The Social Security Administration’s (SSA) internal watchdog has confirmed that the agency’s publicly reported phone service data was accurate and that performance improved during fiscal year 2025, according to a new audit completed after Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., questioned whether the figures could be trusted.

The Office of the Inspector General (OIG) reviewed the SSA’s national 800-number telephone metrics and found that the data the agency released to the public was correct, and that overall service improved during fiscal year 2025, according to a draft audit report provided to agency leadership ahead of public release. The report did not issue any recommendations to the agency.

The review was initiated after Warren expressed concerns in June about long wait times and the reliability of SSA’s phone performance data. She formally requested an audit on July 24, prompting SSA Commissioner Frank J. Bisignano, who serves under President Donald Trump, to agree to an independent review by the watchdog.

The audit found that SSA served 68 million callers during fiscal year 2025, either through live agents or automated systems, a 65% increase from the prior year. Average wait times fluctuated early in the year but improved steadily, according to the audit, ending the fiscal year at roughly seven minutes in September after peaking at about 30 minutes in January.

The metric cited by the agency, known as Average Speed of Answer, measures only the time callers actively wait on hold before speaking to an employee and does not include time spent waiting for callbacks.

‘Last year, people waited 40 minutes on the phone, and now they’re in single digits. We’re doing twice as many calls,’ Bisignano said.

In an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital, Bisignano said the audit confirmed what agency leadership had been reporting publicly about improvements in service levels.

‘Senator Warren was completely wrong in everything that she was saying, and it’s now been proven out,’ Bisignano said, citing the watchdog’s finding that SSA’s publicly reported telephone metrics were calculated accurately.

Bisignano said he welcomed the audit and was confident the data would withstand independent scrutiny.

The inspector general’s report concluded that SSA’s telephone performance improved during fiscal year 2025 largely because of operational changes, including the rollout of a new cloud-based telecommunications platform, expanded automation and staffing realignments. The platform, implemented in August 2024, allowed SSA to increase call capacity, expand self-service options and monitor performance in real time, according to the report.

The watchdog also confirmed that SSA’s internal data-verification process ensured accuracy by comparing raw data with reported metrics and working with vendors to resolve any discrepancies. The audit found no evidence that the agency misrepresented its national 800-number performance.

Bisignano said improvements were driven by a combination of technology, process changes and workforce adjustments.

The report explains that SSA experienced especially high call volumes between January and March 2025 due to Medicare and tax-related questions, as well as the implementation of the Social Security Fairness Act of 2023, which affected more than 3.2 million beneficiaries. 

Despite the surge, the agency reduced average wait times over the course of the year.

The audit also found that about 25 million calls during fiscal year 2025 ended without callers receiving service, either because callers disconnected, did not answer callback attempts or encountered busy signals. Those calls were not included in the agency’s wait-time metrics.

Automation played a growing role in absorbing the surge. According to the audit, automated systems handled an average of nearly 2.9 million calls per month in fiscal year 2025, up from about 300,000 per month the year before. Automated services allowed callers to complete common tasks without speaking to a live agent, reducing pressure on phone lines.

The inspector general also reviewed how SSA calculates its Average Speed of Answer metric, which measures the time callers actively wait on hold before speaking to an employee. The audit clarified that callers who accept a callback are counted as having zero active wait time, a methodology that reduces the average but does not include the time callers wait to receive callbacks.

Bisignano said transparency about how the numbers are calculated is essential.

‘We figured out how to leverage technology, process engineering, and human capital,’ he said.

Staffing changes also contributed to the turnaround. Early in fiscal year 2025, the number of employees available to answer national 800-number calls declined by about 13%. By July, SSA began assigning roughly 1,000 field office employees each day to help handle national call volume. The audit found that this coincided with sharp improvements in wait times, with Average Speed of Answer dropping from about 13 minutes in June to roughly 7.5 minutes in July.

The audit did not evaluate service levels or wait times at local Social Security field offices.

Beyond wait times, the audit found that service quality remained high. About 87% of callers who responded to post-call surveys said their issue was resolved on the first contact. The survey results reflect feedback from callers who reached an SSA employee and do not include callers who only used automated services.

Bisignano said the improvements matter most for seniors and beneficiaries who rely on Social Security services.

‘We’re investing in Social Security and servicing the American public at a level they’ve never been serviced before,’ he said. ‘We’ll meet you where you want to be met: on the phone, in the field offices or on the web.’

He added that people who haven’t called the agency recently may be surprised by how much has changed.

‘What would surprise them the most is how quickly they can get their phone call answered,’ he said.

Looking ahead, Bisignano said the agency plans to continue expanding digital services and reducing backlogs, including in disability claims, while maintaining accountability through ongoing oversight.

‘Expect us to always have double-digit improvements in every metric we have,’ he said. ‘This is just the beginning.’

The OIG report in full can be read here.

‘The bottom line is that Donald Trump’s Social Security chief lied about call wait times to cover up his customer service mess,’ Sen. Warren said in an email to Fox News Digital. ‘This new watchdog report reveals that true wait times were more than three times higher than what Commissioner Bisignano claimed, and tens of millions of callers were simply unable to get help on the phone at all.’

The Justice Department on Monday appealed the dismissal of its criminal cases against former FBI director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James, making good on its vow to revive both cases despite what appear to be significant legal and procedural hurdles.

Lawyers for the Trump administration appealed both cases Monday to the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, based in Richmond, Va. 

‘The power to appoint an interim U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 546 during the current vacancy lies with the district court until a U.S. Attorney is nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate,’ the Justice Department said in its appeal.

Both appeals challenge a ruling handed down by U.S. District Judge Cameron Currie in November, which found that former Trump lawyer Lindsey Halligan was illegally appointed to her role as interim U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. 

Because Halligan was unlawfully appointed — and was the sole prosecutor who secured the indictments — Currie ruled that the indictments were invalid and dismissed both cases without prejudice.

‘Ms. Halligan has been unlawfully serving in that role since September 22, 2025,’ Currie said in an opinion filed in both cases. 

‘All actions flowing from Ms. Halligan’s defective appointment’ as a result, he said, ‘constitute unlawful exercises of executive power and must be set aside.’

Attorney General Pam Bondi vowed then to ‘immediately’ appeal the decision, and FBI Director Kash Patel said the FBI and Justice Department are exploring other options to keep the case against Comey alive.

James was charged with two counts of bank fraud and making false statements to a financial institution during her 2020 purchase of a home in Norfolk, Virginia. 

Comey was charged with making false statements to Congress and for obstruction related to his testimony in September 2020. 

Currie dismissed Comey’s case and James’ case ‘without prejudice’ – a detail that left the door open for the government to secure new indictments.

Prosecutors ultimately attempted, without success, to re-indict both Comey and James, prompting new questions about the strength of the case.

Federal prosecutors twice tried and failed to secure a new indictment against James from grand juries in Norfolk and then in Alexandria. Neither effort was successful.

In Comey’s case, a separate judge ordered prosecutors to erase certain evidence – including emails and data – that had played a central role in the Justice Department’s case.

Comey’s case also raises statute-of-limitations concerns, as both charges carried five-year limits that expired Sept. 30 – just three days after Bondi installed Halligan at the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

It is unclear whether the judge’s order ‘resets the clock’ on the statute of limitations under a federal law, as Trump’s allies have argued it should. 

Under the same law, a dismissal by the Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals would trigger a 60-day window for the Trump administration to re-indict Comey.

The Justice Department notified the lower court Monday that it had filed both requests to the Richmond-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. 

The Department of War announced Monday that the Pentagon is partnering with Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence (AI) ecosystem to deploy Grok across its government systems.

The agency said the ‘frontier‑grade’ capabilities of xAI’s Grok family of models will be integrated into the department’s recently launched AI platform, GenAI.mil. 

As soon as early 2026, the partnership will allow the Department’s 3 million military and civilian personnel to safely access more advanced AI tools for everyday tasks, including handling sensitive government information.

According to xAI, its tools can support administrative tasks at the federal, state and local levels, as well as ‘critical mission use cases’ at the front line of military operations.

‘Today, the War Department officially entered into an agreement with xAI, paving the way for the deployment of its advanced capabilities on GenAI.mil,’ the department said. ‘This move builds on the rapid deployment of cutting‑edge AI across the Department’s 3 million military and civilian personnel.’

The tools will allow employees to use xAI safely on secure government systems for routine work, including tasks involving sensitive but unclassified information, without violating security protocols.

With xAI designed to analyze real-time data, the War Department said the partnership would give personnel ‘a decisive information advantage.’ 

Grok will give personnel access to live information from X, providing the War Department with faster situational awareness around the globe, the department said.

xAI added that the partnership could lead to potential future classified workloads. 

‘Through an ongoing, long-term partnership with the DoW and other mission partners, xAI will make available a family of government-optimized foundation models to support classified operational workloads,’ the company said.

The War Department said that it will continue to scale its AI ecosystem for speed, security and decision superiority.

‘This announcement marks another milestone in America’s AI revolution, and the War Department is driving that momentum forward,’ the department said. 

‘These two new partnerships are part of our longstanding support of the United States Government and xAI’s mission to bring the best tools and technologies available in industry to benefit our nation,’ xAI added.

The collaboration marks another chapter in Elon Musk’s long-running relationship with government initiatives.  

Musk previously helped lead the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency, where he briefly reformed operations and cut excess spending within the federal government. 

The Federal Communications Commission announced on Monday that it would ban new foreign-made drones, citing national security concerns.

The FCC said it was adding uncrewed aircraft systems (UAS) and their critical components made in China and other foreign countries to its ‘covered list’ that features equipment that has been determined to pose an ‘unacceptable risk’ to U.S. national security and the safety of Americans. Specific drones or components would be exempt if the Pentagon or Department of Homeland Security determined they did not pose such risks.

The distinction prohibits the products from being sold or imported in the U.S. The order does not apply to technology that has already been sold in the U.S.

The agency said that allowing foreign-made UAS and component parts to be sold in the U.S. ‘undermines the resiliency of our UAS industrial base, increases the risk to our national airspace, and creates a potential for large-scale attacks during large gatherings,’ citing upcoming events such as the 2026 World Cup and the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.

‘Criminals, terrorists, and hostile foreign actors have intensified their weaponization of these technologies, creating new and serious threats to our homeland,’ the FCC said in its notice.

The announcement comes a year after a defense bill was adopted that raised national security concerns about Chinese-made drones, which have been used in farming, mapping, law enforcement and filmmaking.

The bill called for stopping two Chinese companies — DJI and Autel — from selling new drones in the U.S. if a review found they posed a risk to U.S. national security.

A spokesperson for DJI said in a statement that it is ‘disappointed’ by the FCC’s decision and that ‘no information has been released regarding what information was used’ in the government’s determination to add its drones and component parts to the covered list.

‘Concerns about DJI’s data security have not been grounded in evidence and instead reflect protectionism, contrary to the principles of an open market,’ the statement said.

The House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party praised the FCC’s move, saying it ‘strongly supports’ the decision.

‘It will help safeguard our national security, protect the American people, and wind down the unacceptable national security threat posed by DJI and other Chinese drones,’ the committee wrote on X.

‘Taken together with the Administration’s recent executive actions to accelerate domestic drone commercialization, this sends an unmistakable signal to American industry: The U.S. is open for drone innovation—and American manufacturing will be rewarded,’ it added.

Arthur Erickson, chief executive officer and co-founder of the Texas-based drone-making company Hylio, told The Associated Press that the departure of DJI would provide more opportunity for American companies like his to grow. He said new investments are coming in to help him boost production of spray drones, which farmers use to fertilize their fields, and it will bring down prices.

But Erickson also called it ‘crazy’ and ‘unexpected’ that the FCC would expand the restrictions to all foreign-made drones and their components.

‘The way it’s written is a blanket statement,’ Erickson said. ‘There’s a global-allied supply chain. I hope they will clarify that.’

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

For Americans wondering about the future of China and its relationship with the West, the latest verdict in the Jimmy Lai case proves an ominous harbinger of Hong Kong’s continued slide towards authoritarianism. Lai, the self-made billionaire, media entrepreneur and pro-democracy activist, has been held prisoner of the Chinese Communist Party for five years under Hong Kong’s National Security Law. He was finally convicted Dec. 14 on trumped-up charges of sedition.    

This verdict, handed down in 855 pages of meaningless gobbledygook, is Lai’s second conviction during his state-sponsored persecution since Hong Kong’s 2019 pro-democracy protests. Lai was previously found guilty of lease violations in connection with Apple Daily, his popular former newspaper that was closed by the Chinese government in 2021, and sentenced to 69 months in prison. The latest charges, for which Lai will be sentenced in early January, carry a penalty of 10 years to life in prison.   

Of course, these nuances and timelines are meaningless; Lai has been imprisoned since December 2020, with his case delayed, extended, postponed, appealed and otherwise stage-managed in accordance with the wishes of the CCP. Lai was also denied the lawyers of his choice. Hong Kong will likely throw the book at him in January, and Lai – already in failing health due to the apparently inhumane conditions of his solitary confinement – will face eventual death in prison. It’s a grim birthday present for Lai, who turned 78 recently.  

How did we get here? Lai knows why, describing himself as a ‘troublemaker, but one with a good conscience.’ ‘The establishment hates my guts,’ Lai says, and you’d have to say he’s earned that hatred from a leadership in Beijing and now Hong Kong that doesn’t tolerate dissent. Having participated in Hong Kong’s pro-democracy protests in 2019, supported the Umbrella Movement in 2014, and expressed public concern in the aftermath of 1989’s Tiananmen Square massacre, Lai has long been a thorn in the side of the CCP.   

Lai’s irreverent, pro-free-speech publications, Apple Daily and Next Magazine, frequently reported unwelcome facts, challenged the status quo and asked hard questions of Chinese officialdom amid growing state censorship. It was Lai’s courageous, decades-long commitment to democratic values that led my organization, The Fund for American Studies, to honor him in 2022 with the Kenneth Y. Tomlinson Award for Courageous Journalism.

Among all his causes, Lai’s most dear was the protection of his adopted city, Hong Kong. Having escaped there as a child after growing up in 1950s mainland China, Lai knew firsthand that Communist regimes deprive their people of fundamental freedoms. Despite China’s treaty agreement with the U.K. and the CCP’s ‘one country, two systems’ commitment, which guaranteed Hong Kong’s autonomy until at least 2047, Lai foresaw that the CCP would accelerate its ultimate takeover of Hong Kong.   

The mainland’s creeping authoritarianism is why my organization ended its program at the University of Hong Kong after 2019. We foresaw the coming crackdown in Hong Kong, and this week’s verdict is one more nail in the coffin of Hong Kong’s once internationally respected legal system. In a chilling coincidence, Hong Kong’s Democratic Party, the city’s largest opposition group, also voted to disband on the eve of the verdict. Unfortunately, our worries (and Lai’s) about Hong Kong’s future have been proven true.

Where do we go from here? First, Western leaders must continue to seek Lai’s release on humanitarian grounds. U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer plans to visit China next month, and his government has said that freeing Lai (who is a British citizen) is a priority. This week, President Donald Trump also asked Chinese leader Xi Jinping to free Lai. With Lai’s formal conviction now public, it may open up space for a diplomatic resolution. Now is the time to ramp up the pressure for his release.  

Second, the West must remain vigilant in the face of China’s continued belligerence toward its neighbors and its suppression of values such as freedom of speech, religious liberty and press freedom. These are values under siege worldwide. Journalists, religious figures and democracy advocates have been killed or imprisoned for exercising these rights. Jimmy Lai is an example of incredible bravery and commitment to democratic values, but his imprisonment is also a sobering warning of the dangers of authoritarianism.  

If the Department of Justice (DOJ) wanted to release every Jeffrey Epstein-related document they had on file, they had the firepower to do so, a former assistant U.S. attorney argued.

The DOJ has faced bipartisan criticism over its initial release of heavily redacted Epstein files, which lawmakers argue fell short of the requirements of a recently passed transparency law.

‘The Department of Justice has all the resources in the world, right? I mean if they wanted to put 1,000 lawyers on this to review the documents and get them ready for the production, they could have,’ Sarah Krissoff said.

‘And they don’t appear to have done that,’ she added.

The DOJ did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Krissoff, who worked as a prosecutor for almost 14 years in the Southern District of New York, described key differences between the Epstein Files and the normal redaction process that attorneys grapple with. Those distinctions make it unclear who would have had final say about the information the DOJ released on Friday as the agency attempted to follow through on the requirements laid out by the Epstein Files Transparency Act. 

That law, passed by Congress last month and signed by President Donald Trump on Nov. 19, gave the DOJ just 30 days to make its documentation of Epstein public. It included some exceptions for protecting the identity of victims.

Despite the thousands of files that became publicly available at the end of last week, the DOJ’s first trove sparked criticism from some lawmakers and viewers online outraged that the department hadn’t released them all at once.

‘They are hiding a lot of documents. That would be very helpful in our investigation,’ Rep. Suhas Subramanyam, D-Va., a member of the House Oversight Committee, told CNN on Monday morning. 

Although she remains skeptical of the department’s effort, Krissoff noted that what the DOJ’s been asked to do goes far outside the norm for disclosures.

‘There is no real mechanism in the law that the public can just access documents because they’re interested in them, right? In this case, this law is requiring the DOJ to make these things public because so many members of Congress are interested in this issue,’ Krissoff said.

In the cases she’s been a part of, Krissoff said redactions usually came down to meticulous negotiations between the prosecution and the defense. Sometimes deliberations drilled into individual sentences or words.

‘This situation is a little different because it’s unclear, you know, who is still working on this from the original case team. And so, the question is: who at the Department of Justice reviewed these in connection with the redactions here?’ Krissoff said.

She said whole case files rarely get released to the public beyond what shows up in court filings — and what’s there usually serves the narrow purposes of the prosecution. In Epstein’s case, the public’s interests extend beyond any potential conviction of Epstein himself. Epstein died in 2019 while incarcerated on suspicion of sex-trafficking minors. His death, ruled a suicide, cut short his prosecution and left behind questions about whether he facilitated illegal sexual encounters for his vast social network. 

Photos released by the DOJ last week lack context and do not, on their own, implicate anyone depicted in them of wrongdoing. 

‘The case file often implicates many other people that are not charged in the crimes. So, there may be 15 people charged in a drug ring. You’ve only charged one or two people; you don’t want to impugn those other people who have not been charged by releasing information showing their involvement in this drug ring,’ Krissoff said.

‘The last thing you want to do is put that neighbor’s information or his name or even his statement out there,’ Krissoff said.

She believes that there’s a danger in forcing disclosure of an ongoing case simply because of great public interest and setting a precedent for that to become a regular occurrence. In her view, it could disrupt ongoing investigations of the future that draw intense public interest.

The DOJ said it will continue to release its documents on Epstein on a rolling basis. It has not announced when they expect to continue their release of the Epstein files.

While next year’s midterms will determine whether Republicans can keep control of Congress after winning big in 2024, there are also a slate of gubernatorial elections, several that are toss-ups, which could have equally wide-ranging impacts.

Three states with Democratic Party governors, Arizona, Michigan and Wisconsin, are currently listed as ‘toss up’ races across multiple high-profile election polling groups, such as The Cook Political Report and Sabato’s Crystal Ball. Meanwhile, Republicans will have to defend the governorship in Georgia and Nevada, two other races considered a ‘toss up’ by some, while others are giving Republicans a slight advantage. For example, Nevada and Georgia are considered a ‘toss up’ in The Cook Political Report’s latest polling that came out Dec. 20, but they are listed as ‘lean Republican’ by Sabato’s Crystal Ball. 

‘Whether it’s Aaron Ford vacationing instead of doing his job in Nevada, Katie Hobbs tanking Arizona’s economy, or Jocelyn Benson letting non-residents vote in Michigan, Democrats are not sending their best to gubernatorial races next year,’ Regional Communications Director Delanie Bomar told Fox News Digital. ‘Republicans have a track record of winning these states and we will do so again next year.’

In Arizona, Democrat Governor Katie Hobbs will have to maintain her seat against long-time House Reps. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., and David Schweikert, R-Ariz., as well as attorney Karrin Taylor Robson, who lost to Kari Lake in the GOP primary for governor in 2022.

In 2024, Hobbs was investigated for involvement in an alleged ‘pay-for-play’ scheme after a report revealed a group home business that looks after vulnerable children was approved for a rate hike after it donated big to her inauguration and the Arizona Democratic Party. However, Hobbs has pushed back against the allegations, arguing she was not personally involved in the rate decision. The controversy is still under criminal investigation by both the Arizona attorney general and the Maricopa County attorney, and the Arizona House also launched its own inquiry last month into the matter. Hobbs, who has had a lengthy political career dating back to 2010, has been criticized for how she treats her staff and who she hires, but also has a history of being able to rake in campaign funds and run successful elections. 

In Michigan, Democratic Party Gov. Gretchen Whitmer will be term-limited out. Her secretary of State, Jocelyn Benson, is among the front-runners to take over Whitmer’s seat. Earlier this year, Fox News Digital reported about Benson’s attendance at a ‘unity’ dinner that featured decor threatening to assassinate President Donald Trump and equating his supporters with Nazis. Republican Michigan lawmakers have called on the Trump Justice Department to monitor Michigan’s 2026 elections, arguing there is an ‘inherent’ conflict associated with Benson, who is Michigan’s top election official, running while overseeing the state’s elections.  

Wisconsin’s Democratic Party Gov. Tony Evers announced his retirement in July, indicating he will not seek a third term under the state’s unlimited term limit rules. As a result, the seat is up for grabs, with House Rep. Tom Tiffany, R-Wisc., and Wisconsin County Executive Josh Schoemann among the GOP front-runners. On the Democrat side, former Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes, current Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez and Wisconsin County Executive David Crowley find themselves at the top of the heap.

Courtney Alexander, a spokesperson for the Republican Governor’s Association, pointed out how voters view governors’ races ‘through a unique prism’ following Trump’s first year of his second term. ‘They see that Republican-led states are more affordable and safer, while Democrat-led states are among the most expensive and have allowed their cities to become hellscapes of crime and homelessness,’ Alexander told Fox News Digital. ‘Americans have already voted with their feet, and that tells us everything we need to know about what to expect in 2026 — Democrats running at the gubernatorial level have records they cannot defend.’

Georgia and Nevada will have to be defended by Republicans if they hope to add to their GOP gubernatorial headcount. Georgia, which historically has been a Republican stronghold, has seen Democratic Party wins in the last several years, making it a place for hard-fought elections. Current Republican Gov. Brian Kemp is being term-limited. It was being mulled he might go to the U.S. Senate, but Kemp later waved off the rumors.

In 2026, there will be a total of 36 gubernatorial elections held on Nov. 3, 2026. The primaries for these races will be held at various times ahead of the scheduled general election date.  

While not seen as a tough race for Republicans, Florida’s primary race has the ingredients for something interesting. The Sunshine State’s current GOP governor, Ron DeSantis, will be term-limited, and it is unclear who DeSantis desires to be his replacement after President Donald Trump endorsed GOP Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla. Thus far, DeSantis has not embraced Donalds as the best person to take over his office, like Trump. Rather, DeSantis has publicly hinted his wife, Casey DeSantis, could be a formidable contender. ‘She would do better than me,’ DeSantis told reporters earlier this year while discussing speculation about Florida’s first lady succeeding him. ‘There’s no question about that.’

Fox News Digital’s Michael Dorgan contributed to this report.

PHOENIX, Ariz. – While it is true that Erika Kirk is head of one of the nation’s leading conservative groups, at one point this weekend at Turning Point USA’s AmericaFest, she made it clear that she holds an even more important title: mother.

After two days of infighting at the conference between some of its top stars, Kirk smiled on stage Friday night and said, ‘Well, say what you want about AmFest, but it’s definitely not boring. Feels like a Thanksgiving dinner where your family’s hashing out the family business.’

This is the best and most positive way to look at the squabbling in Phoenix between Ben Shapiro, Tucker Carlson, Megyn Kelly and other right-wing celebrities. It has been mostly over Israel, and it was a sideshow few attendees expected or particularly wanted.

Brent, in his 50s and from Oklahoma City, came to AmFest with his two sons.

‘I was in there the night Ben and Tucker went at each other, at one point, I told my wife, I’m going out for some air, I just felt like I needed to escape to the real world, you know?’ he told me over a smoke.

I did know. 

Along with sniping over Israel and antisemitism, the question of what a ‘heritage American’ is, or if it is a thing at all, also spurred division. Ohio gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy told the crowd, ‘I think the idea of a heritage American is about as loony as anything the woke left has actually put up,’ adding ‘There is no American who is more American than somebody else.… It is binary. Either you’re an American or you’re not.’

This would have been Civics 101, even for conservatives, not long ago, but Ramaswamy is right to mention wokeness, because proponents of the concept that a genealogy that leads back to nation’s founding is something special is mainly driven by such people being told for decades now that it is actually the only lineage that is not special, or something to be proud of.

I asked Dennis, who is the fourth-generation owner of a farm in South Dakota, which sounds pretty heritage-y to me, what he made of it all.

‘I don’t think much about that,’ he said. ‘If you love the country and follow the laws, you can be an American.’

Dennis was much more interested in, and comfortable talking about soybeans and sugar beets. I asked how the tariffs were affecting him, and he told me, ‘It’s hurt, but I look at the big picture and I think it will be good in the long run.’

It was tempting after speaking, not just with Dennis, but with many attendees, old and young, who are most focused on prices, to think, ‘It’s the economy, stupid, knock it off with the identity politics stuff.’ But Erika Kirk made a good point: These might be fights the right needs to have before settling into next year’s midterm elections.

TPUSA spokesman Andrew Kolvet posted on X with this very message.

‘If we force conformity without uncomfortable debates, there can be no winning consensus,’ he wrote. ‘There’s no civil war. This is the necessary work of a conservative coalition defining its dominant center ahead of the coming battles. We’re not hive-minded commies. Let it play out.’

It should also be noted how much better hashing all of this out at an actual live event is than endless sniping on social media where nobody is ever really forced to contend with ideas they oppose. The mere act of shaking hands with someone you disagree with can be a powerful calming influence.

On Sunday, the big finale of AmFest will be Vice President JD Vance’s speech to the assembled. As of 4 a.m., there was already a line for it.

Sarah, a college freshman told me, ‘I wasn’t old enough to vote for Trump, but I will get to vote for Vance, and I’m excited about that.’ This is good news for Vance, but it’s also a lot of pressure. Can he be the force that mends the wounds opening this weekend at AmFest? 

Erika Kirk is right, families sometimes fight. In fact, sometimes they have to. But the question is always what happens after the blowup, after the tears and recriminations?

Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., told the crowd this weekend, ‘You may not like Tucker Carlson, Ben Shapiro, Steve Bannon or me. Guess what: If the radical left wins, we all hang together.’

This seems correct, and even after AmFest’s nasty internecine fighting, it is still a goal well within reach of TPUSA and the conservative movement. It is also almost certainly what Charlie Kirk would have wanted.

Erika Kirk welcomed rapper Nicki Minaj as the surprise guest for a Q&A at Turning Point USA’s AmericaFest on Sunday.

The ‘Beez in the Trap’ singer previously teamed up with the Trump White House, speaking at the United Nations in November to raise awareness about persecution against Christians in Nigeria. Rumors had grown that Minaj would make an appearance at AmericaFest, but it was not confirmed until she went on stage Sunday.

‘I’m honored to be here. I’m honored to be here,’ Minaj said after Kirk welcomed her to the stage.

She went on to praise both President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance, saying they are politicians who have an ‘uncanny’ ability to relate to the American people.

‘I love both of them,’ she said of the two leaders.

Despite previously supporting Democrats like Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, Minaj has increasingly shown support for Trump lately.

On Nov. 1, Minaj posted a screenshot of a Trump Truth Social post where he said, ‘Christianity is facing an existential threat in Nigeria.’

She wrote, ‘Reading this made me feel a deep sense of gratitude. We live in a country where we can freely worship God. No group should ever be persecuted for practicing their religion.’

Minaj continued, ‘We don’t have to share the same beliefs in order for us to respect each other. Numerous countries all around the world are being affected by this horror & it’s dangerous to pretend we don’t notice.’

She thanked the ‘President & his team for taking this seriously. God bless every persecuted Christian. Let’s remember to lift them up in prayer.’

She has also repeatedly attacked California Gov. Gavin Newsom over his stance on transgender children.

Kirk has stepped in as the chairwoman and CEO of Turning Point USA since the murder of her husband, late Turning Point USA CEO Charlie Kirk, in September.

Kirk spoke at the conservative AmFest on Thursday, telling the crowd, ‘Here’s what I’ve learned the most in these last three months is that my husband, he deeply mattered on a multitude of levels, so much so that it proved even more once he was assassinated, how much of a peacemaker he was and how much of a coalition builder he was.’

She added that both her husband and she would choose fight mode over flight in any situation. 

‘You don’t retreat,’ she said. ‘Charlie would go wherever he needed to go, and I’m the same exact way … And you’ll learn that about me the more you get to know me. I know I’m new here, I’m new here, but you’ll learn.’

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) said Sunday it restored a photo featuring President Donald Trump to its latest release of Jeffrey Epstein–related documents after a review determined the image did not depict any Epstein victims.

In a post on X, the DOJ said the photo was initially taken down ‘out of an abundance of caution’ after the Southern District of New York flagged it for additional review to protect potential victims.

Following a review, officials concluded no Epstein victims were shown in the photograph, and it was reposted without ‘alteration or redaction,’ according to the DOJ.

‘The Southern District of New York flagged an image of President Trump for potential further action to protect victims,’ the DOJ wrote. ‘Out of an abundance of caution, the Department of Justice temporarily removed the image for further review. After the review, it was determined there is no evidence that any Epstein victims are depicted in the photograph, and it has been reposted without any alteration or redaction.’

Earlier Sunday, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said the removal of the photo had ‘nothing to do with President Trump’ and was instead driven by concerns for the women depicted, he said during an appearance on NBC’s ‘Meet the Press.’

The explanation came after reports that at least 16 files had disappeared from the DOJ’s Epstein-related public webpage less than a day after they were posted on Friday, without public notice or an initial explanation, The Associated Press reported.

The missing files included one that showed a series of photos displayed on a cabinet and inside a drawer. In the drawer, there was a photo of Donald Trump pictured alongside Melania Trump, Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, AP reported.

On Saturday, Democrats on the House Oversight Committee criticized the removal of the photo, writing, ‘We need transparency for the American public.’

‘This photo, file 468, from the Epstein files that includes Donald Trump has apparently now been removed from the DOJ release,’ Democrats on the House Oversight Committee posted on X. ‘[Attorney General Pam Bondi] is this true? What else is being covered up? We need transparency for the American public.’

The DOJ released the trove of files after The Epstein Files Transparency Act, signed by President Trump on Nov. 19, 2025, required AG Pam Bondi to release all unclassified records, communications and investigative materials related to Epstein within 30 days.

The agency posted thousands of pages on a government website Friday related to Epstein’s and Maxwell’s sex-trafficking cases. The files were released as the result of a deadline imposed by the Epstein Files Transparency Act.

Fox News Digital’s Lori Bashian contributed to this report.