husband, now charged with murder, called wife 'greatest thing in my life'
The ex-husband of former first lady Jill Biden, who is charged with murdering his current wife, once described his spouse as "the greatest thing in my life," according to reports.
William "Bill" Stevenson, 77, was arrested Monday in connection with the death of 64-year-old Linda Stevenson following a weeks-long investigation, the New Castle County Division of Police said.
Officers responded to the couple's Delaware home on Dec. 28, 2025 for a reported domestic dispute when they found Linda Stevenson unresponsive.
She was pronounced dead at the scene. Her cause of death has not been revealed. Stevenson is being held in jail on $500,000 bail.
The couple were married for nearly 40 years, according to an indictment obtained by PEOPLE.
Stevenson married Biden in 1970 when she was an 18-year-old University of Delaware student and he was 23. The nuptials lasted five years before they divorced.
Stevenson remained a critic of his ex-wife, but said he wasn't "bitter" about the way things ended.
"I’m not bitter because, if it wasn't for my divorce, I would never have met my wife Linda and she's the greatest thing in my life," Bill told the Daily Mail in a 2020 interview.
JILL BIDEN'S EX-HUSBAND CHARGED WITH MURDER IN DEATH OF WIFE
Bill has claimed Jill and former President Joe Biden had an affair before she was divorced, and that Bill introduced the pair in 1972. The Bidens have denied the affair allegations.
In a Facebook post, Linda’s daughter Christine Vettori described her mom as her best friend, saying the pair talked nearly every day and ate dinner together every Friday.
"The pain of losing her is paralyzing and the emptiness in my heart is an abyss," she wrote. "Most days I can barely breathe."
Vettori noted that her mother had her at a young age.
"In a lot of ways, we grew up together," she wrote. "We both were raised by a village of incredibly strong women, lead by love and determination to be the best examples of motherhood they knew."
"Together we will honor her memory by seeking justice for her murder and never letting her legacy to be overshadowed by her murderer," she added.
Arctic blast fuels scrutiny of Biden’s $8B electric bus push as watchdogs cite oversight failures
EXCLUSIVE: The Arctic blast that snowed in much of the East exposed not only the need for road salt but the possibility that untold taxpayer dollars were wasted on risky electric bus subsidy programs under the Biden administration, according to critics of those initiatives.
That’s the claim from Power the Future, a top energy advocacy and watchdog group that also compared the disbursement of more than $8 billion over at least two related federal subsidy programs to oversight failures by the Minnesota government involving its Medicaid and childcare entitlement crises recently exposed.
E-buses have been purchased by transit agencies in part through a "Low-No" emissions grant program mainly through the Federal Transit Administration that received a $1.6 billion infusion during the Biden years.
"Given the scale of this investment, there must be an examination into whether taxpayers are receiving the reliable, deployable transit assets capable of serving the communities for which they were funded," Power the Future (PTF) President Daniel Turner said.
Similarly, PTF highlighted a 2024 EPA Inspector General audit that found the agency failed to meaningfully track the deployment of electric school buses under a 2022 rebate program through which $836 million was handed out by federal officials.
Only about 7% of participating school districts had completed the processes needed to put the buses into service, such as installing charging infrastructure.
"When hundreds of millions of dollars are awarded without confirmation that buses are delivered, operable or in service, the absence of oversight echoes the failures that are being highlighted in Minnesota," PTF wrote.
PTF said the Biden administration’s "broader record" on "green infrastructure" spending is further exposed by these and other disbursements and requires Zeldin’s immediate attention.I
It cited an additional $7.5 billion spent on the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure program, under which fewer than 400 charging ports were built as of late.
"When this failure is viewed alongside electric buses that cannot operate in cold weather, school buses that sit idle and grants producing little to no functional infrastructure, a troubling pattern emerges," PTF said.
"Taken together, these outcomes raise the same red flags now familiar from the Minnesota daycare fraud scandal: large federal payouts with minimal verification, poor oversight and taxpayers left holding the bill."
An EPA Inspector General statement from October regarding the school bus program said "three material weaknesses so significant that they could lead to material misstatements in the Agency’s financial statements" were found.
"The EPA did not monitor bus deployment status and recipient use of over $836 million of 2022 Clean School Bus, or CSB, Program rebates, despite the Agency stating it would do so," another OIG report from 2024 said.
"At a minimum, these programs warrant immediate scrutiny to determine whether incompetence alone explains the results or whether fraud and misrepresentation are also at play," PTF wrote.
EXCLUSIVE: HOUSE GOP REPORT ALLEGES $20B GREEN GRANTS ENRICHED BIDEN ALLIES
As a test case, Turner pointed to buses purchased by Vermont’s Green Mountain Transit, which had previously procured five electric buses with the help of federal funds.
During the recent storm, Turner said, e-buses have a tougher time charging and operating in below-freezing temperatures, as evidenced by cases in New York and New England. This is a known limitation of battery performance in cold weather.
School districts in Western New York have had issues piloting the buses in the cold, and Turner told Fox News Digital the grants do not take into account the needs of schoolchildren over prioritizing green politics.
PTF also cited a case in Maine, where a school superintendent said her district received four "bad buses" from a now-bankrupt Canadian EV firm. One e-bus's brakes failed recently and crashed into a snowbank, according to WGME.
"Costing nearly $8 million, more than 95 percent of the funding for these five buses came from American taxpayers [and] requires serious questions be asked," PTF wrote to Zeldin.
"These buses were purchased to operate in Vermont’s climate, yet reports indicate they cannot be reliably charged in temperatures below 41 degrees. With the average winter temperature in Burlington hovering in the mid 20s, the vehicles, which cost more than $1.5 million apiece, are unusable under predictable winter conditions."
Green Mountain Transit General Manager Clayton Clark told Fox News Digital that his five e-buses "being inoperable have nothing to do with the storm. The batteries were recalled by the manufacturer," adding local media erroneously reported the snow had been the main factor.
He also said that media reports had incorrectly stated the 41-degree issue always existed, quipping, "We never would have purchased buses with that [requirement] in Vermont" and that the threshold originated from new recall information from the manufacturer.
"We know that the manufacturer will be 18–24 months [until we get] new batteries. We look at this as the buses were working A-OK before this situation. Considering the 12-year life cycle to be out for a few months is not indicative of the program being a failure. This is no different than a safety recall that we would get for a diesel bus.
"Folks across the political spectrum (are) looking to make hay, [but we] don’t look at it as a failure of the program."
Asked about Clark's comments, Turner said that cold-weather agencies should have known they were using experimental technology not as proven as internal-combustion buses.
"At no point does anyone who has a gas-powered bus have to play these games, introducing new sets of variables. We are still sacrificing the children for a pretend cause."
Turner told Fox News Digital that while "these [green] games are ongoing, there are schoolchildren who cannot get to class because they are fixing problems that they themselves created."
Fox News Digital reached out to Biden's office for comment.
EPA spokesman Michael Bastasch told Fox News Digital the EPA is actively "revamping the Clean School Bus Program in accordance with President Trump’s executive order: Unleashing American Energy to ensure hard-earned American tax dollars are being put to the best use possible and not frivolously wasted as was often the case under the previous administration."
"Under Administrator Zeldin’s leadership, EPA is committed to being exceptional stewards of taxpayer dollars and delivering measured results for American families, while still fulfilling Congressional intent," Bastasch said, adding that Zeldin has already canceled $30 billion in wasteful grants and contracts.
Semi-truck driver held on ICE detainer after 4 killed in head-on crash
The driver of a semi-truck at the center of a multi-vehicle crash that left four dead in Indiana is in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody after a detainer was placed on him.
Indiana State Police said the fatal crash happened Tuesday around 4 p.m. in the area of State Road 67 and County Road 550 East in Jay County, where the truck collided with a van. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) told Fox News that driver Bekzhan Beishekeev is a Kyrgyzstani national who entered the U.S. via the Biden-era CBP One cell phone app on Dec. 19, 2024, at the Nogales, Ariz., port of entry, and he was released into the U.S. via parole by the Biden administration.
Beishekeev, 30, was reportedly driving on SR 67 in Indiana when he didn’t stop for another slowed semi-truck, swerving instead into oncoming traffic and crashing head-on into a van, killing four people, several of whom were reportedly Amish.
"The investigation shows that a 2019 International semi tractor trailer, driven by Gert Pretoruis (44) of Geneva, was traveling east on State Road 67 near County Road 550 East when it slowed down for traffic," Indiana State Police said. "A 2022 Freightliner semi tractor trailer, driven by Bekzhan Beishekeev (30) of Philadelphia, PA, that was also eastbound did not stop and swerved into the westbound lane hitting a 2011 Chevrolet van that was driven by Donald Stipp (55) of Portland."
Indiana State Police, citing the Jay County Coroner’s Office, identified the four victims killed in the collision as Henry Eicher, 50, Menno Eicher, 25, Paul Eicher, 19, and Simon Girod, 23 of Bryant, Ind.
"ICE issued an immigration detainer against Beishekeev with the Jay County Jail on Feb. 4. And, because the state of Indiana cooperates with ICE, we were able to take him into custody on the morning of February 5," DHS said in a statement. "He will remain in ICE custody pending immigration proceedings."
"Not only was Bekzhan Beishekeev released into our country by the Biden administration using the CBP One app, but he was also given a commercial driver’s license by Governor Shapiro’s Pennsylvania. These decisions have had deadly consequences and led to the death of four innocent people in Indiana on Tuesday," added DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin in a statement. "It is incredibly dangerous for illegal aliens, who often don’t know our traffic laws or even English, to be operating semi-trucks on America’s roads. These sanctuary governors must stop giving illegal aliens commercial driver’s licenses before another American gets killed."
ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT ALLEGEDLY KILLS DRIVER IN POLICE CHASE
State Police also said, "The Indiana State Police Critical Incident Reconstruction Team is working with the Indiana State Police Commercial Vehicle Division, Jay County Sheriff’s Department, and Jay County Coroner’s Office to complete this investigation."
A GoFundMe page purportedly set up by a family member of Stipp’s said he is in stable condition and underwent surgery for a broken arm.
The page at one point described Stipp as "still unconscious" at a hospital.
Fox News' Alexis McAdams contributed to this report.