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TANVI RATNA: How Trump's multi-front pressure is shrinking Putin's operating space
A sanctioned Russian LNG tanker from the Portovaya project idled near Singapore in May 2026 with no buyer. At the same time, Ukrainian drones had already knocked roughly 700,000 barrels per day of Russian refining capacity offline across 16 major facilities. Europe had locked in a binding legal phase-out of Russian gas. And just four months earlier, U.S. forces had captured Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela.
These are not isolated events, but connected parts of a strategic vise squeezing Russian power.
For more than a decade, Russia converted energy into leverage through access. Pipelines and long-term contracts gave Moscow influence inside European utilities and governments. Discounted crude layered on top of defense ties gave it relevance in India. Fuel networks helped keep clients like Venezuela and Cuba in the anti-Western column. The physical molecule mattered less than the political dependence it created. That conversion system is now being attacked on multiple fronts at once.
Trump moved early on buyers. In August 2025 he signed an executive order imposing additional 25% tariffs on India over its Russian oil purchases, pushing combined rates as high as 50% in some categories. He later stated publicly that Indian Prime Minister Modi had assured him India would stop buying Russian oil and that China would be next.
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The signal was clear: Continued large-scale purchases carried direct economic costs. India has not abandoned Russian crude entirely, but it has become selective. The May 2026 rejection of the Portovaya LNG cargo showed the limit. Even with energy markets tight from the Iran war, Indian firms treated certain sanctioned Russian cargoes as carrying unacceptable compliance risk.
Europe has moved from crisis reduction to permanent legal exit. The December 2025 political agreement and the subsequent Regulation (EU) 2026/261 turned the break with Russian gas into binding law. Short-term Russian LNG imports face a ban from late April 2026. Short-term pipeline contracts end in mid-June 2026. The full phase-out of Russian gas is scheduled for September 2027. Russia’s share of EU gas imports had already collapsed from 45% before the full-scale Ukraine invasion to 12% by October 2025.
Specific infrastructure changes made the shift concrete. When Ukraine’s transit agreement expired on January 1, 2025, the old gas-electricity circuit into Moldova through Transnistria broke. Bulgaria had already taken control of the Rosenets terminal and ended Russian crude deliveries to its refinery. These are not reversible political decisions. They redesign the physical and legal map.
‘ONLY TRUMP CAN STOP RUSSIA’: MILLIONS FACE FREEZING WINTER, UKRAINE ENERGY EXECUTIVE WARNS
Inside Russia, production and processing capacity took direct hits. Ukrainian long-range drone strikes between January and May 2026 disabled around 700,000 barrels per day of refining across 16 facilities. Major sites including Tuapse, Syzran, Primorsk, Ust-Luga, Kirishi and Ryazan suffered fires, equipment damage and operational halts. Russian seaborne oil product exports fell sharply. Baltic port loadings dropped more than 30 percent in some periods as trade rerouted at higher cost and risk. Buyers now assess Russian supply not only for sanctions exposure but for physical reliability. The internal machine that turns crude into exportable products and domestic fuel has become less dependable.
The Iran war brought to light the fragility of reprieve that Russia has. Hormuz disruptions and related tensions drove oil and gas prices higher at points, giving Moscow revenue support on the volumes it could still sell. Washington, however, responded with conditional permission rather than open access. OFAC’s General License 134, issued in March 2026 and extended afterward, authorized delivery and sale only for Russian cargoes already loaded by specific cutoff dates. New production remained fully sanctioned. The tool allowed some flows when global markets needed supply, but the decision on which cargoes, which buyers and which dates rested with the United States. Energy scarcity became something Washington could manage through licenses rather than something Russia could exploit through volume.
The strategic depth and ability for Russia to project power on the outer edges also weakened. The January capture of Maduro removed a key partner and demonstrated Russia’s limited capacity or willingness to protect allies when its resources are committed elsewhere. Cuba’s fuel supplies came under visible strain, with only one Russian tanker permitted since December 2025 for humanitarian reasons amid widespread blackouts. The gray logistics networks Russia relied on after 2022 now face greater maritime enforcement and tariff pressure.
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Alliance posture changes closed another lane. The 2026 U.S. National Defense Strategy shifted priorities toward homeland defense and China deterrence while stating that European allies should take primary responsibility for conventional defense on the continent and for supporting Ukraine. NATO has moved simultaneously to strengthen eastern flank planning and pre-position forces for the Baltics and neighbors. Putin faces a more capable deterrent on his western flank and less opportunity to exploit old divisions over American commitment.
Russia retains major buyers in China and continues selective sales to India. Some adaptations through alternative routes and shadow logistics persist. Higher energy prices tied to the Iran conflict provided genuine budgetary relief on sellable barrels. None of this restores the previous level of strategic freedom.
The old Russian position rested on the ability to convert hard assets into influence over governments that did not need to like Moscow in order to be constrained by its supply. That position is being compressed. Routes that once delivered access are becoming permissioned crossings. Internal capacity has been degraded. Key clients have been exposed. Buyers have grown more cautious. And the broader alliance map has hardened on the eastern flank while the United States reallocates its primary attention elsewhere.
Trump’s approach has not eliminated Russian energy from global markets. It has made turning that energy into dependable geopolitical leverage significantly more difficult across energy, finance, clients and alliances at the same time. Production continues. Easy strategic options do not.
UNRWA fires 70 Gaza staffers amid allegations of Hamas ties, says terminations not admission of guilt
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) fired 70 staff members working in Gaza after long-standing claims from Israeli authorities that the agency is a collaborator with the Hamas terrorist group.
"Today, the Commissioner-General ad interim of UNRWA, Christian Saunders, took the decision to terminate the employment of 70 UNRWA staff members in Gaza with immediate effect," UNRWA wrote in a Friday statement.
UNRWA insisted its decision was not an admission of guilt, but one taken "to mitigate safety and security risks for the refugees the Agency serves under its mandate and for UNRWA personnel and premises."
The agency claims it has "repeatedly asked the Israeli authorities to provide information and evidence to substantiate allegations against individual UNRWA staff members in Gaza but has received no response to date."
ISRAEL SAYS UN MISLEADS WORLD AS GAZA AID STOLEN AND DIVERTED FROM CIVILIANS
"The dismissal of the staff is not part of a disciplinary process and does not constitute in any way a validation of the claims made against them," the UNRWA statement read.
The firings follow a United States Agency for International Development (USAID) investigation that referred more than 100 UNRWA staff members for suspension or dismissal.
USAID's investigation, the results of which the agency published June 5, assessed that a number of UNRWA's employees were deeply enmeshed in Hamas' civil society and military operations.
The investigation results included mention of "a deputy school principal serving as an al-Qassam deputy company commander in the Ain Gallout/5th infantry battalion, a deputy school principal serving as squad leader for the Khan Younis Brigade/2nd infantry battalion" and "a teacher with expertise as a sniper for Hamas."
The investigation also found numerous school teachers and principals it claimed to have participated directly in Hamas' Oct. 7 terrorist attacks.
Israeli authorities have long charged UNRWA with being directly tied to Hamas.
"Since October 7, evidence of numerous incidents of Hamas exploiting UNRWA infrastructure and UNRWA employees being involved in terrorist activity has been exposed. Civilians in Gaza have even stated that UNRWA is Hamas," the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) wrote in a January web post.
Additionally, the IDF claimed, citing intelligence findings, that "among the 12,521 UNRWA employees in the Gaza Strip, at least 1,462 (12%) are members of Hamas or other designated terrorist organizations."
UNRWA SCHOOLS ‘HIJACKED BY HAMAS,’ WATCHDOG REPORT WARNS
Israel's Foreign Ministry pushed back on UNRWA's defense framing and claims that Israel had not supplied evidence of employee-Hamas collaboration.
"UNRWA's statement on the termination of 70 employees, while blaming the victim, Israel, and without even mentioning the word 'Hamas,' is a cynical cover-up," the ministry wrote in a statement shared on X.
"The responsibility to purge terrorism lies solely with the UN, yet Hamas membership remains simply acceptable within UNRWA's ranks. By harboring terrorists and letting its facilities serve as Hamas headquarters, UNRWA has become an arm of Hamas," the statement concluded.
UNRWA, for its part, denies being an active collaborator with Hamas, but insists working with the group is an operational necessity for distributing aid in Gaza.
"UNRWA, similar to other United Nations entities, does not have police or intelligence capacities and must rely on the cooperation and assistance of Member States, including the State of Israel as the Occupying Power, to protect its operations and neutrality amid high risks in the Occupied Palestinian Territory," the agency wrote in its Friday statement.
In April, UNRWA's Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) announced the results of an investigation into 19 employees accused of participating in Oct. 7. UNRWA terminated 12 of the employees in January. Of the remaining seven cases, UNRWA had dismissed one, citing a lack of evidence. The remaining six cases were still under investigation as of April, according to the agency.
President Donald Trump's administration weighed levying terrorism-related sanctions against UNRWA in December.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio has also referred to UNRWA as "a subsidiary of Hamas."
Fox News Digital contacted UNRWA and a spokesperson for the Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations but did not immediately receive a response.
Talarico touts Texas roots as out-of-state cash powers Senate campaign
Donors from outside of Texas accounted for roughly 50% of the funds Texas Democratic Senate nominee James Talarico received during the final stretch of the first quarter of 2026, compared to his Republican opponent, who received just about 25% of his cash from out of state.
Of the $8.5 million Talarico raised between February 12 and March 31, a period where he saw a significant uptick in donations owing to his growing national profile, approximately $4 million came from states other than Texas, according to campaign finance records reviewed by Fox News Digital. The Republican nominee, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, meanwhile, raised $640,000 out of the roughly $850,000 he brought in during that period from within Texas.
The fundraising disparity underscores the nationalization of Texas’ Senate race, with Talarico drawing major financial support from Democratic donors and executives far beyond the state he seeks to represent, even as he campaigns on Texas roots and opposition to outside special interests. The haul gives Democrats a cash advantage in what is shaping up to be one of the most competitive Senate races this cycle, while giving Republicans an opening to cast Talarico’s campaign as powered by coastal liberal donors rather than Texas voters.
Donors from New York and California, for instance, showered Talarico with more than $1.3 million in the final six weeks of quarter one, according to Federal Election Commission records.
Talarico has made an effort to highlight his ties to Texas during his Senate campaign, touting the fact that his family has lived in the state for eight generations and criticizing the influence of out-of-state interests on Texans.
"I’ve led the fight against the billionaire mega-donors that have rigged the system against working Texas families," Talarico’s campaign website reads. "Now, as those same billionaire mega-donors take over the federal government, we need more fighters in Washington who will take power back for working people."
ACTBLUE SUES TEXAS AG KEN PAXTON, ALLEGING POLITICAL RETALIATION OVER DEMOCRATS' FUNDRAISING
"James is proud to be the only candidate in this race not taking a dime of corporate PAC money, shattering grassroots fundraising records with donations from 246 Texas counties and the help of over 540,000 small dollar contributors — unlike John Cornyn and Ken Paxton, who have raked in millions of dollars from special interests and enriched their billionaire donors while working Texans struggle," campaign spokesman JT Ennis told Fox News Digital when asked about out-of-state donations.
"Our campaign is bringing Democrats, Republicans and Independents together to fix this broken, corrupt political system and bring down costs for families across our state."
Talarico accepted donations from out-of-state executives at Google, Warner Brothers, Apple, Meta, Victoria’s Secret, and other major companies between February 12 and March 31, per FEC records. The Democratic Senate hopeful has also accepted donations from lobbyists representing major corporations such as Google, AirBnB, Boeing, Novo Nordisk, Comcast, CVS and JP Morgan.
While Talarico has attracted considerable support from outside of Texas, his fundraising operation within the state has also eclipsed that of Paxton, who raised less than one-fifth as much from Texans as his Democratic opponent. Paxton, however, fought a brutal primary against Sen. John Cornyn, splitting the GOP donor base.
Beyond his campaign committee, Talarico has also benefited from Lone Star Rising PAC, a super PAC spending millions to help him win. In contrast to his campaign rhetoric, much of the cash behind the super PAC boosting Talarico’s campaign came from wealthy out-of-state donors.
Just 12% of the millions of dollars in donations collected by Lone Star Rising PAC, which the Washington Free Beacon reports is run by Talarico’s longtime friend, came from entities within Texas, according to campaign finance records.
Customers hit with automatic 20% gratuities as restaurants combat tipping confusion
As restaurants in several FIFA World Cup host cities welcome an influx of international visitors this weekend, some operators are adding automatic gratuities to customers' checks — citing concerns that guests from countries without a strong tipping culture may unknowingly undercompensate workers.
Fox News Digital reported last month that the Missouri Restaurant Association advised Kansas City establishments to temporarily implement automatic gratuities of 20% during the soccer tournament.
Now, some restaurants in other World Cup cities like Atlanta and Philadelphia are among those doing the same, according to Food & Wine.
Supporters say the move is intended to protect workers who rely heavily on gratuities and avoid confusion for visitors unfamiliar with American tipping norms.
Some restaurant operators told TheTravel that they'll display notices informing customers of the surcharge.
"We'll have that posted on the menus themselves. We'll have it posted in the restaurant," Bob Riekhof, general manager of La Bodega in Kansas City, said in a statement.
"Probably the biggest part is just making sure our servers are communicating to the guests that the gratuity has been included on the check."
Ben Fileccia, senior vice president of operations and public affairs for the Pennsylvania Restaurant & Lodging Association, told the publication that business owners "don't want the servers or bartenders or the tipped employees to have to explain what the tipping custom is."
AMERICANS ARE FED UP WITH TIPPING CULTURE, YET MANY STILL SHELL OUT 20% AT RESTAURANTS
He said the notices will make "for a much smoother transaction and no awkward conversations."
Others, however, worry that mandatory gratuities could add to growing consumer frustration over fees and surcharges.
"Restaurant traffic has been declining, and anything that is perceived to increase the cost does risk some consumer backlash, particularly if it's not well-publicized or if consumers feel there's an expectation to tip on top of the automatic tip," David Henkes, senior principal at Technomic, a food industry research firm in Chicago, told Fox News Digital.
Michele Bermuvez, co-owner of Atlanta's Brewhouse Café, told Food & Wine that it's "really important for us to take care of our staff."
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Said Bermuvez, "I definitely think there'll be some pushback, but, you know, it'll really streamline things for us."
Not every restaurant operator believes automatic gratuities are necessary.
"At Mahon Hospitality, we will not be changing our gratuity policies during the World Cup," Robert Mahon told Fox News Digital.
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"We believe guests should tip based on the service they receive, not because of a major event."
Mahon said his company is also taking a different approach to pricing as many businesses prepare for increased demand. At London & Martin Co., the hospitality group's English pub in New York City, customers will be able to purchase $6 pints of Guinness throughout the World Cup.
"Our goal is simple: Create a great atmosphere, offer fair value and give fans a reason to come back throughout the tournament," he said.
The debate highlights a broader question facing restaurants: whether protecting workers from cultural differences in tipping expectations requires automatic charges, or whether strong service and transparent pricing are enough to encourage customers to tip voluntarily.
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Fox News Digital reached out to the National Restaurant Association for comment.
Fox News Digital's Andrea Margolis contributed reporting.
‘Hell on wheels’ killer Mackenzie Shirilla lands prison job while serving life sentence for fatal 2022 crash
Convicted killer Mackenzie Shirilla has landed a prison job as she serves a life sentence for the 2022 crash that killed her boyfriend and their friend, Ohio prison officials confirmed to Fox News Digital.
Shirilla’s institutional work assignment at the Ohio Reformatory for Women is food service worker, according to Tara Nickle, a correction warden assistant and public information officer for the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction.
But officials declined to provide more detail about the assignment, citing Ohio public-records exemptions.
The small glimpse into Shirilla’s daily prison life comes amid renewed attention on the case after Netflix’s "The Crash" revisited the fatal wreck, which prosecutors said was no accident for the driver dubbed "hell on wheels."
FATHER-TO-BE WAKES FROM COMA, TELLS POLICE GIRLFRIEND CRASHED CAR ON PURPOSE BEFORE HE DIES
Shirilla, now 21, is serving two concurrent sentences of 15 years to life in prison for killing her boyfriend, Dominic Russo, 20, and their friend, Davion Flanagan, 19, after prosecutors said she deliberately slammed her Toyota Camry into a brick building in Strongsville, Ohio, on July 31, 2022.
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Police records reviewed by Fox News Digital show Strongsville officers responded around 6:15 a.m. on July 31, 2022, after the Camry struck the PLIDCO building at 11792 Alameda Drive in Strongsville.
Shirilla, then 17, was removed from the driver’s seat and flown to MetroHealth Medical Center. Russo and Flanagan were pronounced dead after being mechanically extricated from the wreckage, records show.
A grand jury presentation reviewed by Fox News Digital said Life360 data showed the vehicle traveling 90 mph in a 35 mph zone, while Event Data Recorder information showed the accelerator fully engaged and no service brake applied in the seconds before the devastating crash.
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A later police request to the Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner’s Office said the deaths were initially classified as accidental, but investigators believed the evidence showed the crash was "not an accident, but an intentional act."
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Police asked the medical examiner to conduct a secondary review and change the manner of death to homicide.
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Prosecutors argued at trial that Shirilla drove into the building to end her toxic relationship with Russo, and that Flanagan was an unintended victim who happened to be in the car. Shirilla's case is back in the limelight after Netflix's new series, "The Crash."
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Since the docuseries, Shirilla’s lawyers have asked the Ohio Supreme Court for an appeal.
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In a filing with the Ohio Supreme Court reviewed by Fox News Digital, Shirilla’s attorneys argue her trial lawyers failed to adequately investigate evidence that she suffered from Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome, or POTS. The syndrome, they say, could have caused her to lose consciousness before the crash.
The defense says the condition was only "cursorily referenced" at trial, despite Shirilla and her family allegedly putting her attorneys on notice about it. Her lawyers now argue trial counsel should have dug deeper and sought expert testimony to explain whether POTS could account for Shirilla’s failure to brake before impact.
Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Michael O’Malley "believes without question that Mackenzie Shirilla is guilty of murder," his office said in a May 27 statement.
Hasan Piker celebrates America being 'closer than ever' to socialism as he backs NYC candidates
Controversial Twitch streamer Hasan Piker threw his support behind two far-left candidates running for Congress in New York City, arguing their victories would help push the country closer to socialism.
"For the longest time, I thought we were so far away from socialism, and we might still be far away from socialism, but we do have an opportunity right here right now, more than ever before," Piker said Thursday at a Brooklyn rally for candidates endorsed by the New York chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America ahead of the state’s June 23 primary.
Leading the DSA-backed slate are State Assemblywoman Claire Valdez, D-N.Y., and activist Darializa Avila Chevalier, whom Piker praised as "giants" of the socialist movement.
"We must seize that opportunity, and you all must continue your own disciplined organizing for that to happen," Piker told the crowd. "That is the challenge."
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Both candidates are socialists who want to abolish Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), raise taxes on the wealthy and advance the Palestinian cause in Congress. If they win their contested primaries for deep-blue districts, they would almost certainly pad the ranks of the Democratic caucus’ far-left flank.
"I've rarely ever seen such tremendous ideological representation at such an important level," Piker said, referring to Valdez and Avila Chevalier. "I mean, a congressional seat is a tremendous amount of power."
"What an honor it is to be joined by Darializa on stage," Valdez jokingly said, referring to a cardboard cutout of Avila Chevalier. "[It’s the] honor of my life to be on a slate with her, with so many of my other socialist comrades."
Valdez is running for a seat vacated by retiring Rep. Nydia Velazquez, D-N.Y., that spans progressive bastions in Queens and Brooklyn.
Meanwhile, Avila Chevalier is running as a formidable leftist challenger to Rep. Adriano Espaillat, D-N.Y., the chairman of the influential Congressional Hispanic Caucus, in a district covering Upper Manhattan and the West Bronx.
The leftist duo is backed by New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Justice Democrats, the progressive group that helped launch New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's insurgent House campaign in 2018.
MAMDANI STANDS BY FELLOW SOCIALIST CANDIDATE DESPITE RESURFACED FAR-LEFT, ANTI-AMERICAN POSTS
Avila Chevalier has sparked controversy over since-deleted social media posts in which she asserted "Israel doesn’t exist," voiced literal support for open borders and claimed "all deportation is wrong," CNN first reported.
The Mamdani ally has also faced scrutiny over calling former President Joe Biden "a rapist" and writing "F--- Kamala Harris" in 2021 after the former vice president told Guatemalan nationals not to illegally cross the border.
Piker predicted a wave of socialist victories in New York City would soon eclipse the significance of Mamdani's mayoral win last year.
"By the end of these midterms, Zohran will seem unremarkable. Because by then, we will have elected so many brilliant fighters into legislative offices throughout New York City and the state," Piker said, referring to the slate of socialist candidates.
"These are your comrades, these are your fighters," he continued.
Thursday’s rally comes as Piker, who has sparked widespread backlash over comments saying, "America deserved 9/11," and Hamas is "a thousand times better" than Israel, has interviewed and campaigned with proudly socialist candidates across the country.
Several Piker allies have lost their primaries, including former Ocasio-Cortez chief of staff Saikat Chakrabarti, who launched a failed bid to succeed former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. However, the socialist streamer did score one notable victory with progressive surgeon Adam Hamawy's primary victory for a Democratic-heavy New Jersey House seat.
Fox News Digital reached out to spokespersons for Valdez and Avila Chevalier for comment.
Fox News' Matthew Donnell contributed to this report.
Sammy 'The Bull' reveals why his love for John Gotti turned into prison hate
Sammy "The Bull" Gravano is known as the Mafia power who betrayed his own boss, John Gotti, and sent him away to prison for life. But he is revealing a surprising sense of personal affection that he had for the Mob Godfather.
"I loved him," he said.
"I got to like the guy. We fought a war. It was us against the world," he told Fox Nation. "I loved him until we got pinched, and he came up with the idea of his talking on the wiretap tapes and using those behind my back."
Gravano is speaking out as Fox Nation debuts the new documentary about the days that Gotti ruled the American Mafia, "Gotti's Guy."
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Gravano sent an earthquake through organized crime when he flipped and cooperated with the federal government in the trial that convicted the legendary Mob boss in 1992. He heard the audiotapes that the FBI secretly recorded of Gotti disparaging him, and thought he was being set up to take the fall.
As part of his cooperation deal, he pleaded guilty to racketeering and admitted to 19 murders.
"I told him, John, is that what you want to do? The boss wants to go free, so you want me to go to prison for the rest of my life? I was in prison for 11 months before I flipped. I had no intention of flipping, but when he made up all of this crap, my relationship went from love to hate in prison."
One former Gotti associate who still expresses his devotion to the Mob boss is Lewis Kasman, the subject of "Gotti's Guy." Kasman, who the media long dubbed Gotti's "adopted son," was a voracious defender and companion of the Mob boss, whom he called..."Grandpa."
"I'd say what's up Grandpa? Good morning. Back then we only had beepers, so I would call "Fat Bob" and make sure he was ready. Jackie would have the car, Jojo would be ready. So that's how we would start our routine," Kasman said.
Gravano said Gotti "used" Kasman for a lot of money, and it seems the amounts were indeed overflowing. Kasman said he hid millions of dollars in his house's attic, part of the Gambino haul that was estimated to earn the crime family from $100 to $500 million a year in the late ‘80s and early ’90s.
"We'd pick up, let’s say $250,000. Then Joe Butch would bring, let's say $100,000, Jimmy Brown from the garbage would bring in X amount of dollars, and each captain, depending on what industry they were extorting or what industry they were responsible for, and the unions, the various construction unions, the various labor unions, controlled by the Gambino family. And that's how the money would roll in," said Kasman.
Authorities said Joe "Butch" Corrao was a Capo based in Manhattan's Little Italy and Jimmy "Brown" Faila was also a Capo who served as head of the Trade Waste Association of Greater New York, an association of waste management garbage truck companies that prosecutors said filled the Gambino coffers with payoffs and kickbacks at the time.
Kasman said Gotti was confident in his role, what he stood for and that he made no apologies for it.
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"You knew where John Gotti was, seven days a week. He wasn't hiding from anybody, he wasn't walking around in a bathrobe and a walker," referring to the Genovese crime family boss Vincent "The Chin" Gigante, who famously feigned a crazy act to try and fool the FBI. Nicknamed "The Oddfella," Gigante would wander around his Greenwich Village neighborhood in a bathrobe. In 2003, while serving time in prison, Gigante finally admitted that he had been faking being insane the whole time.
Kasman said one of his duties was also to serve as the Gambino de facto travel agent.
"We'd go on vacation. He didn't have credit cards, so we'd check into whatever hotel we were checking in, and you couldn't go and say 'here's $50,000' to the front desk clerk. So, I used to put up my credit cards, and I got a lot of points. And we'd get a big bill, $60,000, $50,000, whatever it was."
He said when they all came back home, Gotti would call him up and pay him immediately.
"He says, 'here’s the money I owe you.' Take his money. I didn't have to wait 20 hours if he owed me money. That's the kind of man he was. And he could have said to me, 'I'm not paying you.' What was I gonna do? Put him in for collection? Call my lawyer? Who was I going to call?"
Kasman said he had no qualms at the time about dealing with Gotti or the many organized crime figures around him, and harbored no illusions about how murderous and treacherous the underworld can be.
But he said his long association with organized crime eventually took a personal toll.
"I enjoyed it, and it was very good for business. But it did a lot of damage to my family, now 25 years later, to my wife and my three children and myself. I have PTSD, I still suffer. I have nightmares."
Kasman got divorced and ran into various legal problems of his own, serving time in jail and facing charges from perjury to obstruction of justice and money laundering.
The Gotti family has called Kasman a habitual liar who cannot be trusted, who rode on the coattails of the family patriarch. Gotti died of neck and throat cancer behind bars in 2002 at the age of 61.
But despite the adversities and criticism, Kasman said John Gotti continues to loom largely in his life.
"I still think about him every day. I mourn him every day."
As for Gravano, he went from helping run the Gambino crime family to running his own media company today. He said his podcasts and social media appearances have had more than 160 million views, and that the interest in organized crime shows no signs of slowing down. He hosts live broadcasts on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok on Mondays and Thursdays at 3 p.m. Eastern time, runs the podcast "Our Thing with Sammy The Bull" and has a website, Sammythebull.com.
He previously appeared on the debut of Fox Nation's "Mob Mentality" series, that also featured former Genovese crime family member Anthony Arillotta and Gambino truck hijacker Louis Ferrante, who is now a best-selling author.
Watch "Gotti's Guy," now streaming on Fox Nation and available on Fox One.
Steven McBee Jr. says dad's prison sentence will be 'the best moment of our entire lives'
Steven McBee Jr. revealed to Fox News Digital that his father’s prison sentence for fraud was a surprising blessing because it allowed their family to reprioritize what’s important.
"The silver lining in this, as difficult as this has been for us as a family, I also think five years, 10 years, 15 years from now, we're gonna look back and say, ‘This was the best moment of our entire lives because it allowed us to reprioritize and refocus on what's actually important to who we are as people,’" McBee Jr. said.
He said his dad would say the same thing.
"Every conversation I've had with him since he's been up there, it hasn't been about ‘How are the businesses doing?’ It hasn't been about ‘What's going on with the TV show’ or ‘What about social media?’ It's been, ‘How's the family? How's the babies?’ The important things in life."
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"The McBee Dynasty: Real American Cowboys," a reality show about their family’s farming empire in Missouri, returns for its third season to Bravo and next day on Peacock on June 15.
McBee Jr.'s father was sentenced to two years in federal prison in 2025 for his involvement in a multimillion-dollar fraud scheme involving crop insurance. He is serving time at the Federal Prison Camp in Yankton, South Dakota.
WATCH: Steven McBee Jr. says his father’s prison sentence will end up as the ‘best moment’ for their family
In addition to prison time, he was ordered to two years of supervised release and must pay $4,022,124 in restitution to the USDA Risk Management Agency.
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"He had an awakening leading up to the sentencing, leading up to going to prison, as far as ‘prioritize the right things in life,’" McBee Jr. said. "And I think that not only he would sit here and say the same thing, but myself and my younger brothers could say, ‘Hey, the last few years, we got so busy. It's almost like we lost track of what's really important in life, the family dinners, the evenings driving around the farm watching the sunset. We got so caught up in the work that we lost ourselves in the work.’ And I think that was his biggest message was get back to what's important to who you are."
Still, he said his father being sent to prison was "heartbreaking" for their family because he’s such a big part of their lives.
"I mean, we're over there for dinner at his house quite literally three to four nights out of the week," McBee Jr. said. "And so to know that he was going to be away for a while, that we were gonna have to step up and be the decision makers across the businesses" without their father to rely on "was a mix of being heartbroken and also saying, ‘Hey now's the time for us to step up.'"
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McBee Jr. said the last thing his father told them before he reported to prison was "‘Not only are you guys going to be just fine, you're going to be better off without me here. I've taught you everything I know, and you can learn from the mistakes I've made. You guys are better men than me. Like, go on and take on the world. You guys got this.’"
He said that his family is able to see their dad about once every two weeks, and he was even allowed to come home on furlough for two days once.
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Regarding possible misconceptions that viewers of the show might have about his family, McBee stressed that there is a "larger emphasis, whenever you're on reality TV, there's a larger emphasis put on the flaws or the drama than what's actually present in real life."
WATCH: Steven McBee Jr. stresses that reality TV zeroes in on the drama and the flaws
For every 100 hours of footage the crew shoots, he said, it boils down to an hour of "all the drama and the flaws of your character. So it's not that we've been judged incorrectly. People have the right to their own opinion, and candidly, we are not perfect people, and I'm the first one to sit up here and say, ‘I've got some things I've gotta work on myself.’ But as far as like the totality of us as human beings, it's like everyone else."
He added, "There are very, very good things about us and then there are some flaws about us. Unfortunately, with reality TV, it's pretty much just the flaws that get shown."
"We are human beings," McBee Jr. continued of what he hopes fans take from the show. "It's reality TV. So there's a lot of drama. You get to see all of our flaws out there. But I'd rather be an imperfect person living authentically and showing you who we really are than curating an image or crafting an image that's this perfect persona on TV."
Fox News' Stephanie Giang-Paunon contributed to this report.
America 250 demands a return to the founders’ dream for higher education
Leading a major public university teaches you something the administrative class never quite grasps: Institutions are living things. Further, the people tasked with guiding them are obligated to pivot and adapt in order to remain faithful to our country’s first principles. I led the University of Alabama from 2015 to 2025. I too watched the DEI movement on the national stage begin as a professed commitment to "opportunity," but evolve into something else entirely — an ideological enforcement regime hostile to merit, to free inquiry, and to the noble aspirations that forged the American university.
When the Alabama Legislature passed SB 129 in 2024, prohibiting taxpayer-funded DEI offices, I worked hand in hand with the state to ensure compliance. In fact, we were commended by the sponsors of the legislation for our complete and swift action. Outreach to gifted students from rural and underserved communities — work that had absolutely nothing to do with ideology and everything to do with talent — continued. That is because identifying and recruiting those who are smart and burning to work hard is one of the longest-standing charges of the American public university.
That clarity of mission is why this moment matters. As America quickly approaches its 250th birthday, the nation needs university presidents who have confronted and triumphed over ideological capture and come out the other side with an even more robust view of the purpose of public higher education.
DEI OFFICE CLOSURES AT UNIVERSITIES PILE UP AFTER ANOTHER STATE ORDERS END TO ‘WOKE VIRUS’
The statesmen who built our constitutional order believed a particular kind of education was necessary to form citizens capable of self-government. Benjamin Franklin, the driving force behind the University of Pennsylvania, believed that only a virtuous people are capable of freedom. Thomas Jefferson founded the University of Virginia because he understood liberty could last only among a populace proficient in a range of disciplines, from history to theology to rhetoric to reason. George Washington asserted in his farewell address that virtue and morality were the necessary spring of popular government. John Adams declared that the Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people.
These individuals regarded education, properly understood, as the most potent engine for national greatness. Their conviction transformed a group of vulnerable coastal colonies into the most powerful nation in human history.
Then much of higher education lost confidence in the very civilization that had produced unprecedented wealth, freedom, and prosperity. Many universities drifted from the righteous pursuit of truth and toward partisan activism dressed up as scholarship. Slowly at first. Then quickly and often angrily. The progressive notion of diversity, which treats identity as paramount, became the organizing principle of the campus experience. That perverse form of diversity it is inimical to truth itself. Truth is objective. There are indeed immutable boundaries. And once an institution abandons that foundational premise, even slightly, it begins to falter, and it will eventually fail.
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The consequences, having played out on campuses across the country, are impossible to ignore. Western civilization is not treated as one of humanity’s pinnacle achievements worthy of rigorous study, but as something fundamentally illegitimate. Merit became the adversary. Excellence the enemy. Patriotism the villain. Public trust in higher education collapsed for good reason. Institutions were duplicitous. They preached tolerance while being censorious. They insisted on fairness while being dogmatic. Too many universities stopped teaching students how to think and started training them in which conclusions to reach.
CAMPUS GRADUATION CHAOS SHOWS HIGHER EDUCATION NEEDS A SERIOUS MORAL RESET
Florida chose a different path. Under Ron DeSantis, the Free State of Florida became the national standard-bearer for the renaissance of public higher education. The creation of the Hamilton School for Classical and Civic Education at the University of Florida in 2022 reflects a renewed civilizational confidence — a willingness to let students wrestle seriously with the enduring questions that mark free and flourishing societies.
This matters far beyond one state. Our world is geopolitically precarious and intensely competitive. The United States cannot afford institutions that manufacture fragility, cynicism, and nihilism. Boldness, resilience, distinction, and creativity are the rare earths of leadership, and great universities must be where they are mined.
I had the privilege of leading one of Alabama’s great universities, working tirelessly alongside dedicated colleagues in service to our students, our citizens, and our shared mission. I now have an even sharper view, tested by a decade of running an institution through one of the most turbulent periods for higher education in American history. The takeaway is one that the Founders understood from the start. The university exists to form citizens capable of nurturing our delicate experiment in self-government. Everything else is downstream of that.
Restoring the Founders’ vision — without qualification and without apology — is a national imperative.
Power ranking the most patriotic fans at the USMNT's World Cup opener against Paraguay
The U.S. Men's National Team's 2026 World Cup run is underway, and boy, does it already feel like the entire nation has caught a case of World Cup fever.
Trust the science.
That's the beauty of international sports, though. Any other time, we're all divided and cheering for our respective pro or collegiate teams, but now?
We're all in on Team USA, baby.
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And there was some serious patriotism at the U.S.'s first game of the tournament against Paraguay, and here is the definitive power ranking of the top 5 patriotic fans spotted in and around Los Angeles Stadium (or as it's known during non-World Cup times, SoFi Stadium).
There are no rules with patriotism — other than, well, be patriotic — but I love seeing some creativity infused with it.
I feel like we got that from these fellas who went all out with Uncle Sam hats, Apollo Creed "Rocky IV" robes, boxing gloves and all kinds of USMNT paraphernalia.
This is what I call "patriotic maximalism," and I'm all about it.
Just drench everything in red, white, and blue and stars and stripes.
That's what this is all about.
No notes. Well done, fellas.
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I know I said we were going to look at fans in and around LA, but I had to throw a bone to these folks in Minnesota, because they are hardcore.
There were many of them outside.
TRACKING AMERICA'S WORLD CUP JOURNEY: HOW AND WHEN TO WATCH THE US MEN'S NATIONAL TEAM
Anyone can watch soccer in perfect conditions, but it takes a special kind of fan to stand there in the miserable rain to cheer on the Stars and Stripes.
A lesser fan would've said, "I'm gonna go find a Chili's and post up there," the second their socks could get a tad soggy, but not these folks. They were gutting it out in a veritable monsoon.
I love the commitment, and that's why they're on this list.
Hey, he's United States Navy (USN) Captain Pete "Maverick" Mitchell.
He's making the list.
Thank you for your service to U.S. soccer fandom, Mav.
Can't wait for "Top Gun 3."
You may be catching on to the fact that I put a lot of value in how much you inconvenience yourself to cheer on a team. I'm all about sticking it out through bad weather and uncomfortable costumes, and the Founding Fathers fit the bill.
Sure, the match is at a stadium with a roof on it, but it's still Los Angeles in June.
That's usually shorts-and-T-shirt weather, but these literal patriots said, "No, give us the wool getups and powdered wigs for the boys.
You love to see it.
Was there any other option?
The OGs of the OGs, the biggest ride-or-die US soccer fans, were out in full force.
While most of the country checks out the USMNT every four years, these are the men and women who have helped grow the sport of soccer among fans here in the States.
The World Cup is off to a hot start, and I get the sense it's only going to heat up as the group stage progresses.