President Donald Trump said public entitlements, such as Social Security and Medicaid, will not be touched in the GOP’s contentious new budget bill currently working its way through Congress, during a town hall Tuesday night hosted by NewsNation.

Earlier this month, the Republican-led House of Representatives approved $2 trillion in spending cuts. Those cuts did not include any slashes to Social Security, but it did pave the way for cuts to Medicaid. 

However, in the Senate, Republicans have proposed implementing just $4 billion in cuts, a fraction of what House Republicans have called for. Meanwhile, a number of GOP senators have also expressed hesitancy over making cuts to Medicaid, setting up a potential intra-party battle over the matter.

‘We’re not doing anything with entitlements,’ Trump told NewsNation’s Chris Cuomo, who was moderating the event alongside Bill O’Reilly and sports commentator Stephen A. Smith.

‘If you look at Social Security – and by the way – I think I’m better to say this than anybody, because I did nothing with entitlements that would hurt people for four years. I could have done that. If I was going to do that, I would have done it, five years ago, six years ago or seven years ago. I’m not doing anything.’ 

However, Trump did say that he is undeterred from reforming public entitlements, like Medicaid, to ensure they are free of waste, fraud and abuse. 

‘There are a lot of illegal aliens that are getting Medicaid that shouldn’t be getting it. And nobody objects to taking people off Medicaid that aren’t allowed to be there,’ Trump added. ‘But we are doing absolutely nothing to hurt Medicare, Medicaid or Social Security. Nothing at all.’

Republicans, who are using a process known as reconciliation to bypass a senate filibuster, are hoping to finalize their plans for a new budget by Memorial Day, according to media reports. However, the GOP must come to a deal on where to cut funding to pay for many of the tax cuts they want to provide. 

‘Guess what, boys? It’s game time. We’re here, and you’ve got mandatory spending sitting in front of you, and it’s Medicaid,’ Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, told NBC News this week. ‘If they’re not going to vote for Medicaid reform, which is very much possible, and frankly, it’s our duty, then I want them to explain to me why they are for allowing the tax cuts to snap back in place. Because it’s the only math that will actually work. So anyone who is against Medicaid reform is for a tax increase.’

Meanwhile, centrist Republicans like Reps. Jeff Van Drew, R-N.J., and Don Bacon, R-Neb., have indicated to Speaker Mike Johnson that they will not vote for any GOP budget bill that proposes deep cuts to Medicaid.

Congress passed the REAL ID Act in 2005, a few years after the 9/11 attacks. The subsequent 9/11 Commission Report revealed many weaknesses in our national security, including the fact that hijackers Khalid Al-Mihdhar and Nawaf Al-Hazmi got California drivers’ licenses through a facilitator in San Diego. They probably used those to board the American Airlines plane they crashed into the Pentagon, killing 189 people.

International and domestic criminals and terrorists love ‘breeder documents’ (papers issued based on low evidence), which they can use to get better identification documents (IDs) like a passport, birth certificate, and Social Security card. That’s why for air travel and other serious business, all passengers should have identification based on information that has been verified, so we know who they really are.

After two decades of the government kicking the can down the road with one excuse after another, the deadline for needing a REAL ID to catch a domestic flight is up on May 7. This time, we need to keep it.

Over the past four years, former president Joe Biden and his Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas released at the border, paroled, or let sneak in over 10 million essentially unidentified aliens. Many had thrown away their ID or didn’t have any, so DHS took their word for who they were.

There was no way to do proper background checks in their home countries. Some of them turned out to be terrorists, rapists, and murderers here – and for all we know, they may have been before at home, if we had only known their real identities and records.

Many Americans were outraged over the last few years to see aliens at our interior airports checking in for domestic flights with only their Notice to Appear (NTA – the document they got at the border that tells them to show up in court for a deportation hearing). Some were flying on the taxpayer dime. Others were flown in the middle of the night to avoid public attention. Meanwhile, all of us had to carry proper documents that take time and money to get.

Most states will issue you a non-REAL ID license with less proof than the REAL ID version. For the real deal, you need some combination of documents such as a birth certificate, passport, Social Security card, and proof of residence. It’s not easy, but once you’ve done it in your home state, you don’t have to repeat the exercise when you renew.

Some of those holding non-REAL ID compliant drivers’ licenses are living in the U.S. illegally. Nineteen states plus Washington, D.C. have allowed people who claim residence there to get some version of a license even if they are illegal, arguing that it improves road safety.

For another two weeks, foreign nationals have a choice of showing a driver’s license, foreign passport, military ID, federal Employment Authorization Card, or even their Notice to Appear to get on a domestic flight. After May 7, they will need a passport or a state-issued drivers’ license that complies with federal REAL ID standards. Or there’s always the Greyhound.

Just as Leftists want men to self-ID into women’s spaces, they seem fine with unidentified foreigners self-declaring who they are before getting on a plane. I’m not. If we’re going to keep handing over our nail clippers thanks to the 9/11 hijackers, and taking off our footwear thanks to shoe-bomber Richard Reid, we can at least ask our fellow travelers to have a secure ID that is based on verified facts and not just their say-so.

The one exception that the Department of Homeland Security will make to the new REAL ID requirement is for foreigners booking a flight out of the country. With the border more secure than ever, that would mean they’d be self-deporting, unless they can qualify for a visa in the future.

DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin told Fox News that ‘81% of air travelers hold REAL ID-compliant or acceptable IDs.’ The other 19% can get with the program.

Some on the American right, and Libertarians, don’t like the REAL ID requirement. But the rest of us will pay that small price to ensure safer skies and so we know that someone has verified the identity of the guy sitting next to us. Basic Economy is already rough enough without having to play human lotto every time you fly.

The parents of the American hostages still held by the Hamas terrorist organization in Gaza have called on President Donald Trump to use his reputation for being ‘tough’ and apply pressure on not only known enemies but one of his closest allies: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

There are 59 hostages still in Gaza, at least 24 of whom are assessed to be alive, including American-Israeli Edan Alexander, now 21 years old after having spent two birthdays in Hamas captivity.

Itay Chen, 19, Omer Neutra, 21, Judy Weinstein Haggai, 70, and her husband, Gadi Weinstein, 73, are all believed to have been killed by Hamas in it’s attack in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and whose bodies were taken into Gaza.

‘I believe that the president is a very tough person, and he should be tough with the enemies and with friends as well,’ Adi Alexander, who is Edan’s father, told Fox News Digital in a direct reference to Israel.

‘We asked of the president to keep everybody accountable,’ Alexander, who sat next to his wife, Yael, described after the second phase of a ceasefire, which was supposed to begin in March but failed and Israel resumed military operations in the Gaza Strip to the immense frustration of mediators. 

In addition, the families urged Trump to keep Netanyahu ‘on a short leash’ and to ‘get him back to negotiate as soon as possible and stop this thing.’

Trump this week marked his 100th day in office, and the families of the five Americans still held hostage urged him to reflect on his strategy and apply pressure on both Israel and Hamas, through both economic and diplomatic means, to secure the release of all 59 hostages.

‘With the election results, we had such high hopes,’ Ruby Chen, father to Itay, told reporters during a press event on Wednesday. ‘We know he cares about the topic, and we saw, even before the inauguration, his comments on the topic with the ‘hell to pay’ and ‘all the hostages need to come out.’’

‘But I think the 100-day mark that we are at this moment, I think it’s a good time to reflect and say that the job’s not done,’ said Chen, sitting next to his wife, Hagit Chen.

Trump sparked international concern in February when he suggested the Gaza Strip should be turned into the ‘Riviera of the Middle East,’ and fears have mounted that as Washington continues to discuss potentially displacing Palestinians and Israel continues aggressive military operations, Hamas may be unwilling to give up its leverage: the hostages. 

Calls within the Gaza Strip are increasing from Palestinians to return all the hostages so a day-after plan can be discussed as Palestinian civilians continue to feel the consequences of the brutal war.

‘It’s easy rhetoric to say that Hamas won’t hold their side of the deal,’ Orna Neutra, mother to Omer, told reporters. ‘If they don’t hold their side of the deal, then [Netanyahu] can return to hostilities. 

‘But let’s allow them to release all hostages and see if that happens or not instead of just saying they won’t do it,’ she added, noting it could be another leveraging point for the Trump administration.

The families of the hostages are careful not to get overly involved in the heated political topics, but instead they have highlighted the importance of and need for a solid strategy to first secure the release of all remaining hostages, and then figure out a day-after plan. 

Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff has suggested that Hamas could become politically active in the Gaza Strip, but they need to fully disarm.

‘I think the best approach will be just to call for both parties to rise above politics, although it will be very difficult with Hamas, which is politically struggling to survive in this region, but definitely to call on [the] Israeli government to rise above politics,’ Alexander said. ‘Do not think about politically surviving and prioritize human life.’

The families pointed to polling from Israel that shows nearly 70% of Israelis favor ending military operations against Hamas in order to return all the hostages more than 573 days since they were abducted, including some 48% of Netanyahu’s coalition base. Some 39% of his conservative base apparently oppose the strategy, and another 13% are unsure.

While there is evident frustration among the families of the hostages, who have made clear the Israeli government has not offered anywhere near the same level of support or communication provided by both the Biden and Trump administrations, they said that, ultimately, the adversary is the terrorist organization that captured, in some instances killed, and continues to hold captive their loved ones. 

‘Just to be clear, Hamas is the enemy,’ said Neutra, who sat next to her husband, Ronen. ‘Hamas committed these atrocious crimes. They’re holding on to our family members. We don’t want to see them continue to be a threat to Israel.

‘But it’s about priority, and it’s about being in the situation for 19 months now,’ she added.