FBI Director Kash Patel is tackling China’s influence on American farmlands head-on, as both a food supply and national security concern. 

Patel’s early focus on Chinese influence over American land — particularly farmland near sensitive sites — reflects a broader second-term push by the Trump administration to confront the Chinese Communist Party’s presence on U.S. soil. The effort has gained traction among Republican lawmakers and conservative allies, who say CCP-connected land ownership poses a direct threat to national security and critical infrastructure.

‘FBI Director Kash Patel has made eradicating CCP interference and infiltration in the United States a relentless, uncompromising priority,’ Patel advisor Erica Knight told Fox News Digital. 

‘With his unmatched experience in counterterrorism and intelligence, Patel possesses a profound understanding of the grave threats our nation faces,’ Knight said. ‘His expertise and unwavering resolve make him uniquely equipped to lead the bureau to crush CCP infiltration and safeguard America’s national security.’

Patel recently told lawmakers that the ‘effective resolution’ of the southern border crisis has prompted adversaries like China, Russia, and Iran to shift their focus to the U.S. northern border.

As the administration ramps up its second-term focus on China, President Donald Trump was asked aboard Air Force One on Thursday what the White House is doing about Chinese-owned farmland.

Trump said he is ‘looking at it all the time,’ adding that he has ‘a very good relationship with China and with the president.’

‘I have a lot of respect for President Xi,’ Trump said. 

Trump emphasized that Chinese-owned farmland ‘has been an issue for years.’

In a February Fox News op-ed, Presidential Envoy for Special Missions Ric Grenell echoed growing concern on the right over Chinese-owned farmland, calling it part of a ‘not-so-silent takeover.’

‘While conservative legislators and governors across the country are taking action to stop adversarial nations from buying U.S. farmland, we must recognize that there’s a much broader issue at play here — China’s end goal is not confined to land ownership,’ Grenell wrote. 

Capitol Hill lawmakers have already begun taking action. In early March, Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., introduced the PASS Act in the Senate, which would bar entities from ‘covered countries’ — including China — from purchasing agricultural land near military bases or other sensitive sites.

The legislation, which also has Democratic support, would allow the Department of Agriculture to submit cases to the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. for review if the department suspects there is a national security concern. 

Likewise, Republican senators in January also announced the Not One More Inch or Acre Act, led by Sens. Tom Cotton of Arkansas, Kevin Cramer of North Dakota and Katie Britt of Alabama. 

The legislation would require selling land owned or ‘influenced’ by the Chinese Communist Party that is deemed to be a national security risk.

Fox News Digital’s Morgan Phillips and Michael Lee contributed to this report. 

Whether Russia is ‘serious’ about achieving a ceasefire in Ukraine should become apparent in a ‘matter of weeks,’ Secretary of State Macro Rubio told reporters Friday.

‘The Russians know our position in terms of wanting to end the war, and we will know from their answers very soon whether they are serious about proceeding with real peace or whether it is a delay tactic,’ Rubio said at NATO headquarters in Brussels. 

Questions are mounting over Moscow’s true interest in engaging with the Trump administration after it rejected a 30-day ceasefire proposed by Ukraine in early March, then refused to agree to a Black Sea ceasefire later that month unless sanctions were lifted.

‘[If] It’s a delay tactic, the president’s not interested in that,’ he added. ‘President Trump is not going to fall into the trap of endless negotiations about negotiations.’

When pressed by reporters, Rubio wouldn’t comment on what conditions Russia has set out in securing a peace deal. 

He did note, though, hat even after direct calls with foreign leaders, official readouts don’t always reflect what was actually discussed. That appeared to be the case after President Donald Trump’s call with Russian President Vladimir Putin, when the White House said Russia had ‘agreed’ to eliminate the use of force in the Black Sea.

But the Kremlin later clarified that any agreement was contingent on the West lifting sanctions.

‘I guess it’s part of the game,’ Rubio said. ‘At the end of the day, what’s going to matter here is whether we’re going to move towards peace or not.’

Rubio reiterated that Ukraine and Russia would both need to make concessions to end the war but declined to say what those should be, insisting those details should emerge through negotiations.

‘Initially, it was important to talk [to the Russians] because we haven’t talked to them in a long time. But now we’ve reached the stage [where] we need to make progress,’ he said, noting it will be ‘hard,’ but he remains ‘optimistic.’

‘There are some promising signs. There are some troubling signs. It’s not going to be easy. No one ever said this would be easy, but we’re going to find out sooner rather than later,’ Rubio told reporters. ‘And let’s just say I’m hopeful. I remain hopeful.’

President Donald Trump has fired the head of the National Security Agency (NSA), a high-level move driven by mounting pressure from conservative allies to purge officials they view as insufficiently loyal to the president’s ‘America First’ agenda.

Gen. Timothy Haugh and civilian Deputy Wendy Noble were let go from their roles as director and deputy director of the NSA. Lt. Gen. William Hartman, who also leads U.S. Cyber Command, will serve as acting director, while Sheila Thomas will take over as deputy.

Hartman previously commanded the Cyber National Mission Force and has served in intelligence, cyberspace operations and infantry roles during deployments around the world. Thomas most recently headed NSA’s cryptologic partnership with the U.K. and served as director of engagement and policy at NSA. 

The shake-up comes as some right-wing figures have turned against members of Trump’s national security team. Far-right provocateur Laura Loomer met with Trump this week to share her ‘research’ on officials she believes should be fired. 

As Loomer pointed out on X, both Haugh and Noble were Biden appointees. She seemingly took credit for the firing, claiming Haugh had ‘no place’ in the Trump administration because he was ‘hand-picked’ by former Joint Chiefs Chairman Mark Milley. 

‘Why would we want an NSA Director who was referred to Biden after being hand selected by Milley,’ Ms. Loomer wrote. ‘Why would we want Milley’s hand picked choice for NSA DIRECTOR? We do not! And he was referred for firing.’

The White House and NSA did not respond when asked if Loomer had influenced the president’s decision. 

Trump also fired several National Security Council (NSC) staffers on Thursday, adding to national security advisor Mike Waltz’s recent woes after he accidentally included The Atlantic editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg in a Signal chat about Houthi strikes.

‘We’re going to let go of people we don’t like, or people we don’t think can do the job, or people who may have loyalties to somebody else,’ Trump told reporters about the firings. He confirmed that NSC members had been fired, but remarked it was not many individuals. 

The NSA shuffle also came after Trump recently let go of C.Q. Brown, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs, and Adm. Lisa Franchetti, former chief of naval operations. 

The White House has insisted Waltz’s job is not under threat. 

‘As the president has made it very clear, Mike Waltz continues to be an important part of his national security team,’ Trump administration press secretary Karoline Leavitt told the media in brief remarks outside the White House’s press room on Monday afternoon. ‘And this case has been closed here at the White House, as far as we are concerned.’ 

A key moderate Democrat is warning his party they are heading the ‘wrong’ way on trade.

Rep. Jared Golden, D-Maine, was one of the few Democrats to express some optimism at President Donald Trump’s support for tariffs, specifically his move to add a 10% baseline duty to all U.S. imports. 

Golden noted in a brief interview with Fox News Digital on Thursday that he himself proposed legislation for a 10% universal tariff earlier this year and in the previous Congress.

When asked how his stance on tariffs has been received by fellow House Democrats, Golden said, ‘Well, I think that they are moving in the wrong direction when it comes to trade.’

‘I think it’s been a knee-jerk reaction to the president,’ the Maine Democrat explained of the more recent furor.

He said the Democratic Party he joined in his ‘formative years’ was ‘the party that was warning about things like the World Trade Organization or [the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)].’

‘It has kind of, I think, had a sudden movement in the opposite direction, and that’s unfortunate,’ Golden said. ‘You’ve got to look beyond, you know, who the president is…to ask themselves what would be good for rural communities or working-class people, or cities like Detroit, whatever it may be – those who have been hit hardest by the existing trade regime.’

He added, however, ‘I think that this debate has been brewing since the ’90s, so it’s not only about Trump.’

Golden has been known to break from his own party on issues like trade, border security, and notably, former President Joe Biden’s student loan relief efforts.

He won his seat in Maine’s 2nd Congressional District by less than 1% in 2024, while Trump carried the district by 10%.

He said on Wednesday that he was ‘pleased’ Trump’s tariff plan lined up with his own ideas for a universal tax on foreign goods.

‘I’m eager to work with the president to fix the broken ‘free trade’ system that made multinational corporations rich but ruined manufacturing communities across the country. But tariffs must be paired with policies that prioritize American families’ prosperity.’

He pointed out, however, that Trump ‘introduced a number of new tariff policies’ alongside the 10% universal tax, and that he would need time to review the policies in detail before weighing in on them further.

Trump’s plan involves a 10% blanket tariff on all imports into the U.S., as well as reciprocal tariffs as high as nearly 50% on both adversaries and allies.

Golden added, ‘We need to make sure that the new approach benefits working people — that means supporting unions, the trades and apprenticeship programs, cutting regulations that hold back production, unleashing American energy and using tariff revenue to support domestic manufacturers that create good-paying jobs for Americans.’

‘Tariffs are a first step in rewriting a rigged trade system, but they cannot be the last one.’

Senior Iranian officials are threatening to ramp up the country’s nuclear program as the Trump administration weighs a possible strike against the regime if Tehran does not come to the table for negotiations.

‘The president should be making the regime sweat, pure and simple,’ Behnam Ben Taleblu, an Iran expert and senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told Fox News Digital.

‘This can be done with strict enforcement of maximum pressure sanctions, and a targeted campaign against regime assets in the region – Yemen being a good example now. Washington will also need to add a critical third element to its otherwise economic and military pressure policy. Maximum support for the Iranian people.’

Lisa Daftari, a Middle East expert and editor-in-chief at The Foreign Desk, told Fox News Digital that while diplomacy often demands negotiation, extending any offer to Iran’s regime, even symbolically, risks legitimizing a government that has spent decades terrorizing its own people and funding proxies like Hamas, the Houthis and Hezbollah.

‘This regime thrives on defiance, not dialogue. That has not changed. For over four decades, the mullahs have understood only one language: might,’ Daftari said.

President Donald Trump told reporters on Air Force One on Thursday that it would be better if the U.S. had direct talks with Iran.

‘I think it goes faster, and you can understand the other side a lot better than if you go through intermediaries,’ Trump said. ‘They wanted to use intermediaries. I don’t think that’s necessarily true anymore. I think they’re concerned. I think they feel vulnerable, and I don’t want them to feel that way.’

Trump also threatened to bomb Iran and impose secondary sanctions on Iranian oil if it did not come to the bargaining table over its nuclear program. Although the president said he preferred to make a deal, Trump did not rule out a military option.
 

‘It will be bombing the likes of which they have never seen before,’ President Trump told NBC News last weekend.

The U.S. expanded its deterrence efforts in the region, deploying additional squadrons of fighter jets, bombers, and predator drones to reinforce defensive air-support capabilities. The U.S. is also sending the USS Carl Vinson Carrier Strike Group to the region to join USS Harry S. Truman, which has been in the Middle East to fight against the Houthi’s in Yemen.

Iran’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, responded with threats of his own and said that Iran would respond ‘decisively and immediately’ to any threat issued by the U.S. Iran is still floating the idea of indirect talks, something the administration is reportedly considering.

Taleblu said, ‘Tehran’s counteroffer of indirect talks is the regime’s way of rejecting Trump while leaving the door open for talks that can be used as a shield against a potential preemptive attack.’

The president sent a letter to Khamenei expressing interest in making a deal on the nuclear issue. While increasing its military presence in the region, reports indicate that the Trump administration is considering indirect talks with Iran to curb the expansion of its nuclear program and avoid a direct confrontation.

Experts and observers of the region warn that Iran has used negotiating as a delaying tactic in the past and warn the Trump administration against entering into talks that might further embolden Iran.

‘The Trump administration should impose full pressure on the regime in Iran given how weak the regime has become in the last several years. Indirect talks are the regime’s strategy of buying time so it can live to fight another day,’ Alireza Nader, an independent analyst in Washington, D.C., and expert on Iran, told Fox News Digital.

Nader’s recommendation to Trump is to support the people of Iran and argued that the regime is much weaker than it appears.

‘President Trump really wants a deal. Iran has a chance here to go back and negotiate, keep its civilian nuclear program but make concessions about its size and the duration of a deal,’ Alex Vatanka, senior fellow at the Middle East Institute, told Fox News Digital.

‘Trump is in a dominant position. Republicans in Congress fear him. Nothing can stop him—at least for now. But power is fickle. The longer he’s in the White House, the more vulnerable he may become. Iran shouldn’t wait for that,’ Vatanka added.

In an interview with Mark Dubowitz of the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies podcast, ‘The Iran Breakdown,’ former Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid said that eventually, Israel will attack Iran’s nuclear facility, with or without the United States, because there is no other choice, according to Lapid.

Ali Larijani, an advisor to the supreme leader, said in an interview that although Iran does not seek a nuclear weapon, Tehran will have no choice but to build a nuclear weapon if the U.S. or Israel strike Iran.

The International Atomic Energy Agency reported in February that Iran has accelerated its nuclear program and has enriched uranium close to weapons-grade levels. 

Danielle Pletka, senior fellow in Foreign and Defense Policy Studies at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), told Fox News Digital that having additional military assets in the Middle East is sound policy given the threats that the U.S. and its allies face in the region.

For Pletka, the question is, what is the Trump administration looking for?

‘A deal in which the Iranians do not fully get rid of their nuclear weapons program? If so, the president sets the United States up for the risk that Barack Obama inflicted on our allies and ourselves – merely delaying the Iranian nuclear program to a later date,’ Pletka told Fox News Digital.

Pletka said it is strange that President Trump seems to envision a Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA)-like deal, and that has prompted a lot of criticism on Capitol Hill. 

Trump originally withdrew from JCPOA, also known as the Iran nuclear deal, during his first term in 2018 and reapplied harsh economic sanctions. The Biden administration had initially looked at re-engaging with Iran on the nuclear issue upon taking office, but on-again-off-again talks went nowhere, complicated by Iran’s domestic politics and its role in supporting its terror groups in the region.

The other risk that the president runs, according to AEI’s Pletka, is being perceived as a paper tiger.

‘He threatened Hamas with bombing that he never delivered. Now he’s threatening Iran with military action. But does he really mean it? Or is he just blowing hot air?’ she said.

Pletka said, ‘There is an enormous amount of uncertainty around the president’s intentions, and that uncertainty is an opportunity for the Iranians to exploit.’

The Middle East Institute’s Vatanka said he believed that Trump could claim a potential win he can sell at home and say he got a better deal than President Obama did with the JCPOA, if Iran were to agree to permanently keep its enrichment level to a low level, unlike the expiration dates included in the JCPOA.

The Senate rejected a proposal by Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., that would have blocked the Trump administration’s planned $8.8 billion arms sale to Israel. 

Sanders’ proposal was split into two votes, each of which failed, with 15 senators voting for the measure.

Fourteen Democrats voted with Sanders. They were Sens. Richard Durbin, Ill., Martin Heinrich, N.M., Mazie Hirono, Hawaii, Ben Ray Luján, N.M., Tim Kaine, Va., Andy Kim, N.J., Ed Markey, Mass., Jeff Merkley, Ore., Chris Murphy, Conn., Brian Schatz, Hawaii, Tina Smith, Minn., Chris Van Hollen, Md., Elizabeth Warren, Mass., and Peter Welch, Vt.

Prior to the vote, Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Jim Risch, R-Idaho, warned that in passing the resolutions, senators ‘would abandon Israel, our closes ally in the Middle East, during a pivotal moment for global security.’

On Wednesday, Sanders released a video discussing his proposal, in which he demanded that the U.S. ‘end our complicity in these atrocities’ in Gaza. He also accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government of behaving in a ‘barbaric’ fashion, saying that humanitarian aid has been blocked from reaching Gazans.

From Jan. 19, 2025 until March 2, 2025, while the Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal was in place, a total of 25,200 aid trucks entered Gaza, according to the Coordinator for Government Activities in the Territories. This included 4,200 weekly aid trucks.

Before it fell apart earlier last month, the ceasefire deal saw the release of 33 hostages and nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners. 

Israel has long enjoyed bipartisan support in the U.S., but its latest war with Hamas has divided Democrats. Some, like Sen. John Fetterman, Pa., have been fierce defenders of Israel, while others, like Sanders, have been harsh critics.

Sanders introduced a similar proposal in November 2024 during the Biden administration, which also failed. Many of the same senators who voted in favor of his April 2025 proposal voted for the resolution under the Biden administration, except for Sens. Angus King, Maine, Jeanne Shaheen, N.H. and Raphael Warnock, Ga. Fox News Digital contacted their offices to inquire about what changed between November 2024 and now. 

Shaheen’s office referred to a statement that they put out on Thursday, in which the senator explains her vote.

‘As Ranking Member of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, I am deeply concerned by the breakdown of the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza. Immediately de-escalating the conflict is crucial for delivering humanitarian aid to Palestinians, releasing the remaining hostages and preventing a regional war. With the delicate negotiations to restore the ceasefire happening right now, I voted against the Joint Resolutions of Disapproval on arms sales to Israel to encourage progress in those conversations,’ Shaheen said.

When speaking about his joint resolution of disapproval in November, Sanders claimed the Israeli government was controlled ‘not only by right-wing extremists, but by religious zealots.’ He also accused Netanyahu of violating international law. 

The Trump administration fired National Security Agency Director Gen. Timothy Haugh and civilian Deputy Director Wendy Noble, according to a report.

The reasons for the firing remain unclear as of early Friday. They were first reported by The Washington Post on Thursday.

Haugh also served as commander of the U.S. Cyber Command – a position from which he was also dismissed. Noble was reassigned to serve in the office of the undersecretary of defense for intelligence, according to the Post.

Sen. Mark Warner and Rep. Jim Himes, top Democrats on the Senate and House intelligence committees, reacted to the alleged firings late Thursday night.

Himes, a ranking member on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, said he is ‘deeply disturbed’ by Haugh’s dismissal. 

‘I have known General Haugh to be an honest and forthright leader who followed the law and put national security first—I fear those are precisely the qualities that could lead to his firing in this Administration,’ he said in a statement, adding an ‘immediate explanation’ is needed for this decision.

Warner, the vice chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, described Haugh’s firing as ‘astonishing’ in a statement.

‘General Haugh has served our country in uniform, with honor and distinction, for more than 30 years. At a time when the United States is facing unprecedented cyber threats, as the Salt Typhoon cyberattack from China has so clearly underscored, how does firing him make Americans any safer?’ Warner said.

The senator described Haugh as a ‘nonpartisan, experienced leader’ and said it is astonishing that President Donald Trump would fire him before holding ‘any member of his team accountable for leaking classified information on a commercial messaging app.’ 

He continued, ‘even as he apparently takes staffing direction on national security from a discredited conspiracy theorist in the Oval Office.’

Warner is appearing to refer to Laura Loomer, a far-right activist who reportedly presented Trump with a list of disloyal National Security Counsel staff members who should be fired.

An undisclosed number of NSC employees were dismissed on Thursday, but Trump has said Loomer was not involved in those firings.

Fox News Digital reached out to the NSA for comment but was referred to the Office of the Secretary of Defense. 

All but one Senate Republican voted on Thursday to confirm President Donald Trump’s nomination of Harmeet Dhillon to serve as an assistant attorney general.

While the 52-45 vote was almost entirely along party lines, Sen. Lisa Murkowski, of Alaska, joined Democrats in voting against Dhillon’s confirmation.

Fox News Digital reached out to a Murkowski spokesperson on Friday morning to request a comment from the lawmaker, but did not receive a response by the time of publication.

Then-President-elect Donald Trump announced in December that Dhillon was his choice to serve as assistant attorney general for civil rights at the Justice Department.

‘I am pleased to nominate Harmeet K. Dhillon as Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Justice. Throughout her career, Harmeet has stood up consistently to protect our cherished Civil Liberties, including taking on Big Tech for censoring our Free Speech, representing Christians who were prevented from praying together during COVID, and suing corporations who use woke policies to discriminate against their workers,’ Trump declared in his Truth Social post at the time.

‘Harmeet is one of the top Election lawyers in the Country, fighting to ensure that all, and ONLY, legal votes are counted. She is a graduate of Dartmouth College and the University of Virginia Law School, and clerked in the U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals. Harmeet is a respected member of the Sikh religious community. In her new role at the DOJ, Harmeet will be a tireless defender of our Constitutional Rights, and will enforce our Civil Rights and Election Laws FAIRLY and FIRMLY. Congratulations, Harmeet!’ he added.

Trump recently accused Murkwoski, Maine Sen. Susan Collins, and Kentucky Sens. Rand Paul and Mitch McConnell of having ‘Trump Derangement Syndrome.’

The president called out the four GOP senators ahead of a vote on a measure to scuttle his tariff policy on Canadian products. 

All four Republican senators voted for the joint resolution anyway, and it cleared the Senate with all Democrats voting in favor.

President Donald Trump said he wants Elon Musk to stay on his team ‘as long as possible’ during a conversation with reporters Thursday, adding DOGE had found something ‘horrible’ without divulging details.

The president made his remarks during a conversation with reporters on Air Force One after Trump was asked how much longer Musk would stay on as a ‘special government employee.’ 

The questions followed a report from Politico this week claiming Trump had told his inner circle that Musk will be leaving his role as a ‘special government employee’ with DOGE soon. The report cited internal frustrations with Musk’s ‘unpredictability’ and his potential to be a ‘political liability.’  

‘Elon is fantastic. He’s a patriot,’ Trump told reporters, adding Musk can stay at the White House ‘as long as he’d like’ and that he personally wants him to stay ‘as long as possible.’

‘I like smart people, and he’s a smart person. I also like him, personally,’ Trump added. ‘We’re in no rush. But there will be a point at which time Elon’s going to have to leave.’

‘Special government employees’ are permitted to work for the federal government for ‘no more than 130 days in a 365-day period,’ according to data from the Office of Government Ethics. Musk’s 130-day timeframe, beginning on Inauguration Day, would expire May 30.

When asked if he would consider appointing Musk to a different post to keep him around longer, Trump said that could be a possibility. 

‘I would. I think Elon’s great,’ Trump responded. ‘But he also has a company to run, or a number of companies to run.’

According to the president, ‘the secretaries’ within his cabinet will take over the work Musk has been doing with DOGE upon Musk’s exit from DOGE.

That work, Trump added, found something ‘horrible’ and ‘incredible’ today, but he would not divulge further details to reporters.

Musk’s work with DOGE officially began after President Trump signed an executive order establishing the office Jan. 20. The role of ‘special government employee’ was created in 1962 to permit the executive or legislative branch to hire temporary employees for specific short-term initiatives.

When asked for a specific date of Musk’s potential departure, the president responded that it could be as long as ‘a few months.’

‘I’d keep him as long as I can keep him,’ Trump told reporters earlier this week. ‘He’s a very talented guy. You know, I love very smart people. He’s very smart. And he’s done a good job.’

The president added on Air Force One that he envisions many of the employees working under Musk at DOGE will eventually find their way into full-time positions in various federal agencies.

Fox News’ Emma Colton contributed to this report.