USAID will no longer send foreign assistance across the globe, with the State Department taking over any such programs that President Donald Trump’s administration wishes to continue, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced Tuesday.

Rubio made the announcement in a Tuesday statement, saying USAID had for decades failed to ensure the programs it funded actually supported America’s interests. The State Department will take over foreign assistance programs beginning July 1, he said.

‘Beyond creating a globe-spanning NGO industrial complex at taxpayer expense, USAID has little to show since the end of the Cold War. Development objectives have rarely been met, instability has often worsened, and anti-American sentiment has only grown,’ Rubio wrote.

‘This era of government-sanctioned inefficiency has officially come to an end. Under the Trump Administration, we will finally have a foreign funding mission in America that prioritizes our national interests. As of July 1st, USAID will officially cease to implement foreign assistance. Foreign assistance programs that align with administration policies—and which advance American interests—will be administered by the State Department, where they will be delivered with more accountability, strategy, and efficiency,’ he continued.

The move comes after the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) gutted USAID as part of Trump’s effort to remove waste, fraud and abuse from the federal government.

The agency came under fire for many funding choices, including allocating $1.5 million for a program that sought to ‘advance diversity, equity and inclusion in Serbia’s workplaces and business communities’ and a $70,000 program for a ‘DEI musical’ in Ireland.

As a result, Rubio announced on March 11 that the State Department had completed a six-week review and would cancel more than 80% of USAID programs — cutting roughly 5,200 of USAID’s 6,200 programs.

Democrats have blasted the Trump administration’s efforts to trim foreign aid programs, and many activists have protested the plans. Actress Charlize Theron lashed out at the administration on Monday.

‘The world feels like it’s burning because it is,’ Theron said at the annual Charlize Theron Africa Outreach Program Block Party, according to Variety.

‘Foreign aid cuts brought HIV and AIDS programs in my home country of South Africa to an absolute standstill,’ Theron said. ‘All of this is not just detrimental, it’s dangerous. People will lose their lives. Many have already, unfortunately, and at a frightening rate. It’s absolutely heartbreaking to see this kind of unnecessary suffering.’

Theron also criticized recent immigration raids in Los Angeles and claimed that women and LGBTQ people are also under threat of ‘being erased.’

‘Here in Los Angeles, in the U.S. and across the globe, we are moving backwards fast. Immigration policy is destroying the lives of families, not criminals. Women’s rights are becoming less and less every day, queer and trans lives are increasingly being erased, and gender-based violence is on the rise. This isn’t just policy, it’s personal. F— them,’ she said.

Theron emphasized, however, that there is hope in ‘standing up, organizing, protesting, voting and caring for each other, and refusing to accept that this is the new normal.’ She touted her charity as an example.

Fox News’ Diana Stancy and Lindsay Kornick contributed to this report

An Iran-linked cyber group is threatening to release a trove of emails it claims to have stolen from top Trump officials and allies. 

The hackers previously released a batch of stolen emails to the media during the 2024 campaign. 

Under the pseudonym Robert, the hackers first told Reuters they had roughly 100 gigabytes of emails from White House chief of staff Susie Wiles, President Donald Trump confidante Roger Stone, Trump lawyer Lindsey Halligan and Stormy Daniels, the porn star who claims to have had an affair with Trump. 

Attorney General Pam Bondi called the hack an ‘unconscionable cyberattack’ and said government agencies would work to ‘protect the officials targeted by this rogue group.’

FBI Director Kash Patel added in a statement, ‘Safeguarding our administration officials’ ability to securely communicate to accomplish the president’s mission is a top priority.’  

‘Anyone associated with any kind of breach of national security will be fully investigated and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.’

Marci McCarthy, spokesperson for the Cyber and Infrastructure Security Agency, called Iran’s threat ‘an effort to distract, discredit and divide.’ 

‘These criminals will be brought to justice,’ she said in a statement. Let this be a warning to others there will be no refuge, tolerance or leniency for these actions

‘A hostile foreign adversary is threatening to illegally exploit purportedly stolen and unverified material in an effort to distract, discredit and divide. This so-called ‘cyber attack’ is nothing more than digital propaganda, and the targets are no coincidence. This is a calculated smear campaign meant to damage President Trump and discredit honorable public servants.’ 

Last summer, at the height of the 2024 election, Iranian-linked hackers sent material stolen from the Trump campaign to individuals associated with the Biden campaign and to U.S. media organizations. In an indictment in September, the Biden Justice Department accused three members of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps of being behind the leak. 

In May, the hackers behind ‘Robert’ signaled to Reuters they would not be leaking any more documents. ‘I am retired, man.’ 

However, the group reached back out after Israel and the U.S. attacked Iran’s nuclear sites. They said they were organizing a sale of the stolen communications and asked Reuters to publicize it.

U.S. cyber officials warned on Monday that U.S. companies and critical infrastructure operators may still be in Iran’s crosshairs. Experts have suggested Iran may be looking for non-military ways to punish the U.S. for its strikes. 

‘Despite a declared ceasefire and ongoing negotiations towards a permanent solution, Iranian-affiliated cyber actors and hacktivist groups may still conduct malicious cyber activity,’ U.S. agencies said in an advisory. 

The new threat comes as Trump insists he is not speaking to Iran and has offered them nothing for nuclear negotiations. He has said Iran’s facilities were ‘totally obliterated.’ 

Fox News’ David Spunt contributed to this report. 

Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk threatened to support primary challenges of GOP senators who vote in favor of President Donald Trump’s ‘big, beautiful bill,’ prompting pushback from some senators who spoke to Fox News Digital. 

‘I’ll take President Trump’s endorsement over Elon’s any day of the week back home,’ Kansas GOP Sen. Roger Marshall told Fox News Digital.

‘Look, we need to pass this bill because it helps fulfill President Trump’s agenda. His priorities were to secure the border, bring back prosperity and security. I think if we do those things, if we bring back the prosperity and the security, we’re going to get re-elected. Elon’s continuing his little spat, we are ignoring him. Let’s get this bill across the finish line.’

GOP Sen. Tommy Tuberville of Alabama told Fox News Digital that the ‘bottom line’ is that ’51 of us are going to vote for this tonight.’

I saw some of the things he’s upset over, the subsidies that we’re cutting out of energy, you know, the wind and solar. He thinks that we need to do more with energy, and I agree with that, but we can’t keep funding it through the federal government. We’ve got to go out there and do it the right way through private enterprise like he’s done it.’

Missouri GOP Sen. Schmitt praised Musk’s work at DOGE, saying he has a ‘ton of respect’ for the former DOGE chief and said he should be congratulated for the ‘incredible thing’ he did for the country, finding waste, fraud and abuse in the federal government.

‘Everybody’s entitled to their opinions,’ Schmitt said. 

GOP Tennessee Sen. Bill Hagerty told Fox News Digital that by the time primary elections come up in 2026, the country will ‘already be seeing the benefits of the bill.’

We’re going to see more growth and more tax benefits, more revenue benefits, I should say, so, I don’t think that the doom and gloom being predicted by many is actually going to manifest itself,’ Hagerty explained. ‘In fact, I think we’re opening the door to a new golden era, as President Trump likes to say.’

South Dakota GOP Sen. Jon Hoeven pushed back on the criticism that the bill would increase the deficit by arguing the deficit would be reduced via revenue growth and savings. 

I think people understand that he, you know, didn’t like the one big, beautiful bill,’ Hoeven said. ‘So I don’t know that people have paid, you know, nearly as much attention to it this time around.’

Marshall, when asked if he thought Musk’s primary threats would hurt Republicans in the midterms, said, ‘I haven’t given it a second thought today.’

It would be a big speed bump in certain states, in Kansas, probably not so much. I think President Trump was wildly popular in most of these states. I think we need to find a way to get Elon back on board. He’s a smart person, brings a lot to our economy. Let’s figure out how to bring Elon back into the fold here.’

Musk intensified his ongoing feud with Trump and his allies this week in a political warning to lawmakers that he would work to unseat them if they voted in support of Trump’s bill.

‘Anyone who campaigned on the PROMISE of REDUCING SPENDING, but continues to vote on the BIGGEST DEBT ceiling increase in HISTORY will see their face on this poster in the primary next year,’ Musk posted to X Monday evening.

The message was accompanied by an image of Pinocchio sitting on fire and the caption, ‘LIAR Voted to increase America’s DEBT by 5,000,000,000.00’

‘Every member of Congress who campaigned on reducing government spending and then immediately voted for the biggest debt increase in history should hang their head in shame! And they will lose their primary next year if it is the last thing I do on this Earth,’ Musk declared in a post on X on Monday.

On Tuesday morning, as the bill was being debated in the Senate, Trump warned that the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is a ‘monster that might have to go back and eat Elon.’

‘DOGE is the monster that might have to go back and eat Elon. Wouldn’t that be terrible?’ Trump told the media Tuesday morning as he departed for a trip to the Florida Everglades to visit a new migrant detention center. ‘He gets a lot of subsidies. But, Elon was very upset that the EV mandate is going to be terminated.’ 

His response followed a question regarding whether he would deport Musk, who is originally from South Africa. Trump responded, ‘I don’t know, we’ll have to take a look.’

Fox News Digital’s Emma Colton contributed to this report.

Senate Republicans rallied to send President Donald Trump’s ‘big, beautiful bill’ back to the House, notching a major victory in their record-shattering march toward getting the legislation signed into law.

Nearly every Republican in the upper chamber coalesced to advance Trump’s $3.3 trillion megabill, save for Sens.Thom Tillis, R-N.C., Rand Paul, R-Ky, and Susan Collins, R-Maine. No Senate Democrat crossed the aisle to support the bill.

Vice President JD Vance’s tie-breaking vote was needed to push the bill across the finish line – unlike on Saturday, when the Ohio Republican descended on Capitol Hill in anticipation of a tight vote to proceed with debate on the bill.

That comes after Republican leadership tried to win over the votes of Collins and Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, with sweeteners in the final, amended version of the bill. 

The bill now heads to the House, where fiscal hawks in the House Freedom Caucus are frustrated with what they say are shallow spending cuts, and moderates are concerned over cuts to Medicaid. All have warned that they may not support the bill. 

Still, Republican leaders have made clear that they intend to have the bill on Trump’s desk by Friday.

Many House Republicans, including Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., called on the Senate to change as little as possible. A product that could pass the House was front of mind for some Senate Republicans as the day dragged on. 

‘We’re talking to the House,’ Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., said. ‘We know they’re going to have some issues over there, just like we had some issues when it came over here, too. But we think we’re going to pass a bill that they can pass.’

House Ways and Means Chair Jason Smith, the chief tax writer in the House, said he was ‘optimistic’ about the bill on his way to the Senate floor Tuesday morning. 

‘We’re moving to the point that we’re getting more balance, and what I’ve said all along is let’s have balance in the bill,’ the Missouri Republican said. ‘We’re going to get this done, we’re going to get this to the president by July 4.’ 

Republicans pushed the chamber from the end of June to the beginning of July after a marathon weekend that saw a high drama unfold on the Senate floor, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., bleed time, hours of mostly one-sided debate, the occasional protest in the Senate gallery, a grueling blast of amendments and the penultimate vote to move the ball forward for the president’s ambitious agenda.

The blur from Monday to Tuesday, like the weekend slog before it, was not without its own dramatics.  

Senate Democrats tried numerous times to shelve the legislation during the ‘vote-a-rama,’ while Republicans sought to revive certain measures that were scrapped – like provisions that would have booted illegal immigrants from Medicaid – or amendments to sate key Republican holdouts. 

And before the bill was put on the floor for a final vote, last-minute deals were struck and changes made in a ‘wraparound’ amendment to attract holdouts. 

Included was the doubling of the rural hospital fund to $50 billion, which was pushed by Collins, and a rollback of the start date of supplemental nutrition assistance program (SNAP) work requirements for states with higher payment error rates, like Alaska. 

Trump’s ‘big, beautiful bill’ is crammed with his and congressional Republicans’ legislative priorities, including billions for the Pentagon and to bolster the White House’s border and immigration agenda, the permanent extension of his 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, deep spending cuts and an effort to reform Medicaid.

Senate Republicans have pitched the bill as a way to both turbocharge the economy and as a means to prevent Trump’s first-term tax cuts from expiring. They have simultaneously used it as a vehicle to achieve deep spending cuts in the neighborhood of $1.5 trillion.

But Senate Democrats have railed against the package for the millions it could boot off of Medicaid and the trillions it could add to the federal deficit.

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released two sets of scores Saturday and Sunday that reflected both current policy and current law. Under current policy, the bill would tack on just over $507 billion over the next decade. But under current law, the package would add roughly $3.3 trillion.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., countered that when it came to spending, Senate Democrats were being hypocritical. 

‘I’ve been here a long time,’ Thune said. ‘And I’ve not been involved in a single spending debate and fight in which Republicans were trying to spend less, and Democrats were trying to spend more, with one exception. 

‘And that’s national security,’ he continued. ‘Democrats are always willing to cut defense but never want to cut anywhere else.’

But Schumer accused Trump of ‘lying’ about the bill, particularly over the nature of proposed cuts to Medicaid and the economic growth potential tied to the tax package. 

And in one final act of defiance ahead of the bill’s final passage, Schumer had the official title of the legislation ‘The One Big, Beautiful Bill Act’ nixed. 

‘The American people will not forget what Republicans do in this chamber today,’ Schumer said. 

Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough reportedly has advised that a provision prohibiting Medicaid funds from supporting Planned Parenthood and other clinics that provide abortions can stay in President Donald Trump’s ‘big, beautiful bill.’ 

Senate Republicans revised the provision on Friday from blocking Medicaid funding to abortion providers for a full 10 years to just one year. The parliamentarian’s assessment that the provision could remain without jeopardizing the budget package from passing the upper chamber of Congress along party lines was championed by pro-life advocates. 

‘The One Big Beautiful Bill Act that stops forced taxpayer funding of the abortion industry has been retained in the Senate bill, as we were confident it would, though for one year. This is a huge win,’ Susan B. Anthony Pro-life America’s President, Marjorie Dannenfelser, said in a statement to Fox News Digital. ‘Taxpayers should never be forced to funnel their hard-earned dollars to Big Abortion. This funding currently hits almost $800 million annually.’

The provision’s inclusion, meanwhile, was condemned by Democrats as essentially clearing the defunding of Planned Parenthood. 

‘Republicans will stop at nothing in their crusade to take control of women’s bodies and deny them the right to make their own health care decisions,’ Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Senate Budget Committee Ranking Member Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., said in a statement. ‘Republicans are trampling the law to force their extremist ideology onto the American people.’

The Hyde Amendment, introduced in the 1970s, has long prohibited federal dollars from paying for most abortions, with some exceptions. Planned Parenthood, which also provides other women’s health services, such as gynecological exams, contraception and STI testing, reported receiving approximately $792.2 million in taxpayer-funded grants, contracts and Medicaid reimbursements during the 2023-2024 fiscal year.

Republicans say the loophole essentially results in taxpayers subsidizing abortions. Planned Parenthood reported performing 402,000 abortions during that fiscal year. 

Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, R-Miss., defended the provision during Monday’s vote-a-rama session as ‘establishing a commonsense protection of taxpayer dollars by prohibiting abortion providers from receiving Medicaid funds for one year.’ 

‘There was a time when protecting Americans’ tax dollars from supporting the abortion industry was an uncontroversial, nonpartisan effort that we could all get behind,’ Hyde-Smith said on the Senate floor. ‘Even if we had opposing views on protecting the dignity of human life, this provision does not target any one entity. If a medical provider wishes to stay within the Medicaid program, it should simply cut elective abortion procedures from its services.’ 

Hyde-Smith, chair of the Senate Pro-Life Caucus, spoke out against an amendment introduced earlier Monday by Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., to strike the provision from the GOP’s $3.3 trillion budget package. 

Murray’s amendment ultimately failed by a 49-52 vote, according to the Washington Examiner. 

Murray claimed the one-year ban on Medicaid funds for abortion providers would ‘cut millions of women off from birth control, cancer screenings, essential preventive health care – care that they will not be able to afford anywhere else, and it will shutter some 200 healthcare clinics in our country.’ 

‘This is a long-sought goal of anti-choice extremists—no surprise, it is overwhelmingly unpopular with the American people,’ Murray said. ‘But Republicans are bent on ripping away any access to abortion care, and happy to cut off this lifesaving care. No matter that women may not have another place to get the care that they can afford, or another place they can get any care at all!’

She pointed to a Congressional Budget Office assessment to argue that ‘defunding’ Planned Parenthood would cost taxpayers $52 million over the next ten years. That was based on the 10-year Medicaid block in an earlier version of the bill passed by the House. 

This budget provision comes after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled last week that states have the power to block Medicaid funding for Planned Parenthood clinics in a major pro-life victory. 

President Donald Trump warned that the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is a ‘monster that might have to go back and eat Elon,’ after tech billionaire Elon Musk intensified his attacks on Trump’s ‘One Big Beautiful Bill.’ 

‘DOGE is the monster that might have to go back and eat Elon. Wouldn’t that be terrible?’ Trump told the media Tuesday morning as he departed for a trip to the Florida Everglades to visit a new migrant detention center. ‘He gets a lot of subsidies. But, Elon was very upset that the EV mandate is going to be terminated.’ 

His response followed a question regarding whether he would deport Musk, who is originally from South Africa. Trump responded, ‘I don’t know, we’ll have to take a look.’

Trump previously told the media in June that his relationship with Musk changed when the president began discussing plans to eliminate the electic vehicle mandate, which would affect Musk’s signature electric company, Tesla. Trump signed a trio of congressional resolutions on June 12 ending California’s restrictive rules for diesel engines and mandates on elective vehicle sales, with Trump celebrating that his signature ‘will kill the California mandates forever.’

‘When you look at it … not everybody wants an electric car,’ Trump continued in his remarks regarding Musk on Tuesday morning. ‘I don’t want an electric car. I want to have maybe gasoline. Maybe electric, maybe a hybrid. Maybe some day a hydrogen. You have a hydrogen car, it has one problem: it blows up.’ 

Musk shot back in response to a video clip of Trump’s remarks Tuesday morning that he would not continue escalating the feud ‘for now.’

‘So tempting to escalate this. So, so tempting. But I will refrain for now,’ Musk posted X. 

Musk intensified his feud with former close ally Trump this week in a political warning to lawmakers that he will work to unseat them if they vote in support of Trump’s ‘One Big Beautiful Bill.’

‘Anyone who campaigned on the PROMISE of REDUCING SPENDING , but continues to vote on the BIGGEST DEBT ceiling increase in HISTORY will see their face on this poster in the primary next year,’ Musk posted to X Monday evening. 

The message was accompanied by an image of Pinocchio sitting on fire and the caption, ‘LIAR Voted to increase America’s DEBT by 5,000,000,000.00’

Musk previously served as a special government employee with the Trump administration to help lead DOGE, frequently attended Cabinet meetings and joined Trump during public events. Musk’s tenure with DOGE wrapped up at the end of May, as negotiations over the ‘One Big Beautiful Bill’ intensified in Congress. 

The budget reconciliation bill, if passed, will advance Trump’s agenda on taxes, immigration, energy, defense and the national debt. The legislation is currently before the Senate. 

Musk found himself aligned with a handful of Republican lawmakers, like Kentucky’s Sen. Rand Paul, who have spoken out against the legislation, arguing it would increase the debt ceiling by $5 trillion. 

Musk’s post threatening to primary Republicans who vote in support of the legislation was followed by a late-night Truth Social message from Trump suggesting, ‘DOGE take a good, hard, look’ at how government subsidies assist Musk-owned businesses such as Tesla and SpaceX. 

‘Elon may get more subsidy than any human being in history, by far, and without subsidies, Elon would probably have to close up shop and head back home to South Africa. No more Rocket launches, Satellites, or Electric Car Production, and our Country would save a FORTUNE. Perhaps we should have DOGE take a good, hard, look at this? BIG MONEY TO BE SAVED!!!’ Trump posted after midnight Tuesday.

The post continued, ‘Elon Musk knew, long before he so strongly Endorsed me for President, that I was strongly against the EV Mandate. It is ridiculous, and was always a major part of my campaign. Electric cars are fine, but not everyone should be forced to own one.’

Trump added in comment to the media from the White House Tuesday morning that Musk is ‘upset is that he’s losing his EV mandate.’

‘He could lose a lot more than that,’ Trump added. ‘I can tell you right now.’ 

Musk first remarked in May that he was ‘disappointed’ Trump’s ‘one big beautiful bill’ passed the House, arguing it ‘undermines the work that the DOGE team is doing,’ before publicly working to rally Republican lawmakers to ‘kill the bill’ in messages posted to X. 

‘Call your Senator, Call your Congressman,’ Musk said amid a flurry of similar posts June 4. ‘Bankrupting America is NOT ok! KILL the BILL.’

Musk had kept his criticisms of the legislation quiet in recent days, including posting messages in support of the Trump administration as anti-ICE riots raged in Los Angeles in June. Musk reignited his criticisms of the bill Monday as the July 4 deadline to pass the ‘big beautiful bill’ looms over Washington this week. 

‘It is obvious with the insane spending of this bill, which increases the debt ceiling by a record FIVE TRILLION DOLLARS that we live in a one-party country – the PORKY PIG PARTY!! Time for a new political party that actually cares about the people,’ Musk posted to X Monday afternoon. 

‘What’s the point of a debt ceiling if we keep raising it?’ Musk asked in another post early Tuesday morning. Adding in another: ‘All I’m asking is that we don’t bankrupt America.’

The No. 2 House Republican is dismissing Elon Musk’s attacks on President Donald Trump’s ‘big, beautiful bill’ after the tech billionaire once again jumped into the public fray over the legislation.

‘His criticism has been consistently off-base,’ House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., told Fox News Digital on Monday. 

‘You know, this is a bill that will create millions of jobs. And, you know, you go back and look at what happened in 2017 when we lowered rates and created a good atmosphere to create jobs, then we saw millions of jobs get created. And we’re at the point again today where the economy is waiting for this bill.’

Musk, who criticized the House version of the bill before appearing to back off, has launched another tirade against the legislation this week while it’s being pushed through the Senate.

‘It is obvious with the insane spending of this bill, which increases the debt ceiling by a record FIVE TRILLION DOLLARS, that we live in a one-party country – the PORKY PIG PARTY!! Time for a new political party that actually cares about the people,’ Musk posted on X.

But Scalise told Fox News Digital, ‘We’re moving fast to get it done because of the positive impacts it will have on our economy.’

The Senate is expected to pass the legislation sometime Wednesday, after which it is poised to move back to the House of Representatives.

An earlier version passed the House in late May by just one vote, but the two chambers must now sync up to get a bill on Trump’s desk by the Fourth of July.

Two sources told Fox News Digital on Tuesday morning that House GOP leaders are still planning for a 12 p.m. House Rules Committee meeting to advance the bill.

The House Rules Committee is the final gateway before most legislation gets a chamber-wide vote.

That could tee up a procedural vote on the bill as early as Wednesday morning, and final passage by Wednesday evening or Thursday.

‘I’ve always said failure’s not an option because, you know, there have been many times where the bill could have fallen apart. And it didn’t, because we always stayed focused on getting it done,’ Scalise said. ‘And that’s that’s where all the focus needs to be right now.’

But the Senate’s various modifications to the bill have angered both moderate and conservative Republicans. 

Moderates are wary of the Senate measures that would shift more Medicaid costs to states that expanded their programs under ObamaCare, while conservatives have said those cuts are not enough to offset the additional spending in other parts of the bill.

‘We’re having a lot of conversations with our members, and we are following what changes are being made to the bill because some could help fix some of those issues,’ Scalise said.

‘We’re definitely aware of the concerns from our members. But there are a lot of other members that do want to get this bill passed for the president and recognize that the bulk of what we sent over to them is still intact.’

Asked if he was optimistic about the timeline as of early Monday evening, Scalise said, ‘The plan is still to bring members back and have votes as early as Wednesday morning.’

The legislation is a 940-page bill advancing Trump’s agenda on taxes, the border, defense, energy and the national debt.

Fox News Digital reached out to Musk for comment via email to Tesla.

Iran’s foreign minister is vowing that ‘the doors of diplomacy will never slam shut’ following the Trump administration’s airstrikes — a statement an Iran expert says shows that Tehran is trying to buy time. 

Abbas Araghchi was quoted as making the remark to CBS News after President Donald Trump told reporters last Wednesday that the U.S. would meet with Iranian officials this week. 

‘I don’t think negotiations will restart as quickly as that,’ Araghchi added. ‘In order for us to decide to reengage, we will have to first ensure that America will not revert back to targeting us in a military attack during the negotiations. And I think with all these considerations, we still need more time.’  

Behnam Ben Taleblu, the senior director of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies Iran Program, told Fox News Digital on Tuesday that ‘Tehran’s strongest weapon when it is weak is actually diplomacy. 

‘Negotiating to buy time and bail out the regime is an art form for Iranian political elites. Even when done from a position of weakness, one reason Tehran will not shut the door on talks is because it seeks to prevent widening military action from stiffening the spine of domestic dissidents at home. 

‘No doubt, the Islamic Republic will cause a ruckus about engaging in negotiations post-strike, but ultimately agreeing to talk when it has been conventionally bested on the battlefield does mean its mission accomplished,’ Taleblu added. 

Trump said following the conclusion of a NATO summit in the Netherlands last week that ‘I could get a statement’ that Iran is ‘not going to go nuclear.’ 

‘We’re probably going to ask for that… but they’re not going to be doing it anyway. They’ve had it,’ Trump added.  

‘We’re going to talk to them next week, with Iran. We may sign an agreement, I don’t know. To me, I don’t think it’s that necessary. I mean, they had a war. They fought. Now they’re going back to their world. I don’t care if I have an agreement or not. The only thing we would be asking for is what we’re asking for before about, we want no nuclear [program]. But we destroyed the nuclear,’ Trump also said.  

‘If we got a document, it wouldn’t be bad. We’re going to meet with them. Actually, we’re going to meet with them,’ the president continued. 

However, Trump then wrote on Truth Social Monday that he is not talking to Iran. 

‘The administration and namely our special envoy, Steve Witkoff, has been in communication both directly and indirectly with the Iranians. That communication continues. The president himself has not talked to Iran, which he pointed out in his Truth statement,’ White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt added later Monday. 

Israel’s Coordinator for Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), which oversees humanitarian and civil efforts in Gaza, released two revealing conversations between Gaza residents and officers from the Coordination and Liaison Administration (CLA) for Gaza.

The Gaza residents, who COGAT — an Israeli  says were at humanitarian aid distribution sites, told a CLA officer about how Hamas tries to disrupt the aid system through violence and manipulation. The testimonies reveal that ‘Hamas fires at Gaza residents near the aid distribution sites, spreads false claims about IDF fire, publishes fabricated data about large numbers of casualties, and circulates fake footage,’ according to COGAT.

State Department Spokesperson Tammy Bruce acknowledged Hamas’ use of violence to ‘interfere with aid deliveries to the people of Gaza.’

‘This is how Hamas operates — they deliberately fire at people and want it to appear as though the army is the one shooting, so that no one will approach the aid distribution areas,’ one Gaza resident told a CLA officer, according to COGAT’s translation.

Another Gaza resident told a CLA officer that Palestinians trying to get aid ‘encounter thugs on the way’ and that ‘those thugs definitely kill 2, 3, 5 people.’

Fox News Digital was unable to independently verify the identities of the residents.

The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a U.S.- and Israel-backed group,  has faced backlash over reports of violent and even deadly incidents around its secure sites. In response to the videos released by COGAT, a GHF spokesperson said that ‘Hamas is working to destroy the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation because our model is working.’

GHF has pushed back on claims that Palestinians are being killed at its sites. However, it does say that Hamas has killed some of its staff members, ‘put bounties on our American workers and threatened civilians for accepting aid.’

‘To date, there has not been a single casualty at or in the surrounding vicinity of any of our sites. Many of the alleged incidents had no correlation to our sites but deliberate misinformation orchestrated by Hamas-controlled [Gaza] Health Ministry,’ a GHF spokesperson told Fox News Digital. 

Despite the backlash, the GHF is encouraging other organizations — including its critics — to join its mission to bring aid to the people of Gaza while ensuring Hamas does not get its hands on it.

‘Ultimately, the solution is more aid. If other groups would join us, we could scale up… We could also collaborate with the U.N. and other groups on other means while ensuring their aid reaches the right people,’ the GHF spokesperson said.