A federal judge in Boston on Monday blocked the Trump administration from ending federal Medicaid reimbursements for Planned Parenthood clinics nationwide, ruling that the effort is likely unconstitutional and in violation of the group’s First Amendment protections. 

U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani, an Obama appointee in Boston, granted Planned Parenthood’s request for a nationwide preliminary injunction. ‘Patients are likely to suffer adverse health consequences where care is disrupted or unavailable,’ she said in her order on Monday.

‘In particular, restricting members’ ability to provide healthcare services threatens an increase in unintended pregnancies and attendant complications because of reduced access to effective contraceptives, and an increase in undiagnosed and untreated STIs,’ she added.

Judge Talwani said Monday that Planned Parenthood had sufficiently demonstrated to the court that they were ‘likely to succeed on the merits’ of their lawsuit— one of the ways in which judges evaluate emergency requests for injunctive relief—citing the harm that patients and clinics would likely suffer as a result of the lost Medicaid funding.

Attorneys for Planned Parenthood had sued over the Medicaid cuts earlier this month, which were enacted under a provision of the ‘one big beautiful bill’ narrowly cleared by the Republican-led Congress and signed into law by President Donald Trump on July 4. 

Plaintiffs argued in their filing that the cuts would cause ‘grave’ health risks to as many as one million patients nationwide. 

They also pointed to possible increases in cancer and in undetected sexually transmitted infections, especially in low-income communities.

Many areas could also see an increase in unplanned pregnancies as a result of the lost contraception access their clinics provide, they noted.

Judge Talwani’s order is expected to apply to the nearly 600 health centers operated across the country by Planned Parenthood. It is almost certain to be appeared by the Trump administration, which could even ask the higher courts to grant it an administrative stay in the interim while lower court battles continue to play out.

The administration has also found success in filing emergency orders to the Supreme Court. As of earlier this month, the high court has ruled in Trump’s favor in the majority of cases filed via the ‘shadow docket’ or via emergency application.

Fox News’s Ashley Oliver contributed to this report. 

Senate Republicans have received marching orders from President Donald Trump to ram through his remaining nominees, but Democrats are slow-walking the process over some key nominations.

Some of the nominees giving Senate Democrats the most heartburn include Jeanine Pirro, Emil Bove, Mike Waltz and Paul Ingrassia, all of whom Trump tapped for key roles in his administration.

Most of them have all slowly moved through the process, but they are just a few of many other, less controversial figures that are being held up by delay tactics.

There are now over 140 pending ‘civilian’ nominations for positions across the gauntlet of federal agencies, ambassadorships and judgeships. While the Senate has moved at a blistering rate over the last six months to confirm nominees — they’ve clocked nearly 100 so far — Trump has called on Republicans to stay in town rather than leave Washington for a roughly month-long break.

Republicans are trying to hammer out a deal with Democrats to see that more low-hanging fruit nominees, like ambassadors, get the green light for a faster process on the Senate floor, and are willing to keep lawmakers in town over the weekend if their counterparts don’t relent.

‘Democrats want to get out of here for August recess, then fine, give us a certain amount of en blocs that we can go through with non-controversial nominees,’ Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., said.

Bove, who currently works at the Justice Department but previously served as Trump’s personal attorney, has been a particular target for Democrats. Trump nominated him to serve a lifetime appointment to the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, and he is nearing the end of his confirmation process.

Democrats have accused Bove of being unfit for the role, and listed whistleblower allegations that he suggested the Trump administration could ignore judicial orders, among other sticking points, as reason enough to try to subvert his appointment to the bench.

‘I have never advised a Department of Justice attorney to violate a court order,’ Bove said during his confirmation hearing.

He’s also become a prime target of Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and other Democrats, including Democratic members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, who staged a walkout in protest of his nomination during a recent hearing.

‘He’s the extreme of the extreme,’ Schumer said. ‘He’s not a jurist. He’s a Trumpian henchman. That seems to be the qualification for appointees these days.’

Pirro, a former Fox News host who was tapped to be the top federal prosecutor in D.C., has similarly faced resistance — Senate Democrats walked out of the same meeting discussing her and Bove’s nominations — but not near the degree that Bove has.  

Still, she was advanced out of committee on a party-line vote, coming another step closer to taking over the position she holds in the interim on a permanent basis.

Trump tapped Waltz to be the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, the last cabinet position to be filled by the administration.

Waltz stepped away from his original role as national security advisor following ‘Signalgate,’ a highly publicized blunder that saw him add a journalist to a group chat on the messaging app Signal that included Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, Vice President JD Vance and others discussing the plans and execution of a strike against Yemen. He also advanced out of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Ingrassia’s nomination as special counsel, a position that would see him lead the government watchdog Office of the Special Counsel, was derailed last week when his name was pulled from a list of other nominees slated to have a hearing before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.

Ingrassia has come under scrutiny for his connections with Nick Fuentes, a white nationalist, and his limited career as a lawyer — he graduated from law school three years ago.

Fox News Digital reached out to the Senate panel for comment on Ingrassia’s hearing cancellation. 

The Senate confirmed its first nominee of the week ahead of what is expected to be a jam-packed schedule to ram through as many of President Donald Trump’s picks as possible.

David A. Wright, Trump’s pick to lead the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) for a five-year term, was confirmed in the upper chamber on a 50to 39 vote on Monday. It’s not Wright’s first time as chair of the commission, having first served in the role beginning in 2020.

Trump had previously tapped Wright during his first term, and again selected him to lead the NRC earlier this year. His new term is set to end in 2030.

The NRC is an independent regulatory agency tasked with regulating commercial nuclear power plants, reactor licensing and renewal and other elements related to protecting public health and safety when it comes to nuclear energy. Wright’s confirmation comes on the heels of Trump’s announcement that the U.S. and European Union were entering a trade deal that would see the bloc purchase $750 billion of U.S. energy over the next three years. 

While the commission is independent from other arms of the government, Senate Democrats have balked at recent attempts to make the regulatory body, in their view, more partisan.

Earlier this year, Trump signed an executive order that demanded the agency consider making its safety standards less stringent, shortening the timelines for environmental reviews and a quadrupling of the nation’s nuclear power capacity by 2050: all part of the president’s quest to ensure America’s energy dominance. 

Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chair Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.V., argued that over the last seven years that Wright has been a part of the commission, first as a commissioner beginning in 2018 and then as chair, he would fulfill the president’s wishes. 

‘Achieving this will require experienced and highly qualified Commissioners who are empowered to lead the Agency through a period of high expectations,’ she said in a statement. ‘Well, David Wright meets that mark.’

Then Trump fired a Democratic member of the commission last month, and a staffer from the president’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) was reportedly detailed from the Department of Energy to the regulatory agency.  

That prompted Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, the top Democrat on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, to warn of a ‘hostile takeover’ of the commission by the Energy Department.

The move hurt what began as bipartisan support for Wright’s nomination — Whitehouse initially backed him but changed his position.

‘I hoped to see Chairman Wright rise to the occasion, but circumstances right now at the NRC continue to deteriorate,’ he said in a statement. ‘I cannot presently support his renomination.’

Still, Wright’s confirmation is a win for both Senate Republicans and the White House after Trump called on the Senate GOP to ram his nominees through blockades set up by Senate Democrats.

There are now over 140 pending ‘civilian’ nominations for positions across the gauntlet of federal agencies, ambassadorships and judgeships. The Senate has moved at a blistering clip over the last six months to confirm nominees—they’ve clocked nearly 100 so far — the president has called on Senate Republicans to consider canceling the forthcoming August break to get more done. 

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., warned that if his colleagues across the aisle continued to slow walk the process in the upper chamber for the slew of remaining ‘uncontroversial’ nominees, or be prepared to stick around Washington. 

‘Or they can rein in their reflexive anti-Trump sentiment and allow some of his rank-and-file nominees to proceed by unanimous consent or voice vote — just as Republicans did when the roles were reversed,’ he said. ‘And I’d remind my colleagues about the dangerous and ugly precedent that they’re setting here. But the choice is theirs. But whether it’s the slow way or the fast way, we’re getting President Trump’s nominees confirmed.’

The Department of Justice has filed an official complaint alleging misconduct by US District Court Chief Judge James Boasberg. Fox News has reviewed the complaint which was written by Attorney General Pam Bondi’s Chief of Staff Chad Mizelle and addressed to the Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, Sri Srinivasan.

Fox News has learned that the complaint was written and filed at the direction of Attorney General Pam Bondi.

‘The Department of Justice respectfully submits this complaint alleging misconduct by U.S. District Court Chief Judge James E. Boasberg for making improper public comments about President Donald J. Trump to the Chief Justice of the United States and other federal judges that have undermined the integrity and impartiality of the judiciary,’ says Mr. Mizelle.

Judge Boasberg is presiding over a high-profile case involving the deportation of several migrants to El Salvador and has talked about holding DOJ lawyers in contempt because of his assertion that his order to turn airborne planes around was not followed. President Trump has also made critical comments about Judge Boasberg.

The complaint details two occasions on which Judge Boasberg made comments the Justice Department alleges undermine the integrity and impartiality of the judiciary.

‘On March 11, 2025, Judge Boasberg attended a session of the Judicial Conference of the United States, which exists to discuss administrative matters like budgets, security, and facilities. While there, Judge Boasberg attempted to improperly influence Chief Justice Roberts and roughly two dozen other federal judges by straying from the traditional topics to express his belief that the Trump Administration would ‘disregard rulings of federal courts’ and trigger ‘a constitutional crisis.’ Although his comments would be inappropriate even if they had some basis, they were even worse because Judge Boasberg had no basis—the Trump Administration has always complied with all court orders. Nor did Judge Boasberg identify any purported violations of court orders to justify his unprecedented predictions.’

‘Within days of those statements, Judge Boasberg began acting on his preconceived belief that the Trump Administration would not follow court orders. First, although he lacked authority to do so, he issued a temporary restraining order preventing the Government from removing violent Tren de Aragua terrorists, which the Supreme Court summarily vacated.

Taken together, Judge Boasberg’s words and deeds violate Canons of the Code of Conduct for United States Judges, and, erode public confidence in judicial neutrality, and warrant a formal investigation.’ 

The DOJ is asking Chief Judge Srinivasan to refer the complaint to a special investigative committee as an inquiry is essential to determine whether Judge Boasberg’s conduct constitutes ‘conduct prejudicial to the effective and expeditious administration of the business of the courts.’ The complaint also asks that Judge Boasberg be taken off the case involving Venezuelan migrants who were deported to El Salvador, ‘to prevent further erosion of public confidence while the investigation proceeds.’

The case in question is J.G.G. v Trump.

This is the second time the Bondi DOJ has filed an official complaint against a federal judge. In late February, the DOJ filed a complaint about US District Judge Ana Reyes, concerning what the DOJ calls Judge Reyes’ ‘misconduct’ during the proceedings in Nicolas Talbott et al. v. Donald J. Trump et al., which is a case brought by two LGBTQ groups challenging the Trump Administration’s Executive Orders barring transgender individuals from serving in the US military.

News of the complaint comes at a time when the Trump administration has excoriated dozens of so-called ‘activist’ judges who have blocked or paused some of Trump’s sweeping executive orders from taking force in his second White House term.

Judge Boasberg in particular found himself at the center of Trump’s ire and attacks on so-called ‘activist’ judges this year, following his March 15 temporary restraining order that sought to block Trump’s use of the Alien Enemies Act to quickly deport hundreds of Venezuelan nationals to El Salvador.

Boasberg had ordered all planes bound for El Salvador to be ‘immediately’ returned to U.S. soil, which did not happen.

His emergency order touched off a complex legal saga that ultimately spawned dozens of federal court challenges across the country – though the one brought before his court on March 15 was the very first – and later prompted the Supreme Court to rule, on two separate occasions, that the hurried removals had violated migrants’ due process protections under the U.S. Constitution.

Boasberg, as a result, emerged as the man at the center of the legal fallout. 

Trump administration officials have repeatedly excoriated Boasberg both for his order and his attempt to determine whether they acted in good faith to comply with his orders, and Trump himself has floated the idea that Boasberg could be impeached earlier this year – prompting Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts to issue a rare public warning. 

The complaint, focused on months-old behavior and allegations surrounding Judge Boasberg— first tapped as a judge by then-President George W. Bush in 2002, comes at a time when he could again have a say in a major class action case brought by lawyers representing the former CECOT migrants. 

Lawyers for the ACLU and others in the class asked Judge Boasberg earlier this month to reopen discovery in the case, citing allegations from a United Nations report regarding custodial status of migrants at CECOT, and the recent decision to remove the 252 migrants sent from the U.S. to El Salvador to Venezuela under the prisoner exchange.

Asked at a status hearing in court last week whether the Justice Department would comply with the court’s orders, DOJ lawyer Tiberius Davis said they would, ‘if it was a lawful order.’

They also said they would likely seek an appeal from a higher court.

In April, Judge Boasberg also ruled that the court had found ‘probable cause’ to hold the Trump administration in contempt for failing to return the planes to U.S. soil, in accordance with his March 15 emergency order, and said the court had determined that the Trump administration demonstrated a ‘willful disregard’ for his order.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit stayed his original motion in April, and has yet to move on the matter.

When the ambulance arrived in the Kensington neighborhood of Philadelphia two years ago, an angry EMT got out and barked at the crowd, ‘Who called this in?’ 

Standing next to my cameraman and above the prone body of a shirtless soul bedecked in boils and not moving, I said, ‘I did.’ He didn’t say a word, he looked at me, then down the street at the dozens of strung out bodies, then back at me as if to say, ‘Look at all this, what do you want me to do?’

I had no answer.

Last week, President Donald Trump did answer that question with a much-welcome executive order (EO) intended to bring back civil commitment, in other words, the ability to put people who are a danger to themselves or others in institutions, even against their will.

Civil libertarians are in a tizzy over the EO. They insist this is an abuse of due process and harkens to the bad old days, when hundreds of thousands of Americans were committed to mental institutions, sometimes for dubious reasons.

But in examining and judging Trump’s proposed policy here, it is important to understand and accept what the status quo on the ground is right now, and it is nothing short of horrific.

I’ve traveled to homeless encampments all over America, from tucked-away Manhattan underpasses to the sprawling chaos of San Francisco’s Tenderloin, a place you literally smell a block before you enter.

In these encampments, your gag reflex is challenged by needles sticking out of necks and mountains of human detritus, but the real soul-crushing, existential sadness comes from knowing that these human beings are just being left to die.

For decades now, Democrats have spent endless dollars on fruitless efforts to fix the homeless problem. In California alone, Gov. Gavin Newsom has spent $20 billion on failing to fix it, and only recently admitted the encampments have to go.

In these encampments, your gag reflex is challenged by needles sticking out of necks and mountains of human detritus, but the real soul-crushing, existential sadness comes from knowing that these human beings are just being left to die.

What the Trump administration realizes is that Democrats refuse to accept is that homelessness is, actually, two very distinct problems. One is financial, the other is a matter of addiction and mental health.

Financial homelessness is fairly easy to address. The evicted mother living in her car can be given temporary housing and job assistance. She really does just need a hand up.

Homelessness related to mental illness and addiction, however, isn’t really a homelessness problem at all, it’s an addiction and mental illness problem, and shockingly, just letting people in tents shoot up in what was once a thriving commercial district doesn’t solve it.

As I have wandered the streets of these hellscapes in city after city, my question hasn’t really been if these people would be better off in an institution, but rather, if they weren’t in a de facto open-air institution already.

What does it matter if these places lack walls and locks? They are cages nonetheless, cruel prisons whether voluntary or not.

As I have wandered the streets of these hellscapes in city after city, my question hasn’t really been if these people would be better off in an institution, but rather, if they weren’t in a de facto open-air institution already.

Opponents of civil commitment insist you cannot take away people’s freedom! But freedom to do what? Shoot fentanyl every day until they die on a curbside, pockets rifled by another desperate junkie?

If it was your child on these broken and brutal streets of death, would you want them to be left in freedom to waste away, or would you want them taken somewhere where they could be protected and helped?

Opponents will say that civil commitment can be abused. They will point to the 1950s when homosexuals were sent to institutions, but it’s not 1950. We aren’t going to institutionalize gay people, and we cannot be paralyzed by a bigoted past when trying to save lives today.

Could there be abuses or mistakes made regarding civil commitment? Sure, but people are dying in the streets right now, and we must trust ourselves to actively help them, without stepping over the line.

Annoyed with me, or not, that day in Kensington, the EMT revived the man at my feet, who, it turns out, wasn’t dead, after all. Instead, he was angry, because the Narcan that woke him up also negated the high he had paid for.

There are really only two sides to be on here: the side that says we are going to do everything we can to save that man’s life, even against his will, or the side that condemns him to an open-air prison of his own making.

President Trump has chosen wisely, and if local governments take heed, it is going to save a lot of lives across America.

President Donald Trump’s new deadline for Russia to end the conflict with Ukraine is an additional ‘step towards war,’ according to former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.  

Medvedev, now the deputy chairman of the Security Council of Russia, cautioned that Trump’s announcement Monday that Russia must end the conflict with Ukraine in 10 to 12 days would not end well for the U.S. 

‘Trump’s playing the ultimatum game with Russia: 50 days or 10… He should remember 2 things: 1. Russia isn’t Israel or even Iran. 2. Each new ultimatum is a threat and a step towards war. Not between Russia and Ukraine, but with his own country,’ Medvedev said in a post on X on Monday. ‘Don’t go down the Sleepy Joe road!’

While Trump announced on July 14 that he would sign off on ‘severe tariffs’ against Russia if Moscow failed to agree to a peace deal within 50 days, Trump said Monday that waiting that period of time was futile amid stalled negotiations. 

‘I’m going to make a new deadline, of about 10 — 10 or 12 days from today,’ Trump told reporters from Scotland. ‘There’s no reason for waiting. It was 50 days. I wanted to be generous, but we just don’t see any progress being made.’

Trump’s remarks come as his frustration with Putin has grown in recent weeks amid no progress toward peace between Russia and Ukraine, and just a day after Russia launched more than 300 drones, four cruise missiles and three ballistic missiles into Ukraine, according to the Ukrainian air force.

Trump called out Putin for providing lip service during their discussions while not taking proactive steps to end the war. As a result, Trump said he’s grown ‘disappointed’ in the Russian leader and that he’s ‘not so interested in talking anymore’ with Putin. 

‘He talks — we have such nice conversations, such respectful and nice conversation. And then, people die the following night,’ Trump said Monday. 

Following Trump’s announcement about whittling down the deadline for a peace deal, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked Trump for his ‘clear stance and expressed determination’ to resolve the conflict.

‘I thank President Trump for his focus on saving lives and stopping this horrible war,’ Zelenskyy said in a post on X on Monday. ‘Ukraine remains committed to peace and will work tirelessly with the U.S. to make both our countries safer, stronger, and more prosperous.’

Zelenskyy previously came under scrutiny from Vice President JD Vance in February during an Oval Office meeting for not voicing more gratitude for U.S. support for Kyiv as it battles Moscow.

Although Trump has historically boasted about having a solid relationship with Putin, he has publicly voiced increased frustration with Putin in recent weeks as the war rages on between Russia and Ukraine. 

‘We get a lot of bulls— thrown at us by Putin, if you want to know the truth,’ Trump said during a Cabinet meeting on July 8. ‘He’s very nice to us all the time, but it turns out to be meaningless.’

Fox News Digital’s Caitlin McFall contributed to this report.

The Trump administration is reportedly blocking Taiwan’s president from stopping over in New York City, en route to a diplomatic meeting in Central America, following pressure from China.

The Financial Times reported Monday that the administration has denied Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te the opportunity to stop over in New York City during a planned trip to Paraguay, Guatemala and Belize — all countries that recognize Taiwan as its own independent country.

However, on Monday, the office of the president in Taiwan released a statement indicating that Lai ‘currently has no plans to go on an overseas visit,’ according to Taiwan-state media. A source familiar with the matter at the State Department confirmed that no formal travel plans for President Lai have been announced.

‘In consideration of the ongoing rehabilitation efforts in southern Taiwan following a recent typhoon and regional developments including the United States’ tariffs, the president currently has no plans to go on an overseas visit,’ the statement from President Lai said.

According to the Financial Times, which spoke with unnamed sources said to be intimately familiar with the alleged trip, Lai’s decision not to travel came after he was informed that he would not be able to stop in New York City on his way to Central America. 

Lai’s trip was also reportedly supposed to include a stop in Dallas, but it is unclear if the Trump administration was also planning to bar Lai from stopping there as well, according to the Financial Times.

The White House did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment. However, a State Department source familiar with the matter indicated that the Trump administration continues to be committed to the government’s long-standing one China policy, rooted in the Taiwan Relations Act, joint diplomatic agreements with China and longstanding pledges crafted by the government in regard to Taiwan and China.

Despite being in line with longstanding government policy, the move still garnered criticism from some Asia policy experts and critics of Trump. 

Lyle Morris, a senior fellow on foreign policy and national security at the Asia Society’s Center for China Analysis, said the ‘first concrete move’ under Trump’s second term regarding Taiwan is ‘a cause for concern.’ 

‘The assumption is this decision was made in the context of ongoing US-China trade negotiations and a possible Trump-Xi meeting,’ Morris said on X. ‘Still, not a good sign for enduring US-Taiwan relations.’

‘Denying President Lai a transit is a deeply concerning break with bipartisan precedent and sends a reckless signal to Beijing that our partnership with Taiwan is on the negotiating table,’ added Democrat Sen. Andy Kim, D-N.J., in a post on X following the news about President Lai’s alleged travel. 

‘American leadership is now seen as deeply unreliable, with Trump’s fits and starts with Ukraine, NATO allies, and other key partners. I urge President Trump to reverse course and do what presidents of both parties have done and allow a transit, and ask my colleagues in Congress to join me in that call.’

News of the Trump administration’s decision to prohibit the Taiwanese president from stopping in New York City comes as the president is reportedly feeling out a potential trip to Beijing himself, alongside major U.S. CEOs. Nothing so far has been set in stone regarding Trump’s trip, however.

Japanese populist Sohei Kamiya stunned many in the country when his Sanseitō party won 14 seats in Japan’s Upper House elections last week.

‘From supermarket manager to bright political star … populism has hit the shores of Japan like a tsunami,’ Gatestone Institute senior fellow Gordon Chang told Fox News Digital about 47-year-old Kamiya’s surprise achievement. 

Holding 15 of 248 Upper House seats is not sufficient for Kamiya’s party to submit legislation. However, polling data shows Sanseitō’s impact with younger voters, as Kyodo News reported that more than 20% of voters from 18 to 40 voted for his party.

Inspired by President Donald Trump’s leadership style, Kamiya’s rise has largely been attributed to his social media savvy. He snagged his earliest followers through his opposition to ‘blanket mask mandates, mass PCR testing, and vaccine requirements’ during the COVID-19 pandemic, Japan Forward reported.

Kamiya has also adopted a spin-off of Trump’s MAGA motto, proclaiming ‘Japanese first’ as his party promises to strengthen Japan’s culture, birth rates and food sufficiency, while finding solutions for its reliance on immigration. 

Though the Western media has characterized Kamiya as far-right, fringe or xenophobic, Lance Gatling, a principal at Nexial Research, Tokyo, told Fox News Digital that while Kamiya’s goals of ‘protecting Japan, growing Japan, and educating Japan’ are ‘fairly populist,’ they do not represent ‘a radical move towards the right wing.’ 

In fact, Gatling said many in the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), which has dominated Japanese politics for decades, ‘are more right-wing than Sanseitō.’ Gatling described members of Kamiya’s party as ‘pretty reasonable.’ 

Gaitlin said that Kamiya, formerly a reservist in the Self-Defense Forces and an English teacher, ‘doesn’t appear to be playing.’ Kamiya ‘has been honing his message for some time,’ Gatling said.

Some critics have expressed particular concern over what they call Kamiya’s anti-immigration stance. Immigration, however, has become a chief issue for the island nation. When former President Joe Biden called Japan ‘xenophobic’ for failing to increase immigration in May 2024, Kamiya responded on social media. ‘It’s not that we’re xenophobic, we are being cautious after seeing your failures,’ Kamiya said. ‘You are meddling too much in our internal affairs.’ 

Gatling says categorizing the Japanese as xenophobic ‘just doesn’t ring true.’ He explained that the country has ‘one of the most astonishing cultures in history,’ formed by adopting Western culture and enriching it to create ‘a completely unique culture that has tremendous appeal around the world.’

Gatling says Kamiya is aiming for a return to traditional cultural values, while also lowering taxes and increasing food self-sufficiency, which is currently the lowest rate of all Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development nations at 38%. 

The rice trade would be critical to this arrangement, with Sanseitō eager to curb imports of U.S. rice. At present, imports of U.S. rice are set to increase by 75%, thanks to a $550 billion trade deal President Donald Trump signed with Japan on July 22.

Another possible friction point in the future might be Sanseitō’s desire to turn the nation’s farmers into public sector employees, Gatling admitted. ‘The agriculture bloc is one of the most powerful in the LDP,’ he explained. ‘I’m not sure how many of the farmers want to be public sector employees.’

While he says that it is too early to determine the future of Sanseitō in Japanese politics, Gatling said Kamiya has stated he is not ‘interested in building a coalition government.’ Gatling believes the party’s future will hinge on preparations for subsequent elections and demonstrating that ‘they have reasonable policies.’

Chang said Sanseitō’s win was a loss for the LDP, which he says has ‘been adrift’ since Abe’s 2020 resignation and subsequent 2022 assassination. Current Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba ‘is weak and unpopular,’ and the LDP now finds itself ‘in the minority in both houses of the Diet for the first time since the party was formed in 1955,’ Chang said. ‘Ishiba is naturally catching the blame.’

While the political waves leave Japan ‘rudderless,’ Chang said to ‘expect Sanseitō to only get stronger, which means Japan will turn inward. Around the world, societies have had enough of large foreign populations that do not assimilate, so we should not be surprised that Kamiya will become even more influential.

‘Change occurs slowly in Japan until it happens all at once. Japan is now on the verge of an all-at-once moment,’ Chang said.