A group of House Republicans is raising concerns about the potential effects of the U.S. importing Argentinian beef after President Donald Trump floated the idea earlier this week.

Rep. Julie Fedorchak, R-N.D., is leading seven other House GOP lawmakers in a letter to the president on Tuesday evening, warning the potential plan has rattled the multibillion-dollar American ranching industry.

‘America’s cattle producers are among the most resilient and hardworking in the nation,’ the Republicans wrote. ‘Collectively, the cattle industry supports thousands of jobs across our districts and contributes $112 billion to rural economies nationwide.’

‘In recent days, we have heard strong concerns from producers regarding reports that the U.S. may import beef from Argentina.’

The House Republicans acknowledged the ‘importance of strong trade relationships and diverse markets’ but added that beef producers in their districts ‘are seeking clarity on how this decision will be made, what safety and inspection standards will apply, and how this policy aligns with your administration’s commitment to strengthening American agriculture.’

Trump suggested Sunday that buying beef from Argentina could help lower prices for Americans at home, amid a wider promise to lower costs for U.S. citizens.

‘One of the things we’re thinking about doing is beef from Argentina,’ Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One.

He later elaborated in his conversation with reporters, ‘We would buy some beef from Argentina. If we do that, that will bring our beef prices down.’

‘Our groceries are down, our energy prices are down. I think we’re going to have $2 gasoline pretty soon. We’re getting close and everything’s down. The one thing that’s kept up is beef,’ Trump said.

He added that it would not be ‘that much’ but argued it would help Argentina, a U.S. ally, as well.

But the House Republicans questioned whether imported beef would be held to the same food safety and animal health requirements as that of the U.S., which they called ‘the gold standard.’

‘Any import policy must hold foreign suppliers to those same rigorous standards. Introducing beef from countries with inconsistent safety or inspection records could undermine the confidence that U.S. ranchers have worked decades to earn,’ the lawmakers warned.

‘We respectfully request additional information on this matter and urge your administration to ensure that any future decisions are made with full transparency, sound science, and a firm commitment to the U.S. cattle industry. America’s producers can compete with anyone in the world. If given an opportunity, they will continue to respond quickly to the market demand for more quality American beef in our grocery stores.’

In addition to Fedorchak, the letter is also signed by Reps. Michelle Fischbach, R-Minn., Troy Downing, R-Mont., Gabe Evans, R-Colo., Dusty Johnson, R-S.D., Derek Schmidt, R-Kan., Jeff Hurd, R-Colo., and Republican Study Committee Chair August Pfluger, R-Texas.

White House spokesman Kush Desai told Fox News Digital in response, ‘The Trump administration remains committed to addressing the needs and concerns of American cattle producers and safeguarding their interests at home and abroad. That’s why the administration has secured billions in new export opportunities for American agricultural products in our historic trade deals with the UK, Japan, the EU, and others.’

‘It’s also why the administration is focused on reversing a prolonged decrease in the supply of live cattle by growing American cattle herds with robust action to deliver disaster relief to cattle country, support new ranchers, and reduce risk for cattle producers,’ Desai said.

Trump’s proposal has stirred some anxiety among some Republicans whose constituencies depend on cattle ranching.

Sen. Deb Fischer, R-Neb., posted on X Tuesday, ‘If the goal is addressing beef prices at the grocery store, this isn’t the way.’

‘The U.S. has safe, reliable beef, and it is the one bright spot in our struggling ag economy. Nebraska’s ranchers cannot afford to have the rug pulled out from under them when they’re just getting ahead or simply breaking even,’ Fischer wrote.

Meanwhile, Fox News Digital was told that Rep. Harriet Hageman, R-Wyo., also raised significant concerns about what importing beef from Argentina could do to the U.S. cattle ranching industry during a call with fellow House Republicans on Tuesday.

But some Republican responses were more muted. Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., told reporters that Trump ‘definitely identified a problem’ regarding a shortage of cattle in the U.S. He added, ‘I understand what he’s trying to get done. I think there’s more ways to implement it.’

Fedorchak herself told Fox News Digital, ‘We’ve all received a number of questions and calls from our constituents over the last few days, so we are asking for clarity on the administration’s long-term plans. Our farmers and ranchers stand ready to deliver on the president’s America-First agenda. North Dakotans take great pride in producing the safest, highest-quality beef in the world — and we should be building on that success.’

Lawyers for John Bolton and the Trump administration appeared in federal court in Maryland Friday to discuss next steps in the criminal case for Trump’s former national security adviser, who was indicted last month on charges of mishandling classified and sensitive materials.

Bolton was indicted last month on 18 criminal charges stemming from his alleged retention and transmission of classified and sensitive materials during Trump’s first term, including national defense information.

Authorities have accused him of sending more than 1,000 ‘diary-like’ updates to his wife and daughter between 2018 and 2019 via emails and texts, including classified information from intelligence briefings and meetings with foreign officials. 

The pre-trial hearing in Bolton’s case on Friday was largely a procedural one, centered on next steps for both parties to review the breadth of discovery materials Bolton is accused of illegally retaining and transmitting.

If nothing else, it underscored the fact that Bolton’s trial is unlikely to take place for quite some time. The deadlines that both parties agreed to will put discovery in the case well into 2026, with a status conference in the case scheduled for October of next year. A trial date has not yet been set.

U.S. District Judge Theodore D. Chuang seemed reluctant to accept the government’s lengthy proposed timeline for the document review process to take place, noting the government’s obligations under the Speedy Trials Act, which sets time limits for federal criminal trials. 

Seven months ‘is a very long time,’ Chuang told Thomas Sullivan, the lead prosecutor for the Justice Department, referring to the proposed May 22, 2026, date to produce discovery.

‘How many documents are in play here? Frankly, most of this should have been done before the indictment,’ Chuang noted. ‘Even assuming that couldn’t be completed, I still can’t understand why it would take seven months.’

In response, prosecutors noted that they still need to sort through some 1,000 pages of single-space documents obtained from Bolton’s home, and reiterated they have set ‘aggressive deadlines’ for the intelligence community to review the documents.

Bolton’s lawyer, Abbe Lowell, said in response that there are as many as three electronic devices that they haven’t ‘even started the process’ of reviewing, and which all must be reviewed by the filter team. 

Chuang ultimately agreed to grant a modified review schedule for the documents in question. Parties were ordered to submit by January 12 the first tranche of 10 documents prosecutors have described as being at the ‘heart’ of Bolton’s indictment.

They will also submit a joint status report detailing for the court where they are in the discovery process, and proposing the next interim deadline and the scope of materials that will be reviewed before then. 

The hearing comes as Bolton has attempted to cast his criminal case as part of a broader effort by the Trump administration to go after his perceived political foes, including former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James.

Still, the case against Bolton differs significantly. 

Unlike those cases, Bolton’s investigation into his handling of classified materials moved forward in part during the Biden administration, and career prosecutors in the U.S. Attorney’s office signed off on the charges — a contrast to the cases against Comey and James, which were brought by Trump’s former attorney, Lindsey Halligan.

Bolton, who pleaded not guilty to all charges last month, was ordered released by a magistrate judge on the condition that he remain in the continental United States and surrender his passport.

In a statement released after his indictment, Bolton said, ‘I have become the latest target in weaponizing the Justice Department to charge those he deems to be his enemies with charges that were declined before or distort the facts.’

Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., is signaling openness to making it harder for House lawmakers to punish each other via a censure resolution.

The congressional leader sat down for an interview with Fox News Digital on Friday, the first week the House returned since the beginning of the 43-day government shutdown began on Oct. 1.

But the five-day legislative week was marked by volatile politics, with three separate lawmakers forcing votes on rebuking one of their colleagues — out of five total threats to do so.

‘There is a large groundswell of bottom up consternation about that. The members are so frustrated by what this has become — and I mean across the Republican conference, and I think on the Democrat side as well,’ Johnson said. ‘I’ve told everybody I’m open to those discussions, because I’m more frustrated than anyone about how this is devolved. I think we’ve got to protect the institution.’

Johnson said those talks have focused specifically on raising the threshold it takes to push a censure. 

Currently, any one lawmaker can introduce a censure resolution against another. Both Republicans and Democrats have also wielded a mechanism this week known as a ‘privileged resolution’ to force an immediate vote on rebuking a colleague.

Johnson said there’s ‘a lot of ideas’ being floated on changing the system.

‘I’ve had members from across the conference bringing me their thoughts and ideas on that, and we’ll be going through that in a deliberative fashion to figure out what makes the most sense,’ he said.

The speaker did not directly commit to a House-wide vote on legislation to change the rule on censure, but he said, ‘I think most of the discussion thus far, again this is coming from members, is that we should raise the threshold so that it can’t just be a one-off individual quest by someone. You’ve got to have some agreement by some small group of members to do it.’

‘That would probably make it a more meaningful and useful tool, and not one that’s abused,’ Johnson said. ‘We don’t have consensus around any particular idea, but it is something that the vast majority of the members of the body are talking about right now.’

He also pushed back on media reports that suggested he wanted to change rules around discharge petitions, another mechanism rank-and-file lawmakers can use to force their will on House leaders.

Johnson said it was not something he was even considering at the moment.

A discharge petition allows lawmakers to initiate a vote on a measure despite leadership’s objections, provided that petition has support from a majority of the House.

It was most recently used successfully by Reps. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., and Thomas Massie, R-Ky., on a bill forcing the Department of Justice (DOJ) to release its files on Jeffrey Epstein.

Johnson ended up voting for the bill along with all but one House lawmaker, despite airing concerns about its language possibly not doing enough to protect the privacy of Epstein’s victims and other innocent people whose names may be caught up in the process.

He told Fox News Digital, however, that he is not looking at making changes to that process.

‘Somebody quoted me as saying, ‘I’m going to raise the threshold for discharges’, but that hasn’t even been part of the discussion and not something that I’ve anticipated,’ Johnson said. ‘This discussion has been solely focused on the censure, because it’s so commonly used now.’

Censures are traditionally a rare rebuke reserved for the most egregious instances of violating House decorum. They’ve been used more and more frequently, however, in today’s increasingly tense political environment.

Former first son Hunter Biden is claiming that his father only pardoned him because Donald Trump reclaimed the presidency in November 2024 — and ‘would not have’ done so under ‘normal circumstances’ while the appeals process played out.

‘Donald Trump went and changed everything,’ Hunter said in an interview released Monday on journalist Tommy Christopher’s Substack platform.

‘And I don’t think that I need to make much of an argument about why it changed everything.’

The 55-year-old — who pleaded guilty last year to evading $1.4 million in back taxes to the IRS and was convicted on felony gun charges — declined to mention that he had apparently been present for discussions on pardons during Joe Biden’s final months in the White House.

‘I’ve said this before,’ Hunter went on.

‘My dad would not have pardoned me if President Trump had not won, and the reason that he would not have pardoned me is because I was certain that in a normal circumstance of the appeals [I would have won].’

The Biden scion added that Trump was planning a ‘revenge tour’ against his father, which would have made himself the ‘easiest target to just to intimidate and to not just impact me, but impact my entire family into, into silence in a way that at least he is not — it’s not as easy for him to do [with] me being pardoned.’

‘I realize how privileged I am,’ Hunter went on.

‘I realize how lucky I am; I realize that I got something that almost no one would have gotten.

‘But I’m incredibly grateful for it and I have to say that I don’t think that it requires me to make much of a detailed argument for why it was the right thing to do, at least from my dad, from his perspective.’

Ex-White House chief of staff Jeff Zients spilled last month that Hunter ‘was involved’ in clemency talks and even ‘attended a few meetings,’ a source with knowledge of the Biden official’s testimony to the House Oversight Committee told The Post.

Hunter Biden was furious with former President Barack Obama for leading then-President Joe Biden offstage with a guiding hand at a June 2024 fundraiser, according to a new book from ABC News’ Jonathan Karl.

An excerpt from the book, obtained by Axios, details how the younger Biden believed Obama had disrespected and embarrassed the president.

‘I almost jumped up on the stage and said, ‘Don’t ever f–king do that to the president of the United States again — ever,” Hunter told Karl in an interview.

‘The younger Biden insisted his dad was simply taking some time to acknowledge the crowd. ‘I knew that that was going to be a meme,’ Hunter recalled. ‘That really, really, really, really pissed me off,” the book reads.

The incident was one of many that contributed to criticism that Biden was too old to hold office, an opinion held by the vast majority of voters, according to polls from the time.

The clip was just one of many in the latter months of Biden’s presidency that showed an ally, aide or family member stepping in to seemingly direct or guide Biden off a stage or during an event.

The Obama incident came just days after Biden had to be redirected by another world leader during a G7 event in Italy. The former president was arrayed with other world leaders as he appeared to wander a few steps away from the group.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni then walked over to the president, touched his right arm and redirected him back to the group of world leaders.

The White House at the time dismissed the clip for having an ‘artificially narrow frame’ that only made it seem as though Biden was walking away from the crowd.

Fox News’ Emma Colton contributed to this report.

President Donald Trump on Friday said the U.S. is ‘doing very well’ in Iran, nearly a week after the military coordinated with Israel on airstrikes in Tehran that left its supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, dead.

‘Somebody said, ‘How would you score it from zero to 10?’ I said, ‘I’d give it a 12 to a 15.’ Their army is gone. Their navy is gone. Their communications are gone. Their leaders are gone,’ Trump said. ‘Two sets of their leaders.’

The president made the remarks after Fox News senior White House correspondent Peter Doocy asked at the end of a White House college sports roundtable what was motivating Trump to hold the roundtable ‘because there is a lot of other stuff going on in the world.’

‘That’s right,’ Trump agreed, adding that Iran’s air force has been ‘wiped out entirely. Think of it. They have 32 ships. All 32 are at the bottom of the ocean. Other than that, they’re doing very well.’

‘Our military is doing phenomenally,’ he said. ‘The situation with a very bad and very sick group of leaders who were killing a lot of people. A lot of our people were being killed or were being maimed. … And we had a choice. We could take it and go on like that for years or do something about it. And we did something about it.’

Trump added that ‘people are very impressed with our military, and they admire our military with what happened in Venezuela, what’s happening now, what’s happened with the B-2 bombers before this, where they took out the nuclear capability or potential of Iran.

‘I think we’re, right now, we’re a country that’s more respected than we’ve ever been respected before.’

Doocy also told the president earlier, ‘It sounds like the Russians are helping Iran target and attack Americans now.’

‘That’s an easy problem compared to what we’re doing here,’ Trump said, referring to college sports, calling it a ‘stupid question to be asking at this time. We’re talking about something else.’

Earlier Friday, Trump wrote on Truth Social that the U.S. won’t accept any deal with Iran ‘except UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER!’

‘After that, and the selection of a GREAT & ACCEPTABLE Leader(s), we, and many of our wonderful and very brave allies and partners, will work tirelessly to bring Iran back from the brink of destruction, making it economically bigger, better, and stronger than ever before,’ Trump wrote. 

‘IRAN WILL HAVE A GREAT FUTURE. ‘MAKE IRAN GREAT AGAIN (MIGA!).’’

The Biden administration purchased a pulsed energy weapon suspected of being the type that may have caused ‘Havana Syndrome’ which caused a series of mysterious ailments for U.S. diplomats and government workers in Cuba. 

The weapon was bought at the end of the Biden Administration and has since been tested by the Pentagon, Fox News has learned. House Republicans are demanding answers amid reports of the purchase of the device.

In a letter to Homeland Security Kristi Noem, House Committee on Homeland Security Chairman Andrew Garbarino, R-N.Y., is asking for information on the procurement process for the weapon, its costs and the findings associated with its year-long testing related to Havana Syndrome, officially known as Anomalous Health Incidents (AHI). 

‘The device in question is described as capable of producing pulsed radio waves and containing Russian components, though it is supposedly not entirely Russian in origin,’ the letter states. ‘Following HSI’s successful acquisition of the device, it was reportedly transferred to DoW, which spent more than a year testing the device and its capabilities.’

Some U.S. intelligence agencies have said a foreign adversary could be behind the mysterious ailment. 

Fox News Digital previously reported that Adam, a former government employee whose identity Fox News agreed to protect, is considered to be ‘Patient Zero.’

He was first attacked in December 2016 while living in Havana on assignment. During his time on the Caribbean island, Adam experienced multiple attacks and described pressure to the brain that led to vertigo, tinnitus and cognitive impairment.

‘While assessments from the Intelligence Community (IC) do not conclusively identify the factors causing AHIs or any foreign actor responsible, an assessment from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) presented a majority view concluding that it was ‘very unlikely’ that a foreign actor ‘used a novel weapon or prototype device to harm even a subset of the U.S. Government personnel,’ with five out of seven agencies agreeing with that assessment,’ Garbarino wrote in his letter. 

‘However, two agencies dissented from the majority view and assessed that there was a chance that foreign actors may have developed some sort of ‘novel weapon or prototype device’ that could have harmed U.S. personnel,’ he added. 

However, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) released the report and held a background call with reporters on Friday explaining that new reporting ‘led two components to shift their assessments about whether a foreign actor has a capability that could cause biological effects consistent with some of the symptoms reported as possible AHIs.’

‘This shift consequently led two IC components to subtly change their overall judgment about whether a foreign actor might have played a role in a small number of events,’ the agency said. 

Fox News’ Liz Friden contributed to this report. 

President Donald Trump announced on Monday that construction has begun on a new, privately funded White House Ballroom – a long-envisioned addition designed to host state visits and large gatherings – as part of a modernization of the East Wing.

‘I am pleased to announce that ground has been broken on the White House grounds to build the new, big, beautiful White House Ballroom,’ Trump said on Truth Social. ‘Completely separate from the White House itself, the East Wing is being fully modernized as part of this process, and will be more beautiful than ever when it is complete!

‘For more than 150 years, every President has dreamt about having a Ballroom at the White House to accommodate people for grand parties, State Visits, etc. I am honored to be the first President to finally get this much-needed project underway — with zero cost to the American Taxpayer!’ he continued. ‘The White House Ballroom is being privately funded by many generous Patriots, Great American Companies, and, yours truly. This Ballroom will be happily used for Generations to come!’

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said during a briefing in July that the construction of the estimated $200 million new ballroom would begin in September and be ‘completed long before the end of President Trump’s term.’

Her announcement came after a similar gesture earlier this year, when Trump personally financed the installation of two 88-foot American flags flanking the White House, each reportedly costing about $50,000.

‘The White House is currently unable to host major functions honoring world leaders in other countries without having to install a large and unsightly tent approximately 100 yards away from the main building’s entrance,’ Leavitt said at the time, adding the new ballroom will be ‘a much needed and exquisite addition.’

She also said the United States Secret Service will provide the necessary security enhancements and modifications during the construction.

The project is intended to provide a dedicated space for hosting official events, state dinners and large ceremonial gatherings.

The new 90,000-square-foot addition will accommodate approximately 650 seated guests and will stay true to the classical design of the White House.

The White House does not have a formal ballroom, and the new ballroom will take the place of the current East Wing of the White House.

Trump chose McCrery Architects to design the project, with Clark Construction overseeing the build and AECOM providing engineering support.

Fox News Digital’s Amanda Macias contributed to this report.

While President Donald Trump and his administration brushed off the ‘No Kings’ nationwide protests rebuking the president over the weekend, Democrats lauded the protesters for standing up for democracy. 

The protest marked at least the second time ‘No Kings’ rallies have been organized across the country in major cities, including Washington, New York City and Los Angeles, since Trump took office for the second time, and organizers claim the protests are in opposition to his authoritarian policies. 

Meanwhile, Trump pushed back on the description of ‘king,’ as he and other Republicans poked fun at the millions participating in the rallies. 

‘I’m not a king,’ Trump told reporters Sunday on Air Force One. ‘I work my ass off to make our country great. That’s all it is. I’m not a king at all.’

Trump also characterized the protests as inconsequential, and said that those who participated didn’t accurately reflect the people who make up the U.S. 

‘The demonstrations were very small, very ineffective and the people were whacked out,’ Trump said Sunday. ‘When you look at those people, those are not representative of the people of our country.’

Despite Trump’s rejection of being labeled a king, the official White House social media accounts previously posted an image in February of Trump wearing a crown with a caption claiming ‘long live the king.’ Trump also reposted an AI-generated video that Vice President JD Vance originally shared, depicting Trump placing a crown on his head and drawing a sword. 

Additionally, Trump shared another AI-generated video of him donning a crown in a fighter jet over New York City, unloading what appeared to be feces on the protesters. 

Meanwhile, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., said that Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. needed a distraction from the government shutdown that started Oct. 1, although Johnson did admit that the protests turned out to be a ‘violent-free, free speech exercise.’ 

‘They needed a stunt,’ Johnson said in an interview with ABC Sunday. ‘They needed a show. Chuck Schumer has — needs cover right now. He’s closed the government down because he needs political cover, and this was a part of it.’

However, Democrats said the protests were an opportunity to stand up for democracy. For example, Schumer said that there are ‘no dictators’ in the U.S., and that ‘we won’t allow Trump to keep eroding our democracy.’ 

‘Dictators evolve when good people of all different beliefs and backgrounds stay silent,’ Schumer said in a social media post on Saturday. ‘This No Kings Day says we will not stay silent.’

Additionally, former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi shared a video clip of her dismantling a plastic crown, appearing to harken back to when she ripped Trump’s State of the Union address in 2020. 

‘We’re gonna tear up the crown!’ Pelosi said in the brief clip, which she shared on social media with the caption: ‘No crown. #NoKings!’ 

Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., also weighed in, claiming ‘we said ‘hell no’ to kings, and reminded the nation and the world what patriotism looks like.’ 

‘From our nation’s capitol to cities across California, millions stood shoulder to shoulder to say that our democracy is worth fighting for, that our voices will not be silent, and that we will not sit back and let a wannabe king take our freedoms,’ Schiff said Saturday to accompany several photos of himself at the protest in Washington. ‘Proud to stand with you.’ 

Additionally, Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., said the protests were reflective of the democratic process in the U.S. 

‘This is what democracy looks like!’ Murray said in a Saturday social media post. ‘We use our voices and our votes. NO KINGS IN AMERICA!’

Former President Joe Biden completed a round of radiation treatment for his aggressive form of prostate cancer on Monday.

Biden had been undergoing treatment at Penn Medicine Radiation Oncology in Philadelphia for several weeks. The former president’s daughter, Ashley Biden, hailed the milestone in a post on social media.

‘Rung the bell! Thank you to the incredible doctors, nurses, and staff at Penn Medicine. We are so grateful!’ she wrote on Instagram.

‘He rang the bell today,’ Biden spokeswoman Kelly Scully confirmed, according to CBS News.

‘Dad has been so damn brave throughout his treatment. Grateful,’ Ashley wrote in a follow-up post.

It is common practice for cancer treatment centers to have patients ring a bell when they complete a round of radiation treatment. It serves as both a mark of progress for the patient and a form of encouragement for other patients undergoing treatment in the facility.

It is unclear whether Biden will need to undergo further rounds of radiation therapy.

Biden announced his diagnosis with prostate cancer in May, saying it had already metastasized and spread to his bones. The announcement redoubled concerns that the White House was not being forthright about Biden’s health during his time in office.

Biden also underwent surgery Sept. 4 to remove cancerous skin cells through a procedure known as Mohs surgery.

During his presidency, Biden had a cancerous skin lesion removed from his chest, the White House previously said. Former White House physician Kevin O’Connor noted in February 2023 that a biopsy of skin tissue taken during a health assessment revealed cancerous cells, all of which were successfully removed.

Fox News’ Bonny Chu contributed to this report.