President Donald Trump on Friday endorsed Republican Rep. Ashley Hinson as she runs to succeed retiring GOP Sen. Joni Ernst in Iowa.

Hinson — a former TV news anchor who is in her third term representing Iowa’s 2nd Congressional District, which covers the northeastern portion of the state — showcased her support for Trump as she launched her Senate campaign on Tuesday.

‘I’m running to be President Trump’s top ally in the United States Senate,’ she said. And in a Fox News Digital interview this week, Hinson highlighted that she’s ‘proud to stand’ with Trump.

Trump, in a social media post, said, ‘I know Ashley well, and she is a WINNER!’ 

‘I know Ashley well, and she is a WINNER! A Loving Wife and Proud Mother of two sons, Ashley is a wonderful person, has ALWAYS delivered for Iowa, and will continue doing so in the United States Senate,’ the president said. 

‘Ashley Hinson will be an outstanding Senator, and has my Complete and Total Endorsement – SHE WILL NOT LET YOU DOWN!’

Trump’s support followed earlier endorsements from Senate Majority Leader Sen. John Thune and the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), which is the Senate GOP’s campaign arm.

‘We need conservative fighters in the Senate — and that’s exactly what we’ll get with Ashley Hinson,’ Thune wrote early Friday as he endorsed Hinson.

And NRSC chair Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina said, ‘Having traveled Iowa with Ashley, I know she is the fighter the Hawkeye State needs to deliver President Trump’s agenda in 2026 and beyond.’

Hinson doesn’t have the GOP primary field to herself. Former state Sen. Jim Carlin and veteran Joshua Smith had already entered the primary ahead of Ernst’s announcement.

But the support from Trump, Thune, and the NRSC will further boost Hinson, who was already considered the frontrunner for the nomination, and will likely dissuade any others from entering the primary. The president’s clout over the GOP is immense, and his endorsement in a Republican primary is extremely influential.

Hinson’s campaign launch came a few hours after Ernst, in a social media video, officially announced that she wouldn’t seek re-election in next year’s midterms.

‘After a tremendous amount of prayer and reflection, I will not be seeking re-election in 2026,’ the 55-year-old Ernst, who was first elected to the Senate in 2014, said in a video posted to social media.

Ernst, a retired Army Reserve and Iowa National Guard officer who served in the Iraq War, had been wrestling for months over whether to run for re-election in 2026. And in her video, she said, ‘This was no easy decision.’

Ernst first grabbed national attention 11 years ago with her ‘make ’em squeal’ ads as she won the high-profile Senate election in Iowa in the race to succeed retiring longtime Democratic Sen. Tom Harkin.

And Ernst highlighted in her video that ’11 years ago, Iowans elected me as the first female combat veteran to the U.S. Senate, and they did so with a mission in mind – to make Washington squeal. And I’m proud to say we have delivered. We’ve cut waste, fraud, and abuse across the federal government.’

Hinson, in a social media post, thanked Ernst for her ‘incredible service to our state and nation’ as well as for her friendship. ‘Iowa is better off thanks to your selfless service,’ she said.

In an Iowa radio interview on Tuesday, she said that among her priorities as she runs for the Senate are ‘secure borders, keeping men out of girls’ sports, cutting taxes for our working families, standing up for Iowa agriculture and helping our young Iowans who are trying to buy a house and start a family.’

Hinson also pledged to campaign across all 99 of Iowa’s counties, starting with a kick-off event on Friday.

And as she entered the race, Hinson was endorsed by Republican Sens. Jim Banks of Indiana, Katie Britt of Alabama, and Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma.

House Majority Leader Rep. Steve Scalise, Majority Whip Rep. Tom Emmer, House Republican Leadership Chair Rep. Elise Stefanik and Iowa House Majority Leader Bobby Kaufmann also backed Hinson.

Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) communications director Maeve Coyle, following Hinson’s announcement, argued that ‘Republicans failed to convince Joni Ernst to run for reelection, and now they may be stuck with Ashley Hinson, who has repeatedly voted to raise costs and make life harder for Iowans by voting to slash Medicaid, cheering on the chaotic tariffs that threaten Iowa’s economy, voting against measures to lower the cost of insulin, and threatening Social Security.’

Responding, Hinson told Fox News Digital, ‘I think they’re misinformed at best.’

And she charged that ‘when I hear the lies and the fearmongering coming out of the left, it’s to only cover up for the fact that they have no message and no real leader other than Bernie and AOC and now Mamdani in New York,’ as she referred to Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and New York City Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani.

‘If that’s the direction they want to take our country, I think Iowans are going to reject that wholeheartedly,’ she predicted.

Iowa was once a top battleground state that former President Barack Obama carried in his 2008 and 2012 White House victories. But the state has shifted to the right in recent election cycles, with President Donald Trump carrying the state by nine points in 2016, eight points in 2020, and by 13 points last November.

Republicans currently hold both of the state’s U.S. Senate seats – Ernst and longtime Sen. Chuck Grassley – and all four of Iowa’s congressional districts, as well as all statewide offices except for state auditor, which is held by Democrat Rob Sand, who’s running for governor next year.

But Democrats in Iowa are energized after flipping two GOP-held state Senate seats in special elections so far this year.

Five Democrats are already running for Senate in Iowa. The field includes state Rep. Josh Turek, a Paralympian wheelchair basketball player, state Sen. Zach Wahls, Knoxville Chamber of Commerce executive director Nathan Sage and Des Moines School Board Chair Jackie Norris.

‘An open seat in Iowa is just the latest example of Democrats expanding the senatorial map,’ Lauren French, spokesperson for the Democrat-aligned Senate Majority PAC, said in a statement.

But Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, the chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), said in a statement, ‘The NRSC is confident Iowans will elect a Republican to continue fighting for them and championing President Trump’s agenda in 2026.’

Republicans are aiming to not only defend, but expand, the current 53-47 Senate majority in next year’s elections.

Senate Republicans enjoyed a favorable map in the 2024 cycle as they flipped four seats from blue to red to win back the majority.

But the party in power – the Republicans – traditionally faces political headwinds in the midterm elections. Nevertheless, a current read of the 2026 map indicates the GOP may be able to go on offense in some key states.

In battleground Georgia, which Trump narrowly carried in last year’s White House race, Republicans view first-term Sen. Jon Ossoff as the most vulnerable Democrat incumbent up for re-election next year.

They’re also targeting battleground Michigan, where Democratic Sen. Gary Peters is retiring at the end of next year, and swing state New Hampshire, where longtime Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen decided against seeking a fourth six-year term in the Senate.

Also on the NRSC’s target list is blue-leaning Minnesota, where Democratic Sen. Tina Smith isn’t running for re-election.

But the GOP is defending an open seat in battleground North Carolina, where Republican Sen. Thom Tills decided against seeking re-election. And Republicans will likely be forced to spend resources to defend Sen. Jon Husted of Ohio – who was appointed to succeed former senator and now-Vice President JD Vance – as he faces off next year against former Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown.

Meanwhile, Democrats are also targeting moderate Sen. Susan Collins – who has yet to announce her expected 2026 re-election — in blue-leaning Maine. 

President Donald Trump has his sights on a new version of Air Force One as delays and cost overruns continue to plague Boeing’s long-awaited presidential aircraft replacements.

The most recent data from 2020 says at least 20 planes make up the executive fleet. A newly constructed plane has not been added in nearly 27 years. Some of the ones currently in service are expected to stay flying for another 13 years.

‘They’re not building the plane fast enough. I mean, they’re actually in default,’ Trump said about Boeing in a February interview with Sean Hannity.

Air Force One is used to designate any Air Force aircraft carrying the commander in chief. There are currently two highly customized Boeing aircraft that were deployed in 1990 when George H.W. Bush was president. The planes have since carried Presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama, Trump, Joe Biden and now Trump once again.

‘I miss Air Force One,’ Bush said at an event for Veterans in 2014. ‘In eight years, they never lost my baggage.’

The two forthcoming Boeing planes have been plagued by delays due to the complex technology needed onboard Air Force One.

‘They’ve got to debug it, make sure there’s no signals intelligence risks. And I think just to make it secure against any potential military attacks. It was ironic for a long time. It was one of the Prince’s planes, which I think they were trying to sell. And now they’re giving it to the U.S., and it’s costing quite a bit to update,’ staff writer for the Free Press Jay Solomon said.

The Qatari jet is estimated to have a faster timeline than the two Boeing planes, but it still needs some of the same technology to make it Air Force One.

‘If you look at it just through economics, maybe it makes sense, but I still think the fact that we’re allowing a foreign country to gift something of that magnitude to a sitting president on top of all these other concerns,’ Soloman said. ‘I think it’s a risk, and it’s not a good look.’

Air Force One is required to have four engines, unlike most of today’s passenger planes which have two. Onboard is the highest level of classified communications and external protections against foreign surveillance. The planes are equipped with air-to-air refueling capabilities so they can fly for as long as is needed. Air Force One is built for the worst possible scenarios, like nuclear war, so that the president can still command military forces from the sky.

‘They’re extremely complex, and I’m not going to go into it, but they’re not like a normal plane. You know, it’s not like building a 747 normal,’ Trump said during his Middle East Trip on ‘Special Report’ in May.

Air Force officials say it is possible to add some of the security features to the Qatari jet, but it’s unlikely to have the full suite of technology by Trump’s February timeline.

‘Initially it was supposed to be like, maybe he’ll get it done by the end of his presidency,’ Solomon said.

Four modified Boeing 757s or C-32As are the newest planes in the executive fleet. Those were added in 1998 and 1999. The Air Force is studying potential replacement options, but the current planes will continue to fly until 2038. The aircraft are primarily used by the vice president, Cabinet members, members of Congress and other officials.

‘Even today and regardless of the airplane, we have to operate it differently based on the threat environment that even the current or any of the future aircraft will go into. Again, can’t talk in detail about that, but that is always a consideration,’ Air Force Secretary Troy Meink said during a June Senate Hearing. 

Air Force One isn’t the only aging plane; much of the executive fleet is more than two decades old. The aircraft have undergone modernization modifications, but officials have questioned the timeline for major updates as several incidents have taken place over the years.

In 2014, Obama was forced to switch planes during a campaign event in Philadelphia after a minor mechanical problem was reported on Air Force One.

In 2021, Vice President Kamala Harris’ plane requested an emergency return to Joint Base Andrews as she began her first foreign trip overseas to Guatemala and Mexico.

Most recently, Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s plane was forced to turn around while en route to Munich in February, after a mechanical issue.

The newest aircraft among the executive fleet are the Marine One Helicopters. Biden first rode in the newly designed Marine One in 2024 during the Democratic National Convention. Updating those took nearly two decades and in some cases replaced helicopters flying since the 1970s.

The Boeing 777X is expected to be the next new major commercial aircraft. It’s scheduled to enter service in 2026 after a nearly six-year delay with Lufthansa taking the first flight. The modernized plane is designed to have a folding wingtip, a touchscreen flight deck and wider cabin space.

Just over a year ago, Matthew Thomas Crooks nearly blew off President Trump’s head at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. Only by the grace of God did Crooks’ bullets miss their target by millimeters because President Trump had turned his head ever so slightly to look at an immigration chart. Crooks did manage to murder a rallygoer and seriously wound two others before the Secret Service killed him. Just under a year ago, Ryan Wesley Routh took his shot at President Trump, establishing a sniper’s nest at the Doral golf course where he knew the president would play later that day. Routh was a hole ahead of Trump when Secret Service agents spotted him. A gun battle followed, and Routh escaped, yet he was captured 50 miles away. He now sits in jail awaiting trial before Aileen Cannon, a superb federal judge.

While Cannon epitomizes the gold standard of the federal judiciary, Obama-appointed D.C. Chief District Judge Jeb Boasberg represents the garbage standard. Throughout the January 6 saga, Boasberg had no problem keeping defendants—even nonviolent ones—locked up before their trials, in part based on social media posts. He let off disgraced former FBI lawyer Kevin Clinesmith with probation after Clinesmith had altered an email to secure a surveillance warrant against former Trump campaign official Carter Page. Boasberg claimed that Clinesmith would receive punishment from the disciplinary authorities (the D.C. Bar) in the form of possible disbarment; yet, Clinesmith kept his license. Then, Boasberg made clear early in the second Trump administration that he was itching for a fight, expressing his baseless concern to Chief Justice John Roberts that President Trump and his subordinates would violate court orders.

This March, Boasberg instigated the fight he had longed for when he illegally ordered planes full of Tren de Aragua terrorists and vicious MS-13 gang members to turn around after they had departed for Honduras and El Salvador. This was an ongoing military operation. The planes would have been in danger trying to fly back over the Gulf of America with minimal fuel. Additionally, there were not the appropriate security resources in place in the United States to deal with the return of hundreds of foreign terrorists and violent gang members, unlike the situation in El Salvador and Honduras where the proper resources were in place. The planes did not turn around, and Boasberg ‘found’ probable cause to hold administration officials in contempt. A D.C. Circuit panel reversed; yet, Boasberg, undaunted by the smackdown he had received, mused at a hearing about disciplinary proceedings against Trump Justice Department lawyers before the jurisdictions in which they hold law licenses.

This past week, Boasberg has outdone himself. Nathalie Rose Jones is a nutcase from Indiana who is staying in New York City. She thinks that President Trump is a Nazi and a terrorist, and she blames him for the deaths caused by the coronavirus. Earlier this month, Jones posted on Facebook that ‘I am willing to sacrificially kill this POTUS by disemboweling him and cutting out his trachea with [former] U.S. Representative] Liz Cheney and all the affirmation present.’ Jones then told the Secret Service that she would kill President Trump at ‘the compound’ (presumably the White House) if she had to and that she had a bladed object to accomplish her ghastly goal. The next day, law enforcement arrested Jones at a protest that had begun at Dupont Circle and wound up near the White House.

A magistrate judge correctly ordered Jones detained without bail. It is hard to imagine a clearer case of someone who poses a danger, but Jones found an ally: Boasberg. He decided to send Jones back to New York with an ankle bracelet, and he ordered her to see a shrink. Boasberg found the case hard because Jones had not brought a gun. Never mind that Jones had referred to a bladed object that she had somewhere ready to kill President Trump. Never mind that guns are easy to procure, even for convicted felons who are prohibited from possessing them by federal law. Never mind that Jones could have returned to the White House at any time after the day that she showed up without a gun. Francisco Martin Duran, a former Army sergeant, gave no warnings before he showed up at the White House early in President Clinton’s first term and fired off dozens of shots outside the gate. These maniacs often strike without warning, as Crooks and Routh also did. Jones has telegraphed what she wants to do to President Trump, and still it is not enough for Boasberg.

Boasberg has established a pattern of utterly horrific judgment. After his illegal order in March, Congressman Brandon Gill of Texas filed an article of impeachment. It is time to move forward with that article—and add to it based on the Jones farce, as well as the revelation of Boasberg’s grossly improper comments to Chief Justice Roberts. President Trump is only alive thanks to divine intervention; a millimeter and a millisecond could have changed the course of history.

Reckless robed partisans like Boasberg, however, do not appear to care about the danger the president faces.

Trump-deranged judge refuse to accept that he won the election, and they have put up roadblock after roadblock in an appalling effort to overturn the will of American voters. The disgrace of the Jones case is just the latest example. The time has come for the House to exercise its core Article I power and use a legal tool to curtail these judges: impeachment.

A Senate Democrat compared language from one of the nation’s founding documents to that of Iran during a Senate hearing considering President Donald Trump’s nominees.

Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., pushed back against the opening statement of Riley Barnes, who was tapped by Trump to serve as assistant secretary of state for democracy, human rights and labor, during a Senate Foreign Relations hearing Wednesday.

Barnes quoted Secretary of State Marco Rubio in his opening remarks, telling lawmakers on the panel, ‘We are a nation founded on a powerful principle, and that powerful principle is that all men are created equal, because our rights come from God our Creator — not from our laws, not from our governments.

‘The secretary went on to say that we will always be strong defenders of that principle, and that’s why the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor is important,’ he said. ‘We are a nation of individuals, each made in the image of God and possessing an inherent dignity. This is a truth that our founders understood as essential to American self-government.’

But Kaine, who is a Catholic, found Barnes’ sentiment ‘troubling.’

‘The notion that rights don’t come from laws and don’t come from the government, but come from the Creator, that’s what the Iranian government believes,’ Kaine said. ‘It’s a theocratic regime that bases its rule on Shia law and targets Sunnis, Bahá’ís, Jews, Christians and other religious minorities.

‘And they do it because they believe that they understand what natural rights are from their Creator,’ he continued. ‘So, the statement that our rights do not come from our laws or our governments is extremely troubling.’

Kaine said he was a ‘strong believer in natural rights’ but noted that if natural rights were to be debated by people within the committee room with different views and religious traditions, ‘there would be some significant differences in the definitions of those natural rights.’

While the Constitution does not explicitly mention God or a Creator, the Declaration of Independence does.

‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness,’ the document states.

Kaine’s sentiment drew heat from Bishop Robert Barron of Minnesota, who panned his remarks in a post on X Thursday. Barron argued that the lawmaker was ‘actively contesting the view that our rights come from God and not from the government.’

‘If the government creates our rights, it can take them away,’ Barron said. ‘If the government is responsible for our rights, well then it can change them.’

‘It just strikes me as extraordinary that a major American politician wouldn’t understand this really elemental part of our system. God help us. I mean that literally, God help us if we say our rights are coming to us from the government, that gives the government, indeed, godlike power,’ Barron continued. 

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

China’s Xi Jinping likes getting the world stirred up with military confrontation. Perhaps that’s why he wore his Mao Zedong high-collar suit, channeling the aura of the 1949 revolution, to the first major military parade in China since 2019. 

With him stood Russia’s Vladimir Putin and North Korea’s Kim Jong Un, marking the first time in 66 years that this terrible trio of leaders of China, North Korea and Russia have gotten together. 

And did you catch the hot mic moment with Xi and Putin, both 72, groaning like the ‘Grumpy Old Men’ they are about how ’70 is just a child’ and wondering if organ transplants can enable immortality? Kim, just 41, stifled a grin. Who knows who will have the last laugh in that trio. They are not my picks for immortality. 

Xi, Putin and Kim had their serious dictator faces back on as they watched as China’s People’s Liberation Army Rocket Force – teacher’s pet to Xi – roll their DF-5C intercontinental nuclear missiles down the streets of Beijing. They also showed off a new variant of their DF-26D medium-range missile. They claim it can hit U.S. ships and aircraft carriers or the island of Guam. 

Dealing with this trio is a challenge like no other. And it’s all in a day’s work for President Donald Trump. Trump said he’s not concerned and called them out with some choice trash-talk, posting on Truth Social about their rather obvious efforts to ‘conspire’ against the U.S.

The China-Russia military alliance is the single biggest danger the U.S. military has ever faced. 

However, Xi’s plan for world domination is showing some fault lines. Xi has scrambled for 13 years to build up China’s military. His strategy is based on loading up with missiles, missiles and more missiles. Yet looking at what rolled down the streets in Beijing, the fact remains that China can’t outpace U.S. military technology, despite decades of espionage, copycat designs and heavy military spending. 

The U.S. has some far superior systems. I’m talking about the new B-21 stealth bombers and F-47 sixth-gen fighters, for example. China has no true equivalents. 

The U.S. also has new ways to deal with China’s missiles. The U.S. Space Force’s new Hypersonic and Ballistic Track and Surveillance System will use a constellation of satellites in low earth orbit, cued to use a medium field-of-view, to track China’s hypersonic missiles as they maneuver. Innovations like this nix China’s gains. 

The parade showcasing ‘multi-domain’ technologies that might be used during an invasion of Taiwan was underwhelming. China’s laser gun on the truck, the unmanned surface vessels and even the big underwater drones are nothing remarkable. The U.S. has all that. Just check out the U.S. Navy’s massive Orca drone, which can lay seabed mines all by itself. Or the U.S. Army’s high-energy laser tests against drone swarms at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, this summer. 

Xi needs his thug friends to challenge the U.S. and allies. Sadly, China allows Putin the option of refusing to talk about ending the war in Ukraine. The warm welcome given to North Korea showed that China is eager for Kim’s rising nuclear capabilities to provoke the U.S. and Pacific partners. Kim toured a solid-fueled missile facility before boarding the train to Beijing and North Korea is working on nuclear submarines as well. That’s scary.

Trump’s nonchalance in dealing with this terrible trio is possible because the administration is taking action every day to shore up America’s power and oppose the China-Russia alliance. 

In the Oval Office Tuesday, Trump flexed American power with two very different announcements.

First, U.S. forces blew up a Tren de Aragua drug runner’s fast boat with an anti-ship missile. The strike opened a whole new chapter in the drug war.  

Tren de Agua is a designated terrorist organization, so in tactical terms, this is no different from striking ISIS or Houthi terrorists in the Middle East.  Believe me, the U.S. Navy has plenty more anti-ship missiles and it’s high time to clean up the Western Hemisphere. Trump’s predecessor James Monroe, famous for the Monroe Doctrine, would be proud.

Next, Trump announced that U.S. Space Command will be headquartered in Huntsville, Alabama. U.S. dominance in military and commercial space is essential for the economy and for global power; that’s why Trump created the United States Space Force as the sixth military branch in 2019. 

Elon Musk’s Starlink and now Amazon’s Kuiper are muscling China out with thousands of satellites in low-earth orbit to deliver broadband, and backstop U.S. military freedom of action in space. And the Space Force is key to the Golden Dome defenses for the U.S.

Finally, no military parade can cover up the fact that China, Russia and North Korea all face economic problems. China’s growth rate has halved in recent years and tariffs threaten the continued expansion in global markets that is Xi’s top economic priority. Russia is running on defense production and oil sales, and North Korea has no discernible economy apart from its trade with China. 

Those other leaders in the parade photo had better not be looking to do more business with the U.S. anytime soon. The larger economic reality is that the U.S. is winning the AI race and, with concerted effort, can shut the door on China’s attempts to dominate AI. 

Vice President JD Vance shot back at senators who clashed withHealth and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. at a hearing before the Senate Finance Committee Thursday, saying they are ‘full of s— and everyone knows it.’

Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., pressed Kennedy during the hearing, accusing him of endangering children with reckless decisions and conspiracy-driven policies, adding that he believed Kennedy had ‘no regrets’ about a ‘fundamentally cruel’ agenda. 

Kennedy countered by noting Wyden’s decades in office while chronic disease rates climbed to 76%.

The Vice President later sounded off on X, using profanity while directly addressing the opposition.

‘When I see all these senators trying to lecture and ‘gotcha’ Bobby Kennedy today all I can think is: You all support off-label, untested, and irreversible hormonal ‘therapies’ for children, mutilating our kids and enriching big pharma,’ Vance wrote in an X post. ‘You’re full of s— and everyone knows it.’

Secretary Kennedy reposted the Vice President, writing ‘Thank you @JDVance. You put your finger squarely on the preeminent problem.’

Other White House voices chimed in to support Secretary Kennedy after the fiery hearing. Press secretary Karoline Leavitt wrote, ‘Secretary @RobertKennedyJr is taking flak because he’s over the target. The Trump Administration is addressing root causes of chronic disease, embracing transparency in government, and championing gold-standard science. Only the Democrats could attack that commonsense effort.’

‘Democrats are getting absolutely TORCHED by @SecKennedy,’ wrote Deputy White House chief of staff Taylor Budowich. ‘They seem uninterested in health or human services, just parrots of a failed medical orthodoxy that has made America less healthy. Great hearing and preparation by the Sec.’

The exchange came a day after more than 1,000 current and former HHS employees called for Kennedy’s resignation.

At the hearing, Wyden accused Kennedy of elevating conspiracy theories and mismanaging federal health agencies, saying his tenure has been defined by ‘chaos’ and ‘corruption’ benefiting himself and President Donald Trump and rising health costs for families.

He also accused Kennedy of ‘taking vaccines away from Americans’ and threatening doctors who deviated from his guidelines.

Kennedy touted his department’s work, saying it has been ‘the busiest, most proactive administration in HHS history.’ 

In six months, he said, HHS has tackled issues ranging from food and baby formula contamination to drinking water safety, drug prices, e-cigarettes, heroin at gas stations and prior authorization delays.

‘We’re ending gain of function research, child mutilation and reducing animal testing,’ Kennedy said. ‘We are addressing cellphone use in schools, excessive screen time for youth, lack of nutrition education in our medical schools, sickle cell anemia, hepatitis C, the East Palestine chemical spill and many, many others. At FDA, we are now on track to approve more drugs this year than at any time in history.’

Committee Chairman Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, Vance and Wyden did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s requests for comment.

Fox News Digital’s Anders Hagstrom contributed to this report.

President Donald Trump stood by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. after he faced an intense grilling from senators on Capitol Hill on Thursday, telling reporters, ‘I like the fact that he’s different.’

While speaking with the press during his dinner with technology industry leaders at the White House, Trump was asked about the hearing.

‘Mr. President, Sen. Bill Cassidy [R-La.] said, effectively, we’re denying people vaccines. Do you have full confidence in what RFK Jr. is doing?’ asked a reporter.

Trump noted that he ‘didn’t get to watch the hearings today,’ but spoke highly of Kennedy, saying, ‘he’s a very good person.’

‘He means very well. And he’s got some little different ideas. I guarantee a lot of the people at this table like RFK Jr., and I do, but he’s got a different take, and we want to listen to all of those takes,’ said the president.

‘But I heard he did very well today,’ Trump went on. ‘It’s not your standard talk, I would say that, and that has to do with medical and vaccines. But if you look at what’s going on in the world with health and look at this country also with regard to health, I like the fact that he’s different.’

While testifying before the Senate Finance Committee, Kennedy faced intense criticism from Democratic senators, including Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., who accused Kennedy of putting children into ‘harm’s way’ with his policies.

Wyden pressed Kennedy during the hearing, saying that he believed Kennedy had ‘no regrets’ about a ‘fundamentally cruel’ agenda. 

‘This is about kids being pushed into harm’s way by reckless and repeated decisions to get scientists and doctors out of the way and allow conspiracy theories to dictate this country’s health policy,’ Wyden said at the end of his questioning. 

‘I don’t see any evidence that you have any regrets about anything you’ve done or plans to change it. And my last comment is, I hope that you will tell the American people how many preventable child deaths are an acceptable sacrifice for enacting an agenda that I think is fundamentally cruel and defies common sense,’ said Wyden.

Kennedy countered by noting Wyden’s decades in office while chronic disease rates climbed significantly.

‘Senator, you’ve sat in that chair how long? Twenty, 25 years, while the chronic disease of our children went up to 76%. And you said nothing.’

‘You never asked the question of why it’s happening. Why is this happening? Today, for the first time in 20 years, we’ve learned that infant mortality has increased in our country. It’s not because I came in here. It’s because of what happened during the Biden administration that we’re going to end,’ he continued.

Vice President JD Vance also came to Kennedy’s defense on Thursday, saying the senators who grilled him are ‘full of s— and everyone knows it.’

‘When I see all these senators trying to lecture and ‘gotcha’ Bobby Kennedy today all I can think is: You all support off-label, untested, and irreversible hormonal ‘therapies’ for children, mutilating our kids and enriching big pharma,’ Vance wrote in an X post. ‘You’re full of s— and everyone knows it.’

Kennedy reposted the vice president, writing, ‘Thank you @JDVance. You put your finger squarely on the preeminent problem.’

Kennedy’s testimony came one day after over 1,000 current and former HHS employees signed a letter calling for his resignation on Wednesday. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., also called for his resignation.

Fox News Digital’s Alexandra Koch, Jasmine Baehr and Anders Hagstrom contributed to this report.

The U.S. accepted a luxury Boeing Jet as a gift from Qatar in May, with plans to retrofit it to become the next Air Force One. The Air Force says the effort will cost less than $400 million for the updates. Other estimates show it could cost more than $1 billion. 

Meanwhile, a separate deal with Boeing to produce two new 747-8s has faced significant delays and cost the company more than $1 billion.

‘They’re getting a new Air Force One. I didn’t want to do it because if I did it they’d say why are you doing that?,’ President Donald Trump said in January 2016. ‘I don’t mind getting that plane, but, you know, it does seem like an awful lot of money, doesn’t it?’

The Air Force first announced the plan to develop the 747-8s in 2015, when President Barack Obama was in office.

‘The President doesn’t need a new plane right now. But eight years from now, whoever is President, they are likely to need a new plane,’ White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said in October 2015.

Nearly ten years later, the Air Force One project has yet to deliver, prompting President Trump to look for other options.

‘I’m not happy with Boeing. It takes them a long time to do, you know, Air Force One,’ President Trump said in February. ‘I could buy one from another country, perhaps. Or get one from another country.’

The Air Force and Boeing now say their jets could fly by 2027. A White House report estimates the debut might not take place until 2029. President Trump told reporters on July 29, the retrofitted Qatar Jet could be in the air by February. 

‘I think it’s another example of them pulling us so closely to them that our interests become aligned, even if they’re not,’ Staff Writer for the Free Press Jay Solomon said.

According to an investigation by Solomon and fellow Free Press writer Frannie Bock, Qatar has spent almost $100 billion to establish its influence in the U.S. Qatari officials have funneled money into Ivy League universities to build campuses in Doha, newsrooms like Al Jazeera and corporations to establish offices in Qatar. Doha has also made an effort to invite congressional delegations to visit, while paying lobbyists to align with lawmakers on both sides of the aisle. President Trump even made a stop in the country as part of the first major foreign trip of his second term.

‘Their national security apparatus is fused now into the United States. They’re surrounded by Iran, Saudi Arabia, the UAE countries they’re either kind of frenemies with or not friends at all,’ Solomon said.

Qatar’s ties to Iran and extremist groups lead many of its neighbors to sever diplomatic relations for several years.

‘The nation of Qatar, unfortunately, has historically been a funder of terrorism at a very high level,’ President Trump said in June 2017.

The blockade ended with little impact on Qatar’s economy and without Doha meeting the demands to end its ties to terror groups.

‘They sort of use their relationship with the United States as a way to project what is a very aggressive foreign policy. Which there are a lot of questions, is that foreign policy really aligned with the U.S.?’

Qatar allowed the Taliban to open a political office in Doha in 2013 while maintaining close relations with the U.S. The Qataris have also worked to negotiate peace between Israel and Hamas.

‘It’s really unfair accusations for [saying] Qatar’s trying to buy influence. Throughout the last 25 years or 30 years, you will see, you’ll find Qatar always by the side of the U.S. in many areas and many things,’ Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said.

Qatar said they are proud of their relationships with U.S. entities and its effort to mediate conflicts, but some question the country’s intentions.

‘I stew over this, to be honest. A lot of people do. I think they have gotten some of the hostages if you look at it on a positive note, they helped Americans get out of Afghanistan. They helped negotiate the end of our role in Afghanistan. You could look at that and say, wow, that’s positive,’ Solomon said. ‘But I do think they empower groups in a lot instances that are not our friends.’

Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle express unease over Qatar’s controversial record on human rights and terror links.

‘Qatar is not, in my opinion, a great ally,’ Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., said in May.

Rep. Ted Lieu, D-Calif., said at a press conference with other democrats that ‘there is no such thing as a free palace in the sky.’ And Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., noted ‘the Trojan Horse was a gift.’

The White House deflected concerns. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told CNN, ‘the French gave us the Statue of Liberty. The British gave us the Resolute Desk.’

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., announced a hold on approving all Justice Department nominees until the White house gave more details about the jet deal.

‘This just isn’t naked corruption. It’s also a national security threat,’ Schumer said on the Senate Floor in May.

Democrats have now delayed more than 140 judicial nominees.

‘When it comes to gifts, we have ethics rules. We have them in the Senate. We’ve got them in White House. Those rules need to be followed. And ultimately what we want is to make sure that we’ve got the president traveling in a way that’s as safe as possible,’ Sen. Pete Ricketts, R-Neb., said.

A memo reviewed by ABC News stated the donation of the jet is unconditional and that ‘the aircraft may be used or disposed by the DOD in its sole discretion.’

U.S. laws generally prohibit the acceptance of large foreign gifts by government employees, including the president. However, the statute can be interpreted to show gifts can be put into official government use with the agency’s approval.

‘This plane’s not for me. This goes to the United States Air Force. For whoever is president. At some point, it’ll be like Ronald Reagan, it will be decommissioned. You know, it’s 11 years old,’ President Trump said on Special Report during his trip to the Middle East. ‘It would be decommissioned because they won’t want it. Plus, they’ll have the other two planes by that time.’

Legal analysis also shows an individual may transfer large gifts to a government agency for sale or donation. President Trump says the jet would be donated to his presidential library after he leaves office.

‘When they give you a putt, you pick it up and you walk to the next hole and you say, thank you very much,’ President Trump said to questions over the ethics of the gift.

‘There seems to be conflicts of interest all over the place. When it comes to Qatar and the highest wrongs of the administration,’ Solomon said. ‘Are their decisions on these types of issues gonna be in any way conflicted or influenced by the fact that they’re taking major gifts from a government that’s the main Sponsor of the Muslim Brotherhood.’

Israel has 40% control of Gaza City as the Israel Defense Forces are now preparing to seize the entire area, an Israeli military spokesperson confirmed Thursday. 

Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin told reporters at a news briefing that his forces had already secured large neighborhoods in its latest offensive.

‘We continue to damage Hamas’ infrastructure,’ he said before adding: ‘Today we hold 40% of the territory of Gaza City.’

‘We will continue to operate until all the war’s objectives are achieved. First and foremost, the return of the hostages and the dismantling of Hamas’ rule,’ he added.

Last week, Israel declared Gaza City in the north a combat zone, with some districts designated red zones, urging Palestinians to leave.

Senior officials warned that military rule may be imposed and Palestinians were told to evacuate to the south, with some of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition partners pushing for a permanent Israeli settlement in Gaza.

Meanwhile, Gaza health officials said at least 53 Palestinians were killed Thursday, most in Gaza City, as Israeli forces pressed deeper into eastern suburbs.

Residents reported heavy bombardments in Zeitoun, Sabra, Tuffah and Shejaia while tanks advanced into Sheikh Radwan, northwest of the city center, crushing homes and setting fires in encampments.

Mahmoud Bassal, spokesperson for Gaza’s civil emergency service, said the bombardment destroyed four buildings in what he described as a ‘fire belt’ targeting civilians.

‘Even if Israel issues warnings, there are no places that can accommodate the people,’ he said.

On the evacuations, Israeli officials say 70,000 people have fled Gaza City so far, though Palestinian authorities contend far fewer have left, with tens of thousands still in the path of advancing forces.

Israel launched its major Gaza City offensive on Aug. 10 under ‘Operation Gideon’s Chariots,’ deploying tens of thousands of reservists to fight together with its regular troops.

There are still 48 hostages believed to be held in Gaza.

Netanyahu initially said Israel would conquer all of Gaza after indirect talks with Hamas on a ceasefire and hostage release deal broke down in July.