Former President Joe Biden’s second campaign ruined former Vice President Kamala Harris’ chances of defeating President Donald Trump in the 2024 election, according to a top Democratic consultant. 

David Plouffe, former President Barack Obama’s campaign manager in 2008 and a senior advisor on Harris’ 2024 campaign, detailed how dire Biden’s run was for the Democrats in a new book, ‘Original Sin: President Biden’s Decline, Its Cover-up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again.’ 

‘And it’s all Biden,’ Plouffe said in the book, authored by CNN’s Jake Tapper and Axios’ Alex Thompson, about Biden’s choice to stay in the race so long and how the White House assured him Biden was capable of winning another election. 

‘He totally f—ed us.’ 

As a result, Plouffe said that Harris’ brief campaign against Trump turned into ‘a f—ing nightmare,’ pointing the blame on Biden. 

Plouffe is far from the only one who believes that Biden undercut his own party running again in 2024 as his faculties began to decline. 

A senior White House aide described in the book that ‘we attempted to shield him from his own staff so many people didn’t realize the extent of the decline beginning in 2023.’ 

The aide, who ultimately departed the White House because they did not believe Biden should run in 2024, described Biden’s decision to run for a second term as a ‘disservice’ to the country and Democrats. 

‘I love Joe Biden. When it comes to decency, there are few in politics like him,’ the aide said in the book, which is slated for release Tuesday. ‘Still, it was a disservice to the country and to the party for his family and advisers to allow him to run again.’

Spokespeople for Biden and Harris did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital. 

‘Original Sin’ details the 2024 election cycle and how Biden’s team orchestrated a cover-up to hide just how severely his mental faculties had suffered. 

The book is one of several that detail Biden’s decision to run in 2024 and assert the dramatic decline of his cognitive function. 

For example, the book, ‘Uncharted: How Trump Beat Biden, Harris, and the Odds in the Wildest Campaign in History,’ also detailed how the White House kept Biden from socializing even with those he regarded as friends and allies.

However, that book, authored by Chris Whipple, a former producer for CBS’ ’60 Minutes,’ said that one White House aide suggested ‘walling Biden off from the world was a grave mistake.’ 

‘‘They were afraid he might say the wrong thing or might feed the mental acuity narrative,’ he told me. ‘And so he started seeing fewer and fewer people. They allowed his faculties to atrophy. But I think, like knives, they have to be sharpened. They get sharpened by rubbing them up against steel. And they don’t get sharpened by sitting in a drawer,’’ Whipple wrote.

President Donald Trump signed an executive order Monday instructing drug companies to reduce prices of prescription drugs or face consequences from the federal government. 

But the effort amounts to price control since it’s not limited to just government programs — and similar policy initiatives in other sectors have prompted shortages, according to Michael Cannon, director of health policy studies at the Washington-based libertarian-leaning Cato Institute think tank. 

‘We have seen government price controls in housing,’ Cannon told Fox News Digital Monday. ‘We call it rent control, and it creates shortages. We have seen it when it comes to food. We call them price caps there too, and it produces shortages.’ 

‘We see price caps after natural disasters,’ he continued. ‘We call them anti-gouging laws, and they produce shortages. And so that’s what we can expect price controls to produce when it comes to pharmaceuticals as well — that’s if you have a binding price ceiling, you’re going to get a shortage, and I think it’s totally a wrong-headed thing.’ 

Price control occurs when the government steps in to impose limits on how much one can charge for various goods or services in the free market. 

While price controls may lower costs for some consumers, they have largely been ineffective in American history. For example, former President Richard Nixon implemented price controls in the 1970s in an attempt to fix wages and other prices — which backfired and resulted in the gas crisis and other shortages across the country. 

For example, there was a series of initiatives that states unveiled in response to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 to address price-gouging, although they were difficult to enforce. In Michigan, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed an executive order in March 2020 that barred individuals or businesses from selling any products in the state ‘at a price that is more than 20 percent higher than what the business or individual offered or charged,’ according to a 2020 news release. 

Trump announced Monday that the executive order directs the Department of Health and Human Services to establish price targets for pharmaceutical manufacturers. But Cannon noted that the order isn’t just for prices for the government — it also applies to the free market and private sector.

Failure to comply will prompt the Justice Department and the Federal Trade Commission to ‘undertake enforcement action against any anti-competitive practices,’ along with other consequences. Additionally, Trump introduced plans to launch ‘most favored nations drug pricing.’

‘The principle is simple — whatever the lowest price paid for a drug in other developed countries, that is the price that Americans will pay,’ Trump said at the White House Monday. ‘Some prescription drug and pharmaceutical prices will be reduced almost immediately by 50 to 80 to 90%.’

‘We’re going to equalize,’ Trump said. ‘We’re all going to pay the same. We’re going to pay what Europe pays.’

The White House pushed back against comments that the move equated price control. 

‘If Americans had a truly free and fair market, they would not be paying several times more for the same exact prescription drugs as Europeans do,’ White House spokesperson Kush Desai said in a Tuesday statement to Fox News Digital. ‘President Trump’s historic executive order is fixing the anti-competitive behavior that’s forcing everyday Americans to subsidize the health care of other developed nations.’

Drug prices have dramatically climbed in recent years. From January 2022 and January 2023, prescription drug prices increased more than 15%, reaching an average of $590 per drug product, according to the Department of Health and Human Services. Of the 4,200 prescription drugs included on that list, 46% of the price increases exceeded the rate of inflation. 

The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America trade group argued the executive order would harm American patients. 

‘Importing foreign prices from socialist countries would be a bad deal for American patients and workers,’ Stephen J. Ubl, the president and CEO of PhRMA, said in a Monday statement. ‘It would mean less treatments and cures and would jeopardize the hundreds of billions our member companies are planning to invest in America.’

In April, Trump signed another executive order that aimed to tackle Medicare drug prices. Specifically, that order required HHS to standardize Medicare payments for prescription drugs, including those used for cancer patients, regardless of where a patient receives treatment. 

Patients could face a drop in prices by as much as 60%, according to a White House fact sheet.

The order also called to match the Medicare payment for certain prescription drugs to the price that hospitals pay for those drugs, up to 35% lower than what the government pays to acquire those medications, per the White House. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

The Trump administration sanctioned nearly two dozen firms operating in Iran’s illicit international oil trade, as President Donald Trump delivered remarks in the Middle East – tempting the Islamic Republic with a ‘much brighter future’ should it come to a nuclear agreement with the United States. 

The sanctions, announced by the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control Tuesday, target firms that operate in Iran’s oil trade. 

Officials said the Iranian government allocates billions of dollars worth of oil annually to its armed forces to supplement budget allocations, underwriting the development of ballistic missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles, and financing regional terrorist groups. 

Treasury Department officials said Iran’s Armed Forces general staff and its main commercial affiliate, Sepehr Energy Jahan Nama Pars Company, continue to establish front companies and rely on buyers and facilitators to enable their sanctioned oil trade. 

Sepehr Energy often carries out its oil shipments through a series of ‘deals’ between multiple front companies that it owns or controls, according to the Treasury Department, creating the ‘illusion of non-sanctionable trade between separate entities.’ 

‘Many of the entities involved in Sepehr Energy’s oil shipments are part of an elaborate system of oil smuggling and money laundering, directly controlled by or acting on behalf of Sepehr Energy,’ the Treasury Department said, adding that it also controls Hong Kong-based front companies and uses them to’broker and receive shipments of Iranian oil delivered to independent so-called teapot refineries in China.’  

The sanctions came shortly after Trump delivered a speech in Riyadh, Saudia Arabia, urging Iran to take a ‘new and a better path.’ The Trump administration is in talks with Iran for a new nuclear deal. 

The president, during his speech, though, warned of ‘massive maximum pressure’ if Iran does not come to an agreement. 

‘As I have shown repeatedly, I am willing to end past conflicts and forge new partnerships for a better and more stable world, even if our differences may be profound,’ Trump said. ‘If Iran’s leadership rejects this olive branch… we will have no choice but to inflict massive maximum pressure, drive Iranian oil exports to zero.’

‘Iran can have a much brighter future, but we will never allow them to threaten America and our allies with terrorism or a nuclear attack,’ Trump said. 

Trump had announced a 60-day time frame to reach an agreement with Iran over its illegal atomic weapons program. The first U.S. negotiating session with Iran commenced April 12. 

Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff met with Iranian officials for a fourth round of nuclear talks over the weekend. 

The nuclear talks were ‘difficult but useful,’ Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said. A U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the closed-door negotiations, offered more, describing the talks as being both indirect and direct, The Associated Press reported.

An ‘agreement was reached to move forward with the talks to continue working through technical elements,’ the U.S. official said. ‘We are encouraged by today’s outcome and look forward to our next meeting, which will happen in the near future.’

The Trump administration has said the flawed 2015 Obama-era Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), also known as the Iran nuclear deal, did not prevent Iran from building an atomic bomb. 

Before leaving for his trip to the Middle East, Trump reiterated his stance on Iran’s nuclear goals. 

‘You can’t have a nuclear weapon, but I think that they are talking intelligently,’ Trump said. ‘We’re in the midst of talking to them, and they’re right now acting very intelligent. We want Iran to be wealthy and wonderful and happy and great, but they can’t have… nuclear weapons. Very simple. So I think they understand that.’

A day before the start of talks, Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei welcomed chants of ‘Death to America’ in Iran’s capital, Tehran. 

‘Your judgment is right,’ Khamenei told a crowd of supporters who called for the destruction of the U.S.

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

The U.S. State Department has determined and certified Cuba as a ‘not fully cooperating country’ (NFCC) for not helping with counterterrorism efforts after the island nation failed to turn over at least 11 fugitives in 2024 to U.S. custody.

State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce made the announcement on Tuesday that the certification, which falls under Section 40A of the Arms Export Control Act, will result in the prohibition on the sale or license for export of defense services to Cuba.

‘In 2024, the Cuban regime did not fully cooperate with the United States on counterterrorism,’ Bruce said in a statement. ‘There were at least 11 U.S. fugitives from justice in Cuba, including several facing terrorism-related charges, and the Cuban regime made clear it was not willing to discuss their return to face justice in our nation.’

‘The Cuban regime’s refusal to engage on this important issue, as well as other recent circumstances of non-cooperation on terrorism-related law enforcement matters, made efforts to cooperate on counterterrorism issues futile in 2024,’ she continued.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio not only certified Cuba as an NFCC, he also re-certified Iran, Syria, Venezuela and North Korea as NFCCs.

In January, the Biden administration lifted Cuba’s designation as a state sponsor of terrorism, reversing a move made by the Trump administration in 2021.

Former President Joe Biden said at the time that the Cuban government ‘has not provided any support for international terrorism during the preceding six-month period’ as well as ‘provided assurances that it will not support acts of international terrorism in the future.’

Cuba was given the designation in January 2021, shortly before Biden took office. At the time, the U.S. Embassy in Cuba accused the country of ‘repeatedly providing support for acts of international terrorism in granting safe harbor to terrorists.’

The designation returned the Caribbean nation to a list that it was on from the Reagan administration to that of former President Barack Obama. In 2016, Obama became the first U.S. president to visit Cuba since 1928.

The Obama administration attempted to normalize relations in 2015 but encountered resistance from President Donald Trump, whose administration recently argued that Cuba has failed to cooperate on counterterrorism.

State Department officials said Cuba refused to extradite 10 suspects wanted in Colombia for a police academy bombing that killed 22 people and injured dozens more. 

Authorities also accused Cuba of harboring multiple American fugitives, including Joanne Chesimard, also known as Assata Shakur. She was convicted of killing New Jersey State Trooper Werner Foerster in 1973.

In the summer of 2017, Trump imposed travel and financial restrictions on Cuba while blasting as ‘one-sided’ Obama’s 2016 deal with the regime.

Fox News Digital’s Andrea Margolis contributed to this report.

Three key committees in the process of putting together President Donald Trump’s ‘one big, beautiful bill’ are expected to work through the night to advance their respective portions of the Republican agenda.

The House Agriculture Committee, the Energy & Commerce Committee and the Ways & Means Committee are all holding meetings aimed at advancing key parts of Trump’s bill.

Sources told Fox News Digital they expected the Energy & Commerce and Ways & Means meetings, which began on Tuesday afternoon, to last upwards of 20 hours each. The Agriculture panel’s markup is also expected to last into Wednesday.

Democrats on each committee, meanwhile, have prepared a barrage of attacks and accusations against GOP lawmakers looking to gut critical welfare programs.

Sparks flew early at the Energy & Commerce Committee meeting with protesters both inside and outside the room repeatedly attempting to disrupt proceedings – with 26 people arrested by Capitol Police.

Protesters against Medicaid cuts, predominately in wheelchairs, remained outside the budget markup for several hours as representatives inside debated that and other critical facets under the committee’s broad jurisdiction.

Inside the budget markup, Democrats and Republicans sparred along party lines over Medicaid cuts. Democrats repeatedly claimed the Republican budget proposal will cut vital Medicaid services. 

Many Democrats shared how Medicaid services have saved their constituents’ lives and argued that millions of Americans could lose coverage under the current proposal.

Meanwhile, Republicans accused Democrats of lying to the American people about Medicaid cuts – a word Kentucky Republican Rep. Brett Guthrie, Chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee, deterred his colleagues from using. Tensions arose when the word was repeated as Democrats called it a mischaracterization of their testimonies.

Republicans have contended that their bill only seeks to cut waste, fraud, and abuse of the Medicaid system, leaving more of its resources for vulnerable populations that truly need it. 

That committee was tasked with finding $880 billion in spending cuts to offset Trump’s other funding priorities. Guthrie told House Republicans on a call Sunday night that they’d found upwards of $900 billion in cuts.

Democrats have seized on Republican reforms to Medicaid, including heightened work requirements and shifting more costs to certain states, as a political cudgel. 

At one point late in the evening, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., made an appearance at the Energy & Commerce panel’s meeting.

‘I just want to mention our Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries is here because of his concern about Medicaid. Thank you,’ the committee’s top Democrat, Rep. Frank Pallone, D-N.J., said.

But tensions remain between moderate Republicans and conservatives about the level of cuts the committee is seeking to the former Biden administration’s Inflation Reduction Act green energy tax subsidies.

The meeting at the Ways & Means Committee, the House’s tax-writing panel, had relatively little fanfare but was equally contentious as Democrats attempted to offer amendments to preserve Affordable Care Act tax credits and changes to the state and local tax (SALT) deduction cap.

At one point, Reps. Beth Van Duyne, R-Texas, and Tom Suozzi, D-N.Y., got into a heated exchange over SALT, with Suozzi pushing Van Duyne on whether she’d ever been to New York.

Van Duyne earlier called Texas a ‘donor state’ in terms of taxes, arguing, ‘We should not have to pay to make up for the rich folks in New York who are getting raped by their local and state governments.’

Suozzi later pointed out Van Duyne was born and went to college in upstate New York – leading to audible gasps in the room.

Van Duyne said there was ‘a reason’ she left.

‘We’re sorry you left New York, but in some ways it may have worked out better for all of us,’ Suozzi said.

The SALT deduction cap, however, is still a politically tricky issue even as House lawmakers debate what Republicans hoped would be the final bill.

The legislation would raise the $10,000 SALT deduction cap to $30,000 for most single and married tax filers – a figure that Republicans in higher cost-of-living areas said was not enough.

Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., threatened to vote against the final bill if the new cap remains.

As the committee’s marathon meeting continued, a group of blue state Republicans are huddling with House GOP leaders to find a compromise on a way forward.

Rep. Nick LaLota, R-N.Y., hinted at tensions in the meeting when he posted on X that Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, R-N.Y., a member of the SALT Caucus and Ways & Means Committee, ‘wasn’t involved in today’s meeting’ because her district required ‘something different than mine and the other most SALTY five.’

Malliotakis had told Fox News Digital she was supportive of the $30,000 cap. She’s also the only member of the SALT Caucus on the critical tax-writing panel.

The Agriculture Committee, which began its meeting on Tuesday evening, saw Democrats waste no time in accusing Republicans of trying to gut the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), colloquially known as food stamps.

Rep. Adam Gray, D-Calif., accused Republicans of worrying that ‘somebody is getting a meal they didn’t deserve or kids are getting too fat’ instead of more critical issues.

Republicans, like Rep. Randy Feenstra, R-Iowa, touted the bill’s inclusion of crop insurance for young farmers, increasing opportunity for export markets, and helping invest in national animal disaster centers aimed at preventing and mitigating livestock illness.

He also said Republicans were working to ‘secure’ SNAP from waste and abuse.

House and Senate Republicans are working on Trump’s agenda via the budget reconciliation process, which allows the party in power to sideline the minority by lowering the Senate’s threshold for passage to a simple majority, provided the legislation at hand deals with spending, taxes or the national debt.

Trump wants Republicans to use the maneuver for a sweeping bill on his tax, border, immigration, energy and defense priorities.

Two sources familiar with the plan said the House Budget Committee intends to advance the full bill, the first step to getting the legislation to a House-wide vote, on Friday.