The National Police Association (NPA) announced on Friday its endorsement of President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for FBI director, Kash Patel, praising his record of ‘transparency’ and ‘accountability’ they say makes him well-positioned to head up the nation’s sprawling law enforcement agency. 

In a statement Friday, the NPA—a nonprofit group that represents more than 240,000 U.S. police officers— praised Patel’s ‘distinguished career’ both as a former federal prosecutor and legal liaison to the Joint Special Operations Command.

‘The law enforcement community knows that effective leadership at the FBI is essential for building public trust and enhancing coordination across all levels of policing,’ the group said. ‘Kash Patel’s proven record of leadership, expertise in counterterrorism and intelligence, and ability to navigate complex legal and operational challenges make him the ideal candidate to restore faith in the FBI’s mission and ensure it remains a steadfast ally to our nation’s police forces.

‘We are confident that under his stewardship, the FBI will thrive in its vital mission to protect and serve the American people,’ the group added.

Patel is a close ally of the president-elect and served in the first Trump administration both as a deputy assistant and as the senior director for counterterrorism. 

Trump announced earlier this month that he plans to fire FBI Director Christopher Wray and nominate Patel as his replacement. Wray could also voluntarily vacate the position on his own before Trump’s inauguration, though he has not yet said whether he plans to do so.

‘This FBI will end the growing crime epidemic in America, dismantle the migrant criminal gangs, and stop the evil scourge of human and drug trafficking across the Border,’ Trump said in a post on Truth Social announcing his plans to nominate Patel.

Still, replacing a sitting FBI director is a controversial move. FBI directors are appointed to 10-year terms, allowing them, in theory, to operate without political pressure and interference from a sitting president.

Trump also selected Wray during his first term as president to replace former FBI Director James Comey, whom he fired less than four years into his tenure. Trump praised Wray at the time as a ‘fierce guardian of the law and model of integrity.’

Patel’s nomination has also sparked criticism from some circles, who have cited his earlier vows to prosecute journalists and career officials at the Justice Department and FBI that he sees as being part of the ‘deep state.’

Those fears were not shared by the NPA, however. In their statement, the group said Patel’s appointment would mark a ‘pivotal moment for law enforcement and public safety across the United States.’

His leadership ‘will bring a renewed focus on collaboration, ethical standards, and the relentless pursuit of justice,’ they said.

Hunter Biden’s pardon from President Biden on Sunday doesn’t only apply to his tax and gun charges but gives him sweeping immunity from prosecution dating back ten years to the time Biden served as vice president. 

Hunter Biden’s pardon applies to offenses against the U.S. that Hunter Biden ‘has committed or may have committed’ from Jan. 1, 2014 to Dec. 1, 2024 which encapsulates several controversies surrounding the president’s son and his overseas business dealings. 

Hunter Biden earned millions of dollars serving on the board of the Ukrainian energy company Burisma after joining the company as legal counsel in the spring of 2014 before being elevated to the Board of Directors later that year. 

Biden has claimed he ‘didn’t stand to gain anything’ from the position, which he was appointed to without any experience in the industry, but Republicans have long alleged that Hunter and his father engaged in influence pedaling through Burisma. 

The Bidens were accused by Republicans of having ‘coerced’ Burisma CEO Mykola Zlochevsky to pay them millions of dollars in exchange for their help in getting the Ukrainian prosecutor investigating the company fired during the Obama administration. 

‘Why 2014?’ Fox News contributor Andy McCarthy wrote on FoxNews.com this week. ‘Well, the most damning evidence of the Biden family influence-peddling business occurred in the last years of Joe Biden’s term as vice president – specifically, 2014 through 2016. That, of course, is when the Burisma hijinks began. Indeed, Hunter’s board seat on the corrupt energy company’s board was so manifestly tied to his father’s political influence that, as soon as Biden left office in 2017, Burisma slashed Hunter’s compensation in half.’

In addition to the more than $50,000 a month then-Vice President Joe Biden’s son received while serving on Burisma’s board from April 2014 to April 2019, he was also apparently receiving lavish gifts from the company’s founder, according to emails from Hunter’s abandoned laptop that have been verified by Fox News Digital.

The pardon from President Biden also encapsulates the timeline of Hunter Biden’s controversial business dealings in China, which Republicans have suggested also embodies part of the alleged influence pedaling scheme that was part of the failed effort to impeach President Biden. 

The Biden family netted several million dollars from business dealings in China which began in the 2014-2016 years as part of Hunter Biden’s relationship with two Chinese companies, Bohai Harvest RST investment enterprise and CEFC.

The House Oversight Committee told Fox News Digital earlier this year that it can ‘now confirm Joe Biden met with nearly every foreign national who funneled money to his son, including Russian oligarch Yelena Baturina, Romanian oligarch Kenes Rakishev, Burisma’s corporate secretary Vadym Pozharsky, Jonathan Li of BHR, and CEFC Chairman Ye Jianming.’

Biden attended dinners at Washington D.C. restaurant Cafe Milano in Georgtown with Baturina, Rakishev and Pozharsky in 2014 and 2015. Biden also met with Li of BHR in China in 2013. Biden met with Ye at the meeting in 2017, according to testimony from Hunter Biden’s ex-business partners Rob Walker and Devon Archer. 

The Biden’s connections with Chinese companies continued into 2017.

Joe Biden, on May 3, 2017, spoke at the conference, hosting ‘A Conversation with the 47th Vice President of the United States Joe Biden.’ 

Just days after the May 2, 2017, meeting, the now-infamous May 13, 2017, email, which included a discussion of ‘remuneration packages’ for six people in a business deal with a Chinese energy firm. The email appeared to identify Biden as ‘Chair / Vice Chair depending on agreement with CEFC,’ in a reference to now-bankrupt CEFC China Energy Co.

The email includes a note that ‘Hunter has some office expectations he will elaborate.’ A proposed equity split references ’20’ for ‘H’ and ’10 held by H for the big guy?’ with no further details.

Tony Bobulinski, who worked with Hunter Biden to create the joint-venture SinoHawk Holdings with Chinese energy company CEFC, and said he met with Joe Biden in 2017, provided ‘unshakeable’ testimony behind closed doors at the House Oversight and Judiciary Committees earlier this year and claimed that President Biden was the ‘big guy’ referenced in the messages. 

Additionally, Hunter Biden demanded $10 million from a Chinese business associate to ‘further the interest’ of his joint-venture with CEFC in 2017, saying that the ‘Bidens are the best I know at doing exactly’ what the chairman of the Chinese Communist Party-linked firm wanted, according to a WhatsApp message House Oversight Committee.

Hunter Biden’s overseas ties have also sparked speculation that he violated public disclose laws under the Foreign Agents Registration Act by not registering as a foreign agent. 

The Justice Department indirectly revealed that Hunter Biden was still under investigation for a potential violation of FARA during his first court appearance in July of last year, in which his ‘sweetheart’ plea deal collapsed.

When asked by federal Judge Maryellen Noreika of the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware whether the government could bring a charge against Hunter Biden related to FARA, the DOJ prosecutor replied, ‘Yes.’

‘Look for Jim Biden to be pardoned next,’ author Peter Schweizer posted on X this week. ‘Remember: the family was still under investigation under FARA as the pardon comes down. Might have implicated Joe.’

The Republican-led House Oversight Committee has scrutinized the Biden family’s alleged business dealings in Romania dating back to 2015. 

‘On September 28, 2015, Vice President Biden welcomed Romanian President Klaus Iohannis to the White House,’ the House Oversight Committee’s website state’s. 

‘Within five weeks of this meeting, a Romanian businessman involved with a high-profile corruption prosecution in Romania, Gabriel Popoviciu, began depositing a Biden associate’s bank account, which ultimately made their way into Biden family accounts. Popoviciu made sixteen of the seventeen payments, totaling over $3 million, to the Biden associate account while Joe Biden was Vice President.  Biden family accounts ultimately received approximately $1.038 million.’

Fox News Digital reported last year that President Biden’s ambassador to the European Union offered advice to Hunter Biden in 2016 on a Romanian ‘client’ who was on trial for corruption at the time.

Republicans in Congress have taken issue with Hunter Biden’s business presence in other countries, including Kazakhstan and Russia. 

In 2014, according to the House Oversight Committee, a Kazakhstani oligarch ‘used his Singaporean entity, Novatus Holdings, to wire one of Hunter Biden’s Rosemont Seneca entities $142,300. The very next day—April 23, 2014—the Rosemont Seneca entity transferred the exact same amount of money to a car dealership for a car for Hunter Biden.’

Also in 2014, the committee alleged that the Biden family and its associates received $3.5 million from Russia in payments from Baturina, Russia’s richest woman. 

President Biden’s pardon of his son means that he will not face punishment after being convicted earlier this year of making a false statement in the purchase of a gun, making a false statement related to information required to be kept by a federally licensed gun dealer, and possession of a gun by a person who is an unlawful user of or addicted to a controlled substance.

In his tax case, Hunter faced another trial regarding three felony tax offenses and six misdemeanor tax offenses regarding the failure to pay at least $1.4 million in taxes. As jury selection was about to kick off in Los Angeles federal court in September, Hunter entered a surprise guilty plea. 

‘Setting aside the fact that President Biden repeatedly stated he would not pardon his son, what I find most troubling is the sweeping nature of this pardon,’ Alaska GOP Sen. Lisa Murkowski posted on X. 

‘Not only is Hunter Biden receiving clemency for multiple felony offenses—for crimes of which he was convicted and pleaded guilty to—he is also being granted immunity from any crimes he ‘has committed or may have committed’ over a more than ten-year period. This decision makes a mockery of our justice system. Everyone must be held accountable for their actions under the law.’

Both President Biden and Hunter Biden have long denied any allegations of impropriety or allegations of influence peddaling and in his statement pardoning Hunter, President Biden argued that his son was only prosecuted because of his last name.

‘Today, I signed a pardon for my son Hunter,’ Biden wrote in a statement. ‘From the day I took office, I said I would not interfere with the Justice Department’s decision-making, and I kept my word even as I have watched my son being selectively, and unfairly, prosecuted.’

The president went on to claim that his son was ‘treated differently’ by prosecutors.

‘Without aggravating factors like use in a crime, multiple purchases, or buying a weapon as a straw purchaser, people are almost never brought to trial on felony charges solely for how they filled out a gun form,’ Biden added. ‘Those who were late paying their taxes because of serious addictions, but paid them back subsequently with interest and penalties, are typically given non-criminal resolutions. It is clear that Hunter was treated differently.’

Biden also referenced his son’s battle with addiction and blamed ‘raw politics’ for the unraveling of Hunter’s plea deal.

‘There has been an effort to break Hunter – who has been five and a half years sober, even in the face of unrelenting attacks and selective prosecution,’ the 82-year-old father wrote. ‘In trying to break Hunter, they’ve tried to break me – and there’s no reason to believe it will stop here. Enough is enough.’

Fox News Digital’s Brooke Singman, Jessica Chasmar, and Emma Colton contributed to this report

President-elect Donald Trump will be in France this weekend to celebrate the reopening of the famed Notre Dame Cathedral alongside several world leaders, marking his first foreign trip following his election victory last month.

Trump announced his plan on Monday to attend the celebratory reopening on his social media app Truth Social, which comes five years after a fire devastated the cathedral in 2019. The 700-million-euro restoration project was funded by donations from 150 countries and involved the application of carpentry methods dating back to the 13th century. Sources familiar with the president-elect’s plans told Fox News that Trump’s attendance was at the invitation of French President Emmanuel Macron.

Security will be tight for the invite-only festivities that are set to begin Saturday afternoon, Paris Police Chief Laurent Nuñez said in an interview published by French media outlet Le Parisien. He said many of the measures will mimic those deployed during the Paris Olympics.

Nuñez also indicated that about 50 heads of state would be in attendance but did not specify whom or from which countries. President Biden, however, is not expected to attend, but first lady Jill Biden will be there.

Macron was the first foreign leader to congratulate Trump after his election win over Vice President Kamala Harris, CNN reported. The pair’s relationship heading into Trump’s second term will build on what the two established during Trump’s first term.

While the two traded barbs during Trump’s first term in the White House, Macron has shown a level of deference – at times – toward Trump that other NATO leaders have not. Reporters have described the pair’s relationship as a ‘bromance,’ and in 2017, the two participated in a Bastille Day military parade in Paris aimed at highlighting the longstanding alliance between France and the U.S. 

Trump’s push to get other NATO countries to contribute more money to defense efforts – and his overall skepticism of the alliance – has been a point of contention between Trump and other NATO leaders. German Chancellor Angela Merkel, for instance, clashed with Trump over his claims Germany was not contributing enough to NATO’s defense efforts. 

During a NATO summit in 2019, a cohort of global leaders, including Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, then-British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, then-Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte and France’s Macron, were caught on a hot-mic seemingly making fun of Trump for engaging in long, rambling press conferences. The year prior, during a speech at the U.N., audible laughter could be heard after he said his administration had accomplished more in its first two years than any other administration in history.

However, heading into Trump’s second term, world leaders seem to be aware of the importance of forging a good relationship with him. Just last week, Trudeau traveled to Trump’s Florida resort after the president-elect threatened to slap tariffs on Canadian products over concerns about illegal immigration. 

Earlier this week, new British Prime Minister Keir Starmer hailed Britain’s and the U.S.’ ‘special relationship,’ before recalling when the president-elect ‘graciously hosted me for dinner in Trump Tower,’ during an annual banquet hosted by the Lord Mayor of London. 

Trump’s arrival in the French capital coincides with Macron’s strategic efforts to stabilize a government in turmoil. Following the ousting of his prime minister through a no-confidence vote, Macron now confronts increasing demands for his own resignation. 

President-elect Trump announced last week that he intends to nominate former White House aide and longtime ally Kash Patel to serve as FBI director, potentially making him the only U.S. president to have fired and installed two separate FBI directors in the middle of their 10-year terms. 

‘Kash is a brilliant lawyer, investigator, and ‘America First’ fighter who has spent his career exposing corruption, defending Justice, and protecting the American People,’ Trump said in a social media post announcing his intent to nominate Patel for FBI director. 

‘He played a pivotal role in uncovering the Russia, Russia, Russia Hoax, standing as an advocate for truth, accountability, and the Constitution.’

Patel is a close ally of the president-elect and served in the first Trump administration both as a deputy assistant and as the senior director for counterterrorism. He was endorsed on Friday by the National Police Association, which praised Patel’s record of ‘transparency’ and ‘accountability’ that it said makes him well-positioned to head up the nation’s sprawling law enforcement agency. 

Still, news of Trump’s plans to nominate Patel was met with criticism — if not shock — from others in the law enforcement community. 

That’s because replacing a sitting FBI director is a controversial move that breaks with the express purpose of the role, which, under post-Watergate laws, mandated that directors are nominated for 10-year terms: an express length of time designed to allow the directors — at least in theory — to operate outside political pressure or interference from a sitting president.

Trump sent shock waves through the law enforcement community in 2017 when he fired then-FBI Director James Comey, who at the time was less than four years into his 10-year term. Trump also personally selected current FBI Director Christopher Wray — whom he praised at the time as a ‘fierce guardian of the law and model of integrity’ — to replace him.

For Trump to install Patel as FBI director, two things must happen: Wray must exit the job, and Patel must earn Senate confirmation. 

How Wray will leave remains unclear. 

He could opt to voluntarily vacate the position on his own before Trump’s inauguration, though he has not yet said whether he plans to do so. If Wray does not voluntarily vacate his position, Trump could be the only president in U.S. history to have fired and installed two separate FBI directors.

Patel must also be confirmed by the Senate, though it is likely that the Republican-led chamber will move to approve him for the role.

Patel’s nomination has sparked early criticism from some Democrats ahead of his confirmation hearing, who have cited his previous vows to prosecute journalists and career officials at the Justice Department and FBI that he sees as being part of the ‘deep state.’ He has since attempted to clarify some of those remarks.

Only one other FBI director has been fired in U.S. history: William Sessions, a Reagan appointee who was widely disliked both for being an ineffective leader and for using his post to commandeer limousines and private government flights for personal business, among other things.

Conservatives on social media blasted former President Obama after his first speech since the presidential election in which he lamented polarization in politics. 

During a speech Thursday at the Obama Foundation’s Democracy Forum, Obama made the case that if ‘one side’ attempts to cement ‘a permanent grip on power’ through ‘suppressing votes,’ ‘politicizing’ the military or weaponizing the judiciary and criminal justice system to target opponents, ‘a line has been crossed.’

‘Pluralism is not about holding hands and singing ‘Kumbaya,’’ Obama said. ‘It is not about abandoning your convictions and folding when things get tough. It is about recognizing that, in a democracy, power comes from forging alliances and building coalitions and making room in those coalitions not only for the woke, but the waking.

‘Purity tests are not a recipe for long-term success.’

Obama’s speech quickly drew strong criticism from conservatives. 

‘It’s over for Obama,’ journalist Miranda Devine posted on X. ‘The spell is broken. Donald Trump vanquished him, Biden, Harris, the Bushes, the Cheneys. All of them, with a spring in his step.’

‘Ever since his last minute desperate smear of Trump with the ‘very fine people on both sides’ lie, Barack Obama has been slowing realizing his status as false prophet of the Democrat party is no more,’ conservative radio host Buck Sexton posted on X. 

‘Obama turned our politics into ‘if you disagree with me, you are a bad person,’’ Republican communicator Matt Whitlock posted on X. ‘Few people did more to pave the way for Trump. So he can take a seat.’

‘By voting in a democratic election, millions of people proved they hate democracy,’ author Jon Gabriel posted on X. ‘Yes, this Obama fellow is quite the intellect.’

‘Setting aside the unbelievable hypocrisy here, this is also the guy who’s launching a project to lessen our political divisions. Being the problem — way up on his high horse, looking down disappointedly at the unwashed masses — while publicly lamenting the problem is peak Obama,’ Fox News contributor Guy Benson posted on X.

Obama, in his remarks, insisted he is ‘convinced that if we want democracy as we understand it to survive,’ people must work for a renewed dedication to pluralist principles. 

‘Because the alternative is what we’ve seen here in the United States and in many democracies around the globe. Not just more gridlock. Not just public cynicism. But an increasing willingness’ among ‘politicians and their followers to violate democratic norms. To do anything they can to get their way. To use the power of the state to target critics and journalists and political rivals and to even resort to violence’ to obtain and retain power. 

Fox News Digital’s Alex Nitberg contributed to this report

Republicans have big plans for spending cuts next year, but some GOP lawmakers are doubting Congress can muster the momentum for significant changes.

Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, whom President-elect Trump tapped to lead the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), an advisory panel on cutting spending and the national debt, were on Capitol Hill Thursday for a series of meetings with lawmakers on how Congress and the White House can work together to achieve that goal.

And while that advisory panel is chiefly aimed at what executive actions Trump could take, lawmakers are conceding that significant, lasting change must be achieved through legislation. And some Republicans are skeptical they can get there.

‘The problem’s in that room,’ said Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., referring to other GOP lawmakers who met with Musk and Ramaswamy. 

‘These guys, you know, they talk real tough,’ but they did not vote in ways he believed showed they were serious about cutting spending.

‘You don’t see a lot of that. Now, when is that going to start? Is it going to start just because Elon and Vivek [address us]?’ Burchett asked. ‘I just worry about us losing steam. … We’ve got to get some guts, and people have got to hold us accountable.’

Retiring Rep. Dan Bishop, R-N.C., told Fox News ‘a lot of members’ stood up to suggest ways to ‘save money’ during Thursday afternoon’s brainstorming session with Republicans and the DOGE duo.

‘One would think more of them would have been willing to vote, cast votes on the floor of the House in order to do those things early,’ Bishop added.

The DOGE discussions have opened up longstanding wounds within the House GOP, whose members spent a significant amount of the 118th Congress battling among themselves over how to navigate government funding and other fiscal issues. 

The national debt recently surpassed $36 trillion.

A senior House GOP aide expressed optimism about the new goal but added that Musk and Ramaswamy were ‘swinging for the fences.’

‘The hard part is once they find the stuff to cut, I think it’s Congress who has to do the actual cutting, right?’ the aide said.

Another senior GOP aide said, ‘The mission of DOGE is worthy and absolutely necessary, but nothing is going to change. We aren’t going to cut spending like we [have to] to get our fiscal house in order, and we aren’t going to slash waste at any significant level.’

Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, also skeptical, told Republicans at Thursday’s meeting they needed to ‘grow a spine’ to actually move meaningful spending cuts.

‘I’ve said to my colleagues, ‘If you can’t print money, if, literally, it was banned today, what would you do?’ You would do what you do for your home budget. You would say, ‘Well, we can’t take a vacation here. I can’t get a fancy new car because I need to get braces for my child,” Roy told WMAL radio host Larry O’Connor.

‘We don’t ever do that, and, until we do, all of the DOGE waste-cutting in the world won’t help. We’ve got to do both. We need the waste-cutting, but we need Congress to grow a spine.’

Some Republicans are skeptical of having Musk and Ramaswamy lead the charge.

‘They had no game plan — a wish list that they’re giving to Santa and the American people that will never be even remotely accomplished,’ one GOP lawmaker, granted anonymity to speak freely, told Fox News Digital of Thursday’s meeting.

The GOP lawmaker called DOGE a ‘magical department that has been erected out of thin air,’ and pointed out its logo was heavily inspired by a cryptocurrency known as ‘dogecoin’ that Musk has backed.

‘They’regoing to run into a brick wall called ‘members of Congress who know how to do our job,’’ the lawmaker said.

A growing number of prominent veterans are signing onto an open letter endorsing Defense Secretary nominee Pete Hegseth as he battles back allegations that may stymie his confirmation.

The Heritage Foundation began collecting the signatures on Thursday and garnered more than 74 in that short time, a foundation official told Fox News Digital.

‘As military veterans and patriotic Americans, we are pleased to see an outstanding veteran nominated to lead the Department of Defense,’ the letter begins.

‘Hegseth is a decorated combat veteran who served as an Infantry Officer in the Army National Guard, deploying overseas to combat zones in Iraq and Afghanistan, earning two Bronze Stars and a Combat Infantryman Badge.’

The veterans state that Hegseth has ‘worked tirelessly’ to support U.S. troops and that his experience and drive will lead him in rebuilding the military back to a ‘fighting force . . . capable of defending the national security interests of the American people.’

They cite Hegseth’s long-held stance on ‘depoliticizing’ the military and his rebuttals of ‘DEI’-type policies and other ‘toxic ideologies’ they claim have been foisted upon troops in recent years.

‘Ending wokeness is just the start. The Pentagon is also bloated with bureaucracy and waste. The defense industrial base is failing to deliver,’ the veterans wrote.

‘Cost overruns and delays have become the norm. The Department of Defense needs a Secretary of Defense willing to confront both the entrenched bureaucracy and the defense industry and force them to deliver the ships, planes, and munitions our troops need to confront America’s adversaries.’

Dan Caldwell is a veteran of the Marine Corps and Camp David security force who, along with his fellow adviser at the Center for Renewing America, three-time-deployed Marine Joseph Wade Miller, signed onto the letter.

They join at least 40 other prominent veterans in supporting Hegseth’s nomination, as the former ‘Fox & Friends Weekend’ co-host faces allegations surrounding alcohol abuse and mistreatment of women.

Eddie Gallagher, of the Pipe Hitters Foundation, also signed the letter. Gallagher launched the veteran defense-focused nonprofit after being found not guilty in a war crimes trial.

James Jay Carafano, Rob Greenway, Wilson Beaver, Steve Bucci and Jeremy Hayes, all decorated military veterans who are advisers to, or fellows at, the Heritage Foundation, signed onto the missive.

The letter also calls out the previous administration’s inability to secure the southern border and restore peace in Eurasia. 

‘Pete Hegseth shares these priorities and is ready to execute the Commander in Chief’s agenda on day one. As proud American veterans, we stand with him and the President in this historic endeavor,’ they write.

Kevin Roberts, the president of Heritage, called Hegseth the ‘right kind of fighter for America’ and a person who is ready to ‘clean up’ the Pentagon.

‘At a time when bloat and woke initiatives detract from the core warfighting mission of our armed forces, we need a secretary like Pete who has both served in combat and advocated for veterans on Capitol Hill,’ Roberts said separately from the letter.

Victoria Coates, a former adviser on national security to both Trump and Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, said Hegseth would be ‘a literal breath of fresh air in the musty halls of the Pentagon.’

On Thursday, Hegseth said he refused to back down from a fight as his nomination remains in limbo amid drinking and sexual misconduct allegations. He has denied any wrongdoing. 

‘We’ve had great conversations, about who I am and what I believe,’ Hegseth said of his meetings with senators. ‘And, frankly, the man I am today, because of my faith in my lord and savior Jesus Christ and my wife, Jenny, right here, I’m a different man than I was years ago.’

That exchange followed the leak of a critical letter that Hegseth’s mother, Penelope, wrote to him years ago about his relationships with women. However, Penelope Hegseth told Fox News on Wednesday that she had written the email in an impassioned moment and later apologized for it.

Multiple sources reported to Fox News that Trump is considering his former primary opponent, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis – a retired Navy lieutenant commander – for the top Pentagon spot in case Hegseth falters.

Fox News’ Louis Casiano contributed to this report.

President-elect Trump expressed public support for embattled defense secretary nominee Pete Hegseth Friday, and the nominee said he had a ‘substantive conversation’ with Sen. Joni Ernst. 

Hegseth, a former National Guard officer, has been meeting with Republican senators this week to rally support as allegations of sexual misconduct and excessive drinking have surfaced. He has denied any wrongdoing. 

Ernst has not committed to voting for Hegseth. 

‘Looks like Pete is doing well now,’ Trump told Kristen Welker on ‘Meet the Press’ Friday. ‘I mean, people were a little bit concerned. He’s a young guy with a tremendous track record, actually. Went to Princeton, went to Harvard. He was a good student at both, but he loves the military. And I think people are starting to see it. So, we’ll be working on his nomination along with a lot of others.’

Trump confirmed he still has confidence in Hegseth.

‘He’s a very smart guy,’ Trump said. ‘I’ve known him through Fox, but I’ve known him for a long time. I mean, he’s basically a military guy. I mean, every time I talk to him, all he wants to talk about is the military.’

Trump said that while he didn’t have assurances from senators that his nomination would be confirmed, he believes he will get it through. 

‘I’ve had a lot of senators calling me up saying he’s fantastic,’ Trump said. 

Asked by Welker about the allegations of excessive drinking, Trump said, ‘Well, I’ve spoken to people that know him very well, and they say he does not have a drinking problem.’ 

Trump also supported Hegseth on Truth Social on Friday, writing, ‘Pete Hegseth is doing very well. His support is strong and deep. He was a great student – Princeton/Harvard educated – with a Military state of mind. He will be a fantastic, high energy, Secretary of Defense, one who leads with charisma and skill. Pete is a WINNER, and there is nothing that can be done to change that.’

Hegseth wrote on his X account Friday: ‘I just had another substantive conversation with Senator Ernst, I appreciate her sincere commitment to defense policy, and I look forward to meeting with her again next week.’

Ernst also called their meeting ‘constructive’ on her account, adding that the two plan to meet again next week. 

‘Pete Hegseth and I will continue our constructive conversations as we move forward together in this process. We plan to meet again next week. At a minimum, we agree that he deserves the opportunity to lay out his vision for our warfighters at a fair hearing,’ she said. 

Vice President-elect JD Vance also told reporters Friday that Hegseth has the incoming administration’s full support and won’t face a ‘sham hearing before the American media.’

‘Pete Hegseth is going to get his hearing before the Senate Armed Forces Committee, not a sham hearing before the American media,’ Vance told reporters while in North Carolina. ‘We believe Pete Hegseth is the right guy to lead the Department of Defense. That’s why Trump nominated him. We’re not abandoning this nomination.

‘I fully support Pete. I think Pete’s going to get confirmed, and we are completely behind him. I have talked to Joni [Ernst]. I’ve talked to a number of my colleagues about this nomination and about other nominations. All I’m asking is people actually allow the Senate nomination process to work. We do not determine important government officials based on anonymous sourcing from the American media.’

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre was bombarded with questions from reporters in the first televised press briefing since President Biden pardoned son Hunter Biden.

She also spoke to reporters earlier this week from Air Force One. 

‘The statement that he put out on Sunday when he made this decision to pardon his son, Hunter Biden, it’s in his own voice,’ Jean-Pierre said after she was asked about Hunter Biden’s pardon by an Associated Press reporter. 

‘I think it takes you through his thinking. And he did. He wrestled with this. He wrestled with this, and again, he said in his statement, in his own voice, that he made that decision this past weekend.’ 

The president and Jean-Pierre said unequivocally when asked over the summer that the president would not pardon his son. 

Jean-Pierre insisted ‘circumstances have changed.’

‘Republicans said they weren’t going to let up, weren’t going to stop,’ she said. ‘Recently announced Trump appointees for law enforcement have said on the campaign that they were out for retribution, and I think we should believe their words, right? We should believe what they say.’ 

She added that the president said in his statement that Hunter and the Biden family had been through ‘enough.’

‘And he wrestled with these circumstances, the change in circumstances, ultimately, and the combination of that … certainly led to the president changing his mind and issuing this pardon,’ she explained. 

But reporters continued to press her on the issue, asking whether the American people were owed an apology. Jean-Pierre appeared to evade the question, instead urging people to read the president’s statement. 

‘He wrestled with it,’ she reiterated. ‘He wrestled with it and made this decision. That’s what I can tell the American people.

‘I think the American people understand, and I think they understand how difficult this decision would be. And I would actually add, and I think it’s important to note here, as you’re asking me these questions — important questions to ask — that there was a poll, a U.S. Gov poll that came out that, some of you all reported on it.

‘And it said 64% of the American people agree with the pardon — 64% of the American people. So, we get a sense of where the American people are on this. Obviously, it’s one poll, but it gives you a little bit of insight. Sixty-four percent is nothing to sneeze at.’ 

She noted that some legal experts have said ‘no one would be criminally prosecuted with felony offenses with these facts,’ claiming Hunter Biden was politically targeted.

Hunter Biden was convicted on three felony charges related to illegally owning a gun while being a drug user. He also pleaded guilty in a federal tax case. 

She was also asked if the president has concerns about his credibility regarding the pardon and about allegations he ‘misled the public.’ 

‘Virtually no one would be criminally prosecuted with family offenses, with these facts. Whether it’s absent aggravated factors, similar charges are rarely brought,’ she said, again pointing to Biden’s statement.

One reporter also noted that Biden has received ‘swift criticism’ from members of his own party who call it a ‘setback,’ worrying that President-elect Trump and Republicans could use the pardon against them in the future. 

‘He’s going to focus on the American people,’ Jean-Pierre responded when asked if he felt the need to respond to Democratic criticism. 

President-elect Trump is in Europe this weekend for his first overseas trip since his commanding victory in last month’s presidential election.

Trump will meet with Emmanuel Macron after the French president invited him to attend Saturday’s star-studded VIP event for the official reopening of the newly restored Notre Dame Cathedral, five years after a devastating fire wrecked the centuries-old Paris landmark.

First Lady Jill Biden will also attend the ceremonies, but it’s Trump who will be holding court with world leaders.

The president-elect’s appearance will serve as Trump’s unofficial return to the global stage, and it is another reminder that he is quickly becoming the center of the world’s attention.

‘This is without question a major moment in French history and the fact that Macron wanted to share it with Trump speaks to the significance of what Trump is achieving even before he gets to the Oval Office again, said Brett Bruen, a public affairs and strategic communications veteran, and former U.S. diplomat who served under both Democratic and Republican administrations.

‘He is being feted quite literally in Paris with all the glitz and glamour,’ Bruen, president of the Global Situation Room, added.

And Bruen and other analysts give credit to Macron for inviting Trump to this weekend’s festivities.

‘This is a really smart move by Macron to get things rolling in the right direction when it comes to U.S.-French relations under Trump,’ he said. ‘But let’s also not forget the fact that Macron is both badly weakened in his own country and on the European continent…[Macron] may see in Trump an opportunity to restore his lost luster as the European leader who can most effectively engage with the new American president.’

Trump has taken a slew of calls in the weeks since the November election from international leaders congratulating him on his White House victory. 

The trip to Paris comes a week after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau hastily made an unannounced stop in Mar-a-Lago to dine with Trump after the president-elect threatened a trade war with Canada and Mexico. 

Trump argued that Canada had failed to prevent large amounts of drugs and undocumented people from crossing the northern border into the U.S. and also pointed to America’s massive trade deficit with Canada.

According to reporting from Fox News’ Bret Baier, Trump suggested to Trudeau that Canada could become the 51st state.

Trump has also weighed in recently on a number of international conflicts. In the volatile Middle East, the president-elect warned this week in a social media post that there would be ‘ALL HELL TO PAY’ if Hamas does not release all the hostages held in Gaza before he is inaugurated on Jan. 20.

News of Trump’s invitation to Paris came earlier this week as President Biden was on a history-making trip to Angola, as he became the first American president to visit the sub-Saharan African nation.

But Biden, likely on his last overseas trip before Trump takes over in the White House next month, is already being overshadowed on the world stage by his predecessor and successor.

‘While President-elect [Trump] is still weeks away from taking the oath of office, loyalties and the attention of world leaders has shifted to the incoming President and from Washington to Mar-a-lago with breathtaking speed,’ Wayne Lesperance, a veteran political scientist and president of New England College, told Fox News.

Matt Mowers, a veteran GOP national public affairs strategist and former diplomat at the State Department during Trump’s first administration, made the case that ‘Biden’s essentially been a lame duck’ for months and that ‘world leaders have been shifting their gaze to the next administration.

While members of the Biden White House would likely disagree with such sentiments – especially after the current administration played a large role in hammering out the cease-fire that halted fighting in Lebanon between Israel and Hezbollah – it is undeniable that world leaders have already started to engage directly with the incoming president and administration.

While the spotlight traditionally shifts from the outgoing to the incoming president, Mowers argued that ‘it is more pronounced this time because the difference in the Biden and Trump approach to foreign policy is so different.’

Mowers emphasized that Trump is already aiming ‘to shape world events’ by ‘being bold, not timid, in the statements he’s putting out, and the world is already reacting to that kind of American strength.’

‘World leaders that want to get something done… have to engage with Trump,’ he added.

Matthew Bartlett, a Republican strategist who served at the State Department during Trump’s first term, told Fox News that ‘the world is demanding leadership’ and that ‘the Oval Office has been replaced by Mar-a-Lago.’

Lesperance, pointing to Biden’s swing through Africa, noted that lame duck presidents’ final weeks are ‘usually filled with celebratory moments and efforts to cement one’s legacy. Often the focus is on their role on the world stage on behalf of America and its allies.’

However, he argued that ‘Biden’s pronouncements on Ukraine, Gaza and the importance of climate change go largely ignored by world leaders. Instead, they focus on Trump’s picks for his foreign policy team and pronouncements about changes in U.S. foreign policy position. It’s pretty evident that while Biden attempts a victory tour, the world has turned the page.’