The UN Climate Change Conference, COP30, starts Nov. 6 with a world leader summit and runs to Nov. 21. It will emphasize ‘the urgency of the climate crisis and the need for accelerated and collective climate actions.’ However, Microsoft founder Bill Gates just issued a memo aimed at COP30 attendees proposing a fundamental shift in priorities: focus on poverty reduction rather than climate modification.

Gates, who previously gave primary importance to measures to reduce near-term emissions, has drawn criticism for arguing that ‘a metric that should count even more than emissions and temperature change [is] improving lives. Our chief goal should be to prevent suffering, particularly for those in the toughest conditions who live in the world’s poorest countries.’

His argument rests on three key premises: climate change poses serious challenges but does not represent an existential threat to civilization; temperature metrics alone inadequately measure climate-related progress; and improved health and economic prosperity provide the most effective defense against climate change.

Gates provides data to show that achieving net-zero emissions would result in a 1.9-degree Celsius temperature increase from 1990 levels, while inaction would produce a 2.9-degree increase. This one-degree differential, he argues, suggests that resources allocated toward net-zero goals might yield greater humanitarian benefits if redirected toward energy access and disease prevention.

The correlation between energy consumption and economic prosperity is striking. Nations with annual per capita incomes below $1,145 consume approximately 1,100 kilowatts per person annually, while those exceeding $14,005 in per capita income utilize 55,000 kilowatts per person annually, according to data cited by Gates.

The genuine inequity, Gates contends, lies in human development disparities. A child born in South Sudan faces mortality risks 39 times higher before age five compared to a Swedish child. These vulnerable populations require enhanced access to energy, nutrition and healthcare infrastructure.

The relationship between economic development and energy consumption is unequivocal: no nation has achieved high per capita income with low per capita energy usage, and conversely, no country maintains high energy consumption alongside persistent poverty.

Increased energy access facilitates improved living standards through enhanced productivity, agricultural advancement and household consumption, thereby reducing dependence on subsistence farming. Energy availability either provides farmers with modern agricultural technologies or enables economic mobility to pursue alternative livelihoods.

High-energy nations benefit from superior healthcare infrastructure and water sanitation systems, resulting in reduced maternal and child mortality rates and greater capacity for environmental protection measures.

Hurricane Melissa’s destruction in Jamaica illustrates how natural disasters inflict disproportionate damage on developing nations compared to wealthy countries, due to disparities in energy infrastructure, resilient construction and recovery capabilities. Affordable energy access is essential to addressing these inequalities.

Energy poverty in many African and Latin American nations drives migration pressures, as residents seek higher living standards in fossil fuel-rich regions, particularly Europe and North America.

To support emerging economies and alleviate migration pressures, President Donald Trump has reversed restrictions on loans to developing countries for fossil fuel energy projects. Financial institutions are no longer compelled to finance exclusively renewable energy initiatives.

The 140 private banks from 44 countries that participated in the United Nations Net Zero Banking Alliance — including Barclays, JP Morgan Chase and Sumitomo — have suspended their commitments to restrict fossil fuel financing. The World Bank, which has historically discouraged fossil fuel and nuclear power lending while prioritizing renewables, may reassess its position.

This policy shift enables developing nations to secure financing for conventional power plants, transmission infrastructure, distribution networks and household connections. Importantly, this change diminishes China’s strategic advantage in lending to African and Latin American nations — often securing ports and other assets as collateral.

Gates’s reversal in the climate debate challenges the international community to confront an uncomfortable reality. While climate conferences convene in developed nations with reliable electricity and healthcare systems, billions lack access to the energy that makes such gatherings possible.

His argument suggests that the most effective climate strategy may be ensuring that vulnerable populations have the resources to adapt and thrive, rather than pursuing emissions targets that may perpetuate the very poverty that exacerbates climate vulnerability. Whether policymakers at COP30 will heed this message remains uncertain, but Gates has succeeded in reframing the conversation around what climate action should ultimately serve: economic progress, not merely atmospheric targets.

Leaders of a 189-member group that acts as the House GOP’s de facto conservative think tank are formally endorsing a new short-term federal funding bill.

With just over two weeks until the deadline for Republicans’ initial Nov. 21 plan and the threat of more government shutdown chaos, the Republican Study Committee (RSC) Steering Committee is calling for an extension into ‘at least’ January 2026.

‘Democrats are responsible for the longest government shutdown in U.S. history — paralyzing our country and deepening the healthcare crisis sparked by Obamacare,’ reads a statement first obtained by Fox News Digital.

‘House conservatives support a return to regular order accomplished only by a continuing resolution that funds the government at least into January 2026.’

A debate is already brewing within the GOP about how long another extension should last, with some conservatives even demanding a bill carrying last year’s federal spending levels through at least November 2026.

The House passed a short-term measure called a continuing resolution (CR) on Sept. 19, aimed at extending fiscal year (FY) 2025 funding levels for seven weeks to give lawmakers more time to strike a deal on FY 2026 federal spending.

But progress has been stalled in the Senate for weeks, where Democrats are demanding any spending bill be paired with an extension of COVID-19 pandemic-era Obamacare subsidies set to expire at the end of this year.

Senate Majority Leader Thune, R-S.D., has floated the idea of holding a vote on extending the subsidies if Democrats agree to Republicans’ CR, which is currently free of partisan policy riders.

It’s not clear if there’s an appetite for such a vote in the House, RSC leaders’ new statement suggests.

‘We are also committed to delivering a healthcare system that is truly accessible, affordable, and spurs innovation. Congress should reject any extension of the wasteful COVID-era subsidies that fuel fraud and drive up costs,’ they said.

The latest position by the RSC, led by Rep. August Pfluger, R-Texas, is likely an accurate indication of where most House Republicans’ feelings on both the CR and the Obamacare subsidies are.

Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., signaled support for a January CR on a private call with House GOP lawmakers on Tuesday, Fox News Digital was told earlier this week.

House Appropriations Committee Chairman Tom Cole, R-Okla., told Fox News Digital last month that he and others on his committee could support an extension into January.

But both issues are likely to see debate within the House GOP, not to mention the chamber as a whole.

Just over a dozen Republicans led by Rep. Jen Kiggans, R-Va., are supportive of extending the enhanced Obamacare subsidies by a year as a cushion to give the GOP more time to reform the flawed U.S. healthcare system.

Without it, some members of that coalition have argued, millions of Americans could be faced with a fiscal cliff leaving them to pay significantly more per month for their healthcare.

And on the CR debate, the House Freedom Caucus led by Rep. Andy Harris, R-Md., recently released a statement calling for a CR that extends at least into November 2026.

Their reasoning is that such a measure is the most effective way of keeping federal spending low and avoids another messy government funding fight until after the midterm elections.

But appropriators are against such a move, arguing that Congress must follow its constitutional duty in setting a yearly budget rather than relying on spending levels first passed under former President Joe Biden for another year.

It’s also not clear that Democrats, at least several of whom are needed to break a filibuster in the Senate, would accept a year-long CR.

Meanwhile, the government shutdown is in its 37th day, already having made history as the longest fiscal standoff in U.S. history.

A federal judge criticized the Justice Department for allegedly being too quick to indict in high-profile cases on Wednesday.

Magistrate Judge William Fitzpatrick of the Eastern District of Virginia made the comments during a brief hearing regarding the case against former FBI Director James Comey.

‘Right now, we are in a bit of a feeling of indict first, investigate later,’ Fitzpatrick said in the hearing, which lasted less than an hour.

Fitzpatrick questioned prosecutors about their handling of data acquired from a number of search warrants between 2019 and 2020, information which is now being used in Comey’s case. The judge pressed prosecutors on whether they may have viewed information that may be protected by attorney-client privilege.

Fitzpatrick also noted the size of the trove of documents, saying Comey’s defense team has been placed at a disadvantage with a limited time to view the set.

‘The government has had this for five and a half years … this is an unfair burden the government is placing on the defense, but I don’t see another path forward,’ the judge said.

Comey’s team has sought to have his case dismissed, arguing he is the victim of selective prosecution by President Donald Trump.

The DOJ denied in a 48-page filing that Trump’s September Truth Social post calling on U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi to prosecute prominent political adversaries, including Comey, Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., and New York Attorney General Letitia James, had any influence on the decision to bring charges.

‘These posts reflect the President’s view that the defendant has committed crimes that should be met with prosecution. They may even suggest that the President disfavors the defendant. But they are not direct evidence of a vindictive motive,’ prosecutors argued.

‘The defendant spins a tale that requires leaps of logic and a big dose of cynicism, then he calls the President’s post a direct admission,’ they continued. ‘There is no direct admission of discriminatory purpose. To the contrary, the only direct admission from the President is that DOJ officials decided whether to prosecute, not him.’

Fox News’ Ashley Carnahan contributed to this report.

Senate Democrats blocked Republicans’ attempt to reopen the government for a 14th time, all but ensuring that the government shutdown becomes the longest in U.S. history.

The move to again reject the House-passed continuing resolution (CR) comes as winds of optimism and exhaustion have swept through the upper chamber. Lawmakers are engaging in more bipartisan talks, and more believe that an off-ramp is in sight.

Still, Tuesday morning’s vote against the CR came as the shutdown matched the previous 35-day record set in 2019, and it all but ensured that it would surpass that unfortunate milestone later on in the evening.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and his Democratic caucus are still largely entrenched in their position that unless an ironclad deal on expiring Obamacare subsidies is struck, they won’t reopen the government.

During a speech on the Senate floor, Schumer squarely placed the blame for the healthcare issue on Republicans and President Donald Trump as Americans got notices of increased premiums over the weekend. 

‘The only plan Republicans have for healthcare seems to be to eliminate it, and then to tell working people to go figure it out on their own,’ he said. ‘That’s not a healthcare plan. That’s cruel.’ 

However, his caucus’ resolve showed signs of weakening on Monday, when a group of nearly a dozen Senate Democrats met behind closed doors to discuss a way out.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said he was optimistic about the shutdown coming to an end soon, but he wasn’t confident that it would be by the end of this week.

He noted that Republicans have made a plethora of options available to Senate Democrats, including guaranteeing a vote on the expiring subsidies, or ‘whatever their Obamacare bill is,’ after the government reopens. When asked if he believed lawmakers were close to reaching an end, he said, ‘I hope close.’ 

‘But the pressures, the cross pressures that everybody’s feeling, are great,’ Thune said. ‘But I think there are people who realize this has gone on long enough and that there’s been enough pain inflicted on the American people, and it’s time to end it. So we’ll see whether that’s, you know, sufficient numbers are there.’

Then there’s the reality that the current end date of Nov. 21 for the House-passed CR doesn’t give lawmakers enough time to advance funding bills, which has been a primary objective for Thune and others. And, many don’t want to reopen the government just to see it close back down a few weeks later.

Lawmakers are mulling extending the current CR, either by amending it or with a new bill, which would give them enough time to finish spending bills and avoid a colossal, year-end omnibus spending bill. Some are eyeing January, while others would prefer an extension into December. A trio of spending bills, known as a minibus, could also be tied to the revamped extension.

Those talks are happening parallel to discussions on Obamacare, but neither side has so far made a move to fully construct an off-ramp out of the shutdown.

When asked if he believed that the shutdown could end this week, Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., who has routinely engaged in bipartisan talks since the shutdown began, said, ‘I don’t know, I hope so.’

‘Bottom line is they can stop all this with one vote and get back into it and get back to work on a bipartisan basis,’ he said. ‘Again, that’s what we’re hoping.’

Both sides recognize that changing the subsidies, either through reforms or impacting the rates, will be difficult given that insurers already released rates and guidance over the weekend in line with the start of open enrollment.

Still, lawmakers are discussing a path forward on the subsidies. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, who has been involved in bipartisan talks, said that her proposal for the subsidies would extend them for two years.

She noted that it would be, ‘Really, really hard to do any reforms right now,’ because the insurance rates had been released, and that her proposal was one of many in the mix.

Ultimately, it’ll come down to the right blend of ideas to build an off-ramp for the subsidies. Murkowski said that changing the income cap, which was eliminated when the subsidies were enhanced under former President Joe Biden, and changes to the low-cost premium contribution were just a couple ideas on the table.

‘There’s no highly brand-new thing that anybody’s really talking about,’ she said. ‘It’s just what’s the right concoction?’

But some Senate Democrats are frustrated that Trump has not gotten more involved and argue that unless he gives an explicit greenlight, any deal crafted on the Hill doesn’t matter.

Trump has agreed to meet with Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., only after the government reopens. And over the weekend, he demanded that Senate Republicans nuke the 60-vote filibuster threshold, something that is unlikely to happen any time soon, if ever.

‘At no point since Oct. 1 has Donald Trump agreed to sit down with Democratic leaders,’ Sen. Andy Kim, D-N.J., said. ‘So, he can talk all he wants about the filibuster, but until he actually puts some skin in the game and sits down and talks to us, like, that is all meaningless to me. And I honestly, like, don’t care about him pontificating this stuff on social media. Like, if he’s got time to tweet, he’s got time to just come and talk to us.’

The nation’s largest food aid program will only resume in full when ‘Radical Left Democrats’ open the government, President Donald Trump wrote Tuesday on social media.

Trump posted about the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) on his Truth Social platform, saying that the benefits, meant to be a lifeline for low-income households, were given out too freely under former President Joe Biden, sending costs skyrocketing.

‘SNAP BENEFITS, which increased by Billions and Billions of Dollars (MANY FOLD!) during Crooked Joe Biden’s disastrous term in office (Due to the fact that they were haphazardly ‘handed’ to anyone for the asking, as opposed to just those in need, which is the purpose of SNAP!), will be given only when the Radical Left Democrats open up government, which they can easily do, and not before!’ the president’s post read.

Trump’s post comes as funding for the program was set to expire over the weekend as the government shutdown entered its second month.

On Monday, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., signaled that the expiration of funding may not be enough to persuade Democrats to end the government shutdown.

When asked if Democrats voting for the GOP federal funding bill would be the most prudent way to fix that, he said, ‘No.’

The Trump administration told a federal judge on Monday that it will partially resume SNAP benefits for the month of November despite the ongoing government shutdown, though when the payments will be distributed — and how much beneficiaries will receive — remains to be seen.

A senior Trump administration official told the court in a sworn declaration that the U.S. Department of Agriculture will allocate $4.65 billion of its $5 billion contingency fund to keep the SNAP program funded for the month of November.

SNAP supports more than 40 million Americans and has come under recent attention over how expansive the program has become and to the administration’s push to ensure illegal immigrants aren’t among its recipients.

The program was among the first that Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins targeted for review, citing concerns about eligibility and oversight.

Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., recently pushed new legislation seeking special funding for farmers and food assistance programs amid the government shutdown. The legislation would reinstate federal funding for the Farm Service Agency and SNAP.

‘We need to start forcing Democrats to make some tough votes. We need to start holding their feet to the fire,’ Hawley said in an interview with Fox News Digital last month. ‘I mean, do they really not want people to be able to eat? This situation is ridiculous.’

Fox News Digital reached out to Hawley’s office for comment on Trump’s most recent post about SNAP but did not immediately hear back.

Fox News Digital’s Amanda Macias, Elizabeth Elkind, Breanne Deppisch and Anders Hagstrom contributed to this report.

President Donald Trump has nominated Elon Musk ally Jared Isaacman to serve as NASA administrator again, after yanking his nomination for the role earlier in 2025. 

Trump originally tapped Isaacman, a commercial astronaut and founder and CEO of payment processing company Shift4 Payments, for the post, but Trump rescinded his nomination in May amid tension between the president and Musk.

‘Jared’s passion for Space, astronaut experience, and dedication to pushing the boundaries of exploration, unlocking the mysteries of the universe, and advancing the new Space economy, make him ideally suited to lead NASA into a bold new Era,’ Trump said in a social media post Tuesday.

Trump originally said when he revoked Isaacman’s nomination for the position that the move came after ‘a thorough review of prior associations.’

Furthermore, Trump said he would select a ‘new Nominee who will be Mission aligned, and put America First in Space.’

Isaacman’s ties to Musk include being an investor in SpaceX, and leading two private spaceflight missions with SpaceX, including Inspiration4. The 2021 Inspiration4 mission marked the first time an all-civilian crew orbited Earth.

Isaacman initially discussed his pulled nomination in an episode of the ‘All-In Podcast,’ hosted by four venture capitalists and covers business, technology and society, in an episode that dropped in June. At the time, Isaacman said he received a call from the White House May 30 notifying him his nomination wouldn’t advance because the White House had ‘decided to go in a different direction.’ 

Isaacman said he suspected his ties to Musk were part of the decision, and said the call came the same day Musk’s tenure heading up the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) finished.  

‘I don’t need to play dumb on this,’ Isaacman said in the podcast. ‘I don’t think that the timing was much of a coincidence, that there were other changes going on the same day.’

Trump and Musk sparred earlier in 2025 due to disagreements about the president’s massive tax and spending package, known as the ‘big, beautiful bill,’ which Trump signed into law in July. 

While Musk said at the time he opposed the bill because of reports it would increase the federal deficit, Trump said Musk didn’t back the measure because of provisions included to cut an electric vehicle tax credit that benefits companies like Musk’s Tesla.

However, the two appear to have moved on, and both were seen shaking hands and talking during conservative activist Charlie Kirk’s funeral in September. 

Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy has been serving as the acting NASA administrator since July. 

Iranian hackers taunted former National Security Advisor John Bolton about files allegedly obtained from his email account that they said were classified, wishing ‘good luck’ to ‘Mr. Mustache’ as they threatened to leak the materials, an unsealed search warrant affidavit reviewed by Fox News Digital revealed.

Bolton pleaded not guilty in October to eight counts of transmission of national defense information and ten counts of retention of national defense information. He had been indicted on 18 counts related to the improper handling of classified materials. 

It was July 2021 when Bolton’s assistant contacted the FBI via email to alert the agency that Iran had obtained access to Bolton’s email account, according to the affidavit. Bolton’s team had notified the FBI that it would be deleting Bolton’s emails so the hackers could not obtain any additional sensitive information. 

Weeks later, Bolton’s assistant contacted the FBI again to say he had received threatening emails that were believed to be related to the hack of Bolton’s AOL account.

‘The e-mail, the subject of which was ‘Re:New PW,’ as forwarded to the FBI, stated: ‘I do not think you would be interested in the FBI being aware of the leaked content of John’s email (some of which have been attached), especially after the recent acquittal. This could be the biggest scandal since Hillary’s emails were leaked, but this time on the GOP side! Contact me before it’s too late,’’ according to the warrant.

In August 2021, Bolton’s assistant flagged another email from the same account that threatened to leak portions of Bolton’s manuscript found in his email.

‘OK John…as you want (apparently), we’ll disseminate the expurgated sections of your book by reference to your leaked email,’ the email said. ‘Good luck Mr. Mustache!’

The affidavit in support of the search warrant from a raid on Bolton’s home in September was unsealed and obtained by Fox News Digital. 

The affidavit supporting the search warrant revealed additional details about the case against Bolton.

‘CLASSIFIED INFORMATION’

According to the unsealed warrant, staff from the White House National Security Council visited Bolton’s home Sept. 10, 2019, to retrieve classified information and any government property after his termination as national security advisor.

The government had created a sensitive compartmented information facility, also known as a SCIF, in Bolton’s home Sept. 17, 2018. That SCIF was decertified Oct. 16, 2019, according to the warrant.

‘Based on my education, training and experience, I know that the installation of a SCIF within the TARGET RESIDENCE indicated that Bolton anticipated storing classified materials within the TARGET RESIDENCE during his tenure as APNSA,’ the affidavit states. 

‘Once he was no longer APNSA, effective Sept. 10, 2019, his need-to-know expired, and any authorization for having access to the classified documents in the TARGET RESIDENCE was subsequently revoked.’

It was December 2019 when Bolton submitted a draft of his manuscript of ‘The Room Where It Happened,’ his memoir, to Ellen Knight, the National Security Council senior director for records, access and information security management.

Knight acknowledged receipt of the manuscript, according to the warrant, and notified Bolton that ‘based on a preliminary review, the manuscript appeared to contain significant amounts of classified information, to include information classified at the TOP SECRET level.’

Knight suggested Bolton modify and resubmit the manuscript due to the ‘large volume of classified information contained’ in it.

‘Knight indicated that, in all her experience, she had never seen that level of classified material and specificity of detail in a manuscript submitted for review,’ the affidavit said. ‘There were quotes from foreign leaders from negotiations with the President and details of foreign military actions which had not yet been publicly acknowledged by the foreign governments.

‘Based on her experience in reviewing manuscripts for pre-publication review and the level of detail contained in Bolton’s submission, Knight surmised that Bolton either had an incredible memory or had to be writing from notes he would have taken as APNSA. Knight explained that any such notes were likely classified, fall under the PRA, and should have been turned over by Bolton at the conclusion of his government service,’ the affidavit read. 

But on Dec. 13, 2019, Bolton’s team confirmed he had cleared classified documents and did not possess any additional classified documents at his home.

The affidavit, though, revealed that in February 2020, Bolton’s assistant wrote an email to the National Security Council to notify it that Bolton was reinstalling a SCIF in his home and needed the contact information for someone at the National Security Council who could accredit the SCIF. That was unusual, according to the warrant, given Bolton was no longer an employee of the U.S. government. 

The National Security Council director of security responded the same day, telling Bolton and his team that installing an accredited SCIF in his home was ‘not a viable option.’ 

It was more than a year later that Bolton’s AOL email account was hacked by a foreign entity, believed to be Iran.

Meanwhile, while Bolton attempted, and failed, to get a second SCIF accredited in his home, Bolton continued to refer to ‘the archives’ in emails to himself and to two other individuals, whose identities remain redacted.

The warrant states that Bolton would designate ‘certain information’ for ‘the archive,’ which the warrant states is likely a physical space within his home.

‘POLITICAL REASONS’ 

The probe into Bolton’s alleged retention of classified documents was first launched years ago but later shut down by the Biden administration ‘for political reasons,’ according to a senior U.S. official.

The Justice Department during Trump’s first administration argued that Bolton’s 2020 memoir contained classified material and sought to block its publication. A federal judge ultimately allowed the book to be published.

Justice Department lawyers argued the book contained classified national security information covering areas like U.S. intelligence sources and methods, foreign policy deliberations and conversations with foreign leaders.

In June 2021, the Biden Justice Department abandoned both a criminal inquiry and civil lawsuit against Bolton over the memoir, ending the legal battle at that time.

Bolton’s attorney said at the time that a senior career official in charge of the National Security Council’s pre-publication review process conducted a four-month review of the book and, after requiring a number of revisions, concluded that it contained no classified information.

The book contained a damning account of the Trump White House, alleging that Trump once ‘pleaded’ with Chinese President Xi Jinping to aid his re-election campaign, among other missteps.

Trump ousted Bolton from his first administration in 2019 because the pair ‘disagreed strongly’ on policy. 

Bolton has both praised and criticized Trump since leaving his first administration. 

He criticized Trump’s handling of classified documents, which led to an FBI raid on the former president’s Mar-a-Lago home in 2022 and a subsequent federal indictment but insisted that ‘the legal process play out.’

Trump initially was indicted on 37 felony counts, later expanded to 40, but the case was ultimately dismissed in July 2024.

In 2022, Bolton said Trump lacked the competence and character to be president.

However, Bolton strongly backed Trump’s military strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities in June, calling it ‘a decisive action,’ ‘the right thing to do’ and praising its potential to generate ‘huge change in the Middle East.’

Trump, meanwhile, often has criticized Bolton for pushing U.S. involvement in wars in the Middle East. Bolton served as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations under President George W. Bush from August 2005 to December 2006.

Trump revoked Bolton’s Secret Service detail Jan. 21, the day after Trump’s inauguration as the 47th president, and Bolton said the move showed that Trump was coming after him.

‘I think it is a retribution presidency,’ Bolton told ABC earlier in 2025, responding to Trump’s move to revoke his security clearance.

Bolton has faced threats from Iran going back years, including an alleged plot to assassinate him in 2021 and the Department of Justice subsequently charging a member of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps for the plot in 2022.

The Iranian threats against Bolton were likely sparked by the January 2020 U.S. strike that killed Qassem Soleimani, the head of Iran’s Quds Force, the Department of Justice reported in 2022. 

Bolton pleaded not guilty to 18 counts in October.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Timothy Sullivan explained the charges to Bolton and asked if he understood them and the potential penalties of up to ten years per count and a maximum fine of $250,000 per count. 

‘I do your honor,’ Bolton said during his arraignment at the federal courthouse in Greenbelt, Maryland. 

‘From on or about April 9, 2018, through at least on or about August 22, 2025, BOLTON abused his position as National Security Advisor by sharing more than a thousand pages of information about his day-to-day activities as the National Security Advisor — including information relating to the national defense which was classified up to the TOP SECRET/SCI level — with two unauthorized individuals, namely Individuals 1 and 2,’ the indictment states. 

‘BOLTON also unlawfully retained documents, writings, and notes relating to the national defense, including information classified up to the TOP SECRET/SCI level, in his home in Montgomery County, Maryland.’

The documents Bolton allegedly transmitted were sent to two individuals unauthorized to view classified documents, the indictment said.

Those documents, according to the indictment, revealed intelligence about future attacks by an adversarial group in another country, a liaison partner sharing sensitive information with the U.S. intelligence community, intelligence that a foreign adversary was planning a missile launch in the future and a covert action in a foreign country that was related to sensitive intergovernmental actions, among other information.

‘The FBI’s investigation revealed that John Bolton allegedly transmitted top-secret information using personal online accounts and retained said documents in his house in direct violation of federal law,’ said FBI Director Kash Patel. 

‘The case was based on meticulous work from dedicated career professionals at the FBI who followed the facts without fear or favor. Weaponization of justice will not be tolerated, and this FBI will stop at nothing to bring to justice anyone who threatens our national security.’

Bolton did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

U.S. Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth on Tuesday lauded South Korea’s plans to boost its military spending and take on a larger role in defending itself from North Korea’s aggression.

The U.S. has wanted South Korea to increase its conventional defense capabilities so that Washington can center its attention on China.

Hegseth spoke to reporters after annual security talks with South Korean Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back in Seoul, where he said he was ‘greatly encouraged’ by Seoul’s commitment to raising defense spending and making greater investments in its own military capabilities.

He said the two allies agreed that the investments would boost South Korea’s ability to lead its conventional deterrence against its northern foe.

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung, in a speech to parliament Tuesday, asked lawmakers to approve an 8.2% increase in defense spending next year. The president said the increase in spending would help modernize the military’s weapons systems and reduce its reliance on the U.S.

Hegseth noted defense cooperation on repairing and maintaining U.S. warships in South Korea, stressing that the activities harness South Korea’s shipbuilding capabilities and ‘ensure our most lethal capabilities remain ready to respond to any crisis.’

‘We face, as we both acknowledge, a dangerous security environment, but our alliance is stronger than ever,’ Hegseth said.

Hegseth said the South Korea-U.S. alliance is primarily meant to respond to potential North Korean aggression, but other regional threats must also be addressed.

‘There’s no doubt flexibility for regional contingencies is something we would take a look at, but we are focused on standing by our allies here and ensuring the threat of the [Democratic People’s Republic of Korea] is not a threat to the Republic of Korea and certainly continue to extend nuclear deterrence as we have before,’ he said.

In recent years, the U.S. and South Korea have discussed how to integrate U.S. nuclear weapons and South Korean conventional weapons.

South Korea has no nuclear weapons, and Ahn denied speculation that it could eventually seek its own nuclear weapons program or that it is pushing for redeployment of U.S. tactical weapon weapons that were removed from South Korea in the 1990s.

Earlier Tuesday, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said the country detected North Korea test-firing around 10 rounds of artillery toward its western waters on Monday, shortly before Hegseth arrived at an inter-Korean border village with Ahn to begin his two-day visit to South Korea.

Hegseth visited the Demilitarized Zone on the border with North Korea earlier in the week.

Democrat Abigail Spanberger defeated Republican Winsome Earle-Sears to win the Virginia governor’s race, tallying significant leads among reliable Democratic groups while capitalizing on economic worries and the deep unpopularity of President Donald Trump in the state.

Spanberger will be the first woman to hold the office in the Old Dominion State.

The former Virginia congresswoman replaces term-limited Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin, who was the first Republican to win a statewide election in Virginia in 12 years when he was elected in 2021. That race surprised many in that it was much closer than the 2020 presidential race the year before, where Biden defeated Trump by 10 points. This year it was the other way around, with Spanberger well exceeding the 2024 presidential margin that saw Harris over Trump by only six points.

Trump was undoubtedly a factor in the race, even though he wasn’t on the ballot. Close to six in ten Virginia voters disapproved of the job he is doing, while more than half said they strongly disapprove. The vast majority of these voters backed Spanberger.

Two-thirds of Spanberger supporters said their vote was expressly to show opposition to the president. That compares to about one-third of those backing current Lt. Governor Earle-Sears who said theirs was to show support.

Aside from those sending a signal of opposition to Trump, Spanberger’s strong appeal to Black voters, college graduates and the young was more than enough to offset Earle-Sears’ strength among White men, White evangelicals and those with no college degree, according to near-final data from the Fox News Voter Poll, a survey of more than 4,000 Virginia voters.

Not even the prospect of voting for the first Black woman governor of any state seemed to move Black voters, who backed Spanberger by about a nine to one margin.

Spanberger also benefited from a significant gender gap. Indeed, 65% of women backed her compared to 35% for Earle-Sears, a 30-point advantage; and men supported Earle-Sears by 4 points (48% for Spanberger, 52% Earle-Sears) – leaving a gender gap of 34 points, one of the largest in recent memory.

Neither party is very popular in the state, half of voters said they have an unfavorable opinion of Democrats, and more than half felt that way about Republicans.

Between the two candidates, however, Spanberger garnered a net-positive rating – more than half had a favorable opinion of her – compared to Sears, and more than half viewed her unfavorably.

Voters continue to be happy with Youngkin. More than half approved of the job he is doing as governor.

The top characteristic Virginia voters wanted in a candidate was someone who shares their values, followed by someone who is honest and trustworthy.

Values voters broke for Earle-Sears while Spanberger carried those looking for honesty.

Spanberger focused heavily on the economy during the campaign, specifically banging home the deleterious effects that Trump administration efforts to upend government in DC are having on Virginia, home to a large number of federal workers.

More than six in ten of those federal employees backed Spanberger.

The economy was by far the top issue for Virginia voters – with close to half ranking it as the most important. Those voters broke significantly for Spanberger.

Healthcare was the second most important concern – another issue Spanberger hit hard in the wake of the federal government shutdown and people facing the possible loss of health benefits.

Those voters who said healthcare was their number one issue went overwhelmingly for Spanberger – by about four to one.

Overall, Virginia voters – about six in ten – think the economy is doing pretty well. Those voters backed Earle-Sears.

But when it comes to their own family’s finances, most said they were either holding steady or falling behind. Both of those groups went for Spanberger.

And of the six in ten voters who said the federal budget cuts had affected their family finances, they backed Spanberger as well.

Two issues that got significant attention from Earle-Sears in the campaign were controversies about trans rights, and the disclosure of violent texts from the Democratic candidate for Attorney General.

Fewer than half of voters found the texts sent by Democrat Jay Jones, threatening a fellow lawmaker, disqualifying from the job of attorney general. Those who did broke strongly for Earle-Sears.

The rest, though – who said the texts were concerning but not disqualifying, were not a concern, or who simply didn’t know enough – went strongly for Spanberger.

It was suspected that some voters might split their votes, backing Spanberger for governor but Republican Jason Miyares for attorney general. That did not happen. Those Democrats defecting to Miyares remained in the single digits, and Jones was declared the winner.

On transgender rights, voters have mixed views. Half said support has gone too far – the position Earle-Sears took, with special emphasis on its effect on schools and girls’ sports. The other half, however, said support has not gone far enough, or it’s been about right.

Those who said it’d gone too far backed Earle-Sears by almost four to one, while those who disagreed went hard for Spanberger.

In the end, the headwinds of Trump’s unpopularity and the ire of the vast number of federal workers in the state was too much for Earle-Sears to overcome.

Only about a third of Virginia voters are happy with the direction the country is going, and while these voters overwhelmingly backed Earle-Sears, the other two-thirds went big for Spanberger. Of the four in ten who are actually angry about how things are going, almost all of them – more than nine in ten – backed Spanberger.

Asked about Trump’s immigration enforcement efforts, more than half say it has gone too far, and, perhaps not surprisingly, most of these voters backed Spanberger.

Almost all Democrats voted for Spanberger, as did a few Republicans. Earle-Sears was unable to generate any sort of crossover appeal, while winning most Republicans. The small group of independents favored Spanberger.

The Fox News Voter Poll is based on a survey conducted by SSRS with Virginia registered voters. This survey was conducted October 22 to November 4, 2025, concluding at the end of voting on Election Day. The poll combines data collected from registered voters online and by telephone with data collected in-person from Election Day voters at 30 precincts per state/city. In the final step, all the pre-election survey respondents and Election Day exit poll respondents are combined by adjusting the share of voting mode (absentee, early-in-person, and Election Day) based on the estimated composition of the state/city’s final electorate. Once votes are counted, the survey results are also weighted to match the overall results in each state. Results among more than 4,500 Virginia voters interviewed have an estimated margin of sampling error of plus or minus 2.1 percentage points, including the design effects. The error margin is larger among subgroups.

New York City socialist candidate Zohran Mamdani cruised to victory on Tuesday night, defying the laundry list of critics who railed against him over several high-profile controversial stances and statements.

Communist label

Mamdani dismissed the ‘communist’ label throughout the campaign, maintaining that he is a democratic socialist.

His past comments promoting the abolition of private property, seizing the means of production, claiming billionaires shouldn’t exist, and calling for free government programs earned him the communist label from some, including President Donald Trump. 

Mike Gonzalez, the Angeles T. Arredondo E Pluribus Unum Senior Fellow at The Heritage Foundation, told Fox News Digital earlier this year that Mamdani is ‘absolutely a communist’ who ‘repeats lines out of the ‘Communist Manifesto’ and other writings by Karl Marx.’

‘When Marxists today say they are socialists, they usually want to convey the impression that they believe in elections and not just in shooting your way into power,’ Gonzalez added. ‘Of course, that election often ends up being the last free and fair one. Witness Venezuela.’

Anti-Israel positions

Days before the election, an antisemitism research institute released a comprehensive report that summarized its concerns about Mamdani’s stances on Israel and concluded he shouldn’t become the next mayor of New York City.

Mamdani faced heated criticism on the campaign trail, including hundreds of rabbis signing a letter opposing him for positions dating back to his time in college co-founding his school’s Students for Justice in Palestine chapter all the way up to this year when he was hesitant to definitively condemn the term ‘globalize the intifada.’

Mamdani sparked a political firestorm last month, drawing outrage from the law enforcement community after posting a smiling photo with Imam Siraj Wahhaj, a Brooklyn cleric who served as a character witness for the mastermind of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing and has been a longtime defender of convicted terrorists, raising funds for their legal defenses.

Mamdani, a 34-year-old New York state assembly member, has been an outspoken critic of Israel and has even vowed to have Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrested if he visits New York City. 

‘I call Zohran Mamdani a jihadist because he is. Zohran Mamdani is a raging anti-Semite,’ New York GOP Rep. Elise Stefanik said in August. 

‘Mamdani is the definition of a jihadist as he supports Hamas terrorists which he did as recently as yesterday, when he refused to call for Hamas terrorists to put down their arms — the same Hamas terrorist group that slaughtered civilians including New Yorkers on October 7, 2023.’

In July, a Jewish advocacy group blasted Mamdani for sharing a video mocking Hanukkah Jewish traditions on social media.

Mamdani also faced criticism over the anti-Israel positions of his Columbia University professor father, Mahmood, who previously compared Abraham Lincoln to Adolf Hitler and appeared sympathetic to suicide bombers in a book he authored.

‘I think critiques of the state of Israel are critiques of a government, as opposed to critiques of a people and of a faith,’ Mamdani told MSNBC this week. ‘And my job is to represent every single New Yorker, and I will do so no matter their thoughts and opinions on Israel and Palestine, of which millions of New Yorkers have very strong views — and I’m one of them.’ 

Defunding the police

Public safety was one of the most talked about issues on the campaign trail, resulting in a constant debate about Mamdani’s calls in 2020 to ‘defund the police.’

Before his mayoral campaign, Mamdani called the New York Police Department ‘racist’ and said in 2023, ‘We have to make clear that when the boot of the NYPD is on your neck, it’s been laced by the IDF.’

‘I think what scares a lot of New Yorkers about the policy positions taken by Zohran Mamdani over the years is that he has exhibited not just a lack of appreciation for the men and women that stand on that [police] line, but a visceral disdain for them, which has led him to push for things like defunding and dismantling the police,’ Rafael A. Mangual, senior fellow and head of research for policing and public safety at the Manhattan Institute, told Fox News Digital in August, shortly after a gunman killed four people in midtown Manhattan, including a NYPD police officer. 

‘It’s not so much as just that he said, well, I wanna allocate some of this money to other places. He has gone so far as to say that we should dismantle the entire department.’

Mamdani attempted to distance himself from his previous positions on the campaign trail and apologized to them in a Fox News interview in October.

‘Will you do that right now?’ Fox News anchor Martha MacCallum asked. 

‘Absolutely,’ Mamdani said, turning to face the camera directly. ‘I’ll apologize to police officers right here because this is the apology that I’ve been sharing with many rank-and-file officers. And I apologize because of the fact that I’m looking to work with these officers, and I know that these officers, these men and women who serve in the NYPD, they put their lives on the line every single day. And I will be a mayor.’

Columbus Day incident

In July, Mamdani sparked a social media firestorm after a post resurfaced of him giving the middle finger to a statue of Christopher Columbus.

‘Take it down,’ Mamdani posted in June 2020, along with a photo showing what is presumably his gloved hand raising the middle finger toward a statue of the famed Italian explorer in Astoria, New York.

In a post around the same time, Mamdani asked his followers in a poll who should be honored instead of Columbus with options that included, ‘Tony Bennett (Astoria native, music icon) Walter Audisio (Communist partisan, killed Mussolini) Sacco & Vanzetti (Executed due to anti-Italian sentiment).’

The winners of the poll were Sacco and Vanzetti, two anarcho-communists executed in 1927.

Some in the Italian community took offense to the post, according to a New York Post report, including Columbus Heritage Coalition President Angelo Vivolo.

‘We will defend Columbus Day and Columbus statues,’ Vivolo said. 

‘He is being disrespectful to the Italian American community.’ Vivolo added. ‘If you offend one community, you offend all communities.’

Despite the criticisms and opposition from high-profile lawmakers across the country, Mamdani’s campaign focused on affordability, pushing back against Trump, and taxing the rich guided him to a commanding victory on Tuesday night.

Mamdani’s victory is expected to be a rallying cry for Republicans as they look to paint him and his socialist agenda as the face of the Democratic Party heading into next year’s midterms. 

‘The Democrat Party has surrendered to radical socialist Zohran Mamdani and the far-left mob who are now running the show,’ National Republican Committee Spokesman Mike Marinella told Fox News Digital on Tuesday night. 

‘They’ve proudly embraced defunding the police, abolishing ICE, taxing hard-working Americans to death, and replacing common sense with chaos. Every House Democrat is foolishly complicit in their party’s collapse, and voters will make them pay in 2026.’ 

Fox News Digital’s Deirdre Heavey contributed to this report.