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President Donald Trump’s first term revolutionized the online relationship between the president and the public, but self-proclaimed ‘White House Tech Support’ Elon Musk is ushering a chronically online generation into Trump’s second term. 

Trump has been using Truth Social in his second term like he used Twitter during his first, blasting off posts at all hours of the day to roll out policy announcements and comment on his favorite – or least favorite – news shows. Truth Social reads like Trump’s own stream of consciousness, and most Truth users are loyal Trump supporters who use the social media platform to rally around his policies.

Musk’s X account reads more like a political debate. Buried in the steady stream of memes and AI edits, ‘special government employee’ Musk uses X as a way to meet Americans where they are – confirming and denying information about his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) in real time. 

It is easy to get lost in Musk’s 69,000 posts, but the richest man in the world does not miss a beat. This week, as an unrelenting news cycle focused on DOGE’s United States Agency for International Development (USAID) investigation, Musk used X to confirm reporting as misinformation circulated. 

‘All @DOGE did was check to see which federal organizations were violating the @POTUS executive orders the most. Turned out to be USAID, so that became our focus,’ Musk explained in a post on Monday. 

On Wednesday, Musk confirmed reporting by the Wall Street Journal that DOGE is investigating the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, posting: ‘Yeah, this is where the big money fraud is happening.’

Musk invites his followers to engage in the Democratic process right through the app, asking,’Bring back @DOGE staffer who made inappropriate statements via a now deleted pseudonym?’ Musk asked his X followers in an X poll on Friday morning.

Musk polled his followers on Tuesday as well, asking if DOGE should audit the IRS. 

Between the polls and DOGE confirmations, Musk floods his account with political commentary and quick reactions to trending posts. Musk simply responded with a bullseye emoji when an X user posted, ‘If you’re more angry that a handful of 22 year old software engineers are writing code to uncover fraudulent government spending than at the people who are fraudulently spending your hard earned taxes, it’s time to do some soul searching.’ 

Musk also embraces his platform as a vehicle to spark political debate with Democratic leaders.

In recent days, Democrats in Congress have unleashed attacks on Musk, including Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., who said, ‘Elon Musk is a Nazi nepo baby, a godless lawless billionaire, who no one elected’ at a rally outside the Treasury Department, where protesters were speaking out against DOGE.

‘Elon, this is the American people. This is not your trashy Cybertruck that you can just dismantle, pick apart, and sell the pieces of,’ she continued.

‘We are gonna be in your face, we are gonna be on your a–es, and we are going to make sure you understand what democracy looks like, and this ain’t it,’ Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, said at the same rally. 

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., was also in attendance and told the crowd that Musk’s DOGE efforts are ‘taking away everything we have.’

The official DOGE account has a more formal tone and often doubles down on Musk’s posts to verify new information. DOGE has over 3 million followers on X. 

As the owner of X, Musk is the most followed person on the app with a staggering 216.4 million followers. Musk has more followers on X than Trump has on Truth Social (8.83 million) and X (100.4 million) combined. 

These days, Trump follows a Truth Social first media strategy. During his presidential transition, Trump announced his cabinet nominations on Truth Social before the transition team hit send on the press release. The press release that arrived several minutes later simply directed reporters back to the Truth Social post. 

Musk’s constant posts landed him at odds with Trump last week when Musk said OpenAI does not have the money for The Stargate Project’s $500 billion investment in AI over the next four years. Musk said he had it on ‘good authority’ that ‘SoftBank has well under $10B secured’ for the investment, soon after Trump finished a press conference announcing the project. 

Trump shrugged off Musk’s comments later that week, telling the press Musk ‘hates one of the people in the deal.’ OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Musk have a long-standing legal feud. 

While Trump is using X again, he is more likely to post a screenshot of his Truth Social post than break any news on Musk’s platform. Trump was banned from Twitter after Jan. 6 and launched Truth Social in 2022. His account was reinstated after Musk bought Twitter and renamed it X. 

Musk said he bought Twitter to ‘help humanity’ and committed to protecting free speech. While liberal ideology dominated Twitter, X is more likely to lean conservative. A Pew Research Center survey in 2023 found Republicans are more likely to view the site positively since Musk arrived on the scene, while Democrats are more likely to say X has a ne gativeimpact on American democracy.

Fox News’ Andrew Mark Miller contributed to this report

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The Protecting America Initiative (PAI), a Trump-aligned anti-CCP group, has launched a five-figure ad encouraging states to crack down against what they call illicit Chinese vapes in order to counter the communist country’s growing influence in the United States.

‘It’s hip, it’s cool, but look closely on the box,’ the new ad from PAI, which describes itself as a coalition of concerned public policy experts dedicated to combating China’s influence, starts out. 

‘It says, right there, made in China. New data shows the market is being flooded with unregulated e-cigarettes. Most vape products are made in China, and they’re not always regulated. They’re getting these products from China, where they can be tainted with God knows what. It’s been a struggle to keep illegal e-cigarettes from reaching young people.’

PAI says the ad is meant to remind viewers that ‘Trump in 2019 was right about the dangers of illicit Chinese vapes and of Biden’s failure to protect Americans from these unregulated illicit products.’

‘You watch prohibition, you look at, you know, with the alcohol, if you don’t give it to them, it’s going to come here illegally. But instead of legitimate companies, good companies, making something that’s safe, they’re going to be selling stuff on a street corner that could be horrible,’ Trump is quoted as saying in the ad. 

The ad will run on digital platforms in targeted markets across the country.

‘Despite the warnings, Biden failed and China won,’ the ad states. ‘Trump predicted this.’

‘States are taking action against illicit Chinese vapes. More state leaders can act now to fight with Trump against illicit Chinese vapes.’

Although the rate of youth smoking cigarettes is now at an all-time low, according to the CDC, youth usage of Chinese vapes has increased dramatically since 2020.
 

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President Donald Trump said Sunday that he has revoked the security clearances of people he does not respect, which includes his political enemies.

‘There are people that we don’t respect. If there are people that we thought that were breaking the law, that came very close to it in previous years, we do it. And we’ve done it with some people,’ Trump told reporters, according to The Hill.

This comes after Trump on Friday pulled former President Joe Biden’s security clearance and stopped his daily intelligence briefings.

‘We’ve done it with Biden himself. Biden himself. We think our country is not as safe when you gave him clearance,’ Trump said on Sunday.

‘We don’t think he knows what he’s doing and what he’s done to this country is a disgrace, and what he’s done in terms of allowing criminals, murderers, drug lords into our country, people from mental institutions into our country, he should be ashamed of himself,’ he added.

The president argued that there is no need for Biden to receive a security clearance or receive daily intelligence briefings.

He had cited former special counsel Robert Hur’s report last year into Biden’s handling of classified materials. The report highlighted the former president’s frequent memory lapses and led to increased scrutiny from Republicans about his mental fitness.

‘There is no need for Joe Biden to continue receiving access to classified information,’ Trump wrote Friday on Truth Social. ‘Therefore, we are immediately revoking Joe Biden’s Security Clearances, and stopping his daily Intelligence Briefings.’

‘He set this precedent in 2021, when he instructed the Intelligence Community (IC) to stop the 45th President of the United States (ME!) from accessing details on National Security, a courtesy provided to former Presidents,’ Trump’s post continued. ‘The Hur Report revealed that Biden suffers from ‘poor memory’ and, even in his ‘prime,’ could not be trusted with sensitive information. I will always protect our National Security — JOE, YOU’RE FIRED. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!’

Trump has also revoked the clearances of former Secretary of State Antony Blinken, New York Attorney General Letitia James and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.

He also pulled Secret Service protection for his former national security adviser John Bolton last month and security protection for his former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, despite both men facing threats from Iran over their hawkish foreign policy positions towards the country.

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U.S. President Donald Trump said Sunday that he remains committed to the U.S. purchasing and owning Gaza, but that he may allow Middle Eastern countries to rebuild sections of the area ravaged by the Israel-Hamas war.

Trump made the comment when speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One on his way to New Orleans for the Super Bowl.

‘I’m committed to buying and owning Gaza,’ Trump said. ‘As far as us rebuilding it, we may give it to other states in the Middle East to build sections of it, other people may do it, through our auspices. But we’re committed to owning it, taking it, and making sure that Hamas doesn’t move back.’

‘There’s nothing to move back into. The place is a demolition site. The remainder will be demolished. Everything’s demolished,’ he said.

The president also said he was open to the possibility of allowing some Palestinian refugees into the U.S. but that those requests would be handled on a case-by-case basis.

Trump said last week at a joint press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that he wants the U.S. to take over Gaza after Palestinians are resettled in other countries.

‘The U.S. will take over the Gaza Strip, and we will do a job with it, too,’ Trump said at the time. ‘We’ll own it and be responsible for dismantling all of the dangerous, unexplored bombs and other weapons on the site.’

‘Level the site and get rid of the destroyed buildings, level it out, create an economic development that will supply unlimited numbers of jobs and housing for the people of the area,’ he added. ‘Do a real job. Do something different. Just can’t go back. If you go back, it’s going to end up the same way it has for 100 years.’

Several countries have criticized Trump’s comments about taking over Gaza, which was bombarded by Israeli forces in the conflict sparked by Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack against the Jewish State.

Trump also said on Jan. 25 that he wanted Jordan, Egypt and other Arab nations to accept more Palestinian refugees from Gaza, potentially moving out enough people to ‘just clean out’ the area.

‘You’re talking about probably a million and a half people, and we just clean out that whole thing and say, ‘You know, it’s over,” he said at the time.

Palestinians feared during the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, which is now under a ceasefire, that they would suffer from another ‘Nakba,’ meaning catastrophe in Arabic, which refers to the displacement and dispossession of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians during the 1948 war at the birth of the State of Israel.

Earlier on Sunday, Israeli President Isaac Herzog told Fox News’ Maria Bartiromo when asked about Trump’s plan to take over Gaza that the U.S. president was slated to meet with Jordan’s King Abdullah II, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and possibly Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

‘President Trump is due to meet with major, major Arab leaders, first and foremost the king of Jordan and the president of Egypt and I think also the crown prince of Saudi Arabia as well,’ Herzog said.

‘These are partners that must be listened to, they must be discussed with. We have to honor their feelings as well and see how we build a plan that is sustainable for the future,’ he added.

Saudi Arabia is among the many countries that have rejected Trump’s plan to take over Gaza. Jordan’s King Abdullah II reportedly plans to tell Trump during their scheduled meeting on Tuesday that the proposal is a recipe for radicalism that will spread chaos throughout the Middle East and put at risk the kingdom’s peace with Israel.

Reuters contributed to this report.

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President Donald Trump announced plans to put a stop to producing pennies, which cost more than their value to make.

‘For far too long, the United States has minted pennies which literally cost us more than 2 cents,’ Trump wrote on Truth Social. ‘This is so wasteful! I have instructed my Secretary of the US Treasury to stop producing new pennies.’

He added, ‘Let’s rip the waste out of our great nation’s budget, even if it’s a penny at a time.’

This is the president’s latest move to reduce spending in the U.S. after taking office on Jan. 20.

The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which is led by billionaire Elon Musk, posted on X last month that producing the penny is costing American taxpayers tens of millions of dollars, suggesting that it may be one of the items it may consider eliminating. 

Musk’s initiative, aimed at cutting $2 trillion in federal spending, didn’t directly state that the penny would be eliminated, but highlighted that it costs three times more to make than it’s actually worth.

According to the U.S. Mint, each penny costs 3.69 cents to produce in fiscal year 2024, costing taxpayers $119 million. This marked the 19th consecutive year in which production exceeded its face value. 

In the U.S., the penny was one of the first coins made by the U.S. Mint after its establishment in 1792. When it was first produced, the coin was larger and made of pure copper. Today’s smaller coin is made mostly of zinc, according to the U.S. Mint.

Fox News Digital’s Daniella Genovese contributed to this report.

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President Donald Trump ‘100 percent’ disagrees with a federal judge’s ruling on Saturday that bars the Department of Government Efficiency from accessing the Treasury Department, he said during an exclusive interview with Fox News’ Bret Baier. 

‘Nineteen states attorneys general filed a lawsuit, and early Saturday a judge agreed with them to restrict Elon Musk and his government efficiency team, DOGE, from accessing Treasury Department payment and data systems. They said there was a risk of ‘irreparable harm.’ What do you make of that? And does that slow you down and what you want to do?’ Baier asked Trump in the interview clip. 

‘No, I disagree with it 100%. I think it’s crazy. And we have to solve the efficiency problem. We have to solve the fraud, waste, abuse, all the things that have gone into the government. You take a look at the USAID, the kind of fraud in there,’ Trump responded. 

U.S. District Judge for the Southern District of New York Paul Engelmayer, an appointee of former President Barack Obama, issued a temporary restraining order Saturday that sided with 19 Democratic state attorneys general who claimed that giving DOGE ‘full access’ to the Treasury’s payment systems violates the law. The lawsuit was spearheaded by New York Attorney General Letitia James.

The judge’s sweeping order, issued Saturday, bars DOGE from accessing the Treasury system until at least Feb. 14, when Engelmayer scheduled a hearing to revisit the matter. 

The language of the order specifically bars ‘political appointees, special government employees, and any government employee detailed from an agency outside the Treasury Department access to Treasury Department payment systems or any other data maintained by the Treasury Department containing personally identifiable information.’ Trump, Secretary Scott Bessent and the U.S. Treasury are named as defendants in the case. 

Musk, Vice President JD Vance and other conservatives aligned with Trump have slammed the order. 

‘If a judge tried to tell a general how to conduct a military operation, that would be illegal. If a judge tried to command the attorney general in how to use her discretion as a prosecutor, that’s also illegal. Judges aren’t allowed to control the executive’s legitimate power,’ Vance posted to X on Sunday of the order. 

Trump spoke with Baier in an exclusive interview with Fox News ahead of the Super Bowl, which Trump will attend. The pair discussed the president’s long love of sports and football, as well as politics and DOGE. 

‘We’re talking about hundreds of millions of dollars of money that’s going to places where it shouldn’t be going,’ Trump said when asked about what DOGE has found while auditing federal agencies in search of government overspending, fraud and corruption.

‘Where if I read a list, you’d say, this is ridiculous, and you’ve read the same list and there are many that you haven’t even seen, it’s crazy. It’s a big scam. Now there’s some good money and we can do that through, any one of a number. I think I’d rather give it to Marco Rubio over at the State Department. Let him take care of the few good ones. So, I don’t know if it’s kickbacks or what’s going on, but the people. Look, I ran on this, and the people want me to find it. And I’ve had a great help with Elon Musk, who’s been terrific,’ he continued. 

Baier also asked Trump about his recent comments about Canada becoming the U.S.’ 51st state and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeay saying last week that Trump’s desire to acquire the nation is a ‘a real thing.’ 

‘Yeah, it is,’ Trump said when asked about Trudeau’s remark. ‘I think Canada would be much better off being a 51st state because we lose $200 billion a year with Canada, and I’m not going to let that happen. It’s too much. Why are we paying $200 billion a year essentially in subsidy to Canada? Now, if they’re our 51st state, I don’t mind doing it.’

Trump will spend his Sunday evening in New Orleans, where the Chiefs and Eagles will face off in the Super Bowl. Trump is expected to return to the White House on Sunday evening following the game. 

Baier’s full interview with Trump will air Monday during ‘Special Report with Bret Baier.’

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President Donald Trump kicked off his fourth week in office by attending the Super Bowl in what is expected to be another action-packed work week that could include a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. 

Trump will land back in Washington, D.C., late Sunday evening after attending the Super Bowl and spending the weekend at Mar-A-Lago. The 47th president hinted that he could hold his first meeting with Zelenskyy since his Jan. 20 inauguration later this week to discuss the ongoing war between Ukraine and Russia. 

‘[Zelenskyy] may meet next week, yeah. Whenever he would like. I’m here,’ Trump told reporters while hosting Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba on Friday. 

Trump has already met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose nation is in the midst of a ceasefire agreement with Hamas following more than a year of war, and has vowed to end the war between Russia and Ukraine. Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, leading to hundreds of thousands of deaths for both nations as war continues. 

‘I will probably be meeting with President Zelenskyy next week. And I’ve… I will probably be talking to President Putin. I’d like to see that war end for one primary reason: They’re killing so many people,’ Trump said during the press conference on Friday. 

Trump last met with Zelenskyy when he was president-elect in December during a trip to Paris ahead of the Notre Dame Cathedral reopening after a fire ripped through the Catholic church in 2019. 

‘You have 8 or 900,000 Russian soldiers are dead, and very badly wounded. And the same thing with Ukraine, you have probably 700,000 with Ukraine. The numbers they gave are a little bit lower than that. But I believe those numbers aren’t correct. I’d like to see it just on a human basis. It’s terrible what’s going on,’ Trump added of the ongoing war during his comments Friday. 

Trump confirmed to the New York Post on Friday that he has spoken to Vladimir Putin as the war continues, but did not divulge many details beyond that Putin ‘wants to see people stop dying.’

Trump suggested earlier last week that Ukraine should strike a deal with the U.S. to provide crucial minerals – such as titanium, lithium, graphite and uranium – in exchange for military aid. 

‘We’re putting in hundreds of billions of dollars. They have great rare earths. And I want security of the rare earth, and they’re willing to do [that],’ Trump told reporters at the White House last Monday. 

Zelenskyy told the media a day later that he is open to an ‘investment’ from ‘partners who help us defend our land and push the enemy back with their weapons, their presence, and sanctions packages.’ 

‘And this is absolutely fair,’ he added. 

Trump is also expected to meet with the CEO of Nippon Steel this week, which is Japan’s largest steel company. The Biden administration had blocked a nearly $15 billion deal for the Japanese company to buy the American steelmaker, U.S. Steel, with Trump previewing last week that Nippon is now looking to invest in U.S. Steel as opposed to purchasing it. 

Nippon Steel ‘is going to be doing something very exciting about U.S. Steel,’ Trump said on Friday. ‘They’ll be looking at an investment rather than a purchase.’

‘Very great company and they’ll work out the details,’ Trump said of Nippon, mistakenly referring to it as ‘Nissan,’ a Japanese car company on first reference. ‘I’ll help. I’ll be there to mediate and arbitrate.’

The president is in the midst of leveraging tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China to bolster border security, end illegal immigration and stem the flow of fentanyl into the U.S. Trump previewed on Friday that this week will include him announcing ‘reciprocal trade’ tariffs on other nations, as opposed to a flat 10% or 20% tariff on other nations, as he has previously threatened. 

‘I’ll be announcing that next week, reciprocal trade, so that we’re treated evenly with other countries,’ he told reporters on Friday, saying the announcement should come by Monday or Tuesday. ‘We don’t want any more, any less.’

‘I think that’s the only fair way to do it that way nobody’s hurt,’ the president continued. ‘They charge us, we charge them. It’s the same thing, and I seem to be going in that line as opposed to a flat fee tariff.’

In addition to anticipated foreign relations and international trade announcements and meetings, Trump’s administration is expected to continue its investigations of the federal government’s various agencies as part of the Department of Government Efficiency’s quest to suss out internal corruption and government overspending. 

Trump’s schedule for the week was not yet released as of Sunday afternoon, beyond attending the Super Bowl before flying back to the White House late Sunday evening. 

Fox News Digital’s Morgan Phillips contributed to this article. 

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President Donald Trump signed a proclamation declaring February 9th as ‘Gulf of America Day’ as he flew over the recently renamed body of water on his way to make history at Super Bowl LIX on Sunday afternoon. 

‘MOMENTS AGO ON AF1: President Trump signed a Proclamation declaring February 9th ‘Gulf of America Day’ while flying over the newly and appropriately named GULF OF AMERICA!’ White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt announced in a post on X.

‘Air Force One is currently in international waters, the first time in history flying over the recently renamed Gulf of America,’ the White House shared in a video on X, showing Trump signing the proclamation.

Trump signed the proclamation aboard Air Force 1, while traveling to Super Bowl LIX. He will be the first sitting president to ever attend a Super Bowl.

‘Today, I am very honored to recognize February 9, 2025, as the first ever Gulf of America Day,’ the proclamation read.

‘I took this action in part because, as stated in that Order, ‘[t]he area formerly known as the Gulf of Mexico has long been an integral asset to our once burgeoning Nation and has remained an indelible part of America.’

‘Today, I am making my first visit to the Gulf of America since its renaming,’ the proclamation continued. ‘As my Administration restores American pride in the history of American greatness, it is fitting and appropriate for our great Nation to come together and commemorate this momentous occasion and the renaming of the Gulf of America.’

Former North Dakota Gov. and current Secretary of Interior Doug Burgum also praised the president and celebrated the gulf’s official day.

‘It’s official! Congratulations @POTUS on the Gulf of America! Interior has implemented your instruction from the Executive Order on Restoring Names That Honor American Greatness,’ Burgum wrote.

‘Another big win for President Trump’s agenda to Make America Great Again.’

‘It’s official! Proclamation signed aboard Air Force 1 above the Gulf Of America!’ Trump’s son, Eric Trump, posted on X.

Trump announced his push for the name change during his first press conference as the 47th President of the United States of America.

‘We’re going to be changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America, which has a beautiful ring. That covers a lot of territory,’ Trump previously said at his first news conference. ‘The Gulf of America. What a beautiful name. And it’s appropriate.’

The changes will apply to official federal documents and maps, though it is unclear whether the order also requires schools to use the new terminology.

Trump has also pushed to rename Alaska’s Mount Denali, pointing out that it was originally named after President William McKinley.

‘McKinley was a very good, maybe a great president,’ Trump said at a December rally. ‘They took his name off Mount McKinley, right? That’s what they do to people. Now, he was a great president, very good president. At a minimum, he was a very good businessman. He was a businessman, then a governor, very successful businessman.’

Fox News Digital’s Anders Hagstrom contributed to this report. 

Stepheny Price is a writer for Fox News Digital and Fox Business. Story tips and ideas can be sent to stepheny.price@fox.com

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JOHANNESBURG — President Donald Trump’s executive order penalizing South Africa released on Friday has hit a raw nerve in the African nation. The order primarily aimed at land seizures comes as Pretoria has faced ongoing U.S. criticisms that it has operated against U.S. interests, including its support of the Palestinians in the International Criminal Court and its warm relations with China, Russia and Iran.

Friday’s executive order stated in part, ‘In shocking disregard of its citizens’ rights, the Republic of South Africa recently enacted Expropriation Act 13 of 2024, to enable the government of South Africa to seize ethnic minority Afrikaners’ agricultural property without compensation.’

‘It is the policy of the United States that, as long as South Africa continues these unjust and immoral practices that harm our Nation:
(a) the United States shall not provide aid or assistance to South Africa; and
(b) the United States shall promote the resettlement of Afrikaner refugees escaping government-sponsored race-based discrimination, including racially discriminatory property confiscation.’

Friday’s executive order pointedly took aim at Pretoria’s foreign policy: ‘South Africa has taken aggressive positions towards the United States and its allies, including accusing Israel, not Hamas, of genocide in the International Court of Justice, and reinvigorating its relations with Iran to develop commercial, military, and nuclear arrangements … The United States cannot support the government of South Africa’s commission of rights violations in its country or its undermining United States foreign policy, which poses national security threats to our Nation, our allies, our African partners, and our interests.’

On Saturday the South African government responded, ‘It is of great concern that the foundational premise of this order lacks factual accuracy and fails to recognize South Africa’s profound and painful history of colonialism and apartheid,’ Chrispin Phiri, spokesperson for the country’s International Relations Department, posted on X.

Phiri added that ‘we are concerned by what seems to be a campaign of misinformation and propaganda aimed at misrepresenting our great nation. It is disappointing to observe that such narratives seem to have found favor among decision-makers in the United States of America.’

Although it lost its majority in last year’s elections, the African National Congress (ANC) is still the main party in South Africa’s present government of national unity. The party’s secretary general reacted to the offer that White Afrikaners can go become U.S. citizens by posting a photo on X. In it, a black man is standing by an open door and gesturing with both arms outside the door, suggesting Afrikaners should leave.

The government has claimed Whites of all backgrounds, not just Afrikaners, still own approximately 70% of South Africa’s land. The government is on record saying the Expropriation Act will only be used to take land needed for public purposes – such as for a new school – from people of any color when the owner refuses to sell, and even then there would be ‘fair and equitable compensation.’

Emma Powell, the international relations spokesperson for South Africa’s main opposition party, the Democratic Alliance, told Fox News Digital that ‘for decades, the DA has opposed the ANC’s race-based policies. These policies have benefited the political elite while the vast majority of South Africans continue to languish in poverty.’

She continued that the DA ‘will be pursuing legal action to safeguard property rights. It is now time for the ANC to re-evaluate both their domestic and foreign policy positions, which actively undermine our national interests.’

Powell told Fox News Digital, her party will send ‘a high-level delegation to Washington D.C. in coming weeks to engage with decision-makers. The DA remains committed to protecting private property rights, fostering economic growth, and strengthening diplomatic ties with the U.S.’

Afrikaners, descendants of predominantly Dutch settlers who landed in Southern Africa in 1652, became the country’s rulers and are widely believed to have developed the apartheid system that separated Whites and Blacks, treating Blacks as second-class citizens.

In a statement released on Saturday, AfriForum, a civil rights group that largely represents Afrikaners, expressed ‘great appreciation’ for Trump’s action, which it said was ‘a direct result of President Cyril Ramaphosa and his government’s irresponsible actions and policies.’

It continued, ‘However, the civil rights organization and its sister institutions in the Solidarity Movement remain committed to Afrikaners’ future at the southern tip of Africa and insist that urgent solutions must therefore be found for the injustices committed by the South African government against Afrikaners and other cultural communities in the country.’

One of the more outspoken and extreme members of the government of national unity, Julius Malema, head of the South African minority party Economic Freedom Fighters, said on X, ‘In light of the aggression by the USA against South Africa, we must as a nation seriously consider strengthening ties with Russia, China and nations who belong to (the international trade body) BRICS to avoid unnecessary confrontations with maniacs such as Donald Trump.’

Malema has been taken to court on hate crime charges. In one instance, he sang the genocidal anti-apartheid struggle song ‘Kill the Boer, the farmer,’ referring to the White descendants of Dutch settlers or ‘Boers’ in South Africa.

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House Speaker Mike Johnson poked fun at ‘flailing’ Democrats on Sunday and vowed that the House of Representatives would be just as aggressive in pushing legislation as President Donald Trump has been with executive orders.

Johnson made the statement during an appearance on ‘Fox News Sunday’ with host Shannon Bream. Johnson said House Republicans are working to compile the massive legislative package Trump has requested.

‘We’re going to secure the border, we’re going to make sure that American communities are safe. We’re going to get American energy dominance going again in the economy and restore common sense,’ Johnson said.

‘But to do all that in one big bill takes a little bit of time. So we’re working through that process very productively. We’ve been building on this for a year, Shannon. All through last year, we had our committees of jurisdiction working on the ideas to put it together,’ he added.

‘We were going to do a budget committee markup next week. We might push it a little bit further because the details really matter. Remember that I have the smallest margin in history, about a two vote margin currently. So I’ve got to make sure everyone agrees before we bring the project forward, that final product, and we’ve got a few more boxes to check, but we’re getting very, very close,’ he continued.

The budget bill process has not been without its share of in-fighting, however. Republican spending hawks are pushing leaders to include at least $2.5 trillion in spending cuts in the massive legislative package.

One GOP lawmaker said that tension bubbled up in a closed-door meeting last week with several ‘heated exchanges,’ with conservatives demanding a concrete plan and minimum spending cuts at significantly higher levels than what was initially proposed.

‘I think there’s a lot of frustration right now,’ the lawmaker told Fox News Digital. ‘They’ve been trying to be inclusive, but not every open forum they’ve offered is giving members the ability to say, ‘I feel like people are listening to me,’ because I don’t know that’s the case right now.’

Reps. Chip Roy, R-Texas, and Ralph Norman, R-S.C., two conservative members of the House Budget Committee, both told reporters they wanted to see the baseline for spending cuts set at roughly $2.5 trillion.

Fox News’ Elizabeth Elkind contributed to this report.

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