Lawyers for roughly two dozen states will head to court Monday to block the Trump administration’s attempt to penalize them for making full payments to Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) recipients. 

The filing is the latest in a chaotic, fast-moving legal saga centered on the status of the nation’s largest anti-hunger program, which supports 42 million low-income Americans and remains stalled as a result of the ongoing government shutdown.  

‘Food assistance is not a political issue,’ New York Attorney General Letitia James told reporters Monday. ‘It is a moral imperative, and no one should go hungry because their own government is refusing to feed them.‘

The request for emergency intervention comes after the Trump administration on Saturday threatened to slap states who paid out the full SNAP benefits with steep economic penalties, despite an order from U.S. District Judge John McConnell, who ordered the administration to make the full SNAP payments fully available compared to just 65%, as had been previously outlined.

Trump officials further urged the Supreme Court in a supplemental brief Monday afternoon to keep in place an emergency stay handed down by Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson last week. 

They cited the progress Congress has made towards resolving the ongoing shutdown, and added that, in their view, ‘the answer to this crisis is not for federal courts to reallocate resources without lawful authority.’ 

‘The only way to end this crisis — which the Executive is adamant to end — is for Congress to reopen the government,’ they added.

States have until tomorrow morning to file their response to the Supreme Court.

The judge had scolded the Trump administration for agreeing to fund just 65% of the SNAP benefits. ‘It’s likely that SNAP recipients are hungry as we sit here,’ McConnell said Thursday shortly before issuing the new order, which gave the USDA less than 24 hours to comply. 

In appealing the case, Trump’s legal team had argued that the judge’s order ‘makes a mockery of the separation of powers,’ and accused McConnell of overstepping his powers as a federal judge.

‘There is no lawful basis for an order that directs USDA to somehow find $4 billion in the metaphorical couch cushions,’ DOJ lawyers argued, describing his order as an ‘unprecedented injunction.’ 

The U.S. Department of Agriculture told states in a directive on Saturday that states that failed to comply with the administration’s plans and pay only the reduced SNAP benefits could see a cancellation of federal cost-sharing benefits for SNAP, and would be otherwise fully financially ‘responsible for the consequences’ of their actions.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta, New York Attorney General Letitia James, and New Jersey Attorney General Matt Platkin spoke out about the actions before heading to court today to seek emergency intervention. 

‘We’re asking the courts to block Saturday night’s guidance and immediately make full SNAP benefits available,’ Bonta said of the lawsuit. 

The group accused the Trump administration of playing politics with SNAP benefits, or the food aid that provides benefits to roughly one in eight Americans.

The New Jersey attorney general, Matt Platkin, described the effort by USDA to halt full SNAP payments and shift the costs to states as the ‘most heinous thing’ he had seen while in office. 

‘There are more children in New Jersey on SNAP than consists of the entire population of our state’s largest city,’ he said, in an effort to contextualize the number of people in the Garden State alone who are served by the food aid program. 

‘The new guidance from USDA ‘claimed that the steps we’ve taken to follow its earlier guidance and a court order were ‘unauthorized,’ and that we must immediately undo the actions, or we would face steep penalties,’ Bonta said. 

Trump officials separately told the Supreme Court on Monday that they will continue to seek their emergency stay of another federal judge’s order requiring them to keep SNAP benefits fully funded during the ongoing government shutdown.

The administration ‘still intends to pursue a stay’ of that order, U.S. Solicitor General D. John Sauer told the Supreme Court in a filing, barring any eleventh-hour action from Congress to reach consensus and reopen the government after the more than 40-day government shutdown. 

– Progressive stars Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., are teaming up with New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani Sunday night for a ‘New York is not for sale’ rally at Forest Hills Stadium in Queens, New York City.

The high-profile campaign event comes nearly one week before Election Day, as New Yorkers head to the polls for the first weekend of early voting, closing out a contentious mayoral battle where Mamdani’s unanticipated success has landed him on the national stage.

‘Zohran Mamdani is modeling a different kind of politics,’ Sanders, the former Democratic presidential candidate and longtime progressive leader, said in a statement ahead of the rally. 

The trio of self-identified Democratic socialists have invigorated the Democratic Party’s progressive base at a time when Democrats are still grappling with devastating losses in 2024 amid growing discontent with President Donald Trump’s sweeping, second-term agenda.

When Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez teamed up for the ‘Fighting Oligarchy’ tour earlier this year, they sparked sizable buzz, firing up thousands of Democrats at rallies across the United States who had been left without a clear party leader.

‘As mayor, he will not run a top-down, billionaire-funded, consultant-driven administration. Instead, Zohran will be a champion for the working people of New York,’ Sanders said.

Both Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez have campaigned alongside Mamdani in his bid to lead the nation’s most populous city. 

On Friday night, Sanders appeared for a virtual ‘Get Out the Vote’ event with Mamdani. Last month, Sanders and Mamdani teamed up for a ‘Fighting Oligarchy’ town hall in Brooklyn. 

Ahead of the Brooklyn town hall event, the two progressive leaders marched alongside union members in Manhattan’s Labor Day parade. That afternoon, Mamdani posed for a photo with Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez in Astoria, Queens, amassing millions of views.

Sanders, a two-time Democratic presidential nominee runner-up, was an early endorser of Mamdani’s primary campaign, along with Ocasio-Cortez. Their endorsements helped Mamdani consolidate progressive support in the 11-candidate field during the final weeks of the primary race.

Mamdani’s primary upset triggered a political earthquake as the democratic socialist handily defeated former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who was widely expected to secure the Democratic nomination.

Mamdani’s cross-endorsement with fellow progressive New York City Comptroller Brad Lander cleared the path for Mamdani to consolidate support against Cuomo through ranked-choice voting. 

Cuomo has since launched an independent campaign, teeing up a competitive and contentious general election battle. 

Since Mamdani secured the Democratic nomination, Trump has labeled him a ‘100% Communist Lunatic,’ and ‘my little communist,’ ushering Mamdani onto the national political stage. Mamdani has rejected the moniker, maintaining that he identifies as a democratic socialist, like Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez. 

As Trump began criticizing Mamdani, New York Democrats chose to withhold their endorsements of the socialist candidate, who has made a slew of ambitious campaign promises, like fast and free buses, city-run grocery stores and free childcare, all of which he plans to pay for by raising taxes on corporations and the top 1% of New Yorkers. 

After months of withholding their endorsements, Gov. Kathy Hochul finally endorsed Mamdani last month and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries finally affirmed his support in a statement Friday. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has still yet to endorse. 

Pressure had been mounting since Mamdani won the Democratic primary in June for Mayor Eric Adams, who was also running as an independent, or Cuomo to drop out of the race to consolidate support against Mamdani. Adams dropped out of the race and endorsed Cuomo on Thursday. 

That pressure reached a boiling point last week as billionaires, including Red Apple Media CEO John Catsimatidis and hedge fund CEO Bill Ackman, called on Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa to drop out of the race in order to clear a pathway to victory for Cuomo.

The latest Fox News survey, conducted Oct. 10-14, ahead of the first general election debate last week, revealed that Mamdani has a substantial lead in the race. According to the poll, Mamdani has a 21-point lead among New York City registered voters with 49% of voters backing Mamdani, while 28% go for Cuomo and 13% favor Sliwa.

Mamdani also rose above the 50% threshold among likely voters, garnering 52% support, while Cuomo picked up 28%, and Sliwa received just 14%.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Saturday said that the U.S., Israel and other mediators of the Gaza peace deal had shared intelligence to avoid a possible attack last weekend and would do so going forward. 

‘We put out a message through State Department, sent it to our mediators as well, about an impending attack, and it didn’t happen,’ he told reporters while flying from Israel to Qatar. ‘So that’s the goal here, is ultimately to identify a threat before it happens.’

This comes a week after the State Department said it had ‘credible reports’ that Hamas was planning an attack on Palestinian civilians in violation of the agreement.

Rubio said Saturday the U.S. has talked with countries like Qatar, Egypt and Turkey who are interested in contributing to an international stabilization force in the region. He added that Indonesia and Azerbaijan are also interested.

But, he said, ‘Many of the countries who want to be a part of it can’t do it without’ a United Nations resolution supporting the force.

Rubio also met with President Donald Trump in Qatar ahead of the president’s Asian tour.

Vice President JD Vance was also in Israel earlier this week along with special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner in an attempt to solidify the ceasefire deal, which took effect earlier this month.

Next week, Rubio said the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Dan Caine, is expected to travel to Israel as well.

Trump thanked Qatar for their part in helping secure the peace deal while meeting with Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thanimet and Qatar Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani.

‘This should be an enduring peace,’ Trump told reporters of the deal.

His visit to Qatar was part of a refueling stop before heading on to Asia.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report. 

For decades, the United States has fought the war on drugs as if it were exclusively a law enforcement issue. It never was. It has always had national security implications. 

After years of inaction, drugs now kill more Americans each year than every modern war combined. Fentanyl alone claimed more than 100,000 lives in 2021, a number that continues to rise despite billions spent on interdiction, prevention and policing. That is not a criminal nuisance. That is a sustained mass-casualty event inside the homeland.

President Donald Trump’s new approach finally treats the crisis for what it is. By designating major drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations and authorizing the use of military force against them, his administration has drawn a clear line between criminality and warfare. 

The cartels are not ordinary traffickers. They are transnational powers that control territory, wield military-grade arsenals and use terror as a tool of governance. In Trump’s words, they are ‘the ISIS of the Western Hemisphere.’

The numbers already justify the policy. In the first weeks of operations, the new Homeland Security Task Force has arrested more than 3,200 gang and cartel members, seized 91 tons of narcotics and captured over 1,000 illegal weapons. Those seizures represent tens of thousands of American lives saved. Every boat stopped and every shipment intercepted means fewer overdose deaths, fewer funerals, and fewer communities shattered by addiction and violence.

For too long, Washington treated the cartels as criminals who could be prosecuted rather than enemies who had to be defeated. That approach failed. The cartels wage war on America for profit. They assassinate, extort and kidnap while basking in riches captured through intimidation and terror.  They destabilize our neighbors and corrupt governments from Mexico to Venezuela. If America had the right to strike al Qaeda and ISIS abroad for killing Americans, it has an equal right to strike the cartels that kill Americans at home. 

The legal foundation is clear. In February 2025, the State Department designated Tren de Aragua, Sinaloa, Jalisco Nueva Generación, MS-13 and others as Foreign Terrorist Organizations. A presidential determination in September formally declared that the United States is in a non-international armed conflict with these groups. 

No court has challenged the policy because it aligns with both domestic and international law. When foreign networks deliberately kill American citizens, the president has not only the authority but the obligation to act.

The ethical case is equally strong. The Just War tradition requires a just cause, competent authority, proportionality and last resort. Every criterion has been met. The cause could not be more just when drug overdoses in the United States claimed more than 100,000 lives for a third consecutive year by 2023. 

Years of law enforcement, education campaigns and international coordination have not slowed the killing. When nonviolent means have failed, the duty of a government is to protect its citizens by every lawful means available.

Each go-fast boat in the Caribbean and each semi-submersible in the Pacific carries more than cocaine or methamphetamine. It carries a body count of Americans. These are not fishing vessels. They are militarized smuggling platforms crewed by combatants in a foreign network that profits from death. To treat them as anything less is to deny reality. The era of denial is over.

Critics argue that military strikes risk escalation. The cartels crossed this line long ago when they began murdering, intimidating and corrupting their way into power. These transnational criminal enterprises now operate as shadow governments. To continue treating them as mere criminal syndicates would be absurd.  In truth, it would be to accept defeat. 

Trump’s use of force is not about vengeance. It is about national defense. The Department of War, the CIA, the intelligence community, the DEA, FBI and Coast Guard are now unified in a single mission to dismantle the cartels’ capacity to kill Americans. 

Every strike on a drug boat denies the enemy profit and saves lives. As Secretary Pete Hegseth said, each destroyed vessel represents roughly 25,000 Americans who will not die from the poison it carried.

The cartels’ economic reach rivals that of small nations, generating hundreds of billions annually. They corrupt officials, weaponize migration and flood American streets with narcotics. This is not commerce. It is organized war for profit.

A government that fails to confront such an enemy is unworthy of the people it serves. Trump’s use of military force against the cartels is justified both legally and morally. It is long overdue. The United States has every right to defend its borders, its citizens and its sovereignty against a foreign network that profits from American death.

For decades, America fought this war with hesitation and half-measures. Now it is being fought with purpose. This is not a new war. It is the same one that has been killing Americans for generations. The difference is that, at last, America is fighting to win.

President Donald Trump on Saturday said Hamas needs to start returning the bodies of deceased hostages held captive by the terror group during the war in Gaza ‘quickly, or the other countries involved in this GREAT PEACE will take action.’

While all the living hostages have been returned from Gaza, the remains of 13 deceased hostages have not been handed over by Hamas.

‘Some of the bodies are hard to reach, but others they can return now and, for some reason, they are not,’ Trump wrote in a Truth Social post. ‘Perhaps it has to do with their disarming, but when I said, ‘Both sides would be treated fairly,’ that only applies if they comply with their obligations. Let’s see what they do over the next 48 hours. I am watching this very closely.’

Hours before Trump’s post, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee met with the families of Itay Chen and Omer Neutra, two U.S. citizens who were killed in the Oct. 7, 2023 attacks.

Their bodies are among those still being held by Hamas.

‘We will not forget the lives of the hostages who died in the captivity of Hamas,’ Rubio wrote in an X post. ‘We will not rest until their—and all—remains are returned.’

Authorities believed Chen, a 19-year-old dual U.S.-Israeli citizen, was kidnapped by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023, but was later declared dead by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).

Neutra, 21, an American-Israeli from New York, was killed in battle on Oct. 7, 2023.

Huckabee noted Rubio’s visit to Israel was ‘very productive in moving forward’ the U.S.-brokered Gaza peace plan, adding the plan cannot work until all hostages, living and deceased, are released.

While traveling to Asia Saturday, Trump met with Qatari leaders aboard Air Force One while refueling at Al-Udeid Air Base.

Qatar has played a significant role in efforts to negotiate peace and ceasefires in Gaza.

After a meeting with Qatar Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani, Trump said ‘The Emir is one of the great rulers of the world … and the Prime Minister has been my friend.’

Referencing the peace deal, the president said, ‘What we’ve done is incredible — peace in the Middle East.’

Fox News Digital’s Rachel Wolf contributed to this report.

President Donald Trump signaled why he’s held off on military strikes on Iran amid nationwide protests after claiming the country had canceled executions for hundreds of Iranians. 

When asked if Arab and Israeli officials ‘convinced’ him to not strike Iran, Trump told reporters Friday he convinced himself and cited the canceled hangings. Trump also expressed similar sentiments on social media Friday. 

‘I greatly respect the fact that all scheduled hangings, which were to take place yesterday (Over 800 of them), have been cancelled by the leadership of Iran. Thank you!’ Trump said in a post on Truth Social Friday. 

The statement echoes what White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters Thursday about the canceled executions. She maintained that all options remained on the table when it comes to dealing with Iran.

‘What I will say with respect to Iran is that the president and his team have communicated to the Iranian regime that if the killing continues, there will be grave consequences,’ Leavitt told reporters Thursday. 

‘And the president received a message as he revealed to all of you and the whole world yesterday that the killing and the executions will stop. And the president understands today that 800 executions that were scheduled and supposed to take place yesterday were halted.’ 

It’s unclear from Trump’s post if he was referring to the 800 executions that were already canceled or whether there have been two consecutive days when 800 executions have been called off. 

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital on how many executions have been canceled or whether military strikes are completely off the table now. 

Fox News Digital reached out to a spokesperson for the Islamic Republic of Iran’s permanent mission to the United Nations for additional comment but did not immediately receive a reply.

Protests broke out across Iran in December 2025 in response to the country’s economic hardships as well as a referendum against Iran’s theocratic regime.

More than 2,000 people — including at least nine children — have died in the recent protests, the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency reported Tuesday. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report.