Let’s roll back the clock.

After the 2020 election, Donald Trump found himself the target of multiple investigations.

The flimsiest, and most partisan, was brought by Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg, who somehow elevated the Stormy Daniels payoffs from a misdemeanor to a felony, and got a conviction.

Then there was Jack Smith, who launched two investigations — one involving classified documents, the other on allegations related to Jan. 6.

And in Georgia, Fulton County DA Fani Willis investigated Trump’s famous phone call to Brad Raffensperger — ‘I just want to find 11,780 votes’ — and some of Trump’s lawyers, such as Sidney Powell and Jenna Ellis, pleaded guilty.

Beyond that, New York AG Letitia James filed a civil suit about inflated property values that led to a fine that has since grown to half a billion dollars — a penalty so outrageous that an appeals court threw it out on grounds of cruel and unusual punishment.

And what was the mindset of the media, the Democrats and at least half the country at that time?

It was that Trump had done a lot of bad things, and if he could be successfully prosecuted before the 2024 election, he could be knocked out of the race. 

But from Trump’s point of view, these were bogus cases brought by biased prosecutors — James had won election by vowing to go after him — and backed by unfair judges for the sole purpose of keeping him out of the White House.

Joe Biden may have kept hands off — Jack Smith was named special counsel by AG Merrick Garland — but to the president it was all a grand left-wing conspiracy.

And that’s why Trump feels entitled to payback.

That’s why James Comey was just indicted, with Trump firing his own U.S. attorney who believed there wasn’t enough evidence, replacing him with a loyalist whose job was to charge the former FBI director.

That’s why Tish James is now under investigation for alleged mortgage fraud, 

That’s why the Trump DOJ has just subpoenaed Fani Willis’ travel records from last year, and is investigating Sen. Adam Schiff.

To Donald Trump, this is all fully justified payback.

But he’s doing exactly what was done to him — going after political enemies — and doing it out in the open. He has ordered Attorney General Pam Bondi to pursue these cases, and fast, which is weaponizing the Justice Department against those he despises, in a way that no previous president has ever done. 

He pronounces these targets ‘guilty as hell’ — that alone would be a scandal in any other administration for prejudicing a trial — and celebrates the unveiling of indictments, such as calling Comey a ‘sick person,’ a ‘Dirty Cop’ and a ‘SLIMEBALL.’

So how does Trump justify doing what was done to him? He doesn’t. He’s never been big on consistency. And his MAGA base supports him no matter what.

Keep in mind that the perjury allegation — based on a vague exchange about a leak to the Wall Street Journal about the Clinton Foundation, ironically — was investigated by special counsel John Durham in the first term, and by the DOJ’s inspector general, and neither brought charges.

When Erik Seibert, the U.S. attorney in Virginia’s Eastern District, found insufficient evidence to charge Comey, Bondi pushed back in defense of the 15-year veteran, Still, Trump replaced him with White House aide and onetime beauty queen Lindsey Halligan, his former lawyer, who has never tried a criminal case. Halligan couldn’t even find the courtroom, and no prosecutor in the office agreed to accompany her, as is customary. Doesn’t matter. She had one job.

‘My family and I have known for years that there are costs to standing up to Donald Trump,’ Comey said in a video.

Fourteen of the 23 grand jurors backed the two charges, just over the required minimum, and the jurors dismissed a proposed third count.

National Review’s Andy McCarthy, a former federal prosecutor, called the indictment ‘so ill-conceived and incompetently drafted, he should be able to get it thrown out on a pretrial motion to dismiss.’

Dan Abrams, ABC’s chief legal analyst (and founder of Mediaite) said on ‘This Week’: ‘I don’t even think that many in the Trump administration believe they’re going to get a conviction. I think that there’s a 95 percent-plus chance that there won’t be a conviction. That it’ll either get dismissed by a judge, there’ll be a hung jury, there’ll be an acquittal. But I’m not certain that that’s the end goal here.’ 

In other words, making Comey’s life miserable and forcing him to pay legal fees may be satisfying enough.

Schiff, for his part, called the mortgage fraud allegation against him ‘the kind of stuff you see tinpot dictators do.’ .

But there’s a larger issue here than the culpability of Comey and the others. As a former Justice Department reporter, I know all too well that presidents are not supposed to intervene in criminal investigations, and that dates to a series of post-Watergate reforms after Richard Nixon’s attorney general went to prison.

But Trump does all this out in the open. There’s no need to rely on unnamed sources. When he issued a memo demanding investigations of his foes, he made it public. 

‘We can’t delay any longer, it’s killing our reputation and credibility,’ the president wrote on Truth Social. He complained that ‘nothing is being done,’ demanding that Bondi investigate Coney, James and Schiff. And now he’s talking about targeting Democratic donor and activist George Soros.

The president also has a knack for letting his allies off the hook. After New York Mayor Eric Adams was indicted on corruption charges, Trump ordered the case dropped. Then he tried to lure Adams out of the race by offering him a job, to boost the chances of defeating the man he calls ‘Communist’ Zohran Mamdani. Adams, stuck in single digits, just dropped out, and don’t be surprised if he winds up as an ambassador.

When a deranged shooter in Michigan opened fire during a Mormon church service, and set the place on fire, killing at least four people, before being shot to death, Trump called it ‘horrendous’ and called Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said the killer hated Mormons.

The president called it ‘another targeted attack on Christians.’

What Trump and Leavitt neglected to mention is that the murderer has a Trump/Vance sign in front of his house.

So despite the president’s insistence that left-wingers are responsible for virtually all political violence, here’s a case where a right-winger, and Trump fan, is responsible for cold-blooded mass murder. But one day there will a Democrat in the White House again, ready to use the same tactics unleashed by Trump.

Dartmouth professor Brendan Nyhan, who heads a watchdog group, told the New York Times: ‘Do Republicans want to give President AOC unilateral powers to determine which Defense Department programs she wants to fund?’

His forthcoming report says ’50 percent of Democrats now support restricting or shutting down Fox News, up from 37 percent in 2021.’ I would find that chilling, even if I didn’t work at Fox. Where is it written that the government should be shutting down news outlets?

The larger point is this: Trump believes he’s entitled to payback because of all the indictments aimed at him. The Democrats believe Trump has shattered the wall that protected criminal probes from White House interference. And so we plunge into an endless cycle of retribution, with each administration investigating the previous one and justifying it as getting even for their own mistreatment. 

: The news conference that President Trump was going to hold with Bibi Netanyahu yesterday turned into a non-conference when Trump, of all people, refused to take questions — not even the traditional two from each side. So they each gave lengthy speeches and left.

But the president achieved something remarkable. He got Bibi to go along with his plan to end the war in Gaza. Trump even said he’d personally head a peace board designed to protect Israel’s security, that Hamas would release the remaining hostages, and mentioned Oct. 7.

Honestly, it was probably shrewd not to be distracted by questions.

Here’s the problem: Hamas hasn’t agreed to anything yet, and has stuck by its insistence on a complete withdrawal of Israeli forces before any hostages are released. So the terrorist group is unlikely to agree.

If Hamas rejects the plan, Netanyahu said, ‘Israel will finish the job by itself.’

Then he said, ‘we can do this the easy way or the hard way’ — apparently unaware that was the much-condemned line that FCC Chairman Brendan Carr used to threaten action against Jimmy Kimmel.

Bibi also demanded an end to ‘incitement by the media,’ as if he or anyone else could tell the press what to do.      

The Trump administration is looking to cut funding for a program that provides permanent housing to the homeless, a move that may leave those the program aims to help back on the streets, according to a report.

More than 170,000 people could be at risk of experiencing homelessness when more than half the funding for the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) permanent housing program is cut, Politico reported on Monday, citing three HUD employees, internal HUD documents and a person with knowledge of the Continuum of Care (CoC) program.

The cut funds will be moved to transitional housing assistance with some work or service requirements, according to the internal documents and those with knowledge of the situation. The cuts could have a greater impact on rural areas that have less access to city and state funds to supplement federal dollars, the people told the outlet.

‘When the subsidy and the support that goes along with those subsidies is removed, it puts people at grave risk,’ said the person with inside knowledge of the CoC program. ‘And most of these folks without these supports will likely end up back in emergency shelters or back on our nation’s streets.’

HUD Secretary Scott Turner wrote in a  Fox News Digital opinion piecei earlier this month about a ‘paradigm shift’ in the department’s approach to homelessness and housing.

‘But our goal is to let HUD use real, proven effective strategies, and there is no evidence that giving free apartments to the homeless without preconditions or participation requirements – like job training or treatment – leads to good outcomes,’ Turner wrote. 

‘There is evidence, however, that countless lives have been lost to overdoses in HUD-funded housing because of this failed ideology,’ the secretary continued.

Turner wrote that HUD wants to continue to help support work that aims to aid those experiencing homelessness and battling addiction to recover and become self-sufficient.

Permanent housing funding for 2026 is currently $3.3 billion and could be cut in half to $1.1 billion through the Trump administration’s effort, according to Politico. 

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) uncovered that the Biden administration placed some Americans who resisted the COVID-19 mask mandate or were involved in the events of Jan 6, 2021, on prolonged TSA watchlists, including some on a no-fly list typically reserved for suspected terrorists.

Fox News Digital acquired the findings of an internal investigation conducted by the agencies that showed that then-President Joe Biden’s TSA initiated ‘Operation Freedom to Breathe’ in September 2021, roughly six months after the CDC relaxed the COVID-19 mask mandate, which targeted Americans who previously resisted mask mandates set forth by the Biden Administration. 

The initiative placed 19 Americans on various levels of intensive watchlists, with more than half added to the highest severity no-fly list, preventing them from boarding a flight in the U.S. entirely. Eleven of the individuals remained on watchlists until April 2022, when the national mask mandate was lifted by the Biden administration. 

‘Biden’s TSA Administrator [David] Pekoske and his cronies abused their authority and weaponized the federal government against the very people they were charged with protecting,’ Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem told Fox News Digital. 

‘Biden’s TSA wildly abused their authority, targeting Americans who posed no aviation security risk under the banner of political differences,’ Noem added. ‘President Trump promised to end the weaponization of government against the American people, and we are making good on that promise.’

Fox News Digital reached out to Pekoske, but did not receive a response.

The investigation also concluded that Biden’s TSA placed roughly 280 individuals allegedly involved in the Capitol protests on Jan 6, 2021, on watchlists, including five on a no-fly list. 

Biden’s TSA ignored internal concerns raised by career intelligence officials and TSA’s Chief Privacy Officer that placing individuals on the list ‘is clearly unrelated to transportation security,‘ and that ‘TSA is punishing people for the expression of their ideas when they haven’t been charged, let alone convicted of incitement or sedition,’ according to emails from a top privacy official at TSA dated Jan 13, 2021, obtained by Fox News Digital.

Another TSA intelligence employee also expressed worry over watchlisting individuals allegedly involved in the Capitol protest, saying most individuals who were arrested ‘are technically curfew breakers,’ and that ‘I hope we don’t end up adding them [to a watchlist] on just the arrest,’ according to an internal email obtained by Fox.

Internal emails said that TSA mainly relied on the George Washington University Program of Extremism academic database and social media, rather than traditional sources like the FBI and local police, to determine which individuals should be placed on watchlists.

One individual, a national guardsman deployed to the Capitol for Biden’s inauguration on Jan 20, 2021 and was not present at the Capitol on Jan 6, 2021, was added to a no-fly list because of bad intelligence from Biden’s FBI.

Another individual, the wife of a federal air marshal who was also not present at the Capitol on Jan 6, was added to a watchlist due to additional bad intelligence from the Biden FBI.

Americans allegedly involved with the events of Jan 6, 2021, who were not tied to unrelated, individual incidents, were removed from various watchlists on June, 28, 2021. 

A majority of Americans allegedly involved with the events of Jan 6, 2021, who were placed on watchlists were removed from them on June, 28, 2021, though some who had been charged remained watchlisted until they were cleared.

Sources at TSA say the Biden administration’s targeting of Americans is the most expansive use of putting U.S. citizens on a no-fly list in history. 

Noem told Fox News Digital that the agency will be ‘referring this case to the Department of Justice and for Congressional investigation.’

Preston Mizell is a writer with Fox News Digital covering breaking news. Story tips can be sent to Preston.Mizell@fox.com and on X @MizellPreston

Iraq is entering ‘a new phase’ of stability and growth, President Abdullatif Jamal Rashid said in an interview, declaring the country ‘100% safe’ as U.S. troops prepare to draw down after more than two decades on the ground.

While praising the U.S. for helping to defeat ISIS, Rashid stressed that Iraq now intends to stand on its own — maintaining ties with both the United States and neighboring Iran.

‘Americans have helped us in defeating terrorism… and I think Iraq is 100% safe and secure,’ Rashid told Fox News Digital on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly. ‘It’s a new phase in Iraq, really concentrating on improving the infrastructure.’

Those who served in Iraq in the early 2000s — through the War on Terror and a civil war — may not recognize it as the same place, according to Rashid.

‘We have started development in every field of life, and there are good opportunities for number of American companies, American businessmen, to be our partner in improving the situation in Iraq.’

Under this ‘new phase,’ Rashid said he wants Iraq to be defined less by conflict and more by commerce.

‘Our relationship with the United States is a long relationship. We want to make a stronger relationship… on trade, on investment, on energy and water.’

The timing is significant. The U.S.-led coalition that toppled Saddam Hussein in 2003 and later fought ISIS was scheduled under an agreement last year to begin its final withdrawal this September. That exact timeline is unclear, and the Pentagon has disclosed few details.

The issue is sure to dominate next month’s parliamentary elections, where a swath of Iraqis want the U.S. to adhere to its agreement and leave.

‘This is a hot button political issue,’ said Behnam Taleblu, fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), ‘with a timetable that was technically — or at least allegedly — already supposed to have started by then, is going to be something that we should be keeping our eyes on.’

American commanders have warned that ISIS cells remain active in rural areas, while Iran-aligned militias have targeted U.S. and Iraqi government facilities with rockets and drones.

Some argue the counter-ISIS mission is not over, and U.S. troops should remain. Others say the U.S. footprint lacks a clear purpose at this point.

‘The deterrent effect of U.S. forces there, I think, could be significant,’ said Taleblu.

Pressed on these concerns, Rashid dismissed talk of Iraq being ‘overrun with Iranian proxies’ as exaggerated and said Baghdad is determined to prevent outside powers from dictating its politics.

‘We want to keep our independence, our decision-making in Iraq as the Iraqis, not to be influenced by outsiders,’ he said.

On reports of militia attacks, Rashid claimed ignorance but insisted such actions would not be tolerated.

‘I’m not really aware of any groups [carrying out attacks]. We will not allow it. And these are against the Iraqi security and Iraqi independence,’ he said.

Still, the perception of Iranian influence remains a flashpoint in Washington.

‘Iranian influence has already taken over Iraq,’ Rep. Joe Wilson, R-S.C., told Fox News Digital.

Tehran has close ties to Shiite parties that shape government coalitions in Baghdad, and it supports militias within the Popular Mobilization Forces that remain powerful players in the country’s security environment.

Iraq also relies on Iranian electricity and natural gas imports, while Iranian goods fill local markets, making Iraq one of Tehran’s most important trading partners despite international sanctions.

That reach, however, is not uncontested. Iraqi nationalist movements — including many Shiites — have resisted Tehran’s sway, and mass protests in recent years have condemned Iran’s role, sometimes targeting its consulates. Baghdad today remains a space of competing influence.

‘The Islamic Republic benefits from Iraq looking like Swiss cheese,’ said Taleblu, referring to Iranian pockets of influence across the country and its institutions.

‘Iran and Iraq are two neighbors,’ Rashid said, emphasizing that they had friendly relations. ‘We will not allow politicians from either [U.S. or Iraq] to be imposed on Iraqi people.’

Still others say Iran could take note of the Iraqi success story. In less than 20 years, the nation rose from decades of conflict and dictatorial leadership under Saddam Hussein to relative stability and democratic elections.

Rashid confirmed that Baghdad and the Kurdistan Regional Government have resolved their dispute over oil exports, paving the way for flows to resume after months of disruption. ‘It’s a big deal,’ said Rashid, who himself is Kurdish by background.

The Iraqi presidency is reserved for a Kurd under an informal power-sharing agreement, while the prime minister is Shi’a Arab and the speaker of the parliament is Sunni Arab.

Rashid also pointed to November’s parliamentary elections as proof of democratic stability.

‘We are going to have elections in two months’ time in November. That’s really an indication of how stable the country is… We want the process to be fully democratic,’ he said.

But the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) — a state-sanctioned umbrella of mostly Shiite militias, some with close ties to Tehran — are seen by critics as a parallel power structure undermining Iraq’s sovereignty.

Rashid, however, argued that integrating all armed groups under the constitution strengthens, rather than weakens, the state.

And on foreign policy, Rashid tried to position Iraq as a bridge.

He welcomed growing recognition of a Palestinian state, cautiously praised Donald Trump’s push for peace in Gaza, and reiterated that war — whether in the Middle East or in Ukraine — ‘doesn’t solve any problem. It makes the problem more complicated.’

The U.S. secured the release of an American citizen being detained in Afghanistan following months of negotiations on Sunday, Fox News has learned.

The U.S. and Qatar jointly negotiated for the release of Amir Amiry, U.S. Special Envoy Adam Boehler told Fox News on Sunday.

‘When we went to Kabul to pick up George Glezmann six months ago, I asked to see Amir Amiry. He was brought to the airport gate and when he saw us he started to cry. Leaving an American was the hardest thing that I have ever done in my life and I promised him that we would come back for him,’ Boehler told Fox.

‘Amir Amiry became a citizen by putting his life at risk fighting for our country and our troops. Today we repay the favor. God bless America and God bless the President,’ Boehler added.

‘Throughout Mr. Amiry’s detention, Qatari diplomats remained in close communication with US officials and carried out regular health checks to ensure his wellbeing,’ a source familiar with Amiri’s detention told Fox News.

‘His release was facilitated by Qatari diplomats in close coordination with the team of the US Special Envoy for Hostage Affairs, through Qatar’s role as the United States’ protecting power in Afghanistan,’ the source added.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio celebrated Amiry’s release, thanking Qatar in an X post Sunday afternoon.

‘Today we welcome home Amir Amiry, an American who was wrongfully detained in Afghanistan. I want to thank Qatar for helping secure his freedom,’ Rubio said. ‘@POTUS has made it clear we will not stop until every American unjustly detained abroad is back home.’

Amiry’s release comes roughly a week after the Taliban released an elderly British couple after eight months in captivity.

Barbie Reynolds, 76, and husband Peter Reynolds, 80, arrived in Qatar on Friday following months of negotiations between Qatar, the Taliban and Britain.  

The couple had lived in Afghanistan for 18 years, where they ran an education charity. Despite the ordeal, Barbie Reynolds said they would return to Afghanistan if they could. They are both Afghan citizens.

‘God is good, as they say in Afghanistan,’ she added at the Kabul airport.

Fox News’ Brie Stimson contributed to this report

Iraq is entering ‘a new phase’ of stability and growth, President Abdullatif Jamal Rashid said in an interview, declaring the country ‘100% safe’ as U.S. troops prepare to draw down after more than two decades on the ground.

While praising the U.S. for helping to defeat ISIS, Rashid stressed that Iraq now intends to stand on its own — maintaining ties with both the United States and neighboring Iran.

‘Americans have helped us in defeating terrorism… and I think Iraq is 100% safe and secure,’ Rashid told Fox News Digital on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly. ‘It’s a new phase in Iraq, really concentrating on improving the infrastructure.’

Those who served in Iraq in the early 2000s — through the War on Terror and a civil war — may not recognize it as the same place, according to Rashid.

‘We have started development in every field of life, and there are good opportunities for number of American companies, American businessmen, to be our partner in improving the situation in Iraq.’

Under this ‘new phase,’ Rashid said he wants Iraq to be defined less by conflict and more by commerce.

‘Our relationship with the United States is a long relationship. We want to make a stronger relationship… on trade, on investment, on energy and water.’

The timing is significant. The U.S.-led coalition that toppled Saddam Hussein in 2003 and later fought ISIS was scheduled under an agreement last year to begin its final withdrawal this September. That exact timeline is unclear, and the Pentagon has disclosed few details.

The issue is sure to dominate next month’s parliamentary elections, where a swath of Iraqis want the U.S. to adhere to its agreement and leave.

‘This is a hot button political issue,’ said Behnam Taleblu, fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), ‘with a timetable that was technically — or at least allegedly — already supposed to have started by then, is going to be something that we should be keeping our eyes on.’

American commanders have warned that ISIS cells remain active in rural areas, while Iran-aligned militias have targeted U.S. and Iraqi government facilities with rockets and drones.

Some argue the counter-ISIS mission is not over, and U.S. troops should remain. Others say the U.S. footprint lacks a clear purpose at this point.

‘ISIS is a shell of its former self — the Caliphate collapsed in 2019 and its strikes on Europe have ended since then.  The remaining threat can be handled by others, notably the Iraqi government, which is popular at home and capable of carrying the load, along with the Kurdish Peshmerga and other regional states,’ said Will Walldorf, a senior fellow at Defense Priorities.  

‘Iran’s influence has waned with the near-total collapse of its regional proxies.  Any threats the U.S. might face in the future can be handled from over the horizon.’  

‘The deterrent effect of U.S. forces there, I think, could be significant,’ countered Taleblu.

Pressed on concerns, Rashid dismissed talk of Iraq being ‘overrun with Iranian proxies’ as exaggerated and said Baghdad is determined to prevent outside powers from dictating its politics.

‘We want to keep our independence, our decision-making in Iraq as the Iraqis, not to be influenced by outsiders,’ he said.

On reports of militia attacks, Rashid claimed ignorance but insisted such actions would not be tolerated.

‘I’m not really aware of any groups [carrying out attacks]. We will not allow it. And these are against the Iraqi security and Iraqi independence,’ he said.

Still, the perception of Iranian influence remains a flashpoint in Washington.

‘Iranian influence has already taken over Iraq,’ Rep. Joe Wilson, R-S.C., told Fox News Digital.

Tehran has close ties to Shiite parties that shape government coalitions in Baghdad, and it supports militias within the Popular Mobilization Forces that remain powerful players in the country’s security environment.

Iraq also relies on Iranian electricity and natural gas imports, while Iranian goods fill local markets, making Iraq one of Tehran’s most important trading partners despite international sanctions.

That reach, however, is not uncontested. Iraqi nationalist movements — including many Shiites — have resisted Tehran’s sway, and mass protests in recent years have condemned Iran’s role, sometimes targeting its consulates. Baghdad today remains a space of competing influence.

‘The Islamic Republic benefits from Iraq looking like Swiss cheese,’ said Taleblu, referring to Iranian pockets of influence across the country and its institutions.

‘Iran and Iraq are two neighbors,’ Rashid said, emphasizing that they had friendly relations. ‘We will not allow politicians from either [U.S. or Iraq] to be imposed on Iraqi people.’

Still others say Iran could take note of the Iraqi success story. In less than 20 years, the nation rose from decades of conflict and dictatorial leadership under Saddam Hussein to relative stability and democratic elections.

Rashid confirmed that Baghdad and the Kurdistan Regional Government have resolved their dispute over oil exports, paving the way for flows to resume after months of disruption. ‘It’s a big deal,’ said Rashid, who himself is Kurdish by background.

The Iraqi presidency is reserved for a Kurd under an informal power-sharing agreement, while the prime minister is Shi’a Arab and the speaker of the parliament is Sunni Arab.

Rashid also pointed to November’s parliamentary elections as proof of democratic stability.

‘We are going to have elections in two months’ time in November. That’s really an indication of how stable the country is… We want the process to be fully democratic,’ he said.

But the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) — a state-sanctioned umbrella of mostly Shiite militias, some with close ties to Tehran — are seen by critics as a parallel power structure undermining Iraq’s sovereignty.

Rashid, however, argued that integrating all armed groups under the constitution strengthens, rather than weakens, the state.

And on foreign policy, Rashid tried to position Iraq as a bridge.

He welcomed growing recognition of a Palestinian state, cautiously praised Donald Trump’s push for peace in Gaza, and reiterated that war — whether in the Middle East or in Ukraine — ‘doesn’t solve any problem. It makes the problem more complicated.’

President Donald Trump is slated to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House on Monday in an attempt to broker a ceasefire agreement and an end the war in Gaza.

Previewing the talks on Sunday, Trump wrote on Truth Social: ‘We have a real chance for greatness in the Middle East. All are on board for something special, first time ever. We will get it done.’

Trump did not elaborate on the precise terms of a ceasefire, exit or demilitarization plans for Gaza, or hostage-prisoner swap arrangements. He has previously said that both Israel and Hamas have agreed to indirect talks later this week in Qatar.

Meanwhile, Vice President JD Vance told ‘Fox News Sunday’ that top U.S. officials are immersed in ‘very complicated’ negotiations with both Israeli and Arab counterparts.

‘I feel more optimistic about where we are right now than where we have been at any point in the last few months, but let’s be realistic, these things can get derailed at the very last minute,’ Vance said.

He added that the Trump administration’s proposal centers on three main points: securing the release of all hostages, eliminating the Hamas threat to Israel, and expanding humanitarian aid to Gaza.

‘So I think we’re close to accomplishing all three of those objectives,’ Vance said.

In an exclusive interview on Fox News Channel’s ‘The Sunday Briefing,’ Netanyahu said his team is working with U.S. officials to secure the release of hostages, a top priority for the Israeli leader.

‘I hope we can make it a go because we want to free our hostages. We want to get rid of Hamas rule and have them disarmed, Gaza demilitarized, and a new future set up for Gazans and Israelis alike and for the whole region,’ he told co-host Jacqui Heinrich.

The meeting, the third one between Trump and Netanyahu since January, comes on the heels of the United Nations General Assembly. 

Dozens of U.N. delegates left the General Assembly hall during the prime minister’s address, leaving rows of empty seats behind.

Later, member states voted to permit Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to deliver his remarks remotely on Thursday. 

In his speech, Abbas accused Israel of ‘genocide’ and called for full U.N. membership for a Palestinian state — drawing about 30 seconds of applause.

The Supreme Court is set to reexamine a landmark decision about the president’s ability to fire members of independent agencies, and the outcome could expand executive power and have far-reaching implications.

The high court revealed in an order last week it would revisit Humphrey’s Executor v. United States, a 1935 decision that Hans von Spakovsky, a legal fellow at the conservative Heritage Foundation, said is now on ‘life support.’

Contrary to the decision in Humphrey’s, von Spakovsky said agencies like the Federal Trade Commission, the Securities and Exchange Commission and various labor boards ought not to be insulated from presidential firings.

‘The Constitution says the president is the head of the executive branch,’ von Spakovsky told Fox News Digital. ‘That means, just like the CEO of a big corporation, they get to supervise and run the entire corporation, or in this case, the entire executive branch, and you can’t have Congress taking parts of that away from him and saying, ‘Well, they’re going to keep doing executive branch things, including law enforcement, but you won’t have any control over them.’’

The Supreme Court’s decision came in response to a challenge from a Biden-appointed FTC commissioner whom President Donald Trump fired at will after taking office.

The high court said in a 6-3 emergency decision Trump’s termination of the commissioner, Rebecca Slaughter, could remain in place for now while it uses her case to take on Humphrey’s Executor, which centered on an FTC firing under President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The high court found Roosevelt could not fire a commissioner without cause.

Slaughter has called her firing illegal, pointing to Humphrey’s and the FTC Act, which says commissioners cannot be fired from their seven-year terms without cause such as malfeasance or negligence.

Joshua Blackman, a professor at South Texas College of Law, told Fox News Digital that if Humphrey’s is overturned or narrowed, it will likely also apply to other agencies that have statutory protections against firings designed to preserve their independence.

‘I think this ruling will necessarily reach beyond the FTC,’ Blackman said. ‘The only question is whether they maintain that the Federal Reserve is different.’

The high court indicated in an earlier shadow docket decision about labor board firings this year that it views the Federal Reserve as unique, a ‘quasi-private’ structure rooted in the traditions of the first central banks. A separate case involving Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook’s firing is testing that position.

Von Spakovsky said the Supreme Court has been inching toward addressing Humphrey’s. The 2010 decision to narrow the Sarbanes-Oxley Act by stripping independence from an accounting oversight board and the decision five years ago finding the president could fire the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau director at will were hints of this.

In the latter case, Chief Justice John Roberts wrote that the president’s power ‘to remove — and thus supervise — those who wield executive power on his behalf follows from the text of Article II.’ The CFPB’s ‘novel’ structure defied that presidential power because a single director oversees an agency that ‘wield[s] significant executive power.’

Ruling in Trump’s favor would help the president and his conservative allies realize their stated goal of achieving a unitary executive, a theory that says the president should have sole control over the executive branch.

As part of this vision, Trump abruptly sidestepped numerous statutes to pluck out protected appointees at independent agencies when he took office, moves the Supreme Court is now poised to weigh in on in Slaughter’s case.

Boston University School of Law professor Jed Shugerman said in a statement online that Trump has done ‘more to establish a unitary executive than all the judges and legal scholars in the world could ever do.’

However, Shugerman criticized the president, saying his tests of authority have also ‘done more to discredit and expose the unitary executive theory as lawless authoritarianism than any judge or legal scholar could ever do.’

John Shu, a constitutional law expert who served in both Bush administrations, recently told Fox News Digital he believed the Supreme Court would narrow Humphrey’s Executor because the FTC’s powers have greatly expanded since its inception.

‘The Federal Trade Commission of 1935 is a lot different than the Federal Trade Commission today,’ Shu said.

Shu said today’s FTC can open investigations, issue subpoenas, bring lawsuits, impose financial penalties and more. The FTC now has executive, quasi-legislative and quasi-judicial functions, he said.

Former Vice President Kamala Harris revealed her debate preparation against Donald Trump during the 2024 election cycle included how to handle a handful of crude hypothetical attacks on abortion and Viagra use, according to her new book, ‘107 Days.’

Bolstered by a team of advisers and a veteran trial attorney Harris compared to a ‘wartime consigliere,’ the then-vice president traveled to the basement of Howard University, her undergraduate alma mater, to prepare for her debate against Trump. Harris had prepped to debate JD Vance in a vice presidential debate ahead of then-President Joe Biden dropping out of the race in July 2024. 

Amid typical debate prep focused on providing Harris with intimate knowledge of topics so she could effectively present her argument on stage, she also was trained for the ‘the painful matter of imagining what kinds of personal attacks Trump might mount against me.’

”He might ask you if you’ve ever had an abortion,’ one adviser said,’ Harris wrote of her time devising her debate strategies. 

‘If he did, the response would be: That’s none of your business and that’s not what we’re here for,’ she continued. 

Harris continued that another individual in the debate prep room floated ‘a dark joke that if he got that personal, I should ask if he took Viagra.’

‘Another: Had he ever paid for an abortion?’ she continued. 

The pair were asked about abortion during the debate, but it never culminated into personal attacks on hypothetical abortions or Viagra use. 

‘In the end, he didn’t go down that track. He probably knew a question like that would be exceedingly thin ice for him—and would infuriate just about every woman in America,’ Harris wrote. 

Harris added that her team wrote a debate card ‘for every nuance of every subject, and once I memorized what was on that card, I’d draw a big, loopy X across it.’

‘I am not a trained seal; I’m not going to memorize lines and spout them. I have to understand the logic and building blocks of every argument so I can present it clearly and defend it persuasively,’ she wrote.

Harris’ book, ‘107 Days,’ hit shelves Tuesday and reflects on the 107 days she had on the presidential campaign trail after Biden dropped out of the race amid mounting concern over his mental acuity. 

Harris failed to rally enough support to defeat Trump, losing each of the seven battleground states Nov. 4, 2024.