Arab leaders convened in Cairo on Tuesday for an emergency summit aimed at presenting a counterproposal to President Donald Trump’s Gaza plan. The summit was held to discuss Egypt’s $53 billion comprehensive reconstruction blueprint for Gaza.

Before Trump proposed resettling Gazans outside the enclave, Egypt and other Arab states had shown little interest in Gaza’s reconstruction. However, given that Egypt has ruled out accepting displaced Palestinians for ‘national security’ reasons, it now finds itself compelled to devise its own plan.

With a $53 billion price tag, the plan is positioned as an alternative to Trump’s vision, and key details have already been shared by Arab media outlets. While Egypt proposes a temporary committee to manage Gaza for six months, Palestinians have made it clear that they will not accept any governing body that isn’t Palestinian or any foreign forces within Gaza. The plan is projected to take at least four and a half years. 

The Egyptian plan is divided into two phases: the first, lasting two years and costing around $20 billion, and the second, spanning two and a half years with a $30 billion allocation. The funds will primarily go toward rebuilding residential areas devastated by conflict. 

Importantly, the plan does not call for the displacement of Gaza’s residents, as Trump’s proposal does, and stresses the importance of Palestinian-led reconstruction efforts, and that the Palestinian Authority will collaborate with Egypt and Jordan to train a police force for Gaza. But Hamas has already rejected the plan, and the Palestinian Authority has made it clear that it will not engage in reconstruction efforts as long as Hamas maintains control.

‘The Saudis will fund Gaza if there’s a path to a Palestinian state and Hamas is gone,’ Ghaith Al-Omari, senior fellow at the Washington Institute and former executive director of the American Task Force on Palestine told Fox News Digital, ‘Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Qatar want something from the Israelis in return, whether it’s an end to the war or security agreements. They’ll insist on a role for the Palestinian Authority, even if symbolic, for diplomatic reasons. The question is whether the current Israeli government can meet these demands.’

‘A militarized Hamas cannot remain in Gaza – the strip must be demilitarized, and Hamas must no longer be in control. The Emiratis are even more extreme on this issue,’ Danny Zaken, a senior commentator for Israel Hayom newspaper, told Fox News Digital, ‘The final draft of the Egyptian plan will avoid directly addressing Hamas. Instead of stating that Hamas will be removed and disarmed, it will say that ‘qualified Palestinian security forces will maintain order with Egyptian backing.’ This approach aims for unanimous approval without addressing Hamas’ fate, but the reality is that it has no practical validity, because in that case the plan has no financial backing,’ he explained.

Al-Omari observed, ‘Arab League summits tend to be a lot of posturing. Who’s going to take care of security? The PA can’t handle that – they’re too weak. No Arab country wants to send troops to Gaza, but they’re also under pressure from the U.S. to contribute.’

An Egyptian diplomatic source told Fox News Digital that Egyptian construction firms are ready to begin work, but the real challenge is political. ‘Egyptian construction companies are very capable, and they can rebuild Gaza in three years – if there is political will, mainly from Israel and the U.S.,’ the source said.

While Egypt is eager to lead the reconstruction process, its ambitions have created friction with key Gulf states, which are expected to finance much of the effort. Zaken, noted, ‘The Saudis are concerned because the Egyptians want to control the entire process: Who gets the money, who oversees the reconstruction, who the contractors are for demolition and rebuilding? And even new housing and hotels. The other partners worry about corruption in the process.’

A former U.S. foreign service official warned Fox News Digital that Egypt’s ability to manage such funds is a concern. ‘The Gulf, which is expected to pay for it, is sick and tired of Egyptian corruption. If they fund the reconstruction, they will demand major oversight to ensure the money doesn’t get lost in Egypt’s power structure,’ the source said.

Meanwhile, Jordan, which has played a key diplomatic role, has managed to avoid direct involvement in the reconstruction debate. Following King Abdullah’s meeting with Trump, Jordanian officials felt that the pressure had shifted to Egypt and other Arab states. ‘The Jordanians were very happy with the outcome of the meeting with Trump. They feel that the pressure to accept [a] million Gazans is off them,’ Al-Omari said.

At the same time, the broader political future of Gaza remains uncertain. Al-Omari noted that despite the ongoing reconstruction discussions, the primary concern for Arab leaders is how to navigate Trump’s unpredictable stance on Gaza. ‘Frankly, the main thinking in Arab governments right now is how to engage in a covert process with Trump to walk him back from this. No one expects immediate results, but they do hope that this will move Trump away from the idea of depopulating Gaza,’ he said.

For now, all eyes are on the summit. However, as one former diplomatic source put it, ‘There’s no real plan yet – just ideas. Everyone is trying to shape it in their favor, but until Hamas’ fate is resolved, we’re all just talking in circles.’

Vice President JD Vance visited Capitol Hill to offer a message of support for his ‘friend,’ Elbridge ‘Bridge’ Colby, President Donald Trump’s contentious nominee for the Pentagon’s No. 3 spot, undersecretary of defense for policy. 

In so many ways, Bridge predicted what we would be talking about four years down the road, five years down the road, 10 years down the road. He saw around corners that very few other people were seeing around,’ Vance said in opening remarks Tuesday at Colby’s confirmation hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee.

‘If you look at his long career in defense policy, he has said things that, you know, frankly, alienated Democrats and Republicans. He’s also said things that I think both Democrats and Republicans would agree with,’ Vance continued. 

The vice president praised Colby as a ‘good man’ and an ‘honest man.’ 

‘You need people who are going to tell you the truth. We’re going to look you in the eye who are going to disagree,’ Vance said. 

The vice president’s presence demonstrates how seriously the White House is looking to shore up support for Colby, whose restraint-minded views have given pause to some more hawkish senators.

It is the second confirmation hearing Vance has attended after Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, who the vice president also has a close relationship with.  

Colby said in his own opening remarks, ‘There is a real risk of major war, and we cannot afford to lose one. I recognize these realities in my bones. It is my great hope that we can get through the coming years peacefully, with strength in ways that put us and our alliances on a stronger and more sustainable footing.’

‘I’m willing and ready to engage with those who disagree with me and adapt my views based on persuasive arguments and the fact is that I value our alliances deeply, even as I think they must be adapted, and that I love our great country, and will put its interests first and foremost.’

Senate Armed Services Committee Chair Roger Wicker, R-Miss., questioned Colby on his previously stated position, ‘America has a strong interest in defending Taiwan, but Americans can survive without it.’ 

‘our views on Taiwan’s importance to the United States seems to have softened considerably,’ Wicker told Colby. 

Colby disputed that point, arguing he had been shooting a warning flare that the U.S.’ ‘military balance has declined’ with regard to China.

‘What I have been trying to shoot a signal flare over is that it is vital for us to focus and enable our own forces for an effective and reasonable defense of Taiwan and for the Taiwanese, as well as the Japanese to do more,’ said Colby.  

‘So my position in terms of the value of Taiwan is consistent. But what I’m very fearful of, Senator, and I think this is agreed across administrations of both parties, is that, you know, the military balance has declined. So I’m trying to avoid a situation of which, because we are not adequately prepared.’

Sen. Jack Reed, the top Democrat on the committee, pressed Colby on his views on Russia and Ukraine. 

‘In November 2023, you said, ‘The invasion of Ukraine is an evil act by the Russians, and I morally support the Ukrainian defense.’ Do you still agree with that statement?’ asked Reed, D-R.I.

‘I think I stand by my record, but at this point, I think, there’s a very delicate diplomatic process going on where the president is rightfully trying to resuscitate the peace process. And I don’t think it’d be appropriate for me to weigh in,’ said Colby. 

Sen. Kristen Gillibrand, D-N.Y., pressed Colby on whether Russia was an ‘adversary’ or an ‘ally’ to the U.S. 

‘Russia presents a significant military threat to Europe, and there are significant military threats to the homeland as well,’ said Colby. ‘We can… diminish, you know, the potential for direct confrontation with Russia in the same way with China.’

Colby’s confirmation process has rankled Iran hawks, and at least Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., has privately expressed skepticism. Wicker previously told Roll Call that Colby’s nomination poses ‘a concern to a number of senators.’ 

Colby, who worked at the Pentagon during Trump’s first term and was a lead author on the 2018 U.S. National Security Strategy, has long asserted the U.S. should limit its resources in the Middle East and refocus on China as the bigger threat.

Democratic Rep. Jasmine Crockett was ripped by conservatives on social media this week after claiming President Donald Trump is ‘occupying the White House’ and is an ‘enemy to the United States.’

‘Unfortunately, we have someone that is occupying the White House, and as far as I’m concerned, he is an enemy to the United States,’ Crockett said on MSNBC on Sunday. ‘I don’t know what it’s going to take to get people to wake up.’

The Texas congresswoman also suggested that Trump is a ‘dictator’ in her cable news appearance.

Conservatives on social media quickly pushed back against Crockett.

‘Almost sounds like this ‘defender of democracy’ would support an insurrection,’ Fox News host Laura Ingraham posted on X. 

‘When are we going to hold members of Congress accountable for their words and actions?’ retired professor Carol Swain posted on X. 

‘Dangerous election denier stuff here,’ former Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., posted on X.

‘By all means, continue this leaderless, tired charade and keep losing elections,’ Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., posted on X. 

‘Yeah, she’s running in 2028,’ Red State writer Bonchie posted on X. 

‘Jasmine Crockett labeled Trump as an enemy of America while simultaneously saying she doesn’t understand anything that’s going on,’ conservative influencer account Gunther Eagleman posted on X. ‘She’s really this dumb.’

‘The unquestioned leader of the Democratic Party,’ CNN commentator Scott Jennings posted on X. ‘Keep going!’

Fox News Digital reached out to Crockett’s office for comment but did not immediately hear back.

Crockett has become one of the most prominent faces of the Democratic Party, opposing Trump’s agenda and the DOGE efforts of Tesla CEO Elon Musk. 

Crockett recently sparked a frenzy on social media when she told a reporter outside the U.S. Capitol that if she could tell Musk one thing it would be, ‘F— off.’

The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) on Tuesday announced the cancelation of $4.5 million in grants, including one for alpaca farming in Peru, another for reducing social discrimination of recyclers in Bolivia and another for promoting cultural understanding of Venezuelan migrants in Brazil.

The Inter-American Foundation, an agency given a $60 million budget to issue foreign grants, was reduced to its statutory minimum — one active employee, according to a statement from DOGE. 

Grants that were canceled in the process included $903,811 for alpaca farming in Peru, $364,500 to reduce social discrimination against recyclers in Bolivia, and $323,633 to promote cultural understanding of Venezuelan migrants in Brazil, according to DOGE.

Other big ticket grants that were slashed included $813,210 for vegetable gardens in El Salvador, $731,105 to improve the marketability of mushrooms and peas in Guatemala, $677,342 to expand fruit and jam sales in Honduras, $483,345 to improve artisanal salt production in Ecuador and $39,250 for beekeeping in Brazil.

DOGE, led by Elon Musk, is a temporary organization within the White House created via executive order earlier this year.

President Donald Trump tasked the organization with optimizing the federal government, streamlining operations, and slashing spending — and gave them just 18 months to do it.

As of March 4, DOGE’s website claims 2,334 contract terminations totaling $8 billion in savings, 3,489 grant terminations for roughly $10 billion in savings, and 748 lease terminations totaling about $660 million in lease savings.

It also claims to have saved about $105 billion from a ‘combination of fraud detection/deletion, contract/lease cancelations, contract/lease renegotiation, asset sales, grant cancelations, workforce reductions, programmatic changes and regulatory savings.’

DOGE critics allege the organization has too much access to federal systems and should not be permitted to cancel federal contracts or make cuts at various agencies.

It canceled numerous diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives at federal agencies, consulting contracts, leases for underused federal buildings, and duplicate agencies and programs.

The Inter-American Foundation did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment on Tuesday.

Fox News Digital’s Eric Revell contributed to this report.

Conservatives on social media slammed Senate Democrats for posting videos with identical scripts ahead of President Donald Trump’s joint address to Congress Tuesday night.

Mashups of the identical videos, which included Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., leading the ‘Sh– That Ain’t True’ social media campaign, have gone viral on social media. Many conservatives on social media, including Elon Musk, are asking, ‘Who is writing the words that the puppets speak? That’s the real question.’

Senators Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., led the charge with their matching social media videos this morning. About two dozen Senate Democrats have since followed with their own identical posts. 

The video begins with a clip of Trump vowing to ‘bring prices down starting on day one’ followed by a cut-in of the Senate Democrats saying: ‘Sh– That Ain’t True? That’s what you just heard.’

‘Since Day One of Donald Trump’s presidency, prices are up, not down. Inflation is getting worse, not better. Prices of groceries, gas, housing, rent, eggs – they’re all getting more expensive. Meanwhile, Donald Trump has done nothing to lower costs for you,’ the Democrats said in near-perfect unison.

The social media campaign reflects the Democratic National Committee’s broader media strategy ahead of Trump’s joint address to Congress. The DNC directed Democrats to focus their message on the economy tonight, advising Democrats to tell voters that Trump is breaking his promise to lower prices and boost America’s economy while promoting his billionaire cabinet. 

‘The truth hurts sometimes. Donald Trump promised to lower prices ‘on day one’ of his presidency but has failed to do so. Instead, inflation has accelerated, costs are rising and Trump’s actions are making things worse. Democrats are highlighting Trump’s failures and speaking with a unified voice. And we’re grateful that Elon Musk lifted our voices higher,’ a Booker spokesperson said in a statement to Fox News Digital.

‘Every time Fox News plays this video, an angel gets its wings. We hope you will keep playing it,’ a Schumer spokesperson told Fox News Digital.

‘Democrats all spewing the same scripted talking points like robots,’ conservative influencer Tim Pool posted on X. ‘This is extremely dangerous to our democracy.’

‘These political dinosaurs need to realize that the propaganda that was once fed to various local news outlets doesn’t work in the era of X,’ communications strategist Erica Knight posted on X. 

‘Weird,’ North Carolina Republican Congresswoman Virgina Foxx posted on X. 

Sen. Warren did not respond to a Fox News Digital media inquiry before publication.

President Donald Trump promised to ‘make America affordable again’ by reducing the cost of energy during his joint address to Congress Tuesday night.

Speaking in the U.S. Capitol, Trump said that he was ‘fighting every day’ to ‘reverse’ the economic damage that he blamed on his predecessor, former President Joe Biden.

‘Joe Biden especially let the price of eggs get out of control,’ Trump said. ‘The egg price is out of control, and we’re working hard to get it back down. ‘

‘A major focus of our fight to defeat inflation is rapidly reducing the cost of energy,’ the president continued. ‘The previous administration cut the number of new oil and gas leases by 95%, slowed pipeline construction to a halt and closed more than 100 power plants. We are opening up many of those power plants right now.’

‘We have more liquid gold under our feet than any nation on earth, and by far,’ Trump said. ‘And now I fully authorize the most talented team ever assembled to go and get it. It’s called drill, baby, drill.’

Slashing energy prices was one of Trump’s many campaign promises before he was elected in November 2024. At a rally in State College, Pennsylvania, Trump vowed to lift the U.S. pause on U.S. liquefied natural gas export terminals.

‘Starting on day one of my new administration, I will end Kamala Harris’ war on Pennsylvania energy,’ Trump said to the crowd on Oct. 26. ‘And we will frack, frack, frack.’

Trump also promised his supporters that their energy bills would be halved within his first 12 months in office. Before he was confirmed, Secretary of Energy Chris Wright previously said that lowering the cost of energy was one of three of his main objectives in office.

‘Federal policies today make it too easy to stop projects and very hard to start and complete projects,’ Wright said in January. ‘This makes energy more expensive and less reliable. President Trump is committed to lowering energy costs and to do so, we must prioritize cutting red tape, enabling private sector investments, and building the infrastructure we need to make energy more affordable for families and businesses.’ 

Fox News’ Breanne Deppisch contributed to this report.

President Donald Trump kicked off his address before a joint session of Congress Tuesday evening. 

‘To my fellow citizens, America is back,’ Trump declared after thanking the members of Congress and first lady Melania Trump. 

‘Six weeks ago, I stood beneath the dome of this Capitol and proclaimed the dawn of the golden Age of America,’ he said. ‘From that moment on, it has been nothing but swift and unrelenting action to usher in the greatest and most successful era in the history of our country. We have accomplished more in 43 days than most administrations accomplished in four years or eight years. And we are just getting started.’ 

The audience was heard chanting ‘USA, USA, USA’ amid the president’s opening remarks. 

Trump arrived to the podium shortly after 9:15 p.m. Eastern Standard Time Tuesday, where he was greeted by cheers from conservative lawmakers, while Democrats overwhelmingly remained seated. 

Protests broke out shortly after Trump began his speech, including Speaker of the House Mike Johnson demanding Rep. Al Green, D-Texas, be removed after he refused to stop yelling or sit during the speech. 

‘Our members are directed to uphold and maintain decorum in the House, and to cease any further disruptions — that’s your warning,’ Johnson said. ‘Members are engaging in willful and continuing breach of decorum, and the chair is prepared to direct the Sergeant at Arms to restore order to the joint session.’ 

‘Mr. Greene, take your seat. Take your seat,’ Johnson continued before Green was removed. 

The speech marks Trump’s first before Congress since his return to the Oval Office in January. The address, though similar to the State of the Union, does not carry the same official title as Trump has not been in office for the past year. 

The White House previously told Fox News Digital that ‘The Renewal of the American Dream’ was the theme of the speech and would feature four main sections: accomplishments from Trump’s second term thus far at home and abroad; what the Trump administration has done for the economy; the president’s renewed push for Congress to pass additional funding for border security; and the president’s plans for peace around the globe.

Trump did not participate in any formal speech preparation — such as advisers coaching him on how to gesticulate during the address — but he was involved in the editing process of the speech, Fox News’ Peter Doocy reported ahead of the address. 

Several Democratic members previewed they would boycott Trump’s address ahead of Tuesday, including Rep. Don Beyer, D-Va., and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., also skipped attending, instead holding a live prebuttal of the speech.

Democrat congresswomen who did join the speech were seen wearing pink in protest of Trump and his policies, notably ones they say impact women. 

Fox News Digital’s Brooke Singman and Andrew Mark Miller contributed to this report. 

President Donald Trump proclaimed that ‘wokeness is gone’ during his joint address to Congress Tuesday night.

Speaking to a bipartisan crowd in the U.S. Capitol building, Trump touted his administration’s early efforts to roll back ‘wokeness’ in the U.S., taking aim at ‘gender-affirming’ procedures for minors.

‘I want Congress to pass a bill permanently banning and criminalizing sex changes on children, and forever,’ Trump said during his speech. ‘Ending the lie that any child is trapped in the wrong body. This is a big lie. And now a message to every child in America is that you are perfect, exactly the way God made you.’

‘Because we’re getting wokeness out of our schools and out of our military, and it’s already out and it’s out of our society,’ he continued. ‘We don’t want it. Wokeness is trouble. Wokeness is bad. It’s gone.’

Trump’s comments come over a month after he signed an executive order to restrict ‘chemical and surgical’ sex-change procedures for minors. 

‘Across the country today, medical professionals are maiming and sterilizing a growing number of impressionable children under the radical and false claim that adults can change a child’s sex through a series of irreversible medical interventions,’ the order, entitled ‘Protecting Children from Chemical and Surgical Mutilation,’ stated. 

‘This dangerous trend will be a stain on our Nation’s history, and it must end.’

Though Trump’s order has been resisted by hospitals and medical practitioners in Democratic-run areas, other hospitals have begun to comply with the order.

In February, the University of Virginia Health Hospital announced it would begin to stop providing transgender treatments to new patients as young as 11 years old. 

‘Common sense and medical ethics have prevailed,’ Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, R-Va., wrote in a post on X at the time.

‘I’m grateful to the University of Virginia Board of Visitors for its action today to stop harmful transgender treatments for minors and to transfer existing patients to other providers,’ the governor added.

Fox News Digital’s Aubrie Spady contributed to this report.