Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., is introducing legislation this week that would fully ban coverage of abortion and gender transition care for minors within the Affordable Care Act (ACA), Fox News Digital has learned.

While existing law prohibits the use of federal funds to pay for elective abortions under the Hyde Amendment, many plans on the ACA exchanges still offer abortion coverage via various state-level loopholes and separate bill schemes. Hawley’s legislation would expressly state that no ACA healthcare plan can cover an abortion procedure, except in cases of rape, incest or a threat to the life of the mother.

The legislation would similarly ban plans from offering coverage for gender transition care for minors, both in the form of drugs or procedures.

‘It’s time to ban abortion and gender transitions for minors on the healthcare exchanges,’ Hawley said in a statement to Fox News Digital. ‘No more loopholes.’

The legislative push comes as the Senate is already set to be focused on the ACA in the coming weeks, with a deadline for extending Obamacare subsidies looming with the Nov. 1 open enrollment date.

Democrats are already raising their voices about pushing through an extension, but Senate Republicans have said they’re open to negotiating a deal on the subsidies — with reforms — only after the government reopens.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and his fellow Democrats have blocked Republican attempts to end the government shutdown eight times since Oct. 1. Schumer argues Republicans must come to the table with concessions, while Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., says the opposition’s demands are unreasonable.

‘Democrats like to whine that Republicans aren’t negotiating, but negotiation, Mr. President, is what you do when each side has a list of demands and you need to meet in the middle,’ Thune said on the Senate floor Tuesday. ‘Republicans, as I and a lot of other people pointed out, haven’t put forward any demands. Only Democrats have made demands. And by the way, very expensive demands.’

Republicans say Democrats are demanding that the Senate undo a total of $1.5 trillion in spending cuts from the ‘big, beautiful bill’ and claw back funding for NPR and PBS to give, in part, to illegal immigrants.

If the shutdown extends past the Nov. 1 deadline, those one ACA coverage plans could see their premiums skyrocket. It would also make this year’s shutdown the longest in American history, eclipsing the previous record set under former President Bill Clinton between late 1995 and early 1996. That shutdown lasted 21 days and was over a budget dispute between Clinton and then-House Speaker Newt Gingrich.

Fox News’ Alex Miller contributed to this report

Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., and Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., are pressing Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to investigate the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), claiming that it may be funded or directed by Hamas or other terrorist groups.

CAIR describes itself as a Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization founded in 1994 with chapters across the U.S.

The request comes as President Donald Trump led a ceasefire in Gaza between Hamas and Israel.

Stefanik and Cotton allege CAIR’s historic ties, public rhetoric and activism raise questions about whether the group’s support for Hamas amounts to material support for terrorism.

The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, which enforces U.S. sanctions on terrorist groups and their affiliates, has the authority to investigate whether CAIR’s activities violate federal law, the lawmakers said.

CAIR has long denied accusations of supporting Hamas, saying it ‘does not support any foreign organization or government’ and calling such claims ‘false and Islamophobic,’ according to a statement on its website. The group says its mission is to advocate for Muslim civil rights in the U.S.

Stefanik chairs the House Republican Conference, and Cotton sits on the Senate Armed Services Committee. Both have pressed for stricter enforcement of anti-terror finance laws in past oversight efforts.

In July, Stefanik criticized the City University of New York for hiring a former CAIR employee. She called the decision unacceptable to New York taxpayers.

She and Cotton say a Treasury probe would ensure no U.S. assets are used to advance the objectives of Hamas.

‘We urge the department to immediately investigate whether CAIR maintains financial links to Hamas that violate U.S. sanctions,’ they wrote.

CAIR did not immediately respond to a Fox News Digital request for comment.

At a White House ceremony in the Rose Garden on Tuesday on what would have been her husband’s 32nd birthday, Erika Kirk accepted the Presidential Medal of Freedom on behalf of Charlie Kirk and delivered a powerful, deeply personal tribute to his life and legacy.

‘Thank you, Mr. President, for honoring my husband in such a profound way,’ she began. ‘Charlie always admired your commitment to freedom.’

She offered thanks to the first lady, the vice president, and friends and family ‘watching from all around the world,’ along with Turning Point USA staff and chapters nationwide. ‘You are the heartbeat of this future and of this movement,’ she said. ‘Everything Charlie built lives through you.’

Erika added that the Presidential Medal of Freedom itself is rooted in America’s Founding. ‘The very existence of the Presidential Medal of Freedom reminds us that the national interest of the United States has always been freedom,’ she said.

‘Our founders etched it into the preamble of our Constitution, and those words are not relics on parchment. They are a living covenant. The blessings of liberty are not man’s invention. They are God’s endowment.’

She recalled how Charlie wrote about freedom often. ‘He believed that liberty was both a right and a responsibility. And he used to say that freedom is the ability to do what is right without fear. And that’s how he lived,’ Erika said.

‘His name, Charles, literally means ‘free man.’ And that’s exactly who my husband was,’ she continued. ‘From the time I met him, sitting across from him being interviewed about politics, philosophy and theology, I saw the fire in his soul. There was this divine restlessness within him that came from knowing God placed him on this earth to protect something very sacred. He never stopped fighting for people to experience freedom.’

Erika recalled Charlie often saying that ‘without God, freedom becomes chaos’ and that liberty can only survive ‘when anchored to truth.’ She remembered him telling an audience: ‘The opposite of liberty isn’t law. It’s captivity. And the freest people in the world are those whose hearts belong to Christ.’

Looking back at his years building Turning Point USA, she said, ‘While he was building an organization, he was also building a movement: one that called people back to God, back to truth, and a movement that was filled with courage.’

She described him as a man who loved life’s simplest pleasures: quiet walks, shelves full of books and Saturday mornings in the sun with decaf coffee and his phone turned off for the Sabbath. His birthday tradition, she recalled, was mint chocolate chip ice cream, enjoyed only on July 4 and his birthday.

‘Last year, his one birthday wish was to see the Oregon Ducks play Ohio State — and they won,’ she said. ‘Mr. President, I can say with confidence that you have given him the best birthday gift he could ever have.’

Turning to his final moments, Erika shared: ‘It was written across his chest in those final moments on one of his simple T-shirts that always carried a message — this one bearing a single word: freedom. That was the banner over his life.’

She said her husband never told anyone what to say but always encouraged them ‘to think outside of traditional political labels, anchored in wisdom and truth.’

‘Charlie wasn’t content to simply admire freedom. He wanted to multiply it,’ Erika said. ‘He wanted young people to taste it, understand it and defend it. He wanted them to see that liberty isn’t selfish indulgence — it’s self-governance under God.’

Every day, she recalled, he lived with fearless conviction. ‘He didn’t fear being slandered. He didn’t fear losing friends. He stood for truth and stood for freedom. Everything else was just noise to him. And it’s because his confidence in Christ was absolute.’

Erika said Charlie lived ‘only 31 short years on this side of heaven,’ but filled every day with purpose. ‘He fought for truth when it was unpopular. He stood for God when it was costly. He prayed for his enemies. He loved people when it was inconvenient. He ran his race with endurance, and he kept the faith. And now he wears the crown of a righteous martyr.’

She told the audience, ‘Heaven gained what earth could no longer contain — a free man made fully free. To all watching, this is not a ceremony. This is a commissioning. I want you to be the embodiment of this medal. I want you to free yourself from fear. I want you to stand courageously in the truth. And remember that while freedom is inherited in this country, each of us must be intentional stewards of it.’

Before closing, Erika shared her daughter Gigi’s birthday message: ‘Happy birthday, daddy. I want to give you a stuffed animal. I want you to eat a cupcake with ice cream. And I want you to go have a birthday surprise. I love you.’

‘I know that you’re celebrating in heaven today, but gosh, I miss you,’ she said through tears. ‘We miss you and we love you. And we promise we’ll make you proud. Charlie’s life was proof that freedom is not a theory. It’s a testimony. He showed us that liberty begins not in the halls of power, but in the heart of a man surrendered to God.’

She ended with a final tribute: ‘To live free is the greatest gift, but to die free is the greatest victory. Happy birthday, Charlie. Happy freedom day.’

Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk’s death has not dimmed his legacy of encouraging an increasingly ‘unhappy’ generation to seek meaning and purpose through faith and family, young Americans told Fox News Digital.

‘I think we live in a world where people are more unhappy than ever,’ Georgetown University student Elizabeth Oliver said. ‘Depression rates and suicide are so high, and people are longing for true happiness. Charlie always talked about how ‘desires of the flesh’ aren’t fulfilling or making people happy. Instead of pursuing those things, we should turn ourselves toward higher purposes like family, marriage and God, because those are what truly fulfill people’s lives.’

‘I actually think most people are searching for something,’ she said. ‘I think that searching should be directed toward God. But I think most people recognize nowadays that what the Left has to offer is not going to lead to a fulfilling life.’

Americans’ happiness has taken a nosedive in recent years, with the U.S. falling eight spots in the 2024 World Happiness Report, which ranks countries’ life satisfaction, due to American young adults reporting they are not satisfied compared to their parents’ and grandparents’ generations. Americans older than the age of 60 ranked number 10 for overall happiness, according to the study, while young adults under the age of 30 ranked 62nd internationally for happiness, CNBC reported in 2024. 

Suicide and depression rates have meanwhile skyrocketed in recent years, with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reporting that one-in-five high school students seriously considered attempting suicide in 2023, with suicide jumping by 62% among young adults when comparing 2007 data to 2021 data. 

Amid the increasing rates of unhappiness among youths, Kirk landed under the national spotlight as a youth, himself, rallying his peers to embrace conservative and Christian values to find peace. 

‘Marriage isn’t just a life milestone- it’s a calling. God didn’t say ‘wait until you feel ready.’ He said ‘it is not good for man to be alone.’ Get married young. Be fruitful and multiply,’ Kirk posted to Facebook just months before his death. 

His comments were even praised by Trump, who celebrated his message to young adults to get married. 

‘We have so many bad philosophies, ideologies, politics,’ Trump said on Fox News following Kirk’s death. ‘His was basically just good. He talked about family, he talked about getting married, ‘go get married. It sounds old-fashioned when you think about it, but he’s right.’ 

Kirk was shot and killed Sept. 10 during an outdoor event at Utah Valley University, the first stop on TPUSA’s planned ‘American Comeback Tour.’ 

After news of Kirk’s killing spread across the country and world, some college students are choosing to carry on his legacy by echoing the values he championed and encouraging political debate among Gen Z peers.

Oliver is one of those Gen Zers, a college senior and president of the university’s Right to Life group,a pro-life advocacy group. She told Fox News Digital that she believes open dialogue can help renew focus on Christian conservative values.

Kirk ‘dedicated his life to talking with other people respectfully and listening to them,’ she said. ‘We desperately need more of that dialogue now, more than ever. In a world that has abandoned God and moral values, we have even abandoned the basic respect for other human beings and we need to reclaim it.’

Kirk often spoke of marriage, children and the importance of family — with his widow continuing the promotion of those values from the stage of his memorial service in Arizona in September.

‘We have an uplifting message for America, one that is hopeful, one of family formation, one off church attendance going up one of business ownership of entrepreneurship,’ Kirk said on ‘The Will Cain Show’ on May 2.

‘Trump voters, young men, they want family, children, and legacy,’ Kirk added on the Ingraham Angle Sept. 8, only two days before he was killed. ‘Young women who voted for Kamala Harris, they want careerism, consumerism, and loneliness. That is a dramatic divide that is going to play out in our politics for the years to come.’

Americans’ pessimism toward the institution of marriage and family, however, currently outweighs their optimism, according to a September 2023 Pew Research Center report called, ‘Public Has Mixed Views on the Modern American Family.’ 

‘Americans most often point to job satisfaction and close friends, rather than being married or having children, when asked what contributes to a fulfilling life,’ the report found. ‘Some 71% say having a job or career they enjoy is extremely or very important for people to live a fulfilling life, and 61% say the same about having close friends. Only about a quarter say having children (26%) or being married (23%) is equally important.’

However, young adults are picking up the mantle of Kirk’s promotion of traditional values as support for TPUSA continues to grow following his death. 

Since Kirk’s assassination, Boston University College Republicans Vice President Philip Wohltorf, who also works as a legislative aide in the Massachusetts State Senate, said his group has seen a drastic increase in attendance. Democratic groups on campus, however, have not been open to debating, he said, allowing anti-conservative sentiment to spread across the student body. 

‘We were thinking, well, the left is open-minded and tolerant, they want to talk,’ he said. ‘Unfortunately, they don’t, and it doesn’t really help. I think it would be great on campus if we would have a civil, calm, challenging debate. It would show the student body that people can disagree with one another but still shake hands and be friends afterward.’

He said, ‘America was founded on the principle of freedom of speech and dialogue, and nobody did it better than Charlie Kirk,’ as the cultural divide continues to widen.

In a statement to Fox News Digital, the Boston University College Democrats said the group sent a ‘polite decline’ to a debate request, explaining that it is ‘very difficult to make debates worthwhile.’

‘We feel it is very difficult to make debates worthwhile for participants and viewers, so we decline them with everyone, not just Republicans,’ the group said. ‘Freedom of speech is something we value greatly but we believe that open bipartisan collaboration is the path forward at this time.’

The group condemned all political violence, adding, ‘Charlie Kirk should not have died. We believe everyone should be able to share their ideas and beliefs without fear.’

TPUSA exploded with new interest after Kirk’s memorial service, receiving more than 120,000 campus chapter requests, according to the organization. 

Prior to the memorial service, TPUSA had around 60,000 requests, Andrew Kolvet, executive producer of ‘The Charlie Kirk Show’ recently said. TPUSA operates 900 official college chapters and approximately 1,200 high school chapters across the country. 

Wohltorf said more young people are standing by their values, pointing to faith and family as the most important priorities to many in his generation.

‘I like the saying that people were now posting in the past two weeks talking about how one Charlie Kirk is gone but one hundred thousand new Charlie Kirks were just created,’ Wohltorf said. ‘The majority of the conservative movement feels obligated to continue Charlie Kirk’s legacy and to continue to preach those family values, faith, and Christianity … I think that the majority conservative movement is even more likely to fight now and to speak out,’ Wohltorf said.

Oliver and Wohltorf believe these values will continue to be upheld for years to come after this political turning point. They say they’re inspired by Kirk’s legacy to share their beliefs and not be afraid.

‘I think the majority is trying to continue his legacy, feeling obligated to fight, feeling obligated to foster dialogue, debate, and challenge one another with ideas,’ Wohltorf said.

‘Ultimately, Charlie said he wants to be remembered for his courage, for his faith, and I think that message is resounding very strongly with my generation,’ Oliver said.

Trump posthumously awarded Kirk the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor, Tuesday at the White House.

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

The No. 3 House Republican is accusing Democrats of making a hypocritical argument in their resistance to the GOP’s federal funding bill.

The government shutdown is in its thirteenth day with Republicans and Democrats still unable to agree on a path forward. The Trump administration is taking steps to prevent the military from missing paychecks this week, while also beginning to lay off scores of federal workers amid the standoff.

Democrats have said they will not agree to any solution that does not include serious concessions on healthcare from the GOP — but House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., argued that they are themselves harming healthcare access by allowing the shutdown to continue.

‘They are [jeopardizing healthcare],’ Emmer told Fox News Digital, pointing out that certain telehealth services, for example, are going without funding during the shutdown.

‘We had a huge advance during the pandemic when it came to remote care. You’ve got all kinds of constituents that don’t live in a condensed or a dense urban area right next to a hospital, right next to a provider, they may be a distance away. And the telehealth option actually made a big difference,’ Emmer said. ‘I know it did for our veterans.’

‘I don’t know if the VA — [House Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman Mike Bost, R-Ill.] made it sound like they’re going to protect that under his jurisdiction, not sure how — but I do worry about it for the private providers, hospitals. How are they going to do it if they’re not getting reimbursed?’

He was referring to the Acute Hospital Care At Home program, originally created during the COVID-19 pandemic. It allows healthcare providers to bill Medicare for telehealth appointments and at-home aid that previously was only reserved for hospital care.

It’s become a popular program for elderly or otherwise vulnerable Medicaid recipients, but the ongoing shutdown has prevented Congress from being able to extend it.

The government entered into a shutdown nearly two weeks ago on Oct. 1 after Senate Democrats rejected the GOP’s federal funding plan. They have since blocked consideration of the same bill six more times. 

Republicans proposed a seven-week bill extending fiscal year (FY) 2025 federal funding levels through Nov. 21 called a continuing resolution (CR). It’s aimed at giving congressional negotiators more time to strike a longer-term agreement on FY2026, which began on Oct. 1.

It passed the House along mostly partisan lines on Sept. 19. But Democrats in the House and Senate were largely infuriated by being sidelined in federal funding talks and are now demanding any spending deal that also include an extension of COVID-19 pandemic-era enhanced Obamacare subsidies that are set to expire at the end of this year.

Democrats also introduced a separate counter-proposal that would completely eliminate healthcare reforms made in the GOP’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) and restore funding to NPR and PBS that the Trump administration revoked earlier this year.

Democrats have said that proposal is aimed at rolling back Republicans’ Medicaid cuts. But Republicans have positioned it as the left’s effort at restoring federal funding for illegal immigrants’ healthcare — though Democratic leaders panned that as a lie.

Emmer also pointed out that it would revoke $50 billion for a rural hospital fund that OBBBA put in place.

‘The Rural Health Care Fund is a great example. I mean, right now, it’s our job, it’s the representatives’ job back in their districts, to try and work with our hospitals to make sure that they can access the funds,’ he said.

‘Because you don’t know exactly how deep the shutdown is going to impact hospitals, providers, ultimately consumers and patients.’

A South Korean court heard arguments Tuesday seeking the death penalty for former President Yoon Suk Yeol, as prosecutors accused the ousted leader of orchestrating a rebellion through his controversial martial law declaration in December 2024.

Independent counsel Cho Eun-suk asked the Seoul Central District Court to impose the sentence, arguing that Yoon’s actions amounted to ‘anti-state activities’ and describing the decree as a ‘self-coup.’

Yoon, a conservative who was removed from office last spring, remains in custody while facing multiple criminal proceedings tied to the martial law episode and other controversies from his presidency. Prosecutors say the rebellion charge carries the most severe potential punishment.

Cho’s team argued in court that Yoon sought to prolong his hold on power by undermining South Korea’s constitutional system of governance.

Yoon has rejected the accusations, telling the court that the investigations into his conduct have been ‘frenzied’ and marked by ‘manipulation’ and ‘distortion.’

He has maintained that the declaration of martial law was intended to alert the public to what he viewed as the growing threat posed by the opposition Democratic Party, which used its legislative majority to block his political agenda. 

Yoon argued that the exercise of presidential emergency powers cannot be treated as rebellion under the law.

The court is expected to deliver a verdict next month. Legal experts have said a life sentence is more likely than execution, noting that South Korea has not carried out a death penalty since 1997.

Yoon is the first South Korean president who has faced a potential death penalty after leaving office since Chun Doo-hwan was sentenced to death in 1996 for various crimes. Chun’s death sentence was later commuted to life in prison, and he was subsequently pardoned and freed.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Former President Joe Biden and former Secretary of State Antony Blinken both claimed some credit for President Donald Trump’s Israel-Hamas ceasefire agreement on Monday.

On X, Biden – who is undergoing treatment for cancer – said that he was ‘deeply grateful and relieved’ that the Gaza war is approaching its end.

‘The road to this deal was not easy,’ the Democrat wrote. ‘My Administration worked relentlessly to bring hostages home, get relief to Palestinian civilians, and end the war.’

But Biden also gave Trump credit for getting ‘a renewed ceasefire deal over the finish line.’

‘Now, with the backing of the United States and the world, the Middle East is on a path to peace that I hope endures and a future for Israelis and Palestinians alike with equal measures of peace, dignity, and safety,’ he concluded.

On Monday, Blinken said Trump’s 20-point peace plan for the Gaza Strip was based on one developed by the Biden administration.

In a lengthy post on X, Blinken, who served in the Biden administration, outlined how Trump was able to secure the peace agreement. He noted that Arab states and Turkey have said ‘enough’ to Hamas, and said the response also showed that other Iran-backed groups — Hezbollah and Yemen’s Houthi rebels — were not coming to Hamas’ aid.

‘It starts with a clear and comprehensive post-conflict plan for Gaza,’ Blinken wrote. ‘It’s good that President Trump adopted and built on the plan the Biden administration developed after months of discussion with Arab partners, Israel and the Palestinian Authority.’

Blinken said the Biden administration briefly secured a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in January, resulting in the release of 135 hostages before the deal fell apart.

He also questioned how Trump could secure a permanent peace plan.

Fox News senior White House correspondent Peter Doocy asked Trump about Blinken’s remarks aboard Air Force One.

‘Everybody knows it’s a joke,’ Trump said. ‘Look, they did such a bad job. This should have never happened.’

‘If just a decent president — not a great president like me — if a decent president were in, you wouldn’t have had the Russia-Ukraine (war),’ Trump said. ‘This was bad policy by Biden and Obama.’

Trump was in Egypt on Monday to work on the second phase of the cease-fire while meeting with more than 20 world leaders.

‘We’ve heard it for many years, but nobody thought it could ever get there. And now we’re there,’ Trump said.

‘This is the day that people across this region and around the world have been working, striving, hoping and praying for,’ he added. ‘With the historic agreement we have just signed, those prayers of millions have finally been answered. Together, we have achieved the impossible.’

In his post, Blinken said the postwar plan for Gaza should be implemented immediately, ‘with eyes wide open about its challenges: pulling together the international stabilization force, fully demilitarizing and disarming Hamas, dealing with insurgents, and expeditiously securing a phased but full Israeli withdrawal.’

He also credited Trump for reaffirming ‘the key principles we established for Gaza at the outset of the war — no platform for terrorism, no annexation, no occupation, no forced population transfers — and for making clear the overall goal is to create the conditions for a credible pathway to a Palestinian state.’

Former Vice President Kamala Harris commended President Donald Trump and his team for helping to secure the deal that led to the release of Israeli hostages held by Hamas — but she only referred to ‘the President,’ and did not identify Trump by name in the statement.

‘I am thankful and deeply encouraged that this ceasefire has brought long-awaited moments of joy and reunion — as 20 Israeli hostages are finally reunited with their loved ones and Palestinian families and the people of Gaza begin to receive desperately needed relief from unimaginable suffering,’ Harris said in the statement.

Israel launched a war effort in the wake of the horrific October 7, 2023, Hamas terror attack, which included mass murder and kidnapping. 

‘Through diplomacy and persistence, today is an important first step toward a more hopeful future. I commend the leaders and partners whose efforts made this agreement possible, including the President and his team,’ Harris continued.

‘There is still much more work to do to secure a lasting peace, ensure the safety and dignity of every innocent life, and build a future where Israelis and Palestinians can live side by side in freedom and security,’ she concluded.

Last year, Trump won both the Electoral College and the popular vote, trouncing Harris in the White House contest.

The 2024 Democratic presidential candidate mounted a whirlwind campaign after President Joe Biden dropped his re-election bid and endorsed her.

Democratic Rep. Jasmine Crockett of Texas took a jab at President Trump on Monday, tweeting, ‘Raising hell at home & then pretending to be the President of Peace is diabolical.’

But Democratic Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania gave, ‘Credit to @POTUS for a breakthrough ceasefire of this awful war.’

President Donald Trump, when asked about the prospect of a two-state solution for Israel and the Palestinians, declined to commit, telling reporters, ‘We’ll have to see.’ 

The comments came during a press gaggle aboard Air Force One as Trump returned home after signing a historic peace agreement that ended two years of fighting in Gaza. 

When the topic came up, Trump said he was focused on rebuilding Gaza after two years of Israeli bombardment, following the Oct. 7, 2023, massacre by Hamas. 

‘I’m not talking about a single state or double state or two state,’ Trump said, adding: ‘A lot of people like the one-state solution, some people like the two-state solution. We’ll have to see.’ 

Trump said any decision on the matter would be made in coordination with regional and international partners. 

The president concluded a whirlwind trip Monday that included a global peace summit in Egypt and a speech before the Knesset in Jerusalem earlier in the day, where he celebrated a U.S.-brokered ceasefire with Hamas.

Speaking to leaders gathered in Egypt, Trump called for a new era of harmony in the Middle East, seeking to advance broader peace in the region.

‘We have a once-in-a-lifetime chance to put the old feuds and bitter hatreds behind us,’ Trump said, urging leaders ‘to declare that our future will not be ruled by the fights of generations past.’

Leaders from dozens of countries, including from Europe and the Middle East, attended the summit. 

Trump, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Qatari Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani signed a document outlining a broad vision for Gaza’s future.

Twenty hostages were released Monday as part of an agreement intended to end the war in Gaza. Trump met with some of their families during his visit to the Knesset.

The moment remains fragile, however, as Israel and Hamas are still in the early stages of implementing the first phase of Trump’s peace plan.

The sides have not agreed on Gaza’s postwar governance, its reconstruction, or Israel’s demand that Hamas disarm. Negotiations over those issues could break down, and Israel has hinted it may resume military operations if its demands are not met.

Much of Gaza has been reduced to rubble, and the territory’s roughly 2 million residents continue to struggle in dire conditions. Under the deal, Israel agreed to reopen five border crossings to ease the flow of food and supplies into Gaza, parts of which are experiencing famine.

Roughly 200 U.S. troops will also help monitor and support the ceasefire deal as part of a team that includes partner nations, nongovernmental organizations and private-sector groups.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

President Donald Trump is setting the stage for the U.S. to be involved in overseeing Venezuela for a significant period of time, after conducting strikes and capturing dictator Nicolás Maduro and labeling himself ‘acting’ president of Venezuela. 

The move marks his boldest interventionist move yet — a foreign policy approach by which one country intervenes in another state’s affairs — and follows other major military operations from the Trump administration, including strikes in Syria in December 2025 against Islamic State operatives after an ambush against U.S. troops there, and strikes in June 2025 against the Iranian nuclear sites of Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan.

Trump told The New York Times in an interview that was published Wednesday that ‘only time will tell’ how long the U.S. will be running Venezuela, but said it would be ‘much longer’ than a year. 

Additionally, Trump announced recently that Venezuela’s interim government would hand over up to 50 million barrels of oil to the U.S. and that the oil would be sold ‘immediately.’

‘We will rebuild it in a very profitable way,’ Trump told the Times. ‘We’re going to be using oil, and we’re going to be taking oil. We’re getting oil prices down, and we’re going to be giving money to Venezuela, which they desperately need.’

Likewise, Trump shared a doctored image that looked like a Wikipedia page that identified him as ‘Acting President of Venezuela’ since January 2026. 

Previous interventionist actions the U.S. has taken include launching an invasion of Afghanistan in response to the 9/11 attacks Afghanistan-based al-Qaeda conducted against the U.S., and an invasion of Iraq in 2003 that led to the toppling of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein’s regime. In both cases, the U.S. remained in prolonged occupations there. 

The language the Trump administration is using now focusing on illegal migration is different than what was used during the Afghanistan and Iraq conflicts, which focused on democracy-building and promoting freedom, Katherine Thompson, a senior fellow in defense and foreign policy studies at the libertarian think tank the Cato Institute, told Fox News Digital. 

‘But the pathway to achieve those things, I don’t see, like, a broad differentiation from the things that we did before,’ Thompson told Fox News Digital. 

Thompson said that she doesn’t see how the Trump administration’s goals could be completed without small rotational deployments from U.S. forces to provide security, particularly in the event that the U.S. reopens its Embassy in Caracas, Venezuela. 

‘I don’t see how we’re going to have a team there without at least some small deployment of rotational forces to achieve security of our own personnel,’ Thompson said.

So far, no U.S. troops are on the ground in Venezuela, and the Senate advanced a War Powers resolution Thursday that, if passed, would bar using U.S. forces within or against Venezuela without Congress’ approval. 

When asked by Fox News Digital about whether Trump’s ‘Acting President of Venezuela’ post was shared jokingly and what it indicates about how long the U.S. will be involved in running Venezuela, White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly told Fox News Digital: ‘President Trump will be the greatest President for the American and Venezuelan people in history. Congratulations, world!’

Although Trump has blasted previous administrations for actions in the Middle East and vowed he would bring an end to ‘endless wars’ while ushering in an ‘America First’ agenda prioritizing U.S. interests, Democrats warned that the U.S. may be involving itself in another complicated conflict. 

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., claimed that the U.S. is on the path to another ‘endless war.’

‘The very thing that Donald Trump campaigned against over and over and over again was no more endless wars,’ Schumer said in an interview with ABC News Jan. 4. ‘And, right now, we’re headed right into one with no barriers, with no discussion.’ 

Trump announced on Jan. 3 that U.S. special forces conducted a ‘large-scale strike’ against Caracas, and seized Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores. Both were taken to New York and appeared in a Manhattan federal court Jan. 5 on drug charges, where they each pleaded not guilty.

The raid came after months of pressure on Venezuela and more than two dozen strikes in Latin American waters against alleged drug traffickers as part of Trump’s effort to crack down on the influx of drugs into the U.S.

The Trump administration routinely stated that it did not recognize Maduro as a legitimate head of state and said he was the leader of a drug cartel. Likewise, Trump said in December 2025 he believed it would be ‘smart’ for Maduro to step down. 

The Trump administration has justified seizing Maduro as a ‘law enforcement’ operation, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio said congressional approval wasn’t necessary since the operation didn’t amount to an ‘invasion.’

However, lawmakers primarily on the left have questioned the legality of the operation in Venezuela, which was conducted without Congress’ approval.

‘This has been a profound constitutional failure,’ the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., said in a statement Jan. 3. ‘Congress — not the President — has the sole power to authorize war. Pursuing regime change without the consent of the American people is a reckless overreach and an abuse of power.’