Christians in Sudan are daily facing hunger, misery and terror. The new Open Doors World Watch List for 2026, which ranks the worst countries in the world for the persecution of Christians, placed the country at No. 4, up one place from last year’s report. 

There are an estimated 2 million Christians in the conflict-ridden northeastern African country. Sudan’s civil war has raged past the 1,000- day milestone with 150,000 people reported to have been killed and more than 13 million displaced. Christians have lived in Sudan since the late first century.

Many of Sudan’s Christians live in the Nuba Mountains, part of the Kordofan region. Rafat Samir, general secretary of the Sudan Evangelical Alliance, told Fox News Digital that the ‘Nuba Mountains now, where the majority of our church members are  coming from, is under siege and  bombing every day for the last six months or seven months. Last week, after Christmas, they bombed our church, hospital and school.’

Adding to the misery, a report by MEMRI, citing Christian Daily international, said 11 Sudanese Christians were killed, as they took part in a procession to their church for a religious celebration on Christmas Day by a drone operated by the government’s Sudanese Armed Forces. 18 others were injured in the attack. MEMRI reported the SAF are backed by the Muslim Brotherhood.

A State Department spokesperson told Fox News Digital, ‘Since the April 2023 outbreak of conflict in Sudan, we have witnessed significant backsliding in Sudan’s overall respect for fundamental freedoms, including religious freedom. This backsliding especially impacts Sudan’s oppressed ethnic and religious populations, including Christians.’ 

In a Fox News Digital report last year, Christians were said to be eating grass to survive. Samir says the position is even more bleak in 2026: ‘even the grass is gone now.’

‘The conflict is accelerating the erasure of ancient Christian communities and sacred heritage,’ Mariam Wahba, research analyst at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), told Fox News Digital. ‘These losses will be far harder to reverse than the rebuilding of roads or ministries once the guns fall silent,’ she said.

Ideologically, Sudan’s Christians face a hostile future, Samir of the Evangelical Alliance said. ‘Both sides in the civil conflict are daughters of the Islamist movement in Sudan, and the Islamic ideology of both of them is to not have tolerance for others. They consider everyone different from them is against them. The Christian is considered their enemy as part of their religious ideology, and opposing them their religious duty.’

He continued, ‘So whoever does something to harm Christians is considered favorable to the law or to Allah.’ Samir went on to say, ‘the country is getting back to the dark ages.’

Repeated and continuing attempts at getting the government’s Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the opposing militia, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), to reach a ceasefire have failed. Both sides admit they are still fighting and, it’s clear, killing civilians with sustained energy, particularly in the central Sudanese region of Kordofan, home to many Christians.

‘The United States is committed to ending the horrific conflict in Sudan,’ a State Department spokesperson told Fox News Digital, adding, ‘Under President Trump’s leadership, we are working with our allies and others to facilitate a humanitarian truce and bring an end to external military support to the parties which is fueling the violence. President Trump wants peace in Sudan.’     

The spokesperson continued, ‘The suffering of civilians has reached catastrophic levels, with millions lacking food, water and medical care. Every day of continued fighting costs more innocent lives. The war in Sudan is an enduring threat to regional stability.’

The U.N. says fighting is increasing in Kordofan, with U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk telling reporters in Port Sudan on Jan. 18, ‘I am very worried that the atrocity crimes committed during and after the takeover of El Fasher are at grave risk of repeating themselves in the Kordofan region, where the conflict has been rapidly escalating since late October.’

‘The Kordofan states are extremely volatile,’ he continued, ‘with relentless military engagements, heavy shelling, drone bombardments and airstrikes causing widespread destruction and collapse of essential services.’

Wahba said that ‘while the United States remains kinetically active across neighboring theaters, it is unlikely to wade directly into Sudan’s civil war.’

‘President Trump’, Wahba added, ‘has signaled a clear desire to see the conflict resolved —  an objective echoed by both Egypt and Saudi Arabia — but translating that consensus into outcomes on the ground has proven far more difficult than the rhetoric suggests.’

‘For now,’ Wahba continued, ‘U.S. policy is centered on convening regional stakeholders and pressing for alignment among them, while prioritizing humanitarian corridors, aid delivery and coordination with partners willing to host talks. Washington is acting as a facilitator, not an enforcer.’

‘This posture reflects both constraint and caution. Sudan presents few reliable leverage points, no unified opposition partner, and (there’s) little appetite in Congress or the White House for another open-ended entanglement in a fragmented civil war. The result is a policy that remains fluid and reactive, and is shaped less by strategy than by crisis management,’ she said.

Despite everything, the Sudan Evangelical Alliance’s Samir has hope, ‘The Holy Spirit is moving and God’s hand is working in our country. I can tell you through this evil, this darkness, the light of love of our God is lighting in many hearts. The devil is stealing people to death every day. We pray that let us Christians live for one day more, for one day more to proclaim Jesus’s message.’

President Donald Trump is waging war against a century-old tradition in the Senate that both Republicans and Democrats don’t want to touch.

Trump has ebbed and flowed in his disdain for the blue slip tradition in the upper chamber, taking out his frustrations on Senate Judiciary Chair Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and other Republicans who have drawn a firm line in the sand for their support of the practice.

Much of his anger stemmed from the blue slip’s role in derailing a pair of his hand-picked U.S. attorney nominees — Alina Habba and Lindsey Halligan — last year.

Trump sounded off on the practice late last year in the Oval Office, arguing that the GOP should ‘get rid of blue slips, because, as a Republican President, I am unable to put anybody in office having to do with US attorneys or having to do with judges.’

But the practice, which has been around since World War I, is likely not going anywhere, given that it’s been a valuable tool for minority parties to block nominees.

The tradition allows for home state senators to weigh in on judicial nominees, giving them a say on who does and doesn’t move forward. Returning a blue slip is the equivalent of giving a thumbs up to the nominees moving forward, while keeping the slip effectively blocks the process.

While the tradition was used to block both Halligan and Habba, both of whom served as Trump’s attorneys while in between stints in the White House, Republicans have still been successful in confirming several of the president’s judicial picks.

Grassley noted in a post on X that ‘nearly 1/5 of the 417 nominees who were confirmed this [year] went’ through his committee.

‘I’m ready to process even more in the new [year] just need materials from WH and DOJ so [committee] can continue contributing to Senate’s historic nominations progress,’ he said.

While Senate Democrats tried to block as many of Trump’s nominees throughout last year, Republicans changed the rules to ram more through. That resulted in the upper chamber confirming 36 U.S. attorneys and 26 federal judges.

Four of those were from Democratic senators with blue slips in Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, Michigan and Minnesota, where the Trump administration’s usage of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents has faced legal challenges.

Both of Minnesota’s Democratic Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith, who aren’t quiet critics of Trump and his administration, returned their blue slips for U.S. Attorney Daniel Rosen last year.

‘Putting aside political differences, he is respected across the board in Minnesota, and so I thought he would be a good U.S. attorney,’ Smith said.

And notably, the blue slip tradition was used by Republicans to ensure that Trump would have 15 judges to appoint once he took office, blocking several of former President Joe Biden’s nominees in the process. There is also not a single blue slip holding up a judicial nominee currently making its way through the process.

There have also been several Senate Republicans who have pushed back against Trump’s demand to decimate the tradition, including Sens. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., and John Kennedy, R-La., both members of the Judiciary Committee.

They argued that the entire point of the blue slip was to ensure that individual senators got to have a say on the matter, and that the ‘issue cut both ways.’

‘I would urge my colleagues to respectfully tell the president that we would do damage to this institution, and we would do damage to the power of individual senators if we were to rescind the blue slip,’ Tillis said on the Senate floor last year.

Like many instances of Trump’s desire to take a sledgehammer to Senate tradition or procedure, Republicans largely aren’t biting.

And neither are members of Senate GOP leadership, including Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., who last year argued that there was more of an ‘intense feeling about preserving the blue slip maybe even than there is the filibuster.’

Thune noted that he and fellow South Dakota Republican Sen. Mike Rounds both took advantage of the blue slip process to ensure that their state had a Republican-appointed district court judge for the first time since former President Ronald Reagan’s presidency.

‘There were two vacancies,’ Thune said. ‘They wanted one Dem, we gave them a Dem, we got a Republican person into that position in South Dakota. So it’s — there are examples of how that process, I think, works to our advantage, and that’s what most senators hang on to when it comes to a discussion about the blue slip.’

President Donald Trump threatened on Saturday that he would implement 100% tariffs on Canada if it strikes a deal to become a ‘drop off port’ for China.

‘If Governor Carney thinks he is going to make Canada a ‘drop off port’ for China to send goods and products into the United States, he is sorely mistaken. China will eat Canada alive, completely devour it, including the destruction of their businesses, social fabric, and general way of life,’ Trump wrote on Truth Social.

‘If Canada makes a deal with China, it will immediately be hit with a 100% tariff against all Canadian goods and products coming into the U.S.A.,’ the president added.

Trump referred to Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney as a ‘governor,’ echoing comments he made while campaigning for a second term about annexing America’s northern neighbor. He previously used the same term when speaking about Carney’s predecessor, Justin Trudeau.

Carney made his first official visit to China earlier this month as he and Chinese President Xi Jinping work together to forge an improved bond between their countries. 

During the Jan. 14-17 visit, the leaders of the two nations reached an agreement that would allow up to 49,000 Chinese electric vehicles to enter the Canadian market at a lower tariff rate of 6.1%, Carney’s office announced. 

‘At its best, the Canada-China relationship has created massive opportunities for both our peoples. By leveraging our strengths and focusing on trade, energy, agri-food, and areas where we can make huge gains, we are forging a new strategic partnership that builds on the best of our past, reflects the world as it is today, and benefits the people of both our nations,’ Carney said in the statement.

Additionally, by March 1, China is expected to drop its tariff on Canadian canola seed to a combined rate of 15%. Carney’s office said that Canada expects that its canola meal, lobsters, crabs, and peas will not be subject to relevant anti-discrimination tariffs beginning March 1 ‘until at least the end of this year.’

It is unclear what deal would trigger a response from Trump in the wake of the ones made during Carney’s trip to China.

Tensions between Carney and Trump have flared in recent days, as the leaders took swipes at one another at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland — and at home after the conference.

Carney, fresh off his trip to China, delievered a speech that garnered international attention. While he did not mention Trump by name, he made a reference to the U.S., saying that ‘rules-based order is fading.’ Many, including the U.S. president, saw this as a jab at Trump.

‘Every day we’re reminded that we live in an era of great-power rivalry,’ Carney said. ‘That the rules-based order is fading. That the strong can do what they can, and the weak must suffer what they must.’ 

He admitted that there were benefits to U.S. leadership on the world stage, but painted the entire concept of a rules-based international order as a falsity that is actively failing. Additionally, in his address, Carney urged middle powers, like Canada, to assert themselves and take the opportunity to ‘build a new order that embodies our values.’

‘Middle powers must act together because if you are not at the table, you are on the menu,’ Carney said. 

When delivering his address on Wednesday, Trump did not shy away from taking aim at Carney. He said that Canada ‘should be grateful’ because the country gets ‘a lot of freebies’ from the U.S., though he did not say what he was referring to.

‘I watched your prime minister yesterday. He wasn’t so grateful,’ Trump said. ‘Canada lives because of the United States. Remember that, Mark, the next time you make your statements.’

In another apparent swipe at Carney, Trump issued an ‘open letter’ to the Canadian leader on Truth Social revoking Canada’s invitation to join the Board of Peace, a U.S.-led council tasked with managing Gaza’s post-war future.

‘Please let this Letter serve to represent that the Board of Peace is withdrawing its invitation to you regarding Canada’s joining, what will be, the most prestigious Board of Leaders ever assembled, at any time. Thank you for your attention to this matter!’ Trump wrote on Truth Social.

The inauguration of the Board of Peace took place after Carney had already departed, according to The Associated Press.

Upon his return to Canada, Carney addressed a cabinet retreat and took the opportunity to reject Trump’s claim.

‘Canada and the United States have built a remarkable partnership in the economy, in security, and in a rich cultural exchange,’ Carney said on Thursday while speaking in Plains of Abraham, Québec, during a cabinet retreat. 

‘But Canada doesn’t ‘live because of the United States’,’ he said, referencing Trump’s remark. ‘Canada thrives because we are Canadian. We are masters in our own house. This is our country. This is our future. The choice is ours.’

Fox News Digital reached out to the White House and Carney’s office for comment.

Chaos engulfing northeastern Syria has sparked fresh security fears after Syria’s new governing authorities moved against U.S.-backed Kurdish forces, forcing the U.S. military to rush ISIS detainees out of Syria and into Iraq.

The U.S. military launched an operation Wednesday to relocate ISIS detainees amid fears that instability could trigger mass prison breaks. So far, about 150 detainees have been transferred from a detention center in Hasakah, Syria, with plans to move up to 7,000 of the roughly 9,000 to 10,000 ISIS detainees held in Syria, U.S. officials said.

The operation comes as Syria’s new government, led by President Ahmed al-Sharaa, ordered the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) — Washington’s longtime partner in the fight against ISIS — to disband following a rapid offensive over the weekend that severely weakened the group.

Syrian government forces have since assumed control of several detention facilities previously guarded by the SDF. At least 120 ISIS detainees escaped during a breakout at the al-Shaddadi prison in Hasakah this week, according to Syrian authorities, who say many have been recaptured. U.S. and regional officials caution that some escapees remain at large.

The deteriorating security situation also has raised alarms around al-Hol camp, a sprawling detention site housing the families of ISIS fighters and long viewed by Western officials as a breeding ground for radicalization.

Kurdish forces announced they would withdraw from overseeing the camp, citing what they described as international indifference to the ISIS threat.

‘Due to the international community’s indifference towards the ISIS issue and its failure to assume its responsibilities in addressing this serious matter, our forces were compelled to withdraw from al-Hol camp and redeploy,’ the SDF said in a statement.

The camp is currently home to about 24,000 people, mostly women and children linked to ISIS fighters from across the Middle East and Europe. Many residents have no formal charges, according to aid groups, and humanitarian organizations have long warned that extremist networks operate inside the camp.

The SDF said guards were redeployed to confront the threat posed by Syrian government forces advancing into Kurdish-held territory. On Tuesday evening, Kurdish forces and Syrian government troops agreed to a four-day ceasefire, though officials warned the truce remains fragile.

Meanwhile, The Wall Street Journal reported that U.S. officials are weighing whether to withdraw the roughly 1,000 American troops still stationed in Syria, raising questions about Washington’s long-term ability to secure ISIS detainees as local alliances shift.

Two U.S. Army soldiers were killed in Syria in December 2025 by a lone ISIS gunman.

ISIS lost its last territorial stronghold in Syria in 2019, when U.S. forces and their SDF partners overran the group’s enclave in Baghouz. While the defeat ended the group’s self-declared caliphate, U.S. and allied officials say ISIS has since regrouped as a decentralized insurgency, repeatedly targeting prisons and detention camps in Syria and Iraq.

Western governments have cautiously backed al-Sharaa — a former militant once designated as a terrorist — since his forces overthrew longtime Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad, framing the support as a pragmatic security calculation rather than an endorsement of his past.

U.S. envoy to Syria Tom Barrack urged Kurdish leaders to reach a permanent deal with the new Syrian government, emphasizing Washington’s focus on preventing an ISIS resurgence rather than maintaining an indefinite military presence.

‘The United States has no interest in a long-term military presence,’ Barrack said, adding that U.S. priorities include securing ISIS detention facilities and facilitating talks between the SDF and the Syrian government.

The Republican National Committee (RNC) is taking a big step toward holding its first-ever midterm convention.

The RNC on Friday approved a change to the party’s rules that would allow Chair Joe Gruters to convene a convention during a midterm election year.

National political conventions, where party delegates from around the country formally nominate their party’s presidential candidates, normally take place during presidential election years.

But with Republicans aiming to protect their narrow control of the Senate and their razor-thin House majority in this year’s elections, President Donald Trump announced in September that the GOP would hold a convention ahead of the midterms ‘in order to show the great things we have done’ since recapturing the White House.

As first reported by Fox News Digital, the rule change was adopted Thursday evening by the RNC’s Rules Committee during the party’s winter meeting in Santa Barbara, California.

The full RNC membership, meeting Friday during the confab’s general session, approved the rule change in a unanimous vote.

A memo obtained by Fox News Digital highlighted ‘the possibility of an America First midterm convention-style gathering aligned with President Trump’s vision for energizing the party this fall.’

And speaking with reporters on Friday, Gruters called the convention a ‘Trump-a-palooza’ where ‘we can really highlight all the incredible things that this president has done.’

But the president’s approval ratings remain well underwater, with many Americans giving him a big thumbs down on the job he’s doing with the economy and the issue of affordability.

‘Trump has historically low approval ratings because he has put America last, sold out working families to hand out favors to billionaires, and made life unaffordable,’ Democratic National Committee (DNC) Chair Ken Martin told Fox News Digital in a statement.

The party in power, in this case the Republicans, normally faces stiff political headwinds in the midterms. And the hope among Trump and top Republicans is that a midterm convention would give the GOP a high-profile platform to showcase the president’s record and their congressional candidates running in the midterms.

Gruters, in a statement to Fox News Digital, touted that the RNC’s winter meeting ‘shows how completely united Republicans are behind President Trump and our efforts to win the midterms. The RNC has been aggressively focused on expanding our war chest, turning out voters and protecting the ballot in this fall’s elections. We’re building the operation needed to protect our majorities and give President Trump a full four-year term with a Republican Congress.’

Details on the date and location of the midterm convention will come at a later date and will likely be announced by the president.

But a Republican source told Fox News Digital it’s probable the convention would be held at the same time as the RNC’s summer meeting, which typically occurs in August.

The DNC may also hold a midterm convention. Sources confirmed to Fox News Digital last summer that Martin and other party leaders were quietly pushing the idea of a convention ahead of the midterms.

Democrats held a handful of midterm conventions in the 1970s and 1980s.

Iran’s top prosecutor Thursday denied President Donald Trump’s claim that Tehran, Iran, halted mass executions of imprisoned protesters under U.S. pressure — a rebuttal that comes as Trump openly warned Iran it would face consequences more severe than recent U.S. strikes on its nuclear facilities if the executions went forward.

Trump has said he pulled back from threats to intervene militarily after Iran agreed to stop the execution of as many as 800 detained demonstrators following days of anti-regime unrest.

‘This claim is completely false, no such number exists, nor has the judiciary made any such decision,’ Mohammad Movahedi was quoted by Iranian state media as saying Friday. 

‘We have a separation of powers, the responsibilities of each institution are clearly defined, and we do not, under any circumstances, take instructions from foreign powers,’ he added.

Movahedi is an Iranian cleric and judge who serves as the nation’s prosecutor general. He previously warned that those taking part in the protests were ‘enemies of God,’ a crime punishable by death. 

Iran’s mission to the United Nations declined to comment on the discrepancy between Trump and Movahedi’s claims. For News Digital also reached out to the State Department for more details and has not yet received a response. 

A White House official said Trump ‘is watching the situation in Iran very seriously and all options are on the table if the regime executes protesters.’ 

The official declined to say where Trump had learned executions were being halted but added: ‘As a result of President Trump’s warnings, Iranian protesters who were scheduled to be sentenced to death were not. As President Trump stated, he thinks this is good news and hopes this trend continues.’

The denial reopens questions raised in the past week, when Trump publicly warned Iran and encouraged protesters by saying ‘help is on its way,’ setting expectations of U.S. action as security forces carried out a violent crackdown. U.S. and regional security officials said at the time that restraint reflected concern over retaliation against U.S. forces and allies — not a retreat from confrontation.

Trump has since argued that pressure worked, saying Iran backed away from planned executions after he warned of severe consequences. Iran’s rejection of that claim now sharpens the stakes, raising the prospect that Washington may soon face a test of whether it is prepared to act if executions resume — or risk its warnings being dismissed.

Trump on Thursday told reporters that a U.S. ‘armada’ was heading toward Iran, signaling that Washington is prepared to escalate if the country continues executions or intensifies its crackdown.

Recalling a conversation with Iranian envoys, Trump said: ‘I said, if you hang those people, you’re going to be hit harder than you’ve ever been hit.’

‘It will make what we did to Iran nuclear look like peanuts,’ he said. ‘And an hour before this horrible thing was going to take place, they canceled. And they actually said they canceled and they didn’t postpone it they canceled it. So that was a good sign.’ 

‘We have an armada heading in that direction. And maybe we won’t have to use it,’ Trump said. ‘We’ll see,’ 

The president said the U.S. has ‘a big force going to Iran,’ adding, ‘I’d rather not see anything happen,’ but warning that ‘we have a lot of ships going that direction just in case.’

The Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group set sail from the South China Sea toward the Middle East in the past week and is expected to arrive in the region soon, placing significant U.S. firepower within striking distance of Iran amid rising tensions. The Lincoln carries F-35C stealth fighters, F/A-18 Super Hornets and destroyer escorts armed with Tomahawk cruise missiles and advanced air-defense systems.

The deployment has renewed questions over whether the United States is prepared to intervene militarily if Iran resumes executions or continues its crackdown on protesters, which already has left thousands dead.

Iranian state television has acknowledged that more than 3,000 people have been killed during the unrest, while activists and human rights groups say the true death toll is significantly higher — a discrepancy that underscores the regime’s tight control over information as international scrutiny intensifies.

By publicly tying U.S. military action to the fate of detained protesters, Trump has drawn a clear red line. Iran’s refusal to acknowledge U.S. pressure, even as American naval forces move closer, leaves little room for ambiguity — and raises the risk of escalation as both sides test each other’s resolve.

Iran’s top prosecutor pushed back Friday on a recent announcement from President Donald Trump that Iran canceled more than 800 executions, alleging that the president’s remarks are ‘completely false.’ 

Trump wrote on Truth Social last week, ‘I greatly respect the fact that all scheduled hangings, which were to take place yesterday (Over 800 of them), have been cancelled by the leadership of Iran. Thank you!’ 

However, Iran’s top prosecutor, Mohammad Movahedi, said Friday that, ‘This claim is completely false; no such number exists, nor has the judiciary made any such decision,’ according to The Associated Press. 

‘We have a separation of powers, the responsibilities of each institution are clearly defined, and we do not, under any circumstances, take instructions from foreign powers,’ Movahedi reportedly added in comments published by the Iranian judiciary’s Mizan news agency.

When asked for reaction Friday, a White House official told Fox News Digital that Trump is monitoring the situation in Iran very seriously and that all options remain available if the regime in Tehran executes protesters. 

The official added that following Trump’s warnings to Iran, demonstrators who were set to be sentenced to death there were not. 

The White House official also said Trump believes this is good news and is hoping the trend continues.

‘What I will say with respect to Iran is that the president and his team have communicated to the Iranian regime that if the killing continues, there will be grave consequences,’ White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters last week. 

As of Friday, there have been 5,032 deaths during the crackdown against anti-government protesters in Iran, the AP reported, citing the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency.

Iran’s government offered its first death toll Wednesday, saying 3,117 people had been killed. It claimed that 2,427 of the dead in the demonstrations that began Dec. 28 were civilians and security forces, with the rest being ‘terrorists.’ 

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

As President Donald Trump aims to build a ballroom at the White House, federal Judge Richard Leon on Thursday reportedly asked Justice Department lawyers to point to what authority allows the president to engage in a construction project at the White House.

‘Where do you see the authority for the president to tear down the East Wing and build something in its place?’ the judge asked, according to The Washington Post. 

While the outlet reported that Leon said he could issue a decision next month, NBC News reported that the judge promised that he would issue a decision in February.

Attorney Thad Heuer, who represents the National Trust for Historic Preservation, contended that the president lacks the constitutional power to rip down the East Wing and build a ballroom, according to NBC News, which quoted Heuer as saying, ‘He’s not the owner.’

The outlet reported that the judge seemed to be leaning in the direction of pausing the project.

Fox News Digital reached out to the White House on Friday.

‘The president didn’t want $400 million in taxpayer money to be used for this,’ Justice Department attorney Yaakov Roth said, according to NBC News. 

‘He wanted to use donations,’ Roth noted.

The project began last year at the behest of Trump, but he has asserted that it is being funded by private donations, not taxpayer dollars.

‘I am honored to be the first President to finally get this much-needed project underway — with zero cost to the American Taxpayer!’ Trump declared in an October Truth Social post. ‘The White House Ballroom is being privately funded by many generous Patriots, Great American Companies, and, yours truly. This Ballroom will be happily used for Generations to come!’ 

Air Force One experiencing a minor mechanical issues as President Donald Trump began his trip to Davos, Switzerland, Tuesday evening proved his point that the U.S. needs to update its presidential plane, the White House told Fox News Digital. 

‘The minor mechanical issue proves that President Trump was right again,’ White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly tolf Fox News Digital. 

‘The new Air Force One will be a welcome donation to the United States Air Force, not just for the President, but for the entire Air Force One crew,’ she added. 

The Department of Defense in May 2025 formally accepted a 747 jetliner from Qatar to serve as a new Air Force One, which can serve as a replacement for the two current Air Force Ones. 

The new jet will be set to take to the skies in the summer of 2026, The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday, following the Pentagon retrofitting the jet and combing through it for security and spying devices. 

Both Democrats and Republicans criticized Trump after he announced the Department of Defense planned to accept the jumbo jet from the government of Qatar in May 2025, arguing the gift is riddled with both espionage concerns and constitutional questions. 

‘The Air Force remains committed to expediting delivery of the VC-25 bridge aircraft in support of the Presidential airlift mission, with an anticipated delivery no later than summer 2026,’ an Air Force spokesperson told the outlet. 

Fox News Digital reached out to the White House Thursday for additional comment on the matter. 

Air Force One experienced a ‘minor electrical issue’ after takeoff at 10:20 p.m. and returned ‘out of an abundance of caution,’ White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Tuesday evening. 

Reporters on the flight said the lights in the cabin went out before the plane returned to Maryland around 45 minutes into the trip. 

Leavitt joked aboard the plane that a Qatari jet sounded ‘much better’ at the moment, Fox News Digital previously reported. 

Trump recently left Davos, Switzerland, after attending the World Economic Forum, which attracted foreign government leaders, celebrities and business titans to discuss the world’s economy. Trump’s trip came as he pressures European nations to ink a deal that would hand control of Greenland to the United States from the Kingdom of Denmark. 

The plane’s issue comes after a yearslong saga by Trump raising concerns that the current presidential plane is decades old and in need of repairs, while pinning blame on Boeing for failing to swiftly build a new fleet. 

‘We’re very disappointed that it’s taking Boeing so long to build a new Air Force One,’ Trump said during a press conference in May. ‘You know, we have an Air Force One that’s 40 years old. And if you take a look at that, compared to the new plane of the equivalent, you know, stature at the time, it’s not even the same ballgame.’ 

Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg acknowledged Trump’s dissatisfaction with the speed of building two Boeing 747 jumbo jets in February 2025, and said the company was working to speed the process along. The U.S. government continues to hold a contract with Boeing for the planes, with the Air Force reporting in December 2025 that the first jet should be delivered by mid-2028, according to Air and Space Forces Magazine. 

Trump had railed against a government deal with Boeing to build a new fleet of Air Force Ones ahead of his first administration, posting on social media in December 2016 that the ‘costs are out of control, more than $4 billion’ to build the two aircraft.

Fox News Digital’s Michael Sinkewicz contributed to this report. 

As Americans brace for massive winter storms expected to impact more than 170 million people across the U.S., President Donald Trump mocked what he described as ‘environmental insurrectionists’ in a Truth Social post on Friday.

‘Record Cold Wave expected to hit 40 States. Rarely seen anything like it before,’ Trump said in the post.

‘Could the Environmental Insurrectionists please explain — WHATEVER HAPPENED TO GLOBAL WARMING???’ he quipped.

‘A significant, long-duration winter storm will bring widespread heavy snow, sleet, and freezing rain from the Southern Rockies to New England through Monday. Widespread travel disruptions, prolonged power outages, and vast tree damage is likely,’ the National Weather Service noted in a Friday post on X.

In a Truth Social post last year, the president declared, ‘I (WE!) just won the War on the Climate Change Hoax.’ 

Trump’s post addressed a recent essay by Bill Gates. In the essay, Gates wrote, ‘Although climate change will have serious consequences — particularly for people in the poorest countries — it will not lead to humanity’s demise. People will be able to live and thrive in most places on Earth for the foreseeable future.’

‘Bill Gates has finally admitted that he was completely WRONG on the issue,’ Trump wrote at the time. ‘It took courage to do so, and for that we are all grateful.’ 

Former Democratic President Joe Biden repeatedly addressed the issue of climate change during his White House tenure.

In his 2023 State of the Union Address, Biden claimed there is a ‘climate crisis’ that is ‘an existential threat.’

In a Truth Social post the night of Biden’s 2023 speech, Trump asserted, ‘His Climate Change statements, they can no longer use Global Warming because that doesn’t work anymore, will bankrupt our Country, and bring us into the Third World status, which we’re getting closer and closer to anyway.’

The Associated Press contributed to this report.