Critics have claimed President Biden’s seemingly light schedule and infrequent public appearances since dropping out of the presidential race will harm America’s image abroad, even as the White House stresses recent policy wins. 

‘Biden has disappeared from view, Harris is campaigning full-time, and won’t meet with the press,’ former national security adviser K.T. McFarland told Fox News Digital. 

‘This sends a signal to the world that there is no one in charge in the White House,’ McFarland explained. ‘Our allies wonder whether they can trust us.  Our adversaries see this as a wide open window of opportunity, when they can exploit us without risk of consequences.’

‘They know this window of opportunity will slam shut if Donald Trump is elected,’ McFarland argued. ‘We’re in a period of maximum vulnerability.’

Biden has made few public appearances and his schedule appears lighter than it had been prior to his decision not to seek a second term. 

When Fox News correspondent David Spunt last week asked White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre why the American people have not heard from the president, she replied that the White House had put out two readouts that day. 

Jean-Pierre also stressed that the administration is now in a ‘different time’ and that Americans would ‘get to see the president… it is certainly the president’s priority, to make sure that we do everything that we can, to protect our national security, right?’ 

The press secretary highlighted the push for a cease-fire deal between Israel and Hamas as well as the administration’s response to Tropical Storm Debby as important issues that have taken Biden’s attention in recent weeks. 

But concerns about mounting tensions in the Middle East grew more severe this week as Israel revealed intelligence that indicated Iran would launch a significant attack, which would serve as retaliation for the death of Hamas commander Ismail Haniyeh. 

Top U.S. national security leaders said last week that they and allies are directly pressing Israel, Iran and others to avoid escalating the conflict, even as the U.S. moved more troops to the region and threatened retaliation if American forces are attacked.

The White House continued to stress Biden’s focus on a range of issues as proof that he’s not hiding from the public: Biden and the first lady will visit New Orleans this week to highlight the Biden Cancer Moonshot initiative to reduce the cancer death rate by at least half before 2047, NOLA reported. 

‘President Biden is working hard and building on the most successful record of any modern administration by delivering more results for the American people,’ White House deputy press secretary Andrew Bates told Fox News Digital. 

Bates cited ‘an historic return of unjustly detained Americans from Russia, perpetuating the Biden-Harris manufacturing boom, lowering the costs of prescription drugs, and bringing unlawful border crossings to the lowest level in years’ as major recent wins for the administration. 

Bates also leveled criticism at the Republicans for ‘blocking tough, bipartisan border legislation on behalf of Donald Trump.’

Politico reported that Biden will use his final half-year in office to focus on ‘legacy items’ and give Vice President Kamala Harris the lion’s share of the limelight as she seeks to become the first female president of the United States: The White House, for example, will unveil Medicare price negotiation savings this week, which the Biden campaign – and now the Harris campaign – had aimed to focus on as part of the push for votes in November. 

But the White House is still in the early days of a tumultuous economic situation. The president claimed to have ‘cured the economy’ last week just before the stock market stumbled and raised concerns about the economic health of the country throughout the rest of the year. 

‘The July jobs report is being viewed as a recession warning, and the markets are responding accordingly,’ Bill Adams, chief economist at the Dallas-based Comerica Bank, said after the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped over 1,000 points, marking a 2.6% shift and the worst day since September 2022. 

Fox News Digital’s Danielle Wallace and Fox News Correspondent David Spunt contributed to this report.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has reportedly postponed a trip to the Middle East over heightened security concerns in the region and a possible retaliatory strike from Iran against Israel. 

Blinken’s trip, originally scheduled for Tuesday, was delayed over ‘uncertainty about the situation,’ Axios reported, citing two unnamed sources. 

The delayed trip comes ahead of planned cease-fire talks later this week after more than 10 months of fighting between Israel and Hamas terrorists in the Gaza Strip. 

Hamas fired two rockets aimed at Tel Aviv on Tuesday while Israel launched separate deadly airstrikes in Gaza. 

Despite the ongoing violence, U.S. officials said Monday they expected the talks to resume Thursday as planned. 

The leaders of Britain, France and Germany on Monday urged Iran and its allies to refrain from retaliatory attacks against Israel in response to the assassination of a top Hamas commander in Tehran last month. 

Israel was immediately blamed for the assassination after pledging to kill Ismail Haniyeh and other Hamas leaders over the terrorist group’s Oct. 7 attack on the Jewish state, which killed 1,200 people and saw hundreds more taken hostage. 

The Palestinian death toll is nearing 40,000 people, per figures from Gaza’s Hamas-run Health Ministry. 

European leaders have also backed a push by mediators from the U.S., Qatar and Egypt to broker an agreement to end the Israel-Hamas war. 

Mediators have spent months trying to get both sides to agree to a three-phase plan in which Hamas would release the remaining hostages captured in its Oct. 7 attack in exchange for Palestinians imprisoned in Israel, and Israel would withdraw from Gaza. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

The State Department announced that it had approved $20 billion in arms sales to Israel as the region continues to spiral towards a wider war in the Middle East.

The advance includes a myriad of weapons such as fighter jets and equipment worth nearly $19 billion, tank cartridges valued at $774 million, explosive mortar cartridges valued at over $60 million and army vehicles worth $583 million, the Pentagon said in a statement.

‘The United States is committed to the security of Israel, and it is vital to U.S. national interests to assist Israel to develop and maintain a strong and ready self-defense capability. This proposed sale is consistent with those objectives,’ the State Department said.

In a statement, Israeli Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant thanked the U.S. for allowing Israel to maintain a ‘qualitative military edge in the region.’

‘Thank you to Secretary of Defense Austin and Secretary of State Blinken for advancing critical force buildup initiatives that assist Israel in developing and maintaining its qualitative military edge in the region,’ he posted on X. ‘This includes incorporating F-15IAs into the IAF fleet of fighter aircraft, and providing critical munition to ensure Israel’s capabilities and security.’

‘As we fight to defend Israel on 7 different fronts, your message of support and commitment to Israel’s security are clear,’ he said.

The impending sale comes as regional tension hurtles towards a breaking point. 

Regional sources told Fox News chief foreign correspondent Trey Yingst on Monday that they are concerned Iran and its proxies could attack Israel within the next 24 hours in retaliation for the killing of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran late last month.

On Monday, the Lebanon-based terrorist group Hezbollah launched 30 rockets into northern Israel, although no casualties were reported, according to the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF). 

‘Following sirens that sounded a short while ago in northern Israel, approximately 30 projectiles were identified crossing from Lebanon toward the area of Kabri, a number of which fell in open areas,’ an IDF spokesman said. 

The $20 billion in arms sales are not expected to be delivered to Israel soon, with the sales expected to secure the nation’s resources long-term.

Fox News Digital’s Greg Norman and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Hunter Biden reportedly sought assistance from the U.S. government for a lucrative energy project in Italy when President Biden was serving as vice president, highlighting allegations that he used his father’s political standing as leverage for his foreign business interests. 

The younger Biden wrote at least one letter to the U.S. ambassador to Italy in 2016 seeking assistance for the Ukrainian gas company Burisma, where he was a board member, according to newly released records and interviews cited by the New York Times.

The response was lukewarm, as officials were somewhat hesitant to help with a request from the son of a sitting vice president on behalf of a foreign company. 

‘This is a Ukrainian company and, purely to protect ourselves, U.S.G. should not be actively advocating with the government of Italy without the company going through the D.O.C. Advocacy Center,’ an official wrote. 

The acronyms refer to the United States government and a Department of Commerce program that supports American companies that seek business with foreign governments.

‘I want to be careful about promising too much,’ wrote a Commerce Department official based in the U.S. Embassy in Rome who responded. 

Hunter Biden asked several people if they could arrange an introduction between Burisma and the president of the Tuscany region of Italy, where Burisma was pursuing a geothermal project, Abbe Lowell, Biden’s lawyer, said. 

He said no meeting had occurred.  

‘No meeting occurred, no project materialized, no request for anything in the U.S. was ever sought and only an introduction in Italy was requested,’ 

In a statement to the Times, Lowell said the outreach by Biden was a ‘proper request.’

President Biden wasn’t aware that his son reached out to the U.S. Embassy in Italy on behalf of Burisma when he was vice president, the White House said. 

Hunter Biden has not been charged with violating the Foreign Agents Registration Act, or FARA, which requires people to disclose when they lobby the U.S. government on behalf of foreign interests.

Fox News Digital has reached out to the State Department and the White House. 

Vice President Harris appears to be singing a different tune when it comes to ensuring ‘Medicare-for-all,’ compared to when she ran for president in 2019.

A campaign official told Fox News senior White House correspondent Peter Doocy that Harris will not push the subject of single-payer or ‘Medicare-for-all’ this go around, as she seeks her first term as commander-in-chief.

In 2019, Fox News spoke to Harris in the hallways of Capitol Hill, asking about her plans for providing health care.

‘How important is it to your health care plan to get rid of private insurance companies? Because there is some confusion about that,’ Doocy asked Harris on Jan. 30, 2019.

‘I’m glad you asked. Yeah. So, the bottom line and the most important is that everyone have access to health care,’ Harris said. ‘That is the goal. That is the purpose for me supporting the policy of ‘Medicare-for-all.’

‘If Congress votes in a way that reflects the values and desires of the American people, then Congress will vote for a policy that gives everyone access to health care,’ she later said.

On July 29, 2019, Harris published a piece on her campaign website about her plan to provide ‘Medicare-for-all.’

She wrote, ‘There is perhaps no more complicated or more personal issue for Americans than health care.’ Harris also wrote that the American health care system is ‘a patchwork of plans, providers and costs’ that frustrates people and leaves them powerless against the insurance companies in charge.

Her proposed solution was to provide ‘Medicare-for-all’ because ‘Medicare works’ and ‘it’s popular.’

”Medicare-for-all’ will cover all medically necessary services, including emergency room visits, doctor visits, vision, dental, hearing aids, mental health, and substance-use disorder treatment, and comprehensive reproductive health care services,’ Harris wrote. ‘It will also allow the Secretary of Health and Human Services to negotiate for lower prescription drug prices.’

But her plan in July was different from what she proposed in January that year, because it would allow private insurers to offer Medicare plans to their clients.

In an interview with The Hill in October 2019, Harris said she knew she would be called ‘a flip-flopper’ after she backed away from her initial support of ‘Medicare-for-all,’ and developed her own health care plan.

Her plan in January 2019 called on eliminating private insurance. Then in July 2019, she chose to include a role for private insurance companies to privately administer Medicare plans, though under strict rules.

Even in 2017, Harris backed a single-payer plan proposed by Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt.

Harris told constituents at a town hall in Oakland on Aug. 30, 2017, that she planned to co-sponsor Sanders’ forthcoming ‘Medicare-for-all’ bill, explaining that it was ‘just the right thing to do.’

‘It’s not just about what is morally and ethically right. It also makes sense from a fiscal standpoint,’ Harris said at the time.

Harris had previously stated that she supported the single-payer system as a ‘concept,’ but that lawmakers needed to ‘work out the details.’ Her announcement to co-sponsor Sanders’ bill was the first time she had publicly supported a single-payer plan.

Under this European-style health care system, the government is solely responsible for covering health care costs. Sanders rolled out an earlier version of his proposal during the Democratic presidential primaries in 2016.

The plan was first estimated to cost $13.8 trillion over the first 10 years, but that ballooned to $32 trillion and required an average annual tax increase of $24,000 per household.

Fox News’ Brooke Singman contributed to this report.

Rep. Thomas Massie is suggesting that Republicans could dismantle the Department of Education (DOE) if the GOP wins control of both Congress and the White House in November.

‘Would [former President Trump] follow through with it? Honestly, I think it depends on who controls Congress and who his Cabinet secretary is,’ the Kentucky Republican told Fox News Digital on Tuesday.

The Kentucky Republican made the comments the day after Trump’s interview on X with owner Elon Musk in which Trump suggested doing the same.

‘What I’m going to do, one of the first acts – and this is where I need an Elon Musk; I need somebody that has a lot of strength and courage and smarts – I want to close up the Department of Education, move education back to the states,’ Trump said Monday night.

Massie introduced a bill late last year that would do just that, and it currently has more than 30 House GOP co-sponsors, including vocal Trump allies like Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., and Byron Donalds, R-Fla.

While he has not had conversations with Trump or his campaign about the bill, Massie said it’s an issue he’s discussed with the Trump-aligned Republican lawmakers ‘all the time.’

It signals that the effort, long pushed by conservatives, could potentially materialize if Trump and Republicans take over the levers of power in Washington in November.

The DOE was established under former President Carter in 1979 when he split it from the Health and Human Services Department. It’s charged with regulating federal student aid funds and ensuring equal access to education, among other responsibilities.

It faced conservative backlash almost instantly, with former President Reagan threatening to dissolve it, though he was ultimately unsuccessful. 

‘Reagan promised that he would try to eliminate it, and he never did. And then [people] became comfortable with [the] Department of Education, and it started seeming like a radical notion just to do what Ronald Reagan said he would do, so I felt the need to reintroduce this bill,’ Massie said.

The Kentucky Republican, who has been at odds with Trump in the past, said he was ‘pleasantly surprised’ to hear him discuss it on Monday.

He argued that the funding that goes toward managing the DOE and its 14,000 Washington, D.C., employees ‘could be distributed to the school systems instead of burning … on extra red tape.’

Massie also said that other core facets of academic policy like student lunches and the Head Start program are run by the Department of Agriculture and HHS, respectively.

More than 160 Republicans voted for an amendment by Massie to dismantle the DOE in March 2023, though it ultimately failed.

But despite its foundations in the Reagan era, the push to dismantle the DOE has been used as a political cudgel by Democrats after its inclusion in Project 2025, a Heritage Foundation-backed set of policies and recommendations for a new Republican administration.

Trump and his allies have distanced themselves from Project 2025, which Democrats have cast as a far-right and repressive vision for the country.

Massie similarly said he had no knowledge of Project 2025’s details, pointing out that he’s pushed to end the DOE before the initiative was formed.

‘I would just say, regardless of any other initiatives, this stands on its own. Organizations like the Heritage Foundation [and FreedomWorks] have been for getting rid of the Department of Education … since they were created, and Reagan was for it,’ Massie said. ‘So, I don’t think it’s a radical notion. I think what’s radical is having a federal school board. And I think education is better without it.’

Massie indicated he would support former Education Secretary Betsy DeVos – who has advocated for phasing out the department she ran – to head it again.

The Trump campaign did not comment directly on Massie’s bill but told Fox News Digital when asked, ‘As President Trump has repeatedly stated on the campaign trail, he is committed to cutting the Department of Education and returning important decisions about education back to parents, teachers and educators at the state level. The DOE has been failing America’s students for too long, and it’s time for serious change.’

When asked for comment, the DOE referred Fox News Digital to Vice President Harris’ campaign, which did not immediately return a request for comment.