Trump calls Butler widow, Secret Service agrees to meeting after call for accountability

The widow of Trump rally shooting victim Corey Comperatore said the president called her after watching her interview on Fox News and vowed that he would always be there for her. 

Helen Comperatore also told Fox News Correspondent Alexis McAdams that Secret Service Director Sean Curran phoned her as well, mentioning he was heartbroken after watching her speak ahead of the 1-year anniversary of the shooting in Butler, Pennsylvania. Curran said he will meet with her to review the case, according to Comperatore. 

"We were all sitting ducks that day. Our blood is all over their hands. I am angry. I lost the love of my life. They screwed up," Helen Comperatore said during the interview while demanding accountability from the Secret Service. 

The Secret Service has admitted to multiple failures after 20-year-old gunman Thomas Crooks climbed onto a rooftop and fired off eight rounds. Those shots killed Comperatore – a volunteer firefighter -- and wounded three others, including then-former President Donald Trump. 

ONE YEAR AFTER TRUMP ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT, BUTLER WIDOW DEMANDS ACCOUNTABILITY FROM SECRET SERVICE 

"Why Butler? Why was that such a failure? Why weren't they paying attention? Why did they think that that roof didn't need covered? I want to sit down and talk to them. I have the right to. They need to listen to me," Comperatore told Fox News. 

She said during her call with Curran, he apologized that she went so long without receiving updates and said that now that he is in charge of the Secret Service, things will be different. 

Curran pledged to try and answer all the questions she has about the July 13, 2024, shooting, Comperatore added. 

TRUMP ATTRIBUTED SURVIVAL AT BUTLER RALLY TO ‘HAND OF GOD’: AUTHOR AND WITNESS REVEALS FIRSTHAND ACCOUNT 

The widow also told Fox News that after a year without answers, she finally feels the Secret Service is listening to her. 

In her call with Trump, the president said the families affected that day will forever be connected because of the tragedy, according to Comperatore. 

Trump said there will be a comprehensive report made about the assassination attempt, though it is unclear when that will be made public. 

Six Secret Service agents were suspended without pay or benefits on Wednesday in the wake of the shooting, the agency confirmed. 

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Giannis Antetokounmpo says 'a lot of people' tried convincing him to join Knicks amid murky Bucks future

It has seemed for a long while that Giannis Antetokounmpo's time with the Milwaukee Bucks is running out.

The Bucks have had much turnover since winning the NBA Finals in the 2020-21 season, including firing their head coach from that season, Mike Budenholzer.

They've made plenty of other moves, including trading Jrue Holiday and Khris Middleton. Antetokounmpo has been the mainstay since he was drafted by them with the 15th overall pick in 2013.

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But after another early exit in the playoffs, and superstars seemingly being traded now more than ever, Antetokounmpo's name has been all over the rumor mill.

The New York Knicks have been waiting to pounce on a Grade-A superstar amid their other big splashes, and the Greek Freak gave some insight on potentially joining the Knicks.

"A lot of people have tried to convince me, try to convince me to go and play there [New York] and stuff," Antetokounmpo told streamer iShowSpeed.

RAMS' DAVANTE ADAMS SAYS LEBRON JAMES WOULD HAVE BEEN ONE OF THE BEST WIDE RECEIVERS IN NFL HISTORY

Antetokounmpo was then asked if he would stay in Milwaukee, but did not give a definitive answer, answering with both "probably" and "we'll see."

He did finish the conversation with, "Probably. I love Milwaukee."

The Knicks fell in the Eastern Conference Finals to the Indiana Pacers. It was the first time going that far since 2000, also against the Pacers.

Antetokounmpo won back-to-back NBA MVP in 2019 and 2020 and has been a defensive stalwart. Since 2017, Antetokounmpo is averaging 29.2 points, 11.7 rebounds, and 5.8 assists while being named to four First-team All-Defense teams. He's also been ranked in the top-nine of Defensive Player of the Year voting in each season since 2018-19, winning the award in 2019-20.

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Trump has custody over jailed CECOT migrants, El Salvador says, complicating court fights

The government of El Salvador told the United Nations that more than 100 Venezuelan migrants deported by the Trump administration to its maximum-security prison, CECOT, in March remain under the sole custody of the U.S. government — appearing to undercut months of assertions by senior Trump officials, who have repeatedly claimed they have no power to compel the return of these individuals.

The U.N. report was included Monday in a court filing submitted by lawyers for the ACLU and other migrant groups representing more than 100 detainees at CECOT who are challenging their removal from the U.S. to the maximum-security Salvadorian prison.

The filing included a copy of statements made by the Salvadorian government to a U.N. human rights office in April, as part of an investigation brought on behalf of four families.

At the time, El Salvador officials told the U.N. that the "jurisdiction and legal responsibility" for detainees sent by the U.S. to CECOT in March lies "exclusively" with the U.S., citing a $6 million agreement it struck with the U.S. in March to host roughly 300 migrant prisoners.

FEDERAL JUDGE ORDERS RETURN OF DEPORTED MIGRANT TO US, REJECTING TRUMP REQUEST

That assertion came roughly one month after the Trump administration in March invoked a 1798 wartime immigration law to more quickly deport Venezuelan nationals, including alleged members of the Tren de Aragua gang. 

Prior to March, the U.S. invoked the law just three times, including most recently during World War II.

Lawyers representing the migrants argued Monday that the statement included in the U.N. report should be grounds for plaintiffs to seek additional discovery in the case, which had been overseen by U.S. District Judge James Boasberg beginning in March.

WHO IS JAMES BOASBERG, THE US JUDGE AT THE CENTER OF TRUMP'S DEPORTATION EFFORTS?
 

"Since March, the Trump-Vance administration has sought to operate in the shadows without public transparency as it removes people from the country under false pretenses or without any process at all," Skye Perryman, president of Democracy Forward, which is representing the CECOT detainees alongside the ACLU, said in a statement this week.

"This is a threat to every single American, and is a threat to our democracy as a whole," Perryman added.

It could also breathe new life into a flurry of stalled immigration cases nationwide.

As of this writing, the revelation has already had a knock-down effect on at least one case involving a CECOT migrant ordered back to the U.S. by a federal judge.

JUSTICE DEPARTMENT TELLS FEDERAL JUDGE IT MIGHT INVOKE STATE SECRETS ACT ON HIGH-PROFILE DEPORTATION CASE

U.S. District Judge Stephanie Gallagher, a Trump appointee, ordered the administration on Wednesday to explain its position to the court in light of the new revelations.

"Defendants have repeatedly skirted this Court's directive to provide information regarding the steps they have taken and will take to facilitate the return of ['Cristian’] to the United States," the judge wrote in an order Wednesday evening, referring to a man deported to El Salvador in March.

She noted that the defendants "have repeatedly made oblique references to their request of 'assistance' from the U.S. Department of State, which has 'entered into negotiations to facilitate Cristian's return' and 'assumed responsibility on behalf of the U.S. Government for ... diplomatic discussions with El Salvador.'"

Gallagher ruled in April that the government violated a 2024 settlement between DHS and a group of young asylum seekers in deporting him before his case was fully heard in court.

As of this writing, however, he has not been returned to the country. 

SUPREME COURT GRANTS TRUMP REQUEST TO LIFT STAY HALTING VENEZUELAN DEPORTATIONS

The revelation could also come to the fore in another major hearing this week.

On Thursday, U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis will hear from Trump administration officials and lawyers for Salvadorian migrant Kilmar Abrego Garcia as she weighs a request from Abrego's attorneys to transfer him back to U.S. custody in Maryland.

Abrego is currently in the custody of U.S. Marshals in Tennesee but could be released as early as next week. Plaintiffs have cited deep concerns that the Trump administration would immediately seek to take him into ICE custody upon release and deport him to a third country— a notion the administration did not dispute.

 Xinis, for her part, has taken umbrage with the Trump administration's evasiveness and slow-walking of information, which she likened earlier this week to "trying to nail Jell-O to a wall."

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US-backed Gaza aid group launches bold new system to deliver food directly to families

EXCLUSIVE – Amid charges that its distribution model forces civilians to travel long distances and pass through military zones, the U.S.-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) announced a new initiative on Wednesday to add another layer of security to deliver food aid directly to Gazans in need, without diversion or interference from Hamas. 

The new system enables community leaders to contact GHF or one of its non-governmental organization (NGO) partners to coordinate local distribution. A GHF team will vet the leader, determine their needs, and set up the initial distribution of food aid. Boxes will be collected by locals at a predetermined location, and GHF will verify that boxes are distributed to aid recipients listed by the community leader.

GHF interim Executive Director John Acree told Fox News Digital, "We simply can’t keep doing things how they’ve always been done. Big challenges need new thinking, and I commend our team for continuing to think outside the box as we address pressing humanitarian needs on the ground." 

PEOPLE IN GAZA ARE THANKING TRUMP FOR AID, LEADER OF US-BACKED GROUP SAYS

Using this method, GHF partnered with Gazan NGO Al-Amal to successfully deliver some 2,000 boxes of food aid to residents of central Gaza.

Though GHF has delivered 67 million meals since beginning operations in May, it has faced criticism over its distribution model, which required Gazans to reach one of four distribution points to receive aid. 

Critics, including the U.N., UNRWA and other aid groups, have seized on reports that aid recipients have been shot at and even killed by the Israel Defense Forces while seeking GHF aid. The IDF said those reports "are false."

Testimonies from Gaza residents, released by Israel’s Coordinator for Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), show 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," COGAT said.

ISRAEL RELEASES CONVERSATIONS OF GAZA RESIDENTS AMID CRITICISMS OF AID DELIVERY SYSTEM

GHF leaders have also charged Hamas with hoarding humanitarian aid, and selling or using the aid "for coercive purposes."

Acree acknowledged that "The Gaza Strip is a dynamic, dangerous environment that requires innovative solutions to get food to those who need it most. This is the latest example of GHF doing exactly that. I am encouraged by the results of this program and proud to work alongside our local NGO partner as we continue to feed the people of Gaza."

NETANYAHU AND TRUMP TO MEET IN DC AS GAZA’S FATE WITHOUT HAMAS IS DEBATED

GHF hopes to partner with additional NGOs to expand its delivery service. Its ultimate goal is to distribute over 20,000 boxes of aid – 1.2 million meals – each day throughout Gaza.

Despite negative feedback about the GHF model from the UNRWA and NGOs, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke of the important role the new aid system plays in getting Gazans fed.

In an exclusive interview with FOX Business’ Maria Bartiromo on "Mornings with Maria," on Wednesday, Netanyahu was asked whether he would agree to demands that the U.N. be placed back in charge of humanitarian aid distributions in Gaza. 

"We have our own distribution system that has been established to prevent Hamas from stealing the food that is supposed to go to the population," Netanyahu replied. "They steal it, they take it for themselves and the remainder, they hike the prices and basically, extort the Palestinian population in order to use it to continue recruiting people to their war machine.

"Obviously, we don't want to give up the thing that we began with, which is distribution that goes directly to the people."

The U.S. State Department has already approved funding of $30 million for GHF.

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Republicans navigate post-victory agenda after Trump's 'big, beautiful bill' becomes law

What do they do now?

The One, Big, Beautiful Bill is law. Congressional Republicans and the Trump administration stuffed every legislative initiative imaginable (that would mesh with Senate budget rules) into the package. Now Republicans must figure out what to tackle during the remaining 18 months of the 119th Congress.

There are always subjects on which the GOP wants to focus and legislate. But after approving the hallmark of President Trump’s legislative agenda, there are frankly not a lot of other big items rolling down the parliamentary pike.

RACE AGAINST TIME: HOW CONGRESS BARELY MADE JULY 4 DEADLINE ON ‘BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL’

But we’ll focus on a few that are important to the GOP – and could make headlines.

The first big project comes next week. A "rescissions" bill is due in the Senate. A "rescission" is a request by the administration to cancel spending that Congress had already appropriated. Congress approved an interim spending bill in March to avoid a government shutdown, but a few months later, White House Budget Director Russ Vought sent a "rescissions" request to Congress. Vought hoped to claw back $9.4 trillion in spending for USAID and public broadcasting.

BIDEN'S DOCTOR ARRIVES FOR CLOSED-DOOR INTERVIEW IN HOUSE HEALTH PROBE 

The House barely approved the package, 214-212, last month. Flip one vote and the bill would have failed. Now, it’s up to the Senate to align with the House. Senators must do so before a July 18 deadline.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., noted that the measure was "subject to amendments." A change to the plan means the Senate would have to bounce it back to the House to sync up. And the administration hopes to do multiple rescissions plans this year. So if the House and Senate can’t even trim a few billion dollars from what the GOP considers low-hanging fruit….

Cutting public broadcasting? Especially in rural areas?

Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., who represents a sprawling state which still relies on radio in places, indicated that he’d like to see some changes to the rescissions package, especially in light of the flooding in Texas.

"Looking at radio stations in some of the rural areas that do a lot of emergency services," said Rounds.

Without question, the biggest challenge facing Congress this fall – and next fall – is funding the government and avoiding a shutdown. Congress managed to avoid a shutdown in March – simply renewing all existing funding at the levels dictated by the Democrat-controlled Congress last year, and signed off by former President Biden. The only reason they avoided a shutdown was because Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., decided a shutdown was a worse option. 

So Schumer and several Democrats voted to assist the GOP overcome a filibuster – and keep the government lights burning.

Democrats railed against Schumer for essentially helping bail out Republicans and getting nothing in return. Some called on him to step aside. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., and other Democrats seethed at Schumer’s maneuver.

Schumer can probably only go to that well once. One wonders what Schumer could possibly extract from Republicans and President Trump – who aren’t exactly ready to deal – even though they lack the votes to fund the government themselves.

Moreover, it’s unclear if a government funding measure of any sort can even make it through the House with just GOP votes.

Remember that House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., promised conservatives that they would do funding bills one by one when he secured the speakership in October 2023. After all, that was the knock against former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif.

Johnson managed to advance some spending bills last year, but the path to doing all 12 spending bills before the Oct. 1 deadline is narrowing. The House Appropriations Committee has readied several spending packages through the spring and early summer, but none are ready for the floor.

What’s the magic potion for funding the government on time this year?

Well, the question is whether Johnson can again keep his coalition together and convince conservatives to approve yet another interim spending measure. And, since it’s about the math, they absolutely must have assistance from Schumer and Senate Democrats to avoid a filibuster yet again.

Some of this will boil down to what President Trump wants. The easy path is simply re-upping the old Biden/Democrats’ money (again) for a short period and then hammering out a broader spending pact later in the fall or before Christmas. But that doesn’t change the numbers in the House and Senate.

And guess what? They have to do this all again by Oct. 1, 2026.

There are also expectations – and some promises – of GOP leaders advancing another "reconciliation" package full of items they weren’t able to stuff into the Big, Beautiful Bill. A "reconciliation" measure must deal with fiscal issues – not policy. It must also not add to the deficit over a decade.

So, expect Republicans who didn’t score certain savings items in the Big, Beautiful Bill to push for provisions in this package. Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wisc., has been among the most vocal advocates for two bills. Senate Budget Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., even pushed for two reconciliation packages over the winter. He preferred a plan focused on beefing up the military and the border. Graham then wanted GOPers to turn to a bill to cut spending and accomplish many of the goals outlined by the Big, Beautiful Bill.

In fact, the Senate’s initial budgetary framework – adopted in February – focused on the border and military.

What else is at stake?

Well, Republicans are simultaneously looking backwards – and forwards.

House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., is conducting an inquiry into what former Biden officials knew about the cognitive state of the former president. Republicans want to prevent future presidents from relying on staff if they are potentially out of it. The GOP wants to construct legislative remedies to address a potential future executive who can’t handle the job.

But we’ve been down this road before. Edith Wilson practically acted as president after Woodrow Wilson suffered a stroke.

The press corps was complicit in hiding the physical condition of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt in the 1930s and 1940s.

Addressing a future impaired executive is a worthy exercise, but gazing backwards may be problematic for the GOP. Republicans don’t really have a good Democratic foil right now. Biden provides that. And so while the GOP focused on investigating the Bidens in 2023 and 2024, they’re going back to the same well again. It also doesn’t hurt Republicans politically to find out what former Vice President Kamala Harris knew. Same with former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. Both are flirting with a 2028 presidential bid.

This comprises much of the agenda for lawmakers over the coming months. The midterms will be here soon enough. Most anything else will likely pale in comparison to the Big, Beautiful Bill. And with the touchstone of President Trump’s agenda now signed into law, Democrats are now determining how to weaponize it against Republicans in the fall of 2026.

Most of the legislative agenda is in the books.

So what do they do now?

Campaign.

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Major colleges face heat over Chinese scholarship ties as espionage concerns mount

FIRST ON FOX: The China Select Committee is launching an investigation into universities that partner with a Chinese scholarship fund, raising alarm over what lawmakers describe as a covert pipeline for Beijing to gain access to sensitive American research and technology.

This week, the committee is sending formal oversight letters to a group of major universities, including Dartmouth, Notre Dame, Temple University, University of Tennessee and several campuses within the University of California system, demanding answers about their involvement in PRC’s China Scholarship Council (CSC). 

The letters, first obtained by Fox News Digital, mark the latest escalation in Congress's efforts to confront what the Committee calls "systemic CCP infiltration" in U.S. academia.

"Under the guise of academic exchange," the committee writes in its letters to university presidents, "the CSC places PRC students — often in sensitive STEM fields—at American universities with direct financial support from both CSC and the host institutions."

CHINESE NATIONALS WHO INFILTRATED US UNIVERSITIES

Notre Dame told Fox News Digital the university had already terminated its CSC program. "We will, of course, respond to the inquiry and look forward to working with the Committee on this important matter." 

A source familiar with Notre Dame's program added that the scholarship program had around two dozen students per year, mostly in the humanity departments, "not in fields that would be useful to China's military or scientific growth." 

Spokesperson Jana Barnello told Fox News Digital Dartmouth "has already determined to end its participation" in the CSC program, and said "very few students" participated in it since it began a decade ago. 

"We are reviewing the letter and look forward to responding to the Select Committee," she said. "Dartmouth remains committed to bringing the best and brightest students from around the world to our campus in accordance with U.S. law."

And University of Tennessee Knoxville spokesperson Kerry Gardner said: "We have initiated a formal review of the Select Committee’s request and look forward to developing a prompt and thorough response to meet the Committee’s deadline."

Under the joint program, CSC provides sponsored students with a living stipend and covers 50% of tuition for the first four years of their Ph.D. studies. Typically, the university covers the remaining half of tuition and living stipend. 

The committee claims the CSC program is not the academic bridge it claims to be, but a CCP-controlled mechanism for technology transfer, ideological conditioning and surveillance of Chinese nationals studying abroad.

The program requires students to return to China for at least two years after graduation and submit quarterly reports during their time in the U.S. on their research, publications, and ideological progress to Chinese embassies or consulates.

HARVARD UNIVERSITY'S ALLEGED TIES TO CHINESE PARAMILITARY GROUP, IRAN-BACKED RESEARCH SPARK GOP PROBE

The letters suggest U.S. federal research grants may be indirectly subsidizing the CCP-affiliated students and their research.

Dartmouth, for example, won nearly half of its research funding, $169 million, from the federal government. Dartmouth’s ongoing joint scholarship program with the CSC sponsors up to 15 Chinese PhD students annually. 

The committee claims the program may also conflict with Presidential Proclamation 10043, which restricts visas for PRC nationals affiliated with China’s military-civil fusion universities.

The letters asked each university that all contracts and correspondence with CSC, lists of students’ institutional affiliations before and after, records of federally funded research involving CSC students and evidence of any communications with the Departments of State and Homeland Security about potential visa issues. 

The letter also raises questions about CSC-sponsored students who may have remained at US universities for post-doctoral research — possibly funded by federal grants — and calls on the college to explain how such a program aligns with U.S. national interests.

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Hunter Biden helped make campaign decisions, was major fixture in father's orbit, author says

Hunter Biden, former President Joe Biden's son, helped make campaign decisions and often sat in on phone calls alongside his father, Wall Street Journal reporter and author Josh Dawsey told ABC News on Sunday.

"What we found out over the course of reporting for our book is, Hunter Biden [was] a major figure in the president's orbit," Dawsey said during ABC's "This Week." "He was often on these calls, he would pipe in to calls, he was helping him make campaign decisions, and the president was very concerned about his son. It was one of the things that was an albatross on him as he tried to run for re-election."

Dawsey spoke to ABC News host George Stephanopoulos, who asked the reporter to discuss his new book, "2024: How Trump Retook the White House and the Democrats Lost America," and about reporting that Hunter was a "burden" on his father's re-election efforts. 

"One of the scenes in the book is that the president has a big month ahead in June of 2024. He has European. He, he has the first debate with Donald Trump, as you saw that didn't go so well. But the thing he's telling his friends he's always concerned about is that his son is not convicted in this court," the reporter said. 

DOJ RELEASES SPECIAL COUNSEL DAVID WEISS' REPORT ON HUNTER BIDEN

"He's just constantly worried about him, he thinks that the prosecutors are trying to break him and, as you see, ultimately, he decides to pardon his son," Dawsey continued after noting Biden offered to testify for Hunter. 

The Wall Street Journal published an excerpt from Dawsey's book, which he wrote with reporters Tyler Pager of The New York Times and Isaac Arnsdorf of the Washington Post, on Thursday.

The excerpt revealed that Hunter told people that he had an interest in his father abandoning his presidential campaign.

"Hunter called in from Los Angeles and made clear that he supported whatever decision his father made. But he told him, ‘I sure would love having you back.’ What Hunter meant was that being president took up all his father’s time. He often told people that he had more of an interest in his father abandoning his campaign than anyone," the book excerpt, published by the Journal, read.

NEW BOOK REVEALS BIDEN'S INNER CIRCLE WORRIED ABOUT HIS AGE YEARS BEFORE BOTCHED DEBATE PERFORMANCE

Biden exited the race in July 2024 after his disastrous debate performance against President Donald Trump and subsequent pressure from top Democrats to drop his re-election bid.

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