President Donald Trump made a point to shake the hand of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at the White House Tuesday in a warm welcome — in contrast to former President Joe Biden, who came under scrutiny for fist-bumping the Saudi prince in 2022.

Biden’s fist bump occurred during a trip to Saudi Arabia in July 2022, and attracted criticism due to U.S. intelligence reports that indicated that bin Salman signed off on the 2018 assassination of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi. 

But when bin Salman arrived at the White House Tuesday, Trump indicated that the Saudi prince deserved a more formal greeting.

‘And Trump doesn’t give a fist pump. I grab that hand,’ Trump told reporters Tuesday. ‘I don’t give a hell where that hand’s been, I grab that hand. Remember Biden? He travels for 20 hours, he gets out and he gives a fist bump. No. When you get out of the plane and you got the future king and the man who is one of the most respected people in the world, you shake his hand, you don’t give him a fist bump, right?’

‘We don’t want to ask you about that,’ Trump said, referencing bin Salman. ‘But I can’t imagine you were thrilled.’

The Saudi leader’s arrival Tuesday came with full pageantry. A red carpet rolled across the South Lawn, military honor guard and an Air Force flyover underscored the formal state-level welcome.

Biden’s 2022 fist bump with bin Salman occurred as he stepped out of a vehicle outside the Al Salam Royal Palace in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Afterward, Biden brushed off questions about the interaction from reporters, but told them he suggested to bin Salman that he believed the crown prince was ‘responsible’ for Khashoggi’s death.

The exchange prompted former Washington Post publisher Fred Ryan to characterize the gesture as more offensive than a handshake.

‘The fist bump between President Biden and Mohammed bin Salman was worse than a handshake — it was shameful,’ Ryan said in a statement. ‘It projected a level of intimacy and comfort that delivers to MBS the unwarranted redemption he has been desperately seeking.’ 

More than a year later, in September 2023, Biden shook hands with bin Salman when they met in person at the G20 global economic summit in New Delhi.

U.S. intelligence agencies concluded in 2021 that bin Salman gave the green light on the operation that took Khashoggi’s life. Khashoggi, a Saudi dissident, was brutally murdered in Istanbul at the Saudi consulate in 2018.

Still, bin Salman has denied the veracity of those reports. When asked Tuesday about Khashoggi, bin Salman said that it’s ‘painful’ to hear of the death of anyone for ‘no real purpose,’ and said that ‘we are doing our best that this doesn’t happen again.’

Trump also came to defend bin Salman Tuesday, and accused a reporter who asked about U.S. intelligence reports linking the prince to Khashoggi’s death of embarrassing bin Salman.

‘A lot of people didn’t like that gentleman that you’re talking about,’ Trump said Tuesday. ‘Whether you like him or didn’t like him, things happen, but he knew nothing about it. And would you leave it at that? You don’t have to embarrass our guest by asking a question.’

Fox News Digital reached out to Biden’s office for comment and has not yet received a reply. 

No Senate Republicans blocked an attempt to force a vote on a resolution that would compel the release of documents and files related to Jeffrey Epstein.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., made good on his vow to force a vote on the resolution just hours after it passed through the House behind a near unanimous wave of support.

Schumer argued on the floor that the Senate ‘should pass this bill as soon as possible, as written and without a hint of delay.’ 

‘Republicans must not try to change this bill or bury it in committee, or slow walk it in any way,’ he said. ‘Any amendment to this bill would force it back to the House and risk further delay. Who knows what would happen over there?’

Now, as soon as the House transfers the bill to the Senate, it will go straight to President Donald Trump’s desk for his signature. 

The resolution from Reps. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., and Ro Khanna, D-Calif., would require that the Department of Justice (DOJ) release all unclassified records, documents, communications and investigative materials ‘publicly available in a searchable and downloadable format’ related to the late financier and convicted pedophile and his accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell within 30 days of the bill being signed into law. 

The Epstein fervor has not had nearly the impact in the Senate as the House, which was thrust into chaos by the bipartisan push to see the release of the files. Earlier this year, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., put the House into recess to quell the Epstein drama and has since been accused of running from a vote on the issue.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said that Republicans were already mulling the bill through the hotline process, which is where legislation is considered among lawmakers before making it to the floor. Thune said the plan, if the bill clears the hotline, would be to have it on the floor before lawmakers leave for Thanksgiving recess at the end of this week. 

‘We’ll see what the Democrats have to say,’ he said. ‘But it’s the kind of thing, probably, that could perhaps move by unanimous consent.’

That ended up not being necessary, with bill making its way through the upper chamber without a full vote. 

The calculus surrounding the Epstein bill changed in the Senate, too, given that President Donald Trump, who for months railed against attempts to release the files, threw his support behind Massie and Khanna’s legislation over the weekend.

He charged that it was a ‘Democrat Hoax perpetrated by Radical Left Lunatics in order to deflect from the Great Success of the Republican Party.’

‘Nobody cared about Jeffrey Epstein when he was alive and, if the Democrats had anything, they would have released it before our Landslide Election Victory,’ he said in a post on Truth Social.

Senate Republicans, like their counterparts in the House, wanted more transparency on the issue when the Epstein saga resurfaced over the summer but cautioned that no materials should be released until the names or identifying traits of victims are combed through and kept safe.

But, despite calls from Johnson to amend the bill to include those kinds of guardrails in the legislation, it’s unlikely to happen in the Senate. 

‘I think when a bill comes out of the House 427 to one, and the president said he’d sign it, I’m not sure that amending it is in the cards,’ Thune said. 

President Donald Trump on Tuesday announced that the U.S. will designate Saudi Arabia a major non-NATO ally, unveiling a defense and economic partnership with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman during a White House dinner marking 80 years of U.S.–Saudi relations.

Trump welcomed guests at the official dinner and thanked bin Salman for his visit and investment in the U.S. The crown prince gave brief remarks, thanking Trump and expressing his gratitude while saying he was looking forward to a continued partnership between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia.

Before announcing the new designation, Trump reflected on the nations’ long relationship, recalling a 1945 meeting between President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and King Abdul Aziz.

‘It’s a special privilege to welcome his royal highness to Washington this year, as we mark the 80th anniversary of the first meeting between [a] U.S. President and a Saudi king,’ Trump said. ‘The two became immediate and warm friends … and right now you have the best friend you’ve ever had.’

He added that ever since the U.S. and Saudi Arabia have been ‘enduring partners,’ they were ‘making that partnership closer and stronger than ever before’ Tuesday night. 

Trump said the partnership reached a new level after a day of meetings and signings with bin Salman. He praised Saudi Arabia’s modernization, calling it ‘an economic engine and a modern-day miracle,’ and said new agreements in energy, minerals and artificial intelligence were ‘unprecedented.’

He added that Saudi Arabia had agreed to boost its investment in the U.S. from $600 billion to $1 trillion, a move he said would create American jobs and further strengthen the growing alliance.

‘So, that’s why tonight I’m pleased to announce that we’re taking our military cooperation to even greater heights by formally designating Saudi Arabia as a major non-NATO ally, which is something that is very important to them,’ Trump said.

He added that both countries had just signed ‘a historic strategic defense agreement,’ calling it proof of ‘a stronger and more capable alliance’ that would serve ‘the highest interest of peace.’

The announcement followed Trump saying Saudi Arabia would invest $1 trillion in the U.S., doubling an earlier pledge.

‘He said, ‘I am going to up that to $1 trillion,” Trump told the audience. ‘So, he’s investing $1 trillion into the United States … and now you have the hottest country anywhere in the world.’

Trump also pointed to what he called the largest arms purchase in history — $142 billion in American military equipment and services — and said the move ‘will mark and make both of our nations safer and cement the kingdom’s role as a key force for stability and security in the Middle East.’

The president said the new defense pact would make both nations safer and referenced a recent U.S. military operation using B-2 bombers against what he described as an Iranian nuclear threat.

‘Saudi Arabia has never been as safe as it is right now,’ he said. ‘You always had a little cloud over your head. … That cloud is not there anymore.’

After the announcement, Trump tied the agreement to his broader Middle East peace agenda, citing the end of the war in Gaza, the return of hostages and a U.N. resolution endorsing his ‘Board of Peace’ initiative.

‘This is a board like no other,’ he said. ‘It will have the heads of major countries … and I was honored to be chosen the chair.’

Bin Salman thanked Trump for the ‘warm and great welcome,’ calling the day ‘special’ and emphasizing the growing economic relationship between the two countries.

The crown prince also said he believed this is a huge opportunity and vowed to remain focused on implementing and increasing opportunities between both countries.

Trump closed by saying the alliance marked the strongest moment in U.S.–Saudi relations since Roosevelt’s meeting with King Abdul Aziz.

‘Someday, maybe we’ll talk about us as being two wonderful men,’ he said. ‘Forget about great — wonderful is OK — but two wonderful men that did tremendous work for their countries.’

A House Freedom Caucus-led bid to strip a member of the House Democratic Caucus of her role on a high-profile committee after her ties to Jeffrey Epstein were revealed earlier this month failed on Tuesday night.

Lawmakers voted against censuring Del. Stacey Plaskett, D-V.I., the Virgin Islands’ nonvoting delegate in the House of Representatives, over newly surfaced text messages between her and Epstein that were exchanged during the February 2019 congressional testimony of Michael Cohen.

The censure had also included language to remove Plaskett from the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, which oversees entities like the FBI and CIA and regularly receives classified briefings on matters of national security.

Three Republicans joined Democrats to kill the measure, while three more Republicans voted ‘present.’ It ultimately failed in a 209-214 vote.

The three Republicans who voted against censuring Plaskett were Reps. Lance Gooden, R-Texas, Don Bacon, R-Neb., and Dave Joyce, R-Ohio.

House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Andrew Garbarino, R-N.Y., voted ‘present’ along with Reps. Dan Meuser, R-Pa., and Jay Obernolte, R-Calif.

Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., who introduced the resolution, said during debate on the measure on Tuesday, ‘The House of Representatives has a responsibility and a duty to protect the integrity of this institution. And what we learn from the documents released by Jeffrey Epstein’s estate is nothing short of alarming.’

‘Those documents show that Delegate Stacey Plaskett, a sitting member of Congress, coordinated her questioning during an Oversight — an official Oversight hearing, with a man who was a convicted sex offender, a man whose crimes against minors shocked this entire nation.’

Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., who led Democrats’ rebuttal against the resolution, called the measure ‘one more pathetic effort to distract and divert attention from the fact that the president’s name appeared more than a thousand times already in the small fraction of material released on Epstein.’

He also repeatedly referred to Epstein as Plaskett’s ‘constituent’ over his primary residence having been in the Virgin Islands.

Texts exchanged during the 2019 hearing, in which Cohen accused President Donald Trump of a scheme to pay off mistresses to hide evidence of extramarital affairs during his 2016 presidential bid, show Epstein taking a heavy interest in Plaskett’s questioning.

Epstein appeared to guide Plaskett’s lines of questioning at times. One text showed him saying, ‘Hes opened the door to questions re who are the other henchmen at trump org.’

Plaskett was shown to respond, ‘Yup. Very aware and waiting my turn.’

Republicans have seized on Plaskett’s messages with Epstein as proof of a double standard by Democrats on the late pedophile financier’s case.

House Democrats have been arguing for transparency in pushing to uncover any potential improper links between Trump and Epstein but have been largely silent on Plaskett in the days since her ties to him surfaced.

Neither Plaskett nor Trump has been accused of any wrongdoing connected to Epstein’s crimes, however.

Raskin accused Republicans on Tuesday of robbing Plaskett of her right to due process.

‘Without even going to the Ethics Committee, much less a court, they want to arraign her on some charges based on a newspaper article, that she did something lawful — however ill-advised — it may have been. She took a phone call from one of her constituents,’ Raskin said.

‘Where is the ethical transgression? Where is the legal transgression? Are you saying anybody on your side of the aisle who had a phone call with Jeffrey Epstein should be censured?’

Plaskett’s texts with Epstein were reported in a number of media outlets, but they were first found in a tranche of documents from Epstein’s estate and handed over to the House Oversight Committee.

‘I got a text from Jeffrey Epstein, who, at the time was my constituent — who was not public knowledge at that time, that he was under federal investigation — and who was sharing information with me,’ she said in her own defense on Tuesday.

Plaskett also pointed out her years of experience as a prosecutor when arguing she was not seeking advice on her line of questioning.

It’s worth noting, however, that while the federal probe into Epstein was not public knowledge, he first faced charges related to the exploitation of underaged girls as early as 2006.

The vote comes after a Democrat-led bid to refer Plaskett’s case to the House Ethics Committee, rather than moving forward with the censure resolution, failed to pass in a narrow 213-214 vote.

The House of Representatives had earlier moved to force the Department of Justice (DOJ) to release all of its unclassified Epstein files in an overwhelming 427-1 vote.

President Donald Trump has demanded an end to excessive state-level regulation of artificial intelligence (AI) and warned that state rules will end up threatening the U.S. economy.

In a post shared to Truth Social on Tuesday, Trump also slammed ‘Woke AI’ and referred to a ‘patchwork’ of state regulations in the AI space.

‘Investment in AI is helping to make the U.S. Economy the ‘HOTTEST’ in the World,’ Trump wrote.

‘But overregulation by the States is threatening to undermine this Major Growth Engine. Some States are even trying to embed DEI ideology into AI models, producing ‘Woke AI’ (Remember Black George Washington?). We MUST have one Federal Standard instead of a patchwork of 50 State Regulatory Regimes.’

Trump made his comments as House Republican leaders signaled they may try to include AI preemption language in the annual National Defense Authorization Act. 

This would block states from bringing in their own AI rules and protections.

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., said Monday that GOP leaders are considering the measure to prevent what he called ‘regulatory chaos’ as states advance their own rules. 

Trump’s push for a unified national framework is in line with his broader ‘Winning the AI Race: America’s AI Action Plan.’

Under executive orders issued in July, federal agencies must avoid procuring AI systems that ‘sacrifice truthfulness and accuracy to ideological agendas,’ adhere to ‘Unbiased AI Principles’ and support the fight against AI-generated deepfakes through the ‘Take It Down Act.’

Vice President JD Vance echoed Trump’s stance at February’s Artificial Intelligence Action Summit.

‘We believe that excessive regulation of the AI sector could kill a transformative industry just as it’s taking off,’ Vance said.

Not all Republicans are on board. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis shared a post to X Tuesday and warned that overriding state authority would serve as a ‘subsidy to Big Tech’ and ‘prevent states from protecting against online censorship of political speech, predatory applications that target children, violations of intellectual property rights and data center intrusions on power/water resources.’

Trump’s Truth Social post also came after Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman committed during Tuesday’s visit to the White House to increasing his planned investment in the U.S. economy to nearly $1 trillion over the next year.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., raised concerns Tuesday about the government’s potential use of taxpayer funds to support OpenAI and other AI firms.

‘OpenAI’s actions suggest that it may be pursuing a deliberate strategy to entangle itself with the federal government and the broader economy, so the government has no choice but to step in with public funds,’ she said in a letter.

‘We have seen this before: take on enough debt, make enough risky bets, and then demand a taxpayer bailout when those bets go south, so the economy does not crash.’

The White House is experiencing a baby boom. 

At least three women with close ties to the White House are pregnant, including second lady Usha Vance, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt and Katie Miller, who is married to White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller. 

The Vances announced Tuesday that they are expecting their fourth child in July. The couple share three children together: Ewan, Vivek and Mirabel. 

‘Usha and the baby are doing well, and we are all looking forward to welcoming him in late July,’ the Vances wrote in a statement shared on social media.

‘During this exciting and hectic time, we are particularly grateful for the military doctors who take excellent care of our family and for the staff members who do so much to ensure that we can serve the country while enjoying a wonderful life with our children,’ they said. 

The Vances have been married since 2014, and met while they were students at Yale Law School. 

Leavitt announced Dec. 26, 2025, that she and her husband Nick were expecting their second child, who is due in May. Leavitt and her husband welcomed their first child, Niko, in July 2024.

‘My husband and I are thrilled to grow our family and can’t wait to watch our son become a big brother,’ Leavitt told Fox News Digital. ‘My heart is overflowing with gratitude to God for the blessing of motherhood, which I truly believe is the closest thing to Heaven on Earth.’

Leavitt told Fox News Digital in December 2025 that she is ‘extremely grateful to President Trump and our amazing Chief of Staff Susie Wiles for their support, and for fostering a pro-family environment in the White House.’

‘Nearly all of my West Wing colleagues have babies and young children, so we all really support one another as we tackle raising our families while working for the greatest president ever,’ Leavitt said.

Leavitt is the first press secretary to be pregnant, and is remaining press secretary, according to a senior White House official. 

Likewise, Katie Miller, a conservative podcast host, and Stephen Miller shared a joint Instagram post Dec. 31, 2025, celebrating the new year and depicting Katie Miller holding her baby bump. The couple shares three children: Mackenzie, Jackson and Hudson.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital. 

Fox News’ Brooke Singman and Alexandra Koch contributed to this report. 

House Republicans are cautiously supportive of a bipartisan bill aimed at forcing the Department of Justice (DOJ) to release all its files on Jeffrey Epstein’s case after President Donald Trump gave the bill his stamp of approval on Sunday night.

GOP lawmakers who spoke with Fox News Digital Monday evening said they would vote for the bill and were optimistic their colleagues would as well — though many of them said they still had concerns about how it was written.

It comes after Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., who had been against the bill but pushing parallel transparency efforts in Epstein’s case, said he hoped it would undergo material changes when it reached the Senate to give more protection for innocent people whose names may appear in the files against their wishes.

‘I have real concerns about the discharge language in the House draft,’ Johnson said. ‘But I do have some comfort that, I think if and when it’s processed in the Senate, that they’ll be able to correct some of those concerns, if we have the protection of victims and whistleblowers and all the rest.’

The legislation is coming to the House floor on Tuesday afternoon via a mechanism called a discharge petition led by Rep Ro. Khanna, D-Calif., and Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky. The latter has found himself at odds with both Johnson and Trump on several key issues this year.

A discharge petition allows a bill to get a House-wide vote against leaders’ wishes, provided the petition gets support from most lawmakers in the chamber — which in this case, it did last week.

Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., a Trump ally who is running for governor in Florida, said he would vote for the bill but shared Johnson’s concerns.

‘Number one, Congress has never released criminal files ever in the history of Congress. Two, there are victims, and I know we’re supposed to be trying to do what we can to sanitize their names or cover their names or redact their names, but you know, that doesn’t mean it’s going to be foolproof,’ Donalds said.

‘You could have victims that don’t want to be released, be identified, and then they have to go relive this again. What about those women? What if those women have kids now? What if those women have husbands now and they don’t want to go through this? So I think there’s a reason why political bodies don’t release criminal files.’

Donalds said he would vote to release the files, however, to move past this chapter and help victims get closure.

‘It’s become such a huge distraction here on Capitol Hill. And I do want to see justice for those victims, if they were abused,’ he said.

Republican Study Committee Chairman August Pfluger, R-Fla., said, ‘I’m gonna vote in favor of it, but it’s not perfect, and there’s a lot of things that need to be addressed.’

‘Transparency is key. My district needs transparency. The president has nothing to hide, but things that need to be fixed, have to be fixed in the Senate,’ Pfluger, who pledged to support the bill before Trump’s blessing, said.

Rep. Erin Houchin, R-Ind., said she had similar concerns ‘from the start.’

‘Once it goes to the Senate, if the Senate believes they need to have broader or, you know, bigger protections, then I think that’ll be up to the Senate to decide, but I’m ready to vote this out of the House and send it over to the Senate and get moving on it,’ Houchin said.

A member of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, Rep. Andy Ogles, R-Tenn., questioned whether such a move by Congress could get in the way of the DOJ’s active probes into Epstein.

‘I have concerns as well. I mean, you have the Department of Justice investigations taking place. Are we inadvertently interfering?’ he posed.

Ogles said, however, that he believed most House Republicans like himself would back the bill.

‘With the president coming out in support of it, I think that sends a clear message that he’s not afraid of what’s in it, the Democrats should be,’ he said.

Rep. Rich McCormick, R-Ga., similarly said he believed Trump’s support alleviated some difficulties for Republicans.

‘I think it releases any angst they might have when we’re voting for it,’ McCormick said. ‘I think most people will vote for it, I don’t think it’s going to be a controversial bill at all.’

Houchin told Fox News Digital, ‘I think he moved the needle tremendously, just to say, you know, let’s have a vote on it and let’s stop talking about it.’

But Rep. Russell Fry, R-S.C., disagreed that Trump’s support had a significant effect on shifting the tide.

‘I mean, maybe a little bit, but I think people were largely there anyway,’ Fry said. ‘We talked about this on the campaign trail, The guy was a total dirtbag, did unspeakable atrocities on women in our country, and the public wants closure…this has been the most transparent Congress and administration on this subject in the country’s history.’

Trump posted on Truth Social on Sunday night, ‘House Republicans should vote to release the Epstein files, because we have nothing to hide, and it’s time to move on from this Democrat Hoax.’

It appeared to lead to Rep. Troy Nehls, R-Texas, who notably said he would oppose the measure on Friday, changing his mind as of Monday night. He told reporters ‘everybody’ would vote in favor of the bill and pointed out, ‘Donald Trump made a decision.’

House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., who was leading the Johnson-backed probe into Epstein, appeared similarly resigned on Monday.

‘At this point, I just think the best thing to do — there’s so much media frenzy and curiosity about this, and you know, the survivors act like they want everything to come out. I want everything to come out….any other villains in this, we’ll try to figure out what we can,’ he said.

And Massie told reporters that same evening that he would be open but cautious about any changes to his bill in the Senate.

‘If the Senate wants to improve this bill without limiting the disclosure, that would be fine by me. But if they try to monkey it up, I think those senators are gonna get in front of a freight train and be in a lot of trouble with their supporters,’ he warned.

Massie told Fox News Digital of Johnson’s concerns, ‘He needs to be for it or against it. I think he’s going to vote for it, so he must think there’s more good than bad.’

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., has not yet said what he would do if the bill passed the House on Tuesday.