House Republicans held a lawmaker-only conference call on Tuesday that grew tense when Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., confronted Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., on his strategy to navigate the ongoing government shutdown.

Johnson has been holding weekly calls to keep GOP lawmakers updated on the shutdown while instructing them to remain in their home districts rather than in Washington.

It’s part of Johnson’s pressure strategy to force Senate Democrats into accepting the GOP’s federal funding plan.

However, Fox News Digital was told that Greene forcefully countered that Republicans’ House majority was ‘being wasted’ by staying in their districts.

She said House Republicans would be better served passing legislation in Washington and finding an ‘off ramp’ to COVID-19 pandemic-era Obamacare subsidies that are set to expire at the end of this year if a deal isn’t reached.

An extension of those subsidies has been Democrats’ main demand in exchange for agreeing to any funding deal.

‘You guys need to get out of Washington, D.C., and go back to your districts and talk to real people, because real people are pissed,’ Greene told House GOP leaders, Fox News Digital learned. ‘They expect us to do our legislative constitutional duty and not take marching orders from the political team at the White House.’

She turned her ire on President Donald Trump as well, pointing out she was one of his earliest fervent supporters but adding, ‘Even the president is losing support.’

Fox News Digital was told that Johnson defended Republicans’ legislative record so far as well as Trump’s popularity among the GOP base.

He also said he and other Republican leaders had been working tirelessly to end the shutdown, Fox News Digital was told.

‘He’s not sleeping. I’m not sleeping … because we are working around the clock,’ Johnson said.

Johnson then went further and criticized Greene for airing her concerns with the GOP’s direction on social media, asking her, ‘How does that help us, Marjorie?’

Several other House Republicans who spoke up defended Johnson’s handling of the shutdown, Fox News Digital was told.

Two notable exceptions were Reps. Kevin Kiley, R-Calif., and Dan Crenshaw, R-Texas, who Fox News Digital was told also raised concerns about keeping the House out.

The speaker has kept the House out of Washington since Sept. 19, when his chamber passed the GOP’s short-term funding bill to give lawmakers until Nov. 21 to reach a deal on government funding.

But Senate Democrats have since rejected that legislation 13 times.

Johnson argued on the call that Republicans were still busy at work despite not being in Washington, Fox News Digital was told.

And while Tuesday’s confrontation marks the first time Greene made her concerns known on the House GOP’s weekly shutdown calls, she has been vocal on social media about her frustration.

Greene even confirmed her side of the account on X while the call was ongoing.

‘I said I have no respect for the House not being in session passing our bills and the President’s executive orders. And I demanded to know from Speaker Johnson what the Republican plan for healthcare is to build the off-ramp off Obamacare and the [Affordable Care Act] tax credits to make health insurance affordable for Americans,’ Greene wrote.

‘Johnson said he’s got ideas and pages of policy ideas and committees of jurisdiction are working on it, but he refused to give one policy proposal to our GOP conference on our own conference call. Apparently I have to go into a [classified setting] to find out the Republican healthcare plan!!!’

Fox News Digital reached out to Johnson’s office and the White House for a response but did not immediately hear back.

Voters across the country will head to the polls on Tuesday, Nov. 4, to cast votes in pivotal elections that many will interpret as critical bellwethers of where the country stands politically almost a year into President Donald Trump’s second term and a year before the midterm elections.

Here are the top elections that people from across the country are watching closely.

Virginia gubernatorial race

Virginia’s Republican Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears is squaring off against her Democratic opponent, former Rep. Abigail Spanberger, in a race to replace term-limited Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin.

The election comes with a handful of historic firsts, including Earle-Sears becoming the state’s first Black female nominee for governor in a race that ultimately will result in Virginia electing the first female governor, regardless of which party wins the general election.

While Spanberger has held the lead over Earle-Sears in a slew of surveys since the start of the year, polls tightened recently after explosive revelations in Virginia’s attorney general race rocked the campaign trail.

Attorney general candidate Jay Jones, a Democrat, has been in crisis mode since controversial three-year-old texts — where he compared then-Virginia House Speaker Todd Gilbert to mass murderers Adolf Hitler and Pol Pot. He said that if he was given two bullets, he would use both against the GOP lawmaker to shoot him in the head. Spanberger, and other prominent Democrats, have refused to call for Jones to drop out, which Republicans have labeled an example of Democrats tacitly condoning political violence. 

The race has drawn the attention of former President Barack Obama, who will head to Virginia Nov. 1 to headline a political rally for Spanberger in Norfolk after endorsing her in a pair of political ads earlier in October that took shots at Republicans. 

New Jersey gubernatorial race

Voters in New Jersey will also be voting for their next governor in a choice between Republican businessman Jack Ciattarelli and Democratic Rep. Mikie Sherrill, both running to succeed the term-limited Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy. 

Ciattarelli, who’s making his third straight run for Garden State governor and who nearly upset Murphy four years ago, fell short as plenty of Republican voters sat out the election.

In a state where registered Democrats still outnumber Republicans despite a GOP surge in registration this decade, four public opinion polls released over the past two weeks — from Fox News, Quinnipiac University, Fairleigh Dickinson University and Rutgers-Eagleton — indicated Ciattarelli tightening the margins with Sherrill in the race to succeed the term-limited Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy. Other public and internal surveys suggest a margin-of-error contest.

Sherrill, a U.S. Naval Academy graduate who flew helicopters during her military service and who was first elected to Congress in 2018, has campaigned hard on linking Ciattarelli to Trump while Ciattarelli has linked Sherrill to the Biden administration’s policies and hammered her on questions swirling about her connection to a cheating scandal at the Naval Academy. 

Virginia and New Jersey are the only states that hold gubernatorial contests in the year after a presidential election. And the elections, which traditionally grab outsized national attention, are viewed this year as early verdicts on President Donald Trump’s unprecedented and relentless second-term agenda, as well as key barometers ahead of next year’s midterm showdowns for the U.S. House and Senate.

California redistricting

Early voting is now underway in California in a special election that will make a huge impact on next year’s battle for the U.S. House majority.

California voters are deciding whether to pass a ballot proposition this November which would dramatically alter the state’s congressional districts, putting the left-leaning state front-and-center in the high-stakes political fight over redistricting that pits President Donald Trump and the GOP against the Democrats.

California state lawmakers this summer approved a special proposition on the November ballot to obtain voter approval to temporarily sidetrack the state’s nonpartisan redistricting commission and return the power to draw the congressional maps to the Democrat-dominated legislature. 

The effort in California, which could create five more Democratic-leaning congressional districts, aims to counter the passage in the reliable red state of Texas of a new map that aims to create up to five right-leaning House seats. Failure to approve what’s known as Proposition 50 would be a stinging setback for Democrats.

Proponents and opponents of Proposition 50 reported raising more than $215 million as of Oct. 2, with much of the money being dished out to pay for a deluge of ads on both sides.

One of the two main groups countering Newsom and the Democrats is labeling their effort ‘Stop Sacramento’s Power Grab.’

Also getting into the fight is former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who was the last Republican governor of California.

‘That’s what they want to do is take us backwards — this is why it is important for you to vote no on Prop 50,’ Schwarzenegger says in an ad against Proposition 50. ‘Democracy — we’ve got to protect it, and we’ve got to go and fight for it.’

New York City mayoral race

The nation’s largest city will be voting for its next mayor on Nov. 4 as socialist Zohran Mamdani holds a commanding lead in the polls against former Dem. Gov. Andrew Cuomo, running as an independent after losing the primary to Mamdani, and Republican Curtis Sliwa. 

Mamdani has faced strong criticism for a variety of positions he adopted over the years as a member of New York City’s chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America, including calls to defund the police, seize the means of production, and abolish private property. 

Despite being labeled a communist by some and prominent Jewish leaders speaking out against his anti-Israel positions, Mamdani’s focus on ‘affordability’ in the city, with agenda items such as freezing rent rates, has appealed to younger voters and catapulted him to the top of the polls with a week to go before the election. 

Cuomo and Sliwa, who have both called on each other multiple times to drop out of the race to give voters a one-on-one match-up with Mamdani, have made the case that Mamdani’s inexperience and controversial views make him unqualified to lead New York City, a city of over 8 million people. 

Minneapolis mayoral race 

In Minnesota, a Mamdani-esque figure is running for mayor of Minneapolis: Omar Fateh, the son of immigrant parents from Somalia who five years ago became the first Somali-American elected to the Minnesota Senate.

Fateh has pledged, if elected mayor, to raise the city’s minimum wage, increase the supply of affordable housing, and combat what he calls police violence. Similar to Mamdani, Fateh calls for replacing some of the police department’s duties with community-led alternatives. He also wants to issue legal IDs to undocumented immigrants.

Fateh, like Mamdani, is a democratic socialist and a Muslim. And at age 35, he’s also a member of Generation Y.

Fateh’s most notable opponent in November is the current mayor, Jacob Frey, running for a third term.

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

Senate Democrats on Tuesday blocked Republicans’ 13th attempt to reopen the government after having nearly a week to mull their options — and with a series of pressure-point deadlines rapidly closing in.

On the 28th day of the shutdown, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., tried to advance the House-passed continuing resolution (CR) and was again foiled by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and the Democratic caucus.

Failure to reopen the government on Tuesday came as air traffic controllers missed their first payday. The military is set to miss its first full payday on Friday. Then there is the looming cliff for federal nutrition benefits on Saturday — the same day as open enrollment begins nationwide for Obamacare.

In the background, Republicans are considering a series of one-off bills to pay the troops, certain federal workers, air traffic controllers and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), also known as food stamps, but whether they make it to the floor remains to be seen.

Thune threw cold water on the prospect of the piecemeal ‘rifle shots’ coming to the floor. Republicans will discuss the bills during their closed-door lunch later Tuesday, which will be attended by Vice President JD Vance.

‘There’s not a high level of interest in doing carve-outs or so-called rifle shots,’ he said. ‘Most people recognize the way to get out of this mess is to open up the government.’

Still, lawmakers with bills that could pay portions of the federal workforce were hopeful their legislation would get a shot. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, whose bill would pay air traffic controllers, said, ‘I certainly hope so,’ when asked if it would get a vote.

And Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., whose bill to pay working federal workers and the troops was blocked last week, but could get a second wind this week.

He and Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., are working at arm’s length — Johnson said they last spoke Friday — on a compromise version of the bill, but he wasn’t hopeful that it would see the light of day despite agreeing to concessions demanded by Democrats.

‘I want to make this permanent. Let’s stop, again, let’s take the ability to punish federal employees because of our dysfunction away forever. We’ll add furlough employees, and we’re not changing anything in terms of the president’s authority — that would be adjudicated in the court,’ Johnson said. ‘So the question is, will they take ‘yes’ for an answer?’

Schumer railed against Republicans ahead of the vote, and blamed President Donald Trump for being overseas this week as a reason that no forward progress was being made on reopening the government.

He also went after Thune for again bringing the same bill to the floor and reiterated that Democrats’ position, which is to get an ironclad deal to extend expiring Obamacare subsidies, hadn’t changed.

‘It’s a partisan bill and does nothing, most importantly, does nothing to solve the [Obamacare] crisis,’ Schumer said. ‘Just now, here on the floor, the Republican leaders seemed perplexed about what precisely it is that Democrats are pushing for. He knows damn well what Democrats want. It’s the very same thing that a vast majority of Americans want, including nearly 60% of MAGA voters. We want lower healthcare costs now.’

President Donald Trump predicted that his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping would prove beneficial amid ongoing trade negotiations between the two countries during Trump’s Asia trip.

‘We’re going to be going to South Korea and, the following day, meeting with President Xi…that’s a big meeting and I think it’s going to work out very well, actually,’ Trump said during an event for business leaders at the U.S. ambassador’s residence in Tokyo Tuesday.

The White House said that Trump would meet with Xi Thursday during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit.

The meeting between the two leaders coincides with the two countries going head-to-head on trade issues. 

Tensions flared after Beijing announced Oct. 9 it would impose export controls on rare-earth magnets, which are used in products including electric cars to F-35 fighter jets. In turn, Trump said the U.S. would slap a new 100% tariff on all Chinese goods, which is scheduled to take effect Saturday. 

However, Trump sought to downplay any tensions and has spoken highly of his relationship with Xi in recent weeks. He also has expressed confidence both the U.S. and China will leave the meeting pleased and that they will strike a deal.

‘I think we are going to come out very well, and everyone’s going to be very happy,’ Trump said Thursday.

Trump and Xi have not met in person since Trump took office in January. They previously met in person in June 2019 in Japan.

Trump departed for Asia Friday and so far has visited Malaysia and Japan. His final stop before returning to Washington is South Korea.

Earlier Tuesday, Trump addressed U.S. service members aboard the aircraft carrier USS George Washington in Yokosuka, Japan. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth also attended, as did Japan’s newly elected Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi.

House Democrats accused President Donald Trump on Monday of attempting to use the Department of Justice to improperly pay himself for legal damages he has incurred over the past decade, and they demanded senior department officials recuse themselves from the matter.

In a public letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche and senior official Stanley Woodward, House Judiciary Committee Democrats called the possible payout ‘a blatantly illegal and unconstitutional effort to steal’ millions of dollars from taxpayers.

Trump’s interest in the payout was first reported last week by the New York Times, which said Trump began seeking what amounted to $230 million through an administrative claims process that top DOJ officials would typically need to approve. Trump filed the claims in 2023 and 2024, before he took office, according to the report.

The committee Democrats, led by ranking member Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., warned of repercussions for paying Trump and demanded a slate of nonpublic information about Trump’s reported requests, laying the groundwork for a possible future investigation if they were to take the majority and gain subpoena power in a year.

‘You could face civil liability, ethics investigations, professional discipline, and potential criminal liability for conspiracy to defraud the United States,’ the lawmakers wrote.

They have been among many Democrats, and some Republicans, to scrutinize the president for potentially accepting the lump sum from a department he now runs.

Trump recently addressed the report in the Oval Office, saying ‘it would be awfully strange’ to pay himself. Trump is reportedly seeking payments for damages incurred by the DOJ’s investigations into alleged Trump-Russia collusion and former special counsel Jack Smith’s investigations.

‘In other words, did you ever have one of those cases where you have to decide how much you’re paying yourself in damages?’ Trump said. ‘But I was damaged very greatly. And any money that I would get, I would give to charity.’ 

House Democrats countered that Trump ‘does not get the right to take a bribe or kickback just by promising to give the proceeds to charity.’

They also demanded Blanche and Woodward, who worked on Trump’s legal defense team during his criminal prosecutions, recuse themselves from any decisions about compensating Trump.

Asked for comment, a spokesman for committee Republicans accused the Democrats of fixating too much on Trump.

‘Democrats should focus on opening the government and paying federal workers, many of whom live in Ranking Member Raskin’s district, rather than obsessing over President Trump who clearly did nothing wrong,’ committee spokesman Russell Dye said. ‘But sadly, their priority will always be attacking President Trump instead of paying the troops, air traffic controllers, and families who are hurting because of the Democrat shutdown.’

Fox News Digital reached out to the DOJ for comment.

President Donald Trump’s legal team filed a ‘powerhouse’ appeal in Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s case against him, demanding the verdict be thrown out and that the ‘most politically charged prosecution in our Nation’s history,’ as they called it, be dismissed altogether.

Fox News Digital obtained the 111-page appeal filed in New York Supreme Court’s Appellate Division late Monday night.

Sullivan & Cromwell’s Robert J. Giuffra Jr. is representing the president in the matter.

Trump pleaded not guilty to all 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree but was found guilty in May after a six-week unprecedented criminal trial in New York in 2025.  

New York v. Trump is on a halt until 2029.

‘President Trump’s legal team filed a powerhouse appeal in the Manhattan DA’s Witch Hunt, as the President continues his fight to put an end to the Radical Democrat Lawfare once and for all,’ a spokesman for the president’s legal team told Fox News Digital.

‘The Supreme Court’s historic decision on Immunity, the Federal and New York State Constitutions, and other established legal precedent mandate that this meritless hoax be immediately overturned and dismissed,’ the Trump spokesman continued.

‘President Trump will keep defeating Democrat weaponization at every turn as he focused on his singular mission to Make America Great Again.’

The 111-page filing details Giuffra’s argument for complete dismissal and reversal. 

‘This is the most politically charged prosecution in our Nation’s history,’ the filing states. ‘After years of fruitless investigation into decade-old, baseless allegations — and under immense political pressure to criminally charge President Donald J. Trump for something—New York’s district attorney (DANY) manufactured felony charges against a once-former and now-sitting President of the United States. The DA, a Democrat, brought those charges in the middle of a contentious Presidential election in which President Trump was the leading Republican candidate.’

Trump’s legal team called the charges against Trump ‘as unprecedented as their political context.’

‘Targeting alleged conduct that has never been found to violate any New York law, the DA concocted a purported felony by stacking time-barred misdemeanors under a convoluted legal theory, which the DA then improperly obscured until the charge conference,’ the filing states. ‘This case should never have seen the inside of a courtroom, let alone resulted in a conviction.’

Trump’s lawyers are asking the court to ‘now reverse.’

‘Federal law expressly preempts DANY’s misdemeanor-turned-felony charges because those charges rest on an alleged violation of federal campaign regulations that States cannot (and have never) enforced,’ the filing states. ‘The trial was fatally marred by the introduction of 2 official Presidential acts that the Supreme Court has made clear cannot be used as evidence against a President.’

Trump’s lawyers went on to argue that ‘the jury was instructed incorrectly, allowing a conviction without the unanimity required by both New York law and basic due process.’

‘Beyond these fatal flaws, the evidence was clearly insufficient to convict,’ the filing states. ‘In addition to all this overwhelming error, the trial was conducted by a judge who refused to recuse himself despite having made political contributions to President Trump’s electoral opponents and despite having disqualifying family conflicts. For each of these independent reasons, President Trump’s conviction must be set aside.’ 

Trump’s attorneys also noted that the review of the by federal prosecutors in 2021 led to ‘no actions against President Trump even after he left office in 2021,’ which ‘should have barred any prosecution’ in the Manhattan district attorney’s efforts.

Trump attorneys also argued that the trial court violated the presidential evidentiary immunity confirmed by the U.S. Supreme Court, which bars the ‘use of evidence about’ a president’s official acts while in office.

‘The jury improperly heard extensive testimony about at least four different kinds of official acts by President Trump,’ the filing states, including discussions between the president and the White House communications director in the Oval Office over the White House’s response to allegations of presidential wrongdoing; official presidential statements on social media; alleged discussions between the president and the attorney general about the enforcement of federal campaign regulations; and the president’s practices in discharging his presidential duties, including from the Situation Room.

‘The U.S. Supreme Court mandated that violations of Presidential evidentiary immunity require automatic reversal of a conviction without any harmless-error analysis,’ the filing states. ‘Even if such analysis were applied, the introduction of the prohibited testimony—which DANY repeatedly relied on and called ‘devastating’ in its summation, A7815—was far from harmless beyond a reasonable doubt.’

Trump attorneys also argued that the trial court ‘erred in instructing the jury that it could convict President Trump of having conspired to ‘promote or prevent the election of any person to a public office by unlawful means,’ Election Law § 17-152, without unanimously agreeing on what those ‘unlawful means’ actually were.’

‘Instead, the court permitted the jury to convict if some jurors believed only that President Trump had conspired to violate FECA, while others believed only that he had conspired to help others commit tax fraud, and still others believed only that he had conspired to help others make false statements to a 5 bank. Due process and Section 17-152 do not permit a conviction based on such a haphazard ‘combination of jury findings,’’ the filing states.

Trump lawyers also said the district attorney ‘had no proof that President Trump ever had the ‘intent to defraud’ expressly required by the business-records statute.’

‘There was zero evidence that President Trump intended to deprive anyone of money or property, and in fact no such deprivation occurred,’ the filing states. ‘Having no other choice, DANY advanced the flawed theory, erroneously blessed by the trial court, that ‘intent to defraud’ can include either (i) intent to interfere with unspecified government regulators, or (ii) intent to deceive ‘the voting public.’ Making matters worse, DANY did not prove that President Trump acted with either of those intentions in mind.’ 

The lawyers also argued that Judge Juan Merchan refused to recuse himself from the case, and questioned his impartiality due to his past political contributions — donating to both then-President Joe Biden and to a group called ‘Stop Republicans PAC.’

The lawyers also called into question, again, Merchan’s daughter’s work as the president and part-owner of an advertising company that was paid millions by the Kamala Harris campaign and other Democrats — ‘including for running advertisements specifically invoking DANY’s prosecution of President Trump in her father’s courtroom.’

Loren Merchan sits as the president for Authentic Campaigns — a company that has done political work for top Democrat clients like Biden and former Vice President Kamala Harris. 

‘In the face of all these undisputed and damaging facts, Justice Merchan’s refusal to recuse created, at the very least, ‘the appearance of bias,’ which ‘erode(s) public confidence in the judicial system’ and is yet another clear ground for reversal,’ Trump lawyers argued.

Trump’s attorneys concluded by saying that ‘despite years of rifling through President Trump’s business, DANY could not find a felony charge.’

‘So it concocted an elaborate theory that has never before been pursued in this State and is plainly preempted by federal law,’ the filing states. ‘Like every criminal defendant in a New York courtroom, President Trump was entitled to a fair trial before a properly instructed jury and a neutral judge.’

‘Instead, he was convicted after a trial that featured repeated and clear violations of his constitutional rights, federal law, and New York law, presided over by a judge who was required to recuse,’ they argued. ‘For all these reasons, this Court should reverse the judgment of conviction and dismiss the indictment.’

President Donald Trump spoke to U.S. service members aboard the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier George Washington in Yokosuka, Japan, Tuesday morning to promote his administration’s ‘peace through strength’ military messaging on the world stage. 

‘A year and a half ago, we had a different country than we do right now,’ Trump told the military members. ‘Now we’re the most respected country in the world, we’re the hottest country anywhere in the world. And it hasn’t taken too long. But, I had no doubt. I just didn’t know we were going to do it this fast. We’ve done it fast because of people like you.’ 

Trump is in the midst of a whirlwind tour through Asia, including beginning his trip in Malaysia, before heading to Japan and later holding a planned meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping during his final stop in South Korea Thursday. The president also oversaw the signing of a peace agreement between Cambodia and Thailand Sunday. 

Trump’s tour this week focuses on trade and regional security, and comes as China asserts greater control in the South China Sea and North Korea increases its weapons testing. 

Trump was joined by Japan’s newly elected Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi aboard the U.S. aircraft carrier Tuesday, as well as by U.S. military leaders such as Secretary of War Pete Hegseth. Trump celebrated in his remarks that the U.S. military is once again respected after bucking ‘political correctness’ out of an effort to better defend the U.S.

‘When it comes to defending the United States, we’re no longer politically correct,’ Trump said. ‘We’re going to defend our country any way we have to. And that’s usually not the politically, politically correct way. From now on, if we’re in a war, we’re going to win the war. We’re going to win it like nobody ever before.’ 

The service members were heard chanting ‘Trump, Trump, Trump’ when the president first took the stage. 

Trump thanked the military for their service and added that he’s supporting a pay increase for every U.S. service member in the armed forces. 

‘I’m also supporting an across-the-board pay raise for every sailor and service member in the United States armed forces,’ Trump told the crowd, which earned widespread applause. ‘Now, if you don’t want it, you want to give back to your country. Just let us know. We won’t give it to you. Is there anybody in that category?’ he joked before adding that Democrat lawmakers would approve the plan. 

‘But now all we really have to do is get the Democrats to approve it. But they’ll come along. They always do. You know, they always do that,’ he continued. 

The government is currently in the midst of a shutdown that has lasted since Oct. 1, when Senate lawmakers failed to reach a funding agreement. 

Takaichi, Japan’s first female prime minister, also addressed U.S. troops to thank them, as well as the Japanese military, for their dedication to protecting the region. 

‘I am truly honored to have this opportunity to deliver remarks with President Trump aboard the aircraft carrier USS George Washington, a symbol of protecting freedom and peace in this region,’ the Japanese leader said, according to a translator at the event. 

‘First and foremost, I would like to express my deep respect and sincere gratitude to all the men and women in uniform. From Japan’s Self-Defense Forces and the U.S. forces, Japan, for your dedication and commitment to safeguard peace and security of our nation and the region, day and night,’ she continued. 

Trump lauded the Japanese prime minister as a ‘winner’ in his remarks, while celebrating the U.S.’s relationship with Japan following World War II. 

‘This woman is a winner. So, you know, we’ve become very close friends all of a sudden because their stock market today and our stock market today hit an all-time high. That means we’re doing something right,’ he said. 

Trump and Takaichi signed a rare earths framework agreement on Tuesday as the U.S. looks to back away from its reliance on China for critical minerals for items such as cell phones. 

‘The cherished alliance between the United States and Japan is one of the most remarkable relationships in the entire world,’ Trump continued. ‘Really, there’s never been anything like it. Born out of the ashes of a terrible war, our bond has grown over eight decades into the beautiful friendship that we have. It’s a foundation of peace and security in the Pacific.’ 

Trump also announced that the first batch of missiles for Japan’s Self-Defense Forces will be delivered to the country later this week as Takaichi underscored that Japan is ‘committed to fundamentally reinforcing its defense capability’ and ‘ready to contribute even more proactively to peace and stability in the region.’

‘It’s the first batch of missiles to be delivered to the Japanese Self-Defense forces for Japan’s F-35s. And they’re coming this week, so they’re ahead of schedule,’ Trump said. 

The president concluded his speech by highlighting that the U.S. went ‘through four bad years, but now America will always be first,’ citing the U.S. military’s strength. 

‘Every sailor here today inherits a legacy of valor and grit and glory unmatched in the long history of mankind’s voyage on the seas,’ he said. ‘It’s a voyage like nobody’s ever had, like you have. For two and a half centuries, America’s Navy has preserved the vision of our first commander in chief who gave this ship its storied name, its righteous soul and its timeless motto, ‘first in war, first in peace.’ Very famous phrase, George Washington. After 250 years, that is exactly what our country is today. It’s first in war, first in peace, first in wealth, first in power, first in science, first in spirit and first in freedom.’

Fox News Digital’s Amanda Macias contributed to this report. 

U.S. airline travelers are beginning to feel the effects of the ongoing government shutdown. And with no clear end in sight, it’s increasingly likely that Americans could be grappling with flight delays and cancellations just ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday.

Tuesday marks Day 28 of the shutdown. It’s also the first day that air traffic controllers and other federal workers will see a paycheck showing $0 — putting added strain on a sector that is already dealing with a declining workforce and difficult employment conditions.

‘This Democrat-led shutdown is putting an unnecessary strain on our nation’s aviation system, putting more flights at risk for delays or cancellation,’ Rep. Troy Nehls, R-Texas, chair of the House Transportation Committee’s aviation subcommittee, told Fox News Digital.

After speaking with air traffic controllers directly, Nehls said, ‘They’ve shared their growing concerns about fatigue, distraction and financial hardship as they continue performing essential work without pay.’

‘The busy holiday season is quickly approaching, and the traveling public deserves a safe, efficient, and reliable travel experience. If Senate Democrats continue to refuse to do the right thing and pass the clean continuing resolution, the situation will only get worse,’ Nehls said.

Still, the looming payday hasn’t loosened Senate Democrats from their dug-in position. 

Sen. Andy Kim, D-N.J., argued that the blame game against Democrats over air traffic controllers, and other looming issues like federal food benefits soon running out of money, were ‘all things that the Republicans have been cutting back on.’ 

He noted to Fox News Digital that the administration fired hundreds of Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) employees earlier this year based on recommendations from the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). 

‘These are things that they’ve constantly been attacking and putting the strain and pressure on air traffic controllers, and now they’re pretending like they care about this, and I just find that to be disingenuous,’ Kim said. ‘And it’s just using our federal workers as pawns when we know that this administration has done everything that they could to decimate and dismantle our civil service and our public service.’

The Senate may vote on a bill this week from Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, that would pay air traffic controllers, but so far Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., has not teed it up. Thune said they’d ‘see what the temperature is of our senators’ on that and other funding issues, but he reiterated that the easiest way to pay all federal workers would be to reopen the government. 

Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., echoed a sentiment many Senate Democrats have shared about Cruz’s bill and others like it that would incrementally fund parts of the government; it can’t give President Donald Trump ‘carte blanche to do what he wants.’ 

When asked by Fox News Digital about criticism from Republicans over congressional Democrats’ role in air traffic controllers missing a pay day, he said, ‘Air traffic controllers have been really admirable in coming to work and doing their job.’

Cruz said that he hoped his bill would get a shot, and when asked what his message to Republicans would be to get the bill on the floor, he said, ‘That the Democrats not paying air traffic controllers is reckless.’  

Some 13,000 air traffic controllers are employed across the U.S. Many already work six days per week, faced with a long-simmering shortage of employees.

Because air traffic controllers are deemed essential workers, they are made to work during shutdowns without pay. Instead, they are expected to get back pay when the shutdown is over.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy warned late last week that it would mean that many air traffic controllers would be forced to take on another job to make ends meet.

‘If you have a controller that’s working six days a week but has to think about, ‘How am I going to pay the mortgage, how am I to make the car payment, how am I going to put food on my kid’s table?’ They have to make choices, and the choice they’re making is to take a second job,’ Duffy said. ‘I don’t want them delivering for DoorDash. I don’t want them driving Uber. I want them coming to their facilities and controlling the airspace.’

And the effects are being felt already, even far outside of Washington, D.C., where Congress is still gridlocked over federal spending.

Los Angeles International Airport, one of the world’s busiest airports, was forced to issue a temporary ground stop on Sunday morning due to a shortage of air traffic controllers.

It was just one of 22 locations that faced disruptions over air traffic controller shortages on Sunday, Duffy told ‘Sunday Morning Futures.’

There were more than 3,300 delayed flights across the U.S. as of late Monday afternoon, according to airline tracker FlightAware. There were more than 8,700 delays on Sunday.

And several airports, including in Dallas, Austin and Newark, were all under ‘ground delay’ or ‘ground stop’ advisories early Monday evening, according to advisory bulletins from the FAA. Each advisory was due to staffing issues. 

Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., noted that there were ‘three or four’ fast-approaching pressure points, including the payday for air traffic controllers, that could shake loose deeply entrenched Senate Democrats. 

He noted that it wouldn’t be something inside the walls of Congress that could force negotiations, but ‘something extraneous that forces us to come together.’

‘I think the air traffic control has the most potential to light this place up,’ he told Fox News Digital. ‘If the senators can’t go home Thursday night because of air traffic control issues, then I think it really could be a pressure point.’

President Barack Obama was angry with former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for her quick endorsement of former Vice President Kamala Harris after President Joe Biden withdrew from the 2024 election, according to a new book.

An excerpt from ABC News’ Jonathan Karl’s upcoming book, ‘Retribution,’ asserts that Pelosi and Obama had come to an understanding that Harris ‘should not simply be handed the nomination unchallenged.’ Nevertheless, Pelosi handed her an endorsement within 24 hours of Biden’s withdrawal.

‘The Obamas were not happy,’ a source close to Pelosi told Karl, according to an excerpt obtained by the Daily Mail.

‘This person summed up Obama’s message to Pelosi as, essentially, ‘What the f–k did you just do?’’ Karl wrote.

The book asserts that Obama had deep concerns about Harris’ ability to beat President Donald Trump and wanted Democrats to hold an open convention.

‘Obama and Pelosi — arguably the two most influential figures in the Democratic Party — had privately agreed to abstain from making any endorsements,’ Karl wrote.

‘The former president wanted to know what had happened. Why had Pelosi issued a statement endorsing Harris so soon? Hadn’t he and Pelosi agreed days earlier that party leaders anointing the vice president as Biden’s replacement would be a mistake?’ Karl added.

Obama gave Pelosi an angry phone call, during which Pelosi argued ‘that train has left the station,’ when Biden endorsed Harris during his withdrawal message.

The source close to Pelosi claimed Obama sounded ‘genuinely irritated’ on the call.

Obama himself ultimately waited five days after Biden’s withdrawal before offering his endorsement to Harris in a joint phone call with his wife, Michelle.

‘We called to say Michelle and I couldn’t be prouder to endorse you and do everything we can to get you through this election and into the Oval Office,’ Obama said.

Michelle chimed in, ‘I am proud of you. This is going to be historic.’

House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer, R-Ky., is demanding the Department of Justice (DOJ) conduct a ‘comprehensive’ investigation into former President Joe Biden’s autopen use.

The committee’s GOP majority released a 100-page report on Tuesday morning detailing findings from its months-long probe into Biden’s White House, specifically whether his inner circle covered up signs of mental decline in the ex-president, and if that alleged cover-up extended to executive actions signed via autopen without Biden’s full awareness.

‘Faced with the cognitive decline of President Joe Biden, White House aides — at the direction of the inner circle — hid the truth about the former president’s condition and fitness for office,’ the report said.

The report also detailed a ‘haphazard documentation process’ for pardons made by Biden, which the committee argued left room for doubt over whether the former president made those decisions himself.

‘In the absence of sufficient contemporaneous documentation indicating that cognitively deteriorating President Biden himself made a given executive decision, such decisions do not carry the force of law and should be considered void,’ the GOP report said.

‘The Department of Justice should immediately conduct a review of all executive actions taken by President Biden between January 20, 2021, and January 19, 2025. Given the patterns and findings detailed herein, this review should focus particularly on all acts of clemency. However, it should also include all other types of executive actions.’

In addition to concerns about who signed off on Biden’s executive actions, Comer spent part of the report raising concerns about Hunter Biden’s role in the pardon process.

Fox News Digital previously reported that ex-Biden Chief of Staff Jeff Zients told investigators that Hunter Biden was in the room for some pardon discussions — specifically the controversial preemptive pardons the ex-president gave to his relatives.

‘It was towards the end,’ said a portion of Zients’ transcript included in the report. ‘What comes to mind is the family discussions. But I don’t know — that doesn’t mean that was it. It was the pardons towards the end, very end of the administration. And I think it was a few meetings, not many meetings.’

Comer’s report said, ‘Zients testified that President Biden included his son, Hunter Biden, in the decision-making process for and meetings about pardons.’

‘This apparently included the meeting to discuss the pardons of five Biden family members, Dr. Anthony Fauci, General Mark Milley, and the members of Congress who served on the Select Subcommittee to Investigate the January 6th attack on the United States Capitol, and their staff,’ the report said.

The Oversight Committee called a total of 14 witnesses across three months, mainly consisting of top Biden administration aides — including some who had known him for decades.

Despite nearly 47 hours of interviews and sworn depositions, however, Comer suggested he believed aides covered for Biden even in the committee room.

‘Throughout the Committee’s investigation, senior Biden White House aides presented a perspective of President Biden’s cognitive health completely disconnected from that of the American public,’ the report said.

‘Not one of the Committee’s 14 witnesses was willing to admit that they ever had a concern about President Biden being in cognitive decline. In fact, numerous witnesses could not recall having a single conversation about President Biden’s cognitive health with anyone inside or outside of the White House.’

Comer spent a significant amount of time in the report criticizing former White House physician Dr. Kevin O’Connor. O’Connor’s sworn deposition was among the shortest sit-downs of the investigation, with the doctor having invoked the Fifth Amendment for all questions save for his name.

In a letter obtained by Fox News Digital alongside the report, Comer called for the D.C. Health Board of Medicine to investigate O’Connor — and potentially bar him from practicing medicine.

The GOP report called O’Connor’s alleged decision to not conduct a cognitive exam with Biden during his four-year term ‘reckless’ and accused him of making ‘grossly misleading medical assessments.’

‘His refusal to answer questions about the execution of his duties as physician to the president — combined with testimony indicating that Dr. O’Connor may have succumbed to political pressure from the inner circle, influencing his medical decisions and aiding in the cover-up — legitimizes the public’s concerns that Dr. O’Connor was not forthright in carrying out his ultimate duties to the country,’ the report said.

‘The Committee recommends that the District of Columbia Board of Medicine review the actions taken by Dr. O’Connor while serving as the White House physician to President Biden for any potential wrongdoing in the medical care of the former president –– including whether Dr. O’Connor produced false or misleading medical reports to the American people.’

O’Connor’s lawyers previously told Fox News Digital that he invoked the Fifth Amendment over concerns that the scope of the committee’s probe could run afoul of doctor-patient confidentiality standards.

Biden’s allies have repeatedly denounced Comer’s probe as political and having no basis in reality. 

Multiple people who spoke with the committee have argued that concerns about Biden’s mental acuity were made worse by the media and Republican pundits, particularly after his disastrous June 2024 debate against current President Donald Trump.

In an interview with The New York Times in July, Biden affirmed he ‘made every decision’ on his own.