In a week that saw French right-wing leader Marine Le Pen banned from running for office, the South Korean Constitutional Court’s ouster of President Yoon Suk Yeol from office on Friday has critics looking towards Beijing’s hand in efforts to remove the leader from power.

‘Yoon’s foreign and security policies stand in stark contrast to the pro-China figures long supported and controlled by the [Chinese Communist Party (CCP)],’ Anna Mahjar-Barducci, Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) project director, told Fox News Digital. She explained that those policies ‘posed a threat to Beijing’s long-term strategy of cultivating a pro-China faction in South Korea,’

Mahjar-Barducci claimed the CCP has used ‘overt economic cooperation, political donations, covert benefit transfers and even illegal sexual bribery’ to cultivate ‘certain South Korean political figures over time, aiming to undermine the U.S.-South Korea alliance, weaken South Korea’s strategic independence and expand its regional influence at the expense of the U.S.’ 

Mahjar-Barducci also claimed that one Korean activist who spoke to her on Friday told her that election fraud in South Korea had been organized in cooperation with China, whose government had unduly influenced the past two general elections. 

The Associated Press reported on Friday that supporters of the ousted president were enraged by the decision. Kim Min-seon, a Yoon supporter, is quoted as saying it was the only way to deal with liberals blocking Yoon’s efforts to fight Pyongyang and Beijing’s campaigns to threaten South Korea’s democracy through cyberattacks, disinformation and technology theft — something denied by the opposition party. 

Yoon had long provoked the ire of North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un over his plans to increase his country’s nuclear capacity. The former South Korean leader sought increased cooperation with the U.S. as a deterrent to the North Korean threat.

A spokesman from the Chinese embassy in Washington D.C. did not answer Fox News Digital questions on allegations the country interferes in Seoul’s politics. Questions sent to the South Korean embassy were not returned. 

Mahjar-Barducci also explained that given the ‘intensive coverage by Beijing’s media’ of Yoon’s dismissal, the CCP is ‘brimming with pride’ and ‘extremely pleased’ with the turn of events. Beijing ‘has already taken down two pro-American South Korean presidents, Park Geun-hye and Yoon Suk Yeol, which shows just how deep Beijing’s infiltration and influence in South Korea are,’ she said.

‘South Korea needs to be the strongest ally, along with Japan, of America,’ Mahjar-Barducci continued. But Beijing is poising itself to ‘win over this important strategic area,’ which the U.S. ‘cannot afford to lose.’

Mahjar-Barducci said Yoon’s removal is part of a ‘pattern… all over the world’ of right-wing candidates being forbidden from seeking election, including Romanian right-wing presidential frontrunner Călin Georgescu and French right-wing politician Le Pen. ‘The judiciary has been weaponized once again,’ she explained.

The CCP’s hand in South Korea comes at a time when Beijing is holding large-scale military drills around Taiwan, with 19 vessels from the Chinese navy being spotted in the waters surrounding Taiwan between Monday and Tuesday morning. Mahjar-Barducci said that while Beijing has attempted to make such drills ‘a new normal,’ it has also warned that the ‘drills could unexpectedly turn into a real war.’

South Korea will hold elections for a new president in two months. Fox News Digital has reported that surveys show liberal opposition Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung is ‘an early favorite’ for the position.

Let us be honest: When most people hear ‘tariffs,’ they think about price hikes and trade wars. But the Trump administration’s latest tariff rollout is not merely a knee-jerk protectionist move—it is part of a far broader strategy.

What is actually in play here is a high-stakes effort to build up leverage and resources to manage America’s debt, reset its industrial base, and renegotiate its standing in the global order.

And it all begins with a problem most people have not been told enough about.

In 2025, the U.S. government must refinance $9.2 trillion in maturing debt. Some $6.5 trillion of that comes due by June. That is not a typo—that is a debt wall the size of a small continent.

Now, here is the math: According to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, each basis-point (one one-hundredth of a percent) drop in interest rates saves the government roughly $1 billion per year. Since the announcement of tariffs on April 2, 10-year Treasury yields have fallen from 4.2 percent to 3.9 percent—a 30 basis point drop. If that holds, it translates to $30 billion in savings.

So, keeping yields low is not just sound policy—it is a fiscal necessity.

But we are in a difficult environment. Inflation has not fully cooled, and the Federal Reserve remains wary of cutting rates too quickly. So the question becomes: How does one bring yields down without the Fed’s help?

Here is where the strategy becomes interesting.

By introducing sweeping tariffs, the administration is creating precisely the kind of economic uncertainty that drives investors toward safer assets such as long-term U.S. Treasuries. When markets are spooked, capital exits risk and equity assets (as we see with the stock market collapse) and piles into safe assets, primarily the 10-year U.S. treasury bond. That demand pushes yields lower.

It is a counter-intuitive move, but a calculated one. Some have called it a ‘detox’ for the overheated financial system. And it appears to be working.

However, even cheaper debt does not solve everything. The deficit remains massive—and that is where spending cuts come in.

Backed by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and Elon Musk, the administration is reportedly targeting $4 billion in daily spending cuts. If their recommendations translate to cuts and get ratified by Congress, that could amount to a trillion dollars off the deficit by late 2025.

At this point, we have two pillars: lower borrowing costs and tighter spending. But there remains a third—and arguably most important—pillar: growth.

Tariffs serve as the ignition switch. By making imports more expensive, they create space for American producers to step back in. The objective is not to punish trade partners—it is to make domestic industry viable again, even if only long enough to rebuild critical capacity.

Yes, prices will rise. But the administration is fully aware of that. In fact, it is front-loading the pain now, hoping to deliver visible job growth and factory activity before the November 2026 midterm elections.

In the meantime, tariffs themselves will generate revenue—an estimated $700 billion or more in the first year. That creates more fiscal room for the administration to enable tax cuts and keep spending on Social Security, Medicaid and other programs.

Where the picture becomes even more interesting is on the geopolitical front.

These tariffs do not exist in a vacuum. They are being deployed alongside a deliberate reshaping of global alliances. The U.S. is quietly distancing itself from NATO, recalibrating ties with Europe, and opening previously frozen diplomatic channels with the Gulf nations and Russia.

Why? Because the post-Cold War trade order no longer serves U.S. interests. It enabled deficits, offshoring, and strategic dependency. Now, tariffs become leverage. Allies who align with U.S. priorities receive relief; others face higher costs.

China, naturally, is the central player. For years, economists have argued that its artificially weak currency and industrial overcapacity have distorted global trade. Tariffs are one way to force a reckoning—and potentially, a revaluation of the yuan.

Other countries will not be spared. Europe could be asked for terms on Ukraine. India may be pressured for deep tariff cuts. Canada and Mexico will likely face demands related to fentanyl and border enforcement.

This is not random. It is trade policy as a means to force countries to the negotiating table.

Domestically, the political logic is equally clear. The sectors most likely to benefit—steel, automobiles, textiles—are concentrated in battleground states. The administration is betting that visible wins in those regions will outweigh short-term pain in sectors dependent on cheap imports.

There are serious risks here. If inflation returns or if the reshoring bet fails, the blowback could be severe. But make no mistake: This is not improvisation. It is disruption by design.

Whether one agrees with it or not, this is one of the most ambitious fiscal and industrial resets in a generation.

The only question that remains is—will it work?

President Donald Trump marked the week by unveiling an unprecedented wave of tariffs on imports to the U.S., aligning with his long-held position that other countries have taken advantage of the U.S. in trade. 

Trump disclosed the historic tariffs in a ceremony at the White House’s Rose Garden for a ‘Make America Wealthy Again’ event, asserting these new duties would generate new jobs for U.S. workers. 

‘For nations that treat us badly, we will calculate the combined rate of all their tariffs, nonmonetary barriers and other forms of cheating,’ Trump said Wednesday.

‘And because we are being very kind, we will charge them approximately half of what they are and have been charging us,’ he said. ‘So, the tariffs will be not a full reciprocal. I could have done that. Yes. But it would have been tough for a lot of countries.’

The tariff plan establishes a baseline tax of 10% on all imports to the U.S., along with customized tariffs for countries that place higher tariffs on American goods. The baseline tariffs of 10% will take effect Saturday, while the others will take effect Wednesday. 

The Trump administration previously imposed a 25% tariff on imported vehicles, up to 25% tariffs on certain goods from Mexico and Canada and a 20% tariff on shipments from China. The tariffs already imposed on Canada and Mexico remain unaffected, but the new tariffs on China will be added on top of the previous duties on Beijing, according to the White House. 

The tariffs have faced backlash from both parties in Congress, and allies, including Canada and Australia. A bipartisan group of senators introduced legislation Friday called the Trade Review Act of 2025 that would require the executive branch to provide Congress a 48-hour notice before imposing tariffs. Likewise, the measure would permit tariffs to expire after 60 days, unless Congress moves to approve a joint resolution codifying the duties. 

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent urged countries against imposing retaliatory tariffs against the U.S. in response. 

‘My advice to every country right now: Do not retaliate,’ Bessent said in an interview Wednesday with Fox News. ‘If you retaliate, there will be escalation.’

Here’s what also happened this week: 

National Security Council firings 

Trumpalso disclosed that several members of the National Security Council, headed by National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, were fired Thursday. Trump said the firings affected a small number of employees, and he still had a high level of confidence in his national security team. 

‘Always, we’re going to let go of people we don’t like or people we don’t think can do the job or people who may have loyalties to somebody else,’ Trump told reporters on Air Force One when asked about media reports on the firings.

The firings come amid scrutiny over Waltz’s use of a Signal group chat to discuss strikes in Yemen after a journalist was accidentally added to the group. 

Waltz created the group chat that included White House leaders like Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth. The chat also included Atlantic editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg.

The White House said classified information was not shared via the encrypted messaging service. However, The Atlantic published the full exchange of messages March 26. The messages included certain attack details, including specific aircraft and times of the strikes. 

Still, the White House has defended Waltz and said the White House is no longer looking into the incident. 

‘As the president has made it very clear, Mike Waltz continues to be an important part of his national security team,’ White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters Monday. ‘And this case has been closed here at the White House as far as we are concerned.’

Musk’s DOGE status 

The White House confirmed that SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk would depart his position spearheading the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) later this spring in response to reports from Politico that Trump was disclosing to those close to him that Musk would ‘step back’ from his role with DOGE in the forthcoming weeks. 

‘This ‘scoop’ is garbage,’ Leavitt posted on X Wednesday. ‘Elon Musk and President Trump have both *publicly* stated that Elon will depart from public service as a special government employee when his incredible work at DOGE is complete.’

Musk is a ‘special government employee.’ The executive or legislative branches are permitted to take on temporary employees to address short-term projects for up to 130 days in a single 365-day period. For Musk, that period of time will expire at the end of May.

Musk and Trump have previously said they anticipate Musk will complete the work necessary for DOGE within that window of time. 

Fox News’ Emma Colton contributed to this report. 

A cohort of Democratic representatives and senators are proposing legislation aimed at stalling President Donald Trump’s efforts to relocate federal agencies outside of Washington, D.C., something the president has taken steps to start doing. 

Guidance issued in February from the Trump administration instructed federal agencies to submit any proposed relocation of agency bureaus and offices by April 14, instructions that were tied to the president’s broader efforts to eliminate waste, fraud and abuse within the federal government. 

The pair of companion bills from Democrats in the House and Senate seeks to require agencies to conduct and share a comprehensive cost-benefit analysis with Congress and the public prior to any relocations.

‘Everyone standing here, every one of my colleagues, wants to get rid of fraud, waste and abuse… but that rhetoric [from the administration] is a cover for an agenda that is perverse and contrary to the interests of the United States of America,’ Rep. Steny Hoyer, D-Md., said during a press conference held at the Capitol announcing the new legislative effort.

‘All of this is targeted at depleting the federal workforce and nullifying the government of the United States,’ Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., added. ‘That is the philosophy that is driving this entire thing.’ 

Maryland Democratic Sen. Chris Van Hollen previously introduced ‘The COST of Relocations Act’ in 2020, and again in 2023.

‘We hoped [the bill] wouldn’t be necessary again, but it is,’ Van Hollen stated at the press conference. ‘It’s necessary in order to stop Donald Trump and Elon Musk from wasting American taxpayer dollars by sabotaging services that the American public depends on.’

House Republican leaders are rallying GOP lawmakers around a plan to enact a broad swath of President Donald Trump’s agenda, after the legislation was passed by the Senate in the early hours of Saturday morning.

‘More than a year ago, the House began discussing the components of a reconciliation package that will reduce the deficit, secure our border, keep taxes low for families and job creators, reestablish American energy dominance, restore peace through strength, and make government more efficient and accountable to the American people. We are now one step closer to achieving those goals,’ Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and his top lieutenants wrote to House Republicans.

‘Today, the Senate passed its version of the budget resolution. Next week, the House will consider the Senate amendment.’

Congressional Republicans are pushing a conservative policy overhaul via the budget reconciliation process. Traditionally used when one party holds all three branches of government, reconciliation lowers the Senate’s threshold for passage on certain fiscal measures from 60 votes to 51.

As a result, it’s been used to pass sweeping policy changes in one or two massive pieces of legislation.

Senate Republicans passed a framework for a reconciliation bill just after 2 a.m. ET on Saturday, after hours of debate and votes on amendments to the measure.

It’s similar to the version House Republicans passed in late February; but mechanisms the Senate used to avoid factoring in the cost of extending Trump’s 2017-era tax cuts as well as a lower baseline for required federal spending cuts has some House conservatives warning they could oppose the bill.

The Senate’s version calls for at least $4 billion in spending cuts, while the House’s version mandates a floor of $1.5 trillion to $2 trillion.

Both bills also include Trump priorities on border security, energy, and new tax policies like eliminating penalties on tipped and overtime wages.

‘If the Senate’s ‘Jekyll and Hyde’ budget is put on the House floor, I will vote no,’ Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, wrote on X.

‘In the classic ways of Washington, the Senate’s budget presents a fantastic top-line message – that we should return spending back to the pre-COVID trajectory (modified for higher interest, Medicare, and Social Security) of $6.5 Trillion, rather than the current trajectory of over $7 Trillion – but has ZERO enforcement to achieve it, and plenty of signals it is designed purposefully NOT to achieve it.’

But House GOP leaders insist that the Senate’s passage of its framework simply allows the House to begin working on its version of the bill passed in February – and that it does not impede their process in any way.

‘The Senate amendment as passed makes NO CHANGES to the House reconciliation instructions that we voted for just weeks ago. Although the Senate chose to take a different approach on its instructions, the amended resolution in NO WAY prevents us from achieving our goals in the final reconciliation bill,’ the letter said.

‘We have and will continue to make it clear in all discussions with the Senate and the White House that—in order to secure House passage—the final reconciliation bill must include historic spending reductions while protecting essential programs.’

House GOP leaders have pointed out that passing a framework is just the first step in a long process, one that just lays out broad instructions for how money should be spent.

Now that similar frameworks have passed the House and Senate, the relevant congressional committees will work out how to achieve the final reconciliation policy goals under their given jurisdictions.

‘We have made it clear the House will NOT accept nor participate in an ‘us versus them’ process resulting in a take it or leave it proposition from the Senate,’ House leaders warned.

‘Immediately following House adoption of the budget resolution, our House and Senate committees will begin preparing together their respective titles of the reconciliation bill to be marked up in the next work period.’

The letter reiterated Johnson’s earlier goal of having a bill on Trump’s desk by the end of May.

House Budget Committee Chairman Jodey Arrington, R-Texas, called the Senate’s resolution ‘unserious and disappointing,’ noting it only mandated $4 billion in ‘enforceable cuts.’

He vowed to work with congressional leaders to find the best path forward, however.

‘I am committed to working with President Trump, House leadership, and my Senate counterparts to address these concerns and ensure the final reconciliation bill makes America safe, prosperous, and fiscally responsible again,’ Arrington said.

A man from Malibu has been convicted of scamming investors and Hollywood stars out of more than $20 million through false claims about his celebrity app’s business performance.

Bernhard Eugen Fritsch, the founder and CEO of StarClub Inc., a Santa Monica-based tech company, was held accountable for an elaborate fraud that fueled his lavish lifestyle, Fox News Digital has learned.

Fritsch, 63, was found guilty by a jury on Thursday of one count of wire fraud after it was revealed that he lied to investors about the financial success and future potential of his tech company, according to the Department of Justice. 

He falsely promised that the company’s app, StarSite, would help celebrities and social media influencers monetize their brand endorsements. 

Instead of using the funds for the app’s development, Fritsch spent millions on luxury cars, yachts, and a multimillion-dollar Malibu mansion, the press release stated. 

From 2014 to 2017, Fritsch raised over $20 million, pitching StarClub as a game-changer for the entertainment industry. He claimed the app would allow celebrities to easily post branded content on social media, generate revenue from advertising and share profits with influencers.

As Fritsch pitched the StarClub offering to investors, he made several false and fraudulent claims, including that his company was on the verge of entering commercial deals with, or obtaining investments and buyout offers from major media companies such as Disney – that StarClub earned $15 million in revenue in 2015.

Instead of using the funds to expand the company or improve its technology, Fritsch purchased luxury cars like a McLaren and a Rolls-Royce, renovated his multimillion-dollar Malibu home and even made costly upgrades to his yacht.

Law enforcement seized the yacht, McLaren and the Rolls-Royce, and they are subject to forfeiture proceedings.

One victim invested more than $20 million in StarClub over the course of two years, based on Fritsch’s false statements, according to the Department of Justice. 

This victim also introduced Fritsch to other victims who invested millions of additional funds in the company. Prosecutors estimate that Fritsch caused at least approximately $25 million in victim losses because of his scheme.

Sources close to Fox News Digital have learned that Hollywood celebrities, including Enrique Iglesias and Tyrese Gibson, may be involved in this high-profile scheme. 

In 2014, singer and actor Tyrese hosted a private party for StarClub Inc. Actresses including Caitlin O’Connor, Elise Neal, rapper Trinidad James and model Khadija Neumann attended the star-studded event.

Meanwhile, Fritsch has been sued in Los Angeles County Superior Court three times over allegations of fraudulent financial schemes. 

Music executive Haqq Islam and his company sued StarClub and Fritsch in 2013, claiming breach of contract and fraud, according to The Los Angeles Times. 

Islam alleged that Fritsch owed him $750,000 for luring Hollywood stars such as Jessica Simpson to meet with Fritsch and consider participating in StarClub’s business ventures, according to reporting by Courthouse News Service.

Reps for Tyrese, Iglesias and Simpson did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment. 

The jury found Fritsch not guilty of a second wire fraud count. He remains free on bond.

A sentencing hearing is scheduled for Fritsch in the upcoming months. Fritsch faces a statutory maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison.