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Vance tapped as ‘fraud czar’ as Trump targets blue states over taxpayer theft

Politics 3 Mins Read

Amid several monumental Cabinet shakeups, President Donald Trump is signaling his continued confidence in Vice President JD Vance by having him address an “unprecedented” problem in Democratic-run states and declaring him the nation’s “fraud czar.” 

Vance announced Thursday his fraud task force busted an alleged $50 million hospice and healthcare fraud scheme in Los Angeles. Following this news, Trump took to Truth Social Friday morning to officially proclaim he was naming Vance fraud czar. 

Trump said Vance’s focus would be “EVERYWHERE” but with a special emphasis on Democratic-controlled states.

“Vice President JD Vance is now in charge of ‘FRAUD’ in the United States,” Trump wrote. “We will call him the ‘FRAUD CZAR,’ and his focus will be ‘EVERYWHERE,’ but primarily in those Blue States where CROOKED DEMOCRAT POLITICIANS, like those in California, Illinois, Minnesota (Somalia beware!), Maine, New York, and many others, have had a ‘free for all’ in the unprecedented theft of Taxpayer Money.”

VANCE ANTI-FRAUD TASK FORCE SUSPENDS 221 CALIFORNIA HOSPICE AND HEALTHCARE PROVIDERS SO FAR

The president called the fraud problems in the U.S. “massive and pervasive” and suggested the implications for the country are enormous.

As fraud czar, “the job (Vance) will be doing, in conjunction with many great people within the Trump Administration, will be a major factor in how great the future of our Country will be,” Trump wrote.

“The numbers are so large that, if successful, we would literally be able to balance our American Budget.”

He emphasized the work Vance already has done in California, writing, “Raids have already started in L.A.” and concluding, “Good Luck JD!”

The president already had placed Vance in charge of the Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, which is a government-wide crackdown on fraud in federal benefit programs. 

However, Trump’s designation of Vance as fraud czar, an informal title, emphasizes the significance he is placing on the task force and his confidence in Vance to get the job done.

PAM BONDI ALREADY FIRED AS ATTORNEY GENERAL, CABINET OFFICIAL TEED UP AS REPLACEMENT: SOURCES

Trump first announced he would be putting Vance in charge of the “war on fraud,” and the position was solidified by Trump’s executive order establishing the fraud task force and placing Vance at the helm.

The announcement followed reporting revealing allegations of widespread fraud and abuse in Minnesota largely involving the state’s Somali immigrant community. 

Trump’s announcement comes the day after news broke that the president was removing Attorney General Pam Bondi from her role at the Department of Justice, a move that political analyst Jonathan Turley said hit Washington, D.C., like a “thunderclap.”

JD VANCE RELEASING BOOK ABOUT FAITH JOURNEY, CONVERSION TO CATHOLICISM

Just weeks before that, the president also removed former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. 

There are widespread rumors of Trump being displeased with several other high-ranking members of his Cabinet, though he has not publicly said so himself.

Fox News Digital reached out to the White House and Vance’s office for comment. 

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5 flashpoints that could make or break the Trump-Xi summit

Investing 3 Mins Read

Trump’s two-day summit with Xi Jinping is now underway in Beijing, marking his first visit to China in nearly nine years.

More than a dozen top US executives have joined him, highlighting how closely markets are watching the trip for both business outcomes and diplomatic signals.

Early expectations remain modest as the talks are more likely to deliver limited agreements on trade and investment than a sweeping reset.

The investors are focused on one key question: Does this summit genuinely ease tensions, or simply delay the next round of friction?

Five issues that may define the summit

1. Trade is the easiest win, and the most likely headline.

Agriculture and aviation are back on the table, with the White House pushing for larger Chinese purchases of US soybeans and other farm goods. China is expected to announce purchases tied to Boeing aircraft and energy.

China may need to clarify how it will meet a prior commitment to buy 25 million metric tons of soybeans annually through 2028, even as its reliance on US beans has fallen sharply in recent years.

A Boeing order of up to 500 737 MAX jets, plus about 100 widebody aircraft in separate talks, would be the kind of deal that gives both leaders something to sell at home.

2. The real bargaining chip is technology versus rare earths.

Beijing wants relief from US restrictions on advanced semiconductor exports and has also objected to proposed rules limiting access to critical chipmaking equipment.

Washington is pressing China on rare earths and other critical minerals that have already strained aerospace and semiconductor supply chains.

The shortages of yttrium and scandium have worsened for US aerospace and chip makers, while Beijing has used export controls as leverage before and has expanded its economic pressure toolkit during the truce.

3. The Iran war and the Strait of Hormuz have turned this into a commodity-market summit.

US officials want China to help press Iran over the waterway, and the State Department has said senior US and Chinese officials agree no country should be allowed to exact shipping tolls in the Strait of Hormuz.

Trump and Xi are expected to discuss the conflict in Beijing, with China’s energy security under strain as the war has disrupted crude flows and complicated Beijing’s own diplomatic balancing act.

Any movement here would have immediate implications for oil, inflation expectations and risk assets.

4. Taiwan remains the summit’s biggest landmine.

Trump has said he will discuss arms sales to Taiwan, and he also plans to raise the case of jailed Hong Kong publisher Jimmy Lai.

Beijing has been signaling that Taiwan sits at the center of the talks and is pushing Washington to adjust its wording on Taiwan independence.

5. Jimmy Lai is the human-rights wild card that could trigger the most public friction.

Lai’s case is not likely to produce a deal, but it could produce a clash. Trump’s decision to raise it reflects both domestic politics and a willingness to use human-rights pressure as negotiating leverage.

China sees the issue as interference in internal affairs, which makes it one of the least soluble items on the agenda and one of the easiest to turn into a public spat if the summit sours.

The post 5 flashpoints that could make or break the Trump-Xi summit appeared first on Invezz

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The world economy is experiencing the most severe oil shock in decades. The worst could still be on the way.

Business 2 Mins Read

Surging oil prices continue to ripple through the global economy because of the war with Iran. Now, some analysts say the worst could still be ahead as the conflict drags on.

The concern is that beyond immediate knock-on effects from rising gasoline prices, the war’s disruption could come in waves — ones that will play out over weeks and months and leave few parts of the global economy untouched.

“We haven’t seen the brunt of it yet,” said Samantha Gross, director of energy security and climate at the Brookings Institute. “I feel like markets are so far underestimating the effect of the war. It seems that they expect this war to go quickly, and they expect that we can go back to the world before when it’s over. And I don’t think either of those ideas is true.”

The warning signs are already here. The global oil price benchmark, Brent crude — which heavily influences U.S. gasoline prices — briefly topped $119 a barrel last week, the highest since the war began and a level last seen in July 2022 amid the pandemic-era inflation wave. As of Monday, Brent prices had settled at about $113 a barrel.

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Trump claimed huge wins in China, but Beijing’s readout barely backed any of it

Investing 4 Mins Read

Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump emerged from their Beijing talks with very different public emphases.

Trump described a set of concrete wins, from Boeing aircraft to energy, farm goods, financial market access and chip sales.

Beijing’s official readout, by contrast, stayed broad, stressing “constructive strategic stability,” more cooperation in trade and agriculture, and a warning that mishandling Taiwan could lead to “clashes and even conflicts.”

The gap matters because it shows how much of the summit is being framed by Trump’s post-meeting remarks, and how little of it was spelled out by China itself.

Big-ticket promises, thin confirmation

Trump’s account of the summit leaned heavily on large commercial claims.

He said China had agreed to buy 200 Boeing jets, while also pointing to broader hopes for more US oil, soybeans and liquefied natural gas.

“One thing he agreed to today, he’s going to order 200 jets … 200 big ones,” Trump told Fox News, referring to Xi.

He also said he had pressed for greater access for Visa in China’s tightly regulated credit-card market.

What Beijing published was much less specific.

In its official readout, Xi said China and the US should expand exchanges and cooperation in areas including trade, agriculture, tourism, people-to-people ties and law enforcement, but it did not confirm the headline purchase pledges Trump described.

The readout also framed the relationship in carefully managed language, calling for a “constructive China-US relationship of strategic stability.”

Iran and Hormuz: Trump’s boldest claim

The sharpest mismatch came on Iran and the Strait of Hormuz.

Trump said Xi would not provide military equipment to Iran and suggested China would help reopen the waterway.

On Iran, Trump said he and Xi agreed that “Iran cannot have nuclear weapons,” while also suggesting China could help reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

Beijing, however, kept its wording far more general.

At a Foreign Ministry briefing, spokesperson Guo Jiakun said the two sides exchanged views on the Middle East and other major international and regional issues, and only added that China’s position on the Strait of Hormuz was “consistent and clear.”

The official readout from Xi’s talks did not give a detailed public commitment on Iran or Hormuz.

Trump’s remarks were markedly more assertive, while China’s official record stayed narrower and more cautious.

On the public record, the summit produced discussion, not a clearly documented Iran deal.

China’s oil pledge

Trump also said China had expressed interest in buying more US oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG), presenting energy as another headline commercial outcome from the summit and part of a broader effort to narrow the bilateral trade gap.

They have agreed they want to buy oil from the United States, they are going to go to Texas, we are going to start sending Chinese ships to Texas and to Louisiana and to Alaska.

Donald Trump
President of the United States

The White House later framed it as a way for China to reduce its dependence on Middle East supply routes, particularly the Strait of Hormuz.

But Beijing’s official account made no mention of oil or LNG purchases.

Instead, Chinese officials referred only to broader economic cooperation, highlighting trade and agriculture without offering any details on energy volumes, timelines or formal purchase commitments.

What Beijing chose to emphasize

Beijing’s own emphasis was on tone, not trophy items.

Xi’s readout spoke about keeping bilateral ties stable, expanding trade and agriculture cooperation, and maintaining channels of communication.

It also carried a pointed warning on Taiwan, saying that if the issue is handled properly, the relationship can remain stable, but if mishandled, it could lead to “clashes and even conflicts.”

That is why the summit reads more like a diplomatic reset than a long list of signed concessions.

There were warm words and some limited openings, especially around Boeing, farm goods, energy and chips.

But the official Chinese text is notably cautious, and that caution leaves the most important deals of the visit sitting in a gray zone between announcement and confirmation.

The post Trump claimed huge wins in China, but Beijing's readout barely backed any of it appeared first on Invezz

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Mike Rowe doubles down after blasting Kimmel’s ‘tone-deaf’ plumber jokes

Politics 4 Mins Read

After being scorned on social media, “Dirty Jobs” television show veteran Mike Rowe doubled down on his criticism of Jimmy Kimmel’s “tone deaf” monologues mocking new Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin for being a former plumber.

Rowe said he had not noticed his post about late-night host Kimmel “belittling plumbers” had gone viral, because he had been too busy working.

“I want to apologize for not responding to any of the 22 thousand comments my last post inspired,” he wrote. “I’ve been filming all week and just noticed my observations about Jimmy Kimmel and a former plumber named Markwayne Mullin have gone viral.”

Rowe said that Kimmel’s digs at Mullin for being a former plumber are evidence of “longstanding stigmas and stereotypes” against blue-collar skilled trade workers as “uneducated, one-dimensional workers who never made it to college.”

LATE-NIGHT HOST JIMMY KIMMEL SHOWS UP TO ‘NO KINGS’ PROTEST WITH KIDS, HOLDS ‘ENOUGH ALREADY’ SIGN

“I did not suggest – even remotely – that a plumber was inherently qualified to hold a cabinet position,” he wrote on X. “What I said was that being a plumber should not disqualify a person from holding such a position.”

Kimmel, a regular critic of the Trump administration, was recently criticized as elitist for using Mullin’s prior experience as a plumbing business owner as evidence that he is unqualified to lead the Department of Homeland Security. 

“Trump’s got a whole new generation of thinkers lined up, including his newly confirmed secretary of Homeland Security, Markwayne ‘Chuck Mike Bruce Dave’ Melon — Mullin. Maybe Melon’s better,” Kimmel said on air March 24. “He’s the now former senator of Oklahoma. Before he was elected to the Senate, Markwayne Mullin was a low-level MMA fighter and a plumber. That’s right. We have a plumber protecting us from terrorism now. It worked for Super Mario. Why not Markwayne?”

He continued, “But honestly — I mean, if Trump is going to keep picking these unqualified people to run the department, why not have more fun with it? I mean, next time, instead of Markwayne, how about Lil Wayne for Homeland Security? At least we can get a concert out of it, right?”

Kimmel later doubled down, saying, “I’m not upset that the head of Homeland Security used to be a plumber. I’m upset that he isn’t still a plumber.”

JIMMY KIMMEL REFUSES TO BACK DOWN AFTER MOCKING SECRETARY MULLIN OVER PLUMBING BACKGROUND

Rowe had ripped late-night host Kimmel for the dig, saying he took offense at the “suggestion that skilled workers should never evolve into something new.” 

He asked if Mullin’s career progression from plumbing business owner to Congress and then to a top Cabinet official is “not the embodiment of the American Dream?”

On Friday, he wrote that stereotypes reinforced by jokes like Kimmel’s are contributing to a critical shortage of American skilled laborers. 

“Reasonable people can disagree as to what is funny and what isn’t. Frankly, I couldn’t care less. What I do care about,” he wrote, “is the extraordinary shortage of plumbers and electricians our country is facing, and the longstanding stigmas and stereotypes that continue to discourage people from considering a lucrative career in the skilled trades.”

“Jimmy’s joke – and his audience’s reaction to it,” wrote Rowe, “is proof positive that those stigmas and stereotypes are alive and well.”

JIMMY KIMMEL’S TRUMP, MELANIA DIGS AT OSCARS ‘FELL FLAT’ WITH CRITICS

Digging even deeper, Rowe asked, “What do their credentials and diplomas have to do with their actual competency? Are we not already surrounded by a legion of perfectly qualified experts who don’t know what the hell they’re doing?”

“Jimmy is entitled to his opinion, along with anyone else who believes that Mullin is unqualified to lead the DHS,” he wrote on X. “The Constitution, however, says otherwise, and so does the Senate.” 

Rowe, who runs a nonprofit promoting skilled labor careers called the mikeroweWORKS Foundation, concluded by encouraging people to launch a career in the skilled trades, saying, “Who knows? Could be the first step on your road to President.”

Fox News Digital reached out to spokespeople for Kimmel for comment. 

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Nio stock is pumping in Hong Kong today: here’s why and what next

Investing 4 Mins Read

Nio stock price jumped by over 4.4% in Hong Kong today, May 14, mirroring its performance in Wall Street a day earlier. It jumped to H$50.45, its highest level in two weeks, and is up by over 45% from its lowest point this year. This growth makes it one of the best-performing Chinese electric vehicle stock in 2026.

Nio Inc. faces tailwinds ahead of earnings

Nio, a top Chinese Tesla rival, is facing major tailwinds as it prepares to release its financial results on Thursday next week. Its recent numbers showed that deliveries continued rising by double digits, and analysts are optimistic that its revenue and profitability growth will continue.

A recent delivery report revealed that the company delivered 83,465 vehicles in the first quarter, a 98.3% annual increase. In contrast, BYD delivered over 700k vehicles, down by 30% YoY, with the management blaming the subsidy cut and competition.

XPeng delivered 62,682 vehicles, a 33% drop, despite the surge in March after it expanded in Mexico. Li Auto’s deliveries rose by 2.5%, while Polestar jumped by 7% as it boosted its retail presence. Tesla’s deliveries rose by 6%.

Nio’s success has been because of its premium brand, and its sub-brands like ONVO and Firefly. Its premium ES8 SUV brand, which is one of the best sellers in the country. 

It now hopes that the newly launched ES9 brand will continue the trajectory. It is selling at $73,000, a figure that drops to $58,000 for customers who select to use its Battery-as-a-Service (BaaS) subscription.  

READ MORE: Nio stock price has slipped this month: here’s why it may rebound soon

Nio has turned a profit

Meanwhile, Nio’s stock price is rising after the company made a major announcement in the last earnings report. It has now started generating a profit, something that has remained elusive for years as it invested in growth. The recent results showed that it made a net profit of over $40 million. 

Analysts are optimistic that Nio will publish strong numbers next week, especially after it reported good delivery metrics. The average estimate among five analysts tracking the company is that its revenue will come in at CNY 25.2 billion, up by over 105% YoY. 

These analysts have also recently boosted their price target. DBS Bank boosted the call from hold to moderate buy, while HSBC hiked the rating from hold to buy, with the price target of the US stock rising to $6.80. Nomura boosted the rating to buy, while Macquarie hiked to outperform.

Nio shares are also rising because of the ongoing Trump visit to China. Analysts are predicting that he will make some concessions, including allowing Chinese manufacturers to enter the US. Such a move may make Nio enter the country and compete with automakers like GM and Ford.

Nio stock price technical analysis

Nio shares chart | Source: TradingView

Technicals suggest that the Nio share price has more upside to go in the near term. For one, it has formed a cup-and-handle pattern, a common continuation sign in technical analysis. It has completed the cup section and is now in the handle zone. 

The handle section was also part of the giant bullish flag pattern. This pattern is made up of a long vertical line and a descending channel. In most cases, it leads to a strong bullish breakout as investors buy the dip.

Therefore, the combination of the cup-and-handle and bullish flag patterns, and its strong fundamentals, means that it will likely have a strong bullish breakout. The next key target to watch will be the year-to-date high of $55. A move above that price will point to more gains, potentially to last year’s high of H$61.5.

The post Nio stock is pumping in Hong Kong today: here’s why and what next appeared first on Invezz

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Dem fundraising giant ActBlue rocked by allegations it misled Congress about foreign donations

Politics 4 Mins Read

ActBlue, a central piece of the Democratic Party’s fundraising infrastructure, potentially misled Congress when it said it was adequately vetting incoming donations, according to a new report released this week.

The head of ActBlue, a major nonprofit fundraising platform that helps steer donations to left-wing candidates and causes, wrote in 2023 to Congress — in response to concerns about the platform’s ability to vet foreign donors — that it was taking all the necessary steps to ensure it was following the rules to ensure money from foreign sources were not making it through, according to a Thursday report from The New York Times. 

However, behind the scenes, ActBlue’s attorneys at Covington & Burling were expressing grave concerns that ActBlue CEO Regina Wallace-Jones’ claims in her letter to Congress were misleading and could open up the platform to significant legal risk, the report said.

ActBlue was already facing scrutiny from Trump, with him calling on the Justice Department last year to investigate the group over concerns the platform was allowing straw and foreign donations, which are barred by federal election laws. The fundraising platform has also been targeted by several congressional probes led by Republican House Committees.

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The concern from ActBlue’s legal counsel was found by the Times after reviewing memos between ActBlue and its legal counsel, resignation letters, and other communications. The Times also held interviews with ActBlue employees on the basis of anonymity. 

The memos reportedly communicated that claims to Congress by Wallace-Jones, indicating that ActBlue had a multi-layered vetting framework and processed contributions with foreign mailing addresses only if the donor supplied a U.S. passport number, were not fully accurate. Wallace-Jones also reportedly wrote in her letter that ActBlue’s framework would contact donors to request their U.S. passport information in order to process donations and would return any money when they could not reach the donor. However, this was also reportedly not happening on a consistent basis, according to The Times’ reporting.

“It can be alleged that ActBlue accepted and/or facilitated the acceptance of foreign-national contributions into American elections,” one memo reportedly stated. “In addition, because ActBlue’s staff was aware that its system was not as robust as necessary, it could be alleged that these violations were ‘knowing and willful,’ a standard that both increases the penalties the F.E.C. might seek and gives the Justice Department jurisdiction for a potential criminal investigation.”

FOREIGN BILLIONAIRES FUNNEL $2.6B TO US ADVOCACY GROUPS TO INFLUENCE POLICY, WATCHDOG REPORT CLAIMS

“An aggressive prosecutor may view the November 2023 letter not just as a false statement but as an effort to conceal the foreign contributions,” ActBlue’s legal counsel wrote, The Times reported.

The concerns about Wallace-Jones’ statements to Congress and what to do subsequently resulted in behind-the-scenes chaos at the political fundraising nonprofit, including a slew of departures at ActBlue that were reported publicly by The Times. Additionally, the relationship between ActBlue and its legal firm, Covington & Burling, which is known for representing some of the most high-profile political clients in the United States, was ultimately severed amid disagreements over whether Wallace-Jones’ claims in 2023 were the fault of the legal counsel,or ActBlue, according to the Times’ reporting on Thursday. 

“We have complete confidence in the legal advice our lawyers provided to ActBlue,” a Covington spokesperson told Fox News Digital. 

ActBlue did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment in time for publication. 

In May, ActBlue put out a press release informing people about “what’s really happening and what you need to know,” pertaining to the investigation into ActBlue’s vetting mechanisms. The press release called it a “myth” that the platform allows foreign nationals to illegally contribute donations.

“While ActBlue has always had strong measures in place that have successfully prevented illegal foreign donations, beginning in 2025 we have gone even further,” the press release states. “We now require that Americans living abroad be physically present in the United States to make a contribution on our platform, despite campaign finance laws allowing citizens to contribute to campaigns while living abroad.”

Trump called on the DOJ early in his term to return a report within 180 days to him about the status of its findings into ActBlue. However, according to The Times, that report has never been made public. The outlet added that three investigations by GOP-led House committees remain ongoing. 

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A global jet fuel shortage is raising the cost of air travel

Business 5 Mins Read

American flyers still smarting from interminable airport security lines are about to get another shock.

A looming global jet fuel shortage is expected to hike the cost of air travel and reduce flight schedules, as airlines look to offset rising prices.

On Monday, JetBlue announced it was raising baggage fees, citing “rising operating costs.”

“While we recognize that fee increases are never ideal, we take careful consideration to ensure these changes are implemented only when necessary,” the carrier said.

United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby said costs to passengers have already been increasing. Data from flight information group OAG shows average airfares in the past week reached $465, the highest price point for the same period since at least 2019.

“We have to raise prices to deal with higher fuel prices,” Kirby acknowledged at a company event last week in Los Angeles. In a subsequent memo, he added: “It may be a challenge to continue passing through much of the increased fuel price if oil stays higher for longer.”

The rising prices are the latest example of the economic fallout from the war with Iran. Analysts have started warning that the full toll has only begun to be accounted for as the global economy absorbs the loss of critical energy exports out of the region due to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz and damage to other key energy infrastructure sites in the region. On Tuesday, U.S. gasoline prices hit $4 a gallon for the first time since 2022 amid surging oil prices. Major stock indexes, meanwhile, have fallen by nearly 10% since the start of the war.

In the case of air travel, the industry is facing jet fuel prices that have surged 85% in the U.S. since the day before the war began in February, according to data from Argus published by the industry group Airlines for America. On Monday, they hit a record $4.62 a gallon.

Most U.S. carriers no longer hedge fuel costs, said Henry Harteveldt, president of Atmosphere Research Group. So they are forced to pass on some costs to passengers.

While U.S. carriers largely source jet fuel domestically, countries in Asia and Europe that are more reliant on Middle East stocks have begun signaling they are taking unprecedented measures to conserve jet fuel. In South Korea, carriers have requested that the government help redirect fuel stocks bound for export back to local markets.

The Financial Times reported Monday that the U.K. was also facing an acute shortage, with no Britain-bound cargoes visible on the water as transit through the Strait of Hormuz remains blocked. Some foreign carriers have begun charging fuel surcharges of as much as $150.

As overseas carriers begin looking to alternative supply bases, the cost for a global commodity like jet fuel rises across the board.

“It shocks the entire mechanism,” said Jaime Brito, an executive director at Oil Price Information Service consultancy.

President Donald Trump commented on the jet fuel shortages Tuesday morning, though he did not mention their impact on U.S. travelers.

“All of those countries that can’t get jet fuel because of the Strait of Hormuz, like the United Kingdom, which refused to get involved in the decapitation of Iran, I have a suggestion for you: Number 1, buy from the U.S., we have plenty, and Number 2, build up some delayed courage, go to the Strait, and just TAKE IT,” he wrote on Truth Social.

Airlines are also signaling capacity cuts to cope with rising costs. United will drop about 5% of planned flights in mostly “off-peak periods” — like red-eye and midweek routes — during the second and third quarters of 2026 to further mitigate the cost increases.

“We’re certainly going to be nimble in terms of capacity to make sure that supply and demand stay in balance,” American Airlines CEO Robert Isom said at a JPMorgan conference earlier this month.

Kyle Potter, executive editor of the Thrifty Traveler, said most carriers have quietly been raising airfares since the Iran war began. He said airlines typically move in droves when making pricing decisions, so it is likely that other carriers may also soon begin raising baggage fees or seek other forms of ancillary revenue. Potter noted that unlike airfares, revenues from these fees are not subject to federal excise taxes.

As a result, the fees — unlike airfares — are unlikely to come back down assuming jet fuel prices recover.

Representatives for five other major U.S. carriers did not respond to a request for comment.

The acute fuel price increase comes as air travel demand has remained steady, with January and February ticket sales at or near records. While investors have taken airline stocks down some 25% since the start of the Iran war, Kirby said that customers appear willing to keep booking thanks to healthy demand even if airfare rises.

“The number of wealthy Americans who are traveling is bigger and wealthier than ever, and that is what much of the airline industry is relying on right now,” Potter said. “And that means they’re more immune to higher fees, higher fares and just getting turned off by negative news about travel.”

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Trump says his ‘preference’ would be to ‘take the oil in Iran’

Business 2 Mins Read

President Donald Trump said Sunday that he would like to “take the oil in Iran” and is considering seizing the export hub of Kharg Island, which is responsible for more than 90% of Iran’s oil exports.

In an interview with the Financial Times, Trump said his “preference would be to take the oil.”

“To be honest with you, my favorite thing is to take the oil in Iran but some stupid people back in the U.S. say: ‘Why are you doing that?’ But they’re stupid people,” he said.

The interview marks some of Trump’s most direct comments about his thinking on what to do with Iran’s oil.

In an interview with NBC News this month, Trump sidestepped answering whether he had plans to try to take Iran’s oil.

“You look at Venezuela,” he said. “People have thought about it, but it’s too soon to talk about that.”

In January, the U.S. captured Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and proceeded to take more control over the country’s oil industry.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment Sunday night.

Trump told the Financial Times on Sunday that the U.S. has “a lot of options,” including potentially taking Kharg Island, a rare island made of hard coral off Iran.

“Maybe we take Kharg Island, maybe we don’t. We have a lot of options,” Trump said. “It would also mean we had to be there [in Kharg Island] for a while.”

Oil prices have skyrocketed around the globe as the war continues, with U.S. crude oil costing over $100 a barrel Sunday.

Thousands more U.S. troops are heading to the Middle East, with the USS Tripoli arriving on Saturday as part of a complement of 3,500 troops. But Trump and his administration continue to signal that they are working to negotiate a 15-point proposal to end the war.

Trump declined Sunday to offer specific details about whether a ceasefire deal could be reached in the coming days to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a critical waterway used to move about 20% of the world’s oil exports.

“We’ve got about 3,000 targets left — we’ve bombed 13,000 targets — and another couple of thousand targets to go,” Trump said in the Financial Times interview. “A deal could be made fairly quickly.”

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Bipartisan senators probe Kremlin-linked delegation’s meetings with US officials

Politics 3 Mins Read

FIRST ON FOX: A bipartisan pair of top-ranking senators want to know why sanctioned Russian officials were in Washington, D.C., and given access to the Capitol and meetings with administration officials as wars in Iran and Ukraine rage on.

Senate Armed Services Committee Chair Roger Wicker, R-Miss., and Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., the top-ranking Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, raised counterintelligence concerns over the recent visit of a delegation of Russian Duma members, all of whom are sanctioned for “conduct deemed to be harmful to U.S. national security.”

“The delegation came onto U.S. soil for one purpose: to advance the Kremlin’s strategic aims — including gathering additional useful intelligence,” the lawmakers wrote in a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.

TRUMP EYES NEXT ATTORNEY GENERAL AS KEY GOP SENATOR SIGNALS POTENTIAL ROADBLOCK

“They did not come to engage in dialogue or pursue democratic aims,” they continued.

The lawmakers argued that Duma members “include Kremlin subordinates who have committed numerous cyber and ransomware attacks on Americans and have facilitated war crimes against Ukrainian civilians.”

“Remarkably, they are now helping Iran target U.S. military and diplomatic personnel across the Middle East,” Wicker and Shaheen wrote.

SENATE TO QUESTION TRUMP INTEL LEADERS ON IRAN WAR AFTER TOP OFFICIAL QUITS IN PROTEST

Several members of the Russian Duma visited Washington, D.C., late last month on a trip organized by Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla. She was joined by Reps. Eli Crane, R-Ariz., Derrick Van Orden, R-Wis., Andy Ogles, R-Tenn., and Vicente Gonzalez, D-Texas, for a meeting with the delegation.

Luna later gave them a tour of the Capitol after posing for photos outside the United States Institute of Peace.

“As representatives of the world’s two greatest nuclear superpowers, we owe our citizens open dialogue, the exchange of ideas, and open lines of communication,” Luna said on X following the meeting. “We will continue to foster this dialogue and push for peace in support of this [administration’s] efforts, as well as economic opportunity.”

GRAHAM SAYS RUSSIA SANCTIONS BILL ‘NEVER GOING BACK ON THE SHELF’ AFTER TRUMP BACKS PUSH

Wicker and Shaheen noted that the Duma members were “far from innocent participants in a cultural exchange.”

“It included Vyacheslav Nikonov, who in 2023 referred to the United States and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization as the ‘Fourth Reich’ on Russian television. Mikhail Delyagin has advocated for destroying Ukraine’s energy sector. Boris Chernyshov once claimed that Russian retaliatory strikes were ‘an expression of our hatred [of Ukraine],’” they wrote.

Wicker and Shaheen demanded that Rubio and Bessent explain why sanctions were waived for the Russian officials’ visit, what meetings the delegation had with Trump administration officials, what counterintelligence assessments were conducted on the visiting Russians, and provide a complete manifest of who traveled from the Russian Federation.

The lawmakers wrote that the delegation’s visit came “at a time when Russia’s intentions are unambiguously clear.”

“Numerous public reports have cited Russian support for Iran’s military targeting of American service members in the Middle East,” they wrote. “European intelligence agencies have reported that Russia intends to attack NATO member states in the coming years. And [Russian President Vladimir] Putin has made it clear that peace in Ukraine is a mirage. His singular ambition for Ukraine is to erase its existence.”

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