GOP strategists called to DC as Trump team confronts rising midterm headwinds

With the six-month mark until Election Day 2026 closing fast, President Donald Trump’s top political advisers are meeting behind closed doors Monday with dozens of leading Republican political consultants from across the country for a strategy session as the party defends its razor-thin House and slim Senate majorities in the midterms.

The meeting, organized by White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, who was co-chair of Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign, and Deputy Chief of Staff James Blair, comes as the party in power in the nation’s capital faces traditional political headwinds and is expected to lose congressional seats. Republicans are also battling a challenging political climate fueled by persistent inflation, rising gas prices tied to what polls show is an unpopular war with Iran, and the president’s underwater approval ratings.

The gathering, which was first reported by Politico, is aimed at establishing better coordination and sharing of data and strategy between the White House political team and consultants advising candidates in midterm showdowns.

STRATEGY SESSION: TRUMP'S TEAM HUDDLES ON MIDTERM MESSAGING

The meeting also comes two weeks after Trump announced that Blair would temporarily step down from his White House role to steer midterm strategy from the outside. The president said in a social media post that Blair would take "a short leave of absence to lead the charge from the outside" against Democrats, and after the midterms would "return again to the White House, so we can finish the job."

This is the second major gathering ahead of the midterms. Wiles, Blair and other top Trump political advisers met in February at the party’s Capitol Hill Club with Cabinet officials and their top aides to discuss promoting the Trump agenda and other midterm messaging.

Trump made a two-day swing last week to Nevada and Arizona, two crucial swing states in this year's elections, to highlight the tax cuts that congressional Republicans passed, and which he signed into law last summer.

BACK ON THE TRAIL: TRUMP HITS BATTLEGROUND STATES TO TOUT TAX CUTS

The president's stops were part of a full-court press last week by Republicans, around last Wednesday's tax filing deadline, to spotlight the tax cuts, which they insist will give them a political boost with voters in the midterms.

The tax cuts were a key component of Republicans’ massive domestic policy measure, which passed almost entirely along party lines in the GOP-controlled House and Senate.

The law, originally titled the One Big Beautiful Bill Act but rebranded as the Working Families Tax Cuts, is stuffed full of Trump's 2024 campaign trail promises and second-term priorities, including extending the president's signature 2017 tax cuts and eliminating taxes on tips and overtime pay. 

FIRST ON FOX: GOP TAKES AIM AT DEMOCRATS FOR OPPOSING TRUMP TAX CUTS

But much of the GOP messaging last week was overshadowed by coverage of the war with Iran and Trump's very public spat with the pope.

Republicans in Congress are increasingly concerned about the political climate ahead of the midterms.

"If we lose the midterms, it'll be because we didn't talk about what moms and dads are worried about when they lie down to sleep at night...and that's primarily the cost of living, GOP Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana said Saturday in an appearance on Fox News' "The Big Weekend Show."

And pointing to the tax cuts, Kennedy said the "One Big Beautiful Bill is going to help a lot of people in terms of their taxes and a lot of small businesses. And that's what I wish the president would talk more about. If we talk about it, we'll win the midterms."

Despite the Democratic Party's poll numbers hitting all-time lows over the past year, Democrats are energized heading into the midterms thanks to a slew of off-year-election and special election victories and over performances, thanks in part to their laser focus on affordability since Trump returned to the White House.

The Democratic National Committee, in an email release Monday to supporters, claimed that "Republicans are in trouble ahead of the midterms — and they know it."

source https://www.foxnews.com/politics/gop-strategists-called-dc-trump-team-confronts-rising-midterm-headwinds

Joe Rogan reveals text to Trump that helped expedite federal review of psychedelics

President Donald Trump signed a sweeping executive order on Saturday directing federal agencies to fast-track research into psychedelic drugs after a direct text message exchange with podcast host Joe Rogan, marking a rapid policy shift inside the White House.

"We all respect Joe and he's a little bit more liberal than I am. That's OK. I have a lot of friends that are liberal," Trump said during the Oval Office event. "Joe is an amazing guy. He wrote me a little note about this, and I had it checked out. Everybody came back with the same answer."

The directive aims to accelerate federal review of substances such as ibogaine and LSD, which remain classified as Schedule I drugs under federal law. The order directs the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to expedite breakthrough therapy designations, encourages interagency data sharing, and opens the door to rapid scheduling if safety and efficacy are demonstrated.

The move follows months of internal discussions led by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and aides working on expanding access to alternative mental health treatments, but Rogan’s outreach appears to have accelerated the timeline.

CONOR MCGREGOR SAYS HE UNDERWENT PSYCHOACTIVE DRUG PROCEDURE

Rogan said he shared with Trump the information that claimed ibogaine was highly successful in treating opiate addiction.

"The text message came back: ‘Sounds great. Do you want FDA approval? Let’s do it,’" Rogan said, describing Trump’s immediate response. "It was literally that quick."

Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Mehmet Oz described the internal effort as a rapid policy sprint, with officials moving in days to translate a private exchange into a formal executive order. The administration framed the move as part of a broader push to address mental health challenges, particularly among veterans suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and addiction.

"In many cases, these experimental treatments have shown life-changing potential for those suffering from severe mental illness and depression, including our cherished veterans," Trump said at the signing.

RFK JR UNVEILS $100M EFFORT TO TACKLE ADDICTION, HOMELESSNESS AND MENTAL ILLNESS

While no psychedelic has yet received FDA approval in the United States, compounds like psilocybin and MDMA are currently being studied in clinical trials. Two states, Oregon and Colorado, have already legalized supervised psilocybin therapy programs, signaling growing state-level momentum.

"You’re going to save a lot of lives through it," former Navy SEAL Marcus Luttrell told Trump during the event. "It absolutely changed my life for the better."

Ibogaine, a psychedelic derived from a West African shrub, has drawn attention from veterans groups and some Republican lawmakers as a potential treatment for PTSD and opioid addiction.

However, medical experts have warned of serious risks, including heart complications and a lack of large-scale clinical trials. The drug has been linked to more than 30 deaths, according to existing medical literature.

TRUMP-BACKED PLAN COULD FAST-TRACK PSYCHEDELIC THERAPIES — HERE'S WHAT TO KNOW

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"It’s been incredibly difficult to study ibogaine in the US because of its known cardiotoxicity," said Frederick Barrett of Johns Hopkins University, according to PBS. "If the executive order can pave the way for doing objective, scientific research with this compound, it would help us understand whether it is truly a better psychedelic therapy than others."

source https://www.foxnews.com/media/joe-rogan-reveals-text-trump-helped-expedite-federal-review-psychedelics

Nick Shirley confronts California Democrats over 'Stop Nick Shirley Act,' pressing on First Amendment rights

California lawmakers were confronted at the state Capitol in Sacramento as independent journalist Nick Shirley filmed a video published this week questioning Assembly Bill 2624, a proposal California Republicans have dubbed the "Stop Nick Shirley Act," during interviews with Democratic and Republican legislators about the bill's scope and intent.

"If this bill were to get passed, instead of going after the fraudsters, they’re trying to make it criminal to go after the people that are committing this fraud," Shirley said in the video posted to his YouTube page.

The video centered on California Assembly Bill 2624, authored by Assemblymember Mia Bonta, D-Oakland, which seeks to restrict the public posting of personal information of individuals connected to immigration support services, including nonprofit organizations, legal clinics and health care providers.

VANCE REVEALS $19B FRAUD UNCOVERED IN MINNEAPOLIS, HINTS CALIFORNIA IS NEXT TARGET

"I think that that’s a misinterpretation of the bill, but I’m happy to talk with you more about it," Sen. Sasha Renée Pérez, D-Alhambra, told Shirley when pressed about whether the measure would restrict fraud investigations.

The legislation also drew scrutiny in Shirley's video because Assemblymember Bonta is married to California Attorney General Rob Bonta. Shirley repeatedly framed that relationship as a potential conflict of interest while questioning lawmakers about whether the bill would make it harder to expose fraud involving taxpayer-funded immigration services.

"I actually don’t think that this bill violates the First Amendment," Pérez said when asked about constitutional concerns.

"We have ledge [legislative] counsel and ledge attorneys that talk with us about this. Constitutionality is really important to the work."

NEW EXPOSÉ CLAIMS CALIFORNIA LOST AT LEAST $180B TO FRAUD UNDER GAVIN NEWSOM

Shirley’s video showed several encounters in which lawmakers declined to discuss the bill in detail, with some saying they were unfamiliar with its contents or needed to review it further.

"I need to read the bill," Assemblymember Josh Lowenthal, D-Long Beach, said after Shirley told him he had signed onto the measure.

One of the most pointed exchanges came when Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, was approached and asked for his opinion on the legislation.

"I think you’re a psycho scam artist," Wiener said on camera before closing the door on Shirley.

Shirley also approached Speaker of the Assembly, Robert Rivas, D-Salinas, and asked about the legislation directly.

"I don’t know anything about it," Rivas said, before also closing the door on Shirley.

"That just shows you everything you need to know," Nick Shirley said, after Rivas ignored the rest of his questions. "These people won't even answer the questions."

JOE ROGAN RIPS GAVIN NEWSOM FOR MOCKING NICK SHIRLEY OVER HIS 'BILLION DOLLAR' FRAUD INVESTIGATIONS

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Republican Assemblymember Carl DeMaio, R-San Diego, who appeared in the video opposing the measure, argued the bill's language could impact independent reporting on alleged fraud.

"You read the bill, and you realize that it's against the First Amendment," DeMaio said. "It criminalizes citizen investigative journalists who take video and expose fraud."

"That's what the bill is designed to do," he said. "It's designed to keep secrets, to keep the public from knowing what's going on. They don't want to end their fraud racket."

Fox News reached out to the California Democrats for comment, but did not immediately hear back.

source https://www.foxnews.com/media/nick-shirley-confronts-california-democrats-over-stop-nick-shirley-act-pressing-first-amendment-rights

Sledgehammer murder spurs ICE manhunt for illegal immigrant suspect

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has asked officials in Democratic-run Harris County not to release an illegal immigrant suspect from custody after he allegedly beat a coworker to death with a sledgehammer on a construction site in a suburb of Texas’ largest city, Houston.

This comes as Texas officials feud with the City of Houston over a new policy limiting law enforcement cooperation with ICE. The confrontation mirrors the broader national debate between Democrats and Republicans over the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement policies. Disagreements over immigration enforcement have resulted in an ongoing lapse in funding for the Department of Homeland Security during a partial government shutdown.

Now, Venezuelan national Josue Abraham Chirino-Leonice has been charged with the murder of carpenter Juan Antonio Salinas Leija at a north Houston home earlier this month, according to reporting by local outlet KHOU-11. The outlet said Salinas Leija was found dead at a home under renovation with severe wounds consistent with a sledgehammer attack. Chirino-Leonice was later arrested driving the victim’s truck in east Houston.

ICE lodged a detainer — a request to hold — with the Harris County Jail last week. According to DHS, Chirino-Leonice was released into the country under Biden administration in 2023.

DHS SLAMS CALIFORNIA 'SANCTUARY' COUNTY AFTER MOM ALLEGEDLY MURDERED BY 2 HONDURAN NATIONALS

DHS said U.S. Border Patrol first arrested Chirino-Leonice in November 2023. The agency said the Biden administration "subsequently released him into the interior of the country."

Gabriel Martinez, acting field office director for ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations Houston, called the alleged murder a savage attack by an illegal alien "who never should have been allowed into the country."

"This criminal illegal alien — who never should have been allowed into the country in the first place — is accused of savagely beating a co-worker to death with a sledgehammer and leaving him to die in a house they were renovating together," said Martinez.

He said ICE officers in Houston are "working tirelessly to restore integrity to our nation’s immigration system to bring an end to the carnage and unnecessary suffering in this country that’s caused by criminal illegal aliens," adding, "We won’t rest until we’ve accomplished that mission."

TRUMP BLASTS BIDEN ADMIN FOR RELEASING HAITIAN IMMIGRANT NOW CHARGED IN FATAL HAMMER ATTACK ON FLORIDA MOTHER

ICE has arrested thousands of illegal immigrants in the Houston area since President Donald Trump’s return to the Oval Office in January 2025. Those arrests have included at least 414 criminal illegal aliens who have been charged with or convicted of child sex offenses, according to DHS.

At the start of the month, ICE Houston said that in the span of five days it arrested nearly 150 criminal aliens, including five child predators, two drug traffickers, 14 thieves, 62 violent offenders, one arsonist, seven hit-and-run DWIs, and nine immigrants convicted of a combined 31 DWIs.

The Democratic-majority Houston City Council recently voted to end a policy requiring law enforcement to hold illegal immigrants for ICE for at least 30 minutes. Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott has called the policy a "breach of contract" with the state. Last week, he issued an ultimatum to the city to reverse the move or pay the state back $110 million in funding.

TWO BOYS DEAD AFTER ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT FROM MEXICO ALLEGEDLY DROVE DRUNK AND HIT THEM ON A SIDEWALK

Democratic Mayor John Whitmire has called the situation a "crisis" for public safety. The city council is set to reconsider the policy this Wednesday.

Fox News Digital reached out to the Harris County Sheriff's Office for comment.

source https://www.foxnews.com/politics/sledgehammer-murder-spurs-ice-manhunt-illegal-immigrant-suspect

Elizabeth Banks says white women should have voted for Kamala Harris because of 'Hunger Games,' fascism

As the political left, particularly in Hollywood, becomes increasingly unmoored from reality or any semblance of rationality, their new preferred buzzword has become "fascism."

Anything they don't like, any policy that does not align immediately with the current progressive consensus, is "fascism." A term so overused it's now devoid of any and all of its original meaning. And celebrities are among the worst offenders. Obsessed with their own virtue, convinced of their own brilliance, all evidence to the contrary, and devoted to dividing audiences with their political ideology.

Look no further than some recent comments from actress Elizabeth Banks, one of the leading proponents of left-wing politics in the entertainment industry, whose blissful lack of awareness, intelligence, and perspective were once again on display in a new interview. Banks, who played the character "Effie" in the "Hunger Games" series, explained that she's disappointed in white women for how they voted in the last election and suggested they look to her fictional character for inspiration.

Seriously.

In a new interview with Bustle, Banks somehow compared the "Effie" character to fighting a "fascist regime" in modern America.

"Effie, for me, is one of the characters that has the greatest arc that I’ve ever played because, obviously, she props up this fascist regime that she benefits from, and it’s not until she really comes to care for and see how unfair it is when they want to pull Katniss and Peta into the games again," she said. "I think in ‘Catching Fire’ when she’s like, ‘I want to be part of this team,’ and you really see her struggling and then by the end she’s like a revolutionary… I wish more of us were becoming revolutionaries! Effie is the model, guys! I don’t understand the 53% of white ladies that didn’t vote for Kamala."

It's exhausting, isn't it? Just the most obvious, generic absurdist view imaginable.

Donald Trump is fascist, like the Capitol in "The Hunger Games," because fascism no longer means authoritarian government, it means enforcing existing immigration laws. Kamala Harris was part of a Biden administration that engaged in numerous authoritarian-style policies or attempted mandates, with her full support. In fact, the Democratic Party was so desperate to defeat Trump they essentially suspended democracy on their side of the aisle and appointed Harris as their new candidate. After Biden was forced to drop out thanks to his humiliating debate performance, which came despite years of Harris and others lying to the American public about his mental and physical capabilities.

But because Banks is a Democrat first, last, and always, her only view is that voting for Democrats defeats fascism. Does she ever explain how, in her insane comparison, women are benefiting from a "fascist regime" that they need to wake up from? Of course not.

Will it ever make sense? No. Will they ever stop? Absolutely never.

source https://www.foxnews.com/outkick-analysis/elizabeth-banks-white-women-kamala-harris-fascism

Derek Shelton's hot mic moment captures heated exchange with umpire before ejection in loss to Reds

Minnesota Twins manager Derek Shelton was caught voicing his frustration in a hot mic moment before being ejected for arguing a check swing call during Saturday’s loss to the Cincinnati Reds.

The incident went down in the seventh inning after first base umpire Hunter Wendelstedt ruled that Reds star Elly De La Cruz didn’t swing, resulting in a ball on the pitch with the Twins leading, 4-2. 

"No swing?" could be heard shouted from the dugout, although it wasn’t immediately clear who shouted it. De La Cruz hit an RBI single on the next pitch, and Rece Hinds scored to narrow the Twins’ lead. 

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Shelton’s displeasure could be heard from the dugout, and just a few moments later, home plate umpire Nic Lentz ejected him.

 The broadcast picked up Lentz telling Shelton, "I wasn’t going to hear it anymore."

Shelton charged at him, denying the accusation and repeatedly shouting, "I’m not even f---ing talking to you," and, "I didn’t say anything to you." 

TWINS MANAGER EJECTED AFTER EXPLODING OVER TIMING OF ABS CHALLENGE VS ORIOLES

After the game, Shelton said the comment that got him tossed was made when his head was down.

"I had my head down when I made the comment I made," he said, via The Minnesota Star Tribune. "He evidently thought I was making the comment at him, but I had my head down and I was not looking at any umpire after I made it.

"You guys can make the determination on the check swing what you think, but when I made the comment I made, I had my head down. I’ve been ejected a lot of times. In that one, I was not directing anything at anything except frustration down at our bench."

This was the second time Shelton was ejected this season. Last month, he became the first manager to be ejected over the new Automated Balls and Strikes (ABS) system during a loss to Baltimore. 

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source https://www.foxnews.com/sports/derek-sheltons-hot-mic-moment-captures-heated-exchange-umpire-ejection-loss-reds

8 children dead in mass shooting that began as domestic dispute, police say

A domestic dispute that led to a shooting in Louisiana left eight children dead at different homes early Sunday before the shooter was stopped dead after a chase by officers, authorities say.

The victims ranged in age from 1 to about 14 years old, according to Shreveport Police Department spokesperson Chris Bordelon. A total of 10 people were shot, including two adults.

"I just don’t know what to say, my heart is just taken aback," Shreveport Police Chief Wayne Smith said. "I cannot begin to imagine how such an event could occur."

"This is an extensive scene unlike anything most of us have ever seen," Bordelon said.

MISSOURI SUSPECT TAKEN INTO CUSTODY AFTER DEPUTY FATALLY SHOT, ENDING MANHUNT

The man stole a car at gunpoint a half block away from the original crime scene, leaving the scene of the shootings and getting pursued by police, according to Bordelon.

A shootout between police and suspect occurred after a traffic stop in Bossier Parish, resulting in the suspect's death.

"This is a tragic situation — maybe the worst tragic situation we’ve ever had," said Tom Arceneaux, mayor of the city in northwestern Louisiana with about 180,000 residents. "It’s a terrible morning."

Officials said they were still gathering details about the crime scene, which extended across three locations. Some of the children shot were related to the suspect, according to Bordelon.

FLORIDA MAN SUSPECTED OF KILLING 6 IN SHOOTING SPREE AT 2 RESIDENCES IDENTIFIED

Louisiana State Police say their detectives have been asked by Shreveport police to investigate the officer-involved shooting.

In a statement, state police say no officers were harmed in the shooting.

State police are asking anyone with pictures, video or information to share it with state police detectives.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

source https://www.foxnews.com/us/8-children-dead-mass-shooting-began-domestic-dispute-police-say