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In February for Black History Month, USA TODAY Sports is publishing the series ’29 Black Stories in 29 Days.’ We examine the issues, challenges and opportunities Black athletes and sports officials continue to face after the nation’s reckoning on race following the murder of George Floyd in 2020. This is the fourth installment of the series.

Chicago Bulls forward DeMar DeRozan has a message for everyone who is feeling alone or confused or scared. It doesn’t matter if you’re famous or not. Or wealthy. Or a parent or blue collar or any collar. DeRozan’s message is for you. For all of us.

‘Remember that we are all human,’ he said in an interview with USA TODAY Sports. ‘We’re all going through something. All of us. So think about how you can help the next person. No matter how you’re feeling, don’t give up. Don’t feel like it’s only you.

‘The world can be a harsh place but no matter what, you’re not alone.’

DeRozan isn’t just a six-time NBA All-Star. He’s one of the biggest proponents of mental health advocacy in all of professional sports and he’s done something that could potentially be remarkable.

He’s launching “Dinners with DeMar,” a new digital series of short films that features one-on-one conversations with not just fellow NBA players but other entertainers and celebrities as well.

The first season, which drops on Feb. 20, starts with three episodes. Each will air on DeRozan’s YouTube channel. The first features Golden State’s Draymond Green. He was suspended 12 games for striking Phoenix center Jusuf Nurkic. That came just a short time after he served a five-game suspension for putting Minnesota Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert in a chokehold.

The second episode, which debuts on March 5, features Hall of Famer Dwyane Wade. The two actually talk in DeRozan’s backyard where Wade discusses fatherhood and how the family has normalized therapy. The third episode airs on March 19 and DeRozan speaks with Milwaukee Bucks star Damian Lillard.

‘When you hear about players it’s always about basketball,’ DeRozan said. ‘Especially when you hear about these players. But there’s so much more to them. They talk about their families, their dreams, all of the things that make them human. I think that’s one of the things I want to get across. That when it comes to mental health, NBA players aren’t so different from anyone else.’

DeRozan explained that the mental health discussions have been occurring a lot more in the NBA than they were in the recent past, but more must happen.

‘For me, coming from an urban community, you gain a certain amount of success, and society tells you that you’re not supposed to worry about your mental health,’ DeRozan said. ‘What I want people to know is that players are human just like everyone else. We have emotions. We break down.’

The creator and executive producer of the series is Brett Rapkin, who founded Podium Pictures. His 2020 documentary “The Weight of Gold” examined the mental health struggles of Olympic athletes and was nominated for a sports Emmy Award.

Talking about mental health is far from new for DeRozan. In 2018, he tweeted that, ‘This depression get the best of me.’ That single tweet sparked what would become a broader conversation initially in the NBA and then across all of sports about mental health.

‘He changed a billion dollar business,’ guard Fred VanVleet said in 2020. ‘He changed it pretty much single-handedly (by) speaking out. And then obviously a lot of guys felt more comfortable, and that’s what it’s about. So for him to do that was huge and we won’t know the impact, we’ll never know the impact, but we just know that it’s a great impact that he had on the league and on guys, on players, coaching staff, whoever. That this is DeMar DeRozan and he goes through (expletive) like everybody else.

‘I think that was big for him. It took a lot of guts and a lot of heart to do that, and it’s something that helped me in my personal life — feeling comfortable about some of those things — and it opened my eyes to things I was ignorant about. And I think it was special for him to do that.’

To say this series is groundbreaking would be an understatement. It’s the kind of discussion that can literally save lives. That’s generally what happens when mental health conversations leave the shadows and the stigma about them are removed.

It’s also clear how much these discussions are needed. Shaka Smart, coach at Marquette, when speaking Nov. 9 during a conference at the school, said a number of college players he’s coached who went on to the NBA suffered from depression after getting to the league.

“I’ve coached 13 guys that went to the NBA,” Smart said. “Over half of them went through depression after they went to the NBA. Over half of them. We think as young people this is our goal and when we accomplish our goal we’re going to be happy, we’re going to be set for life, fulfilled. But the reality is, it’s ongoing.”

‘Everyone has a story to tell,’ DeRozan said, ‘whether you’re in the spotlight or not. I do, you do. All of us.’

If you or someone you know needs mental health resources and support, please call, text, or chat with the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline or visit988lifeline.org for 24/7 access to free and confidential services.

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PACIFIC PALISADES, Calif. — Tony Finau’s golf clubs and Foresight launch monitor may be hitting the market for the grand sum of 99 cents.

How can that be?

Well, it turns out Finau forgot to ask his wife, Alayna, to be his Valentine – and she’s none too happy about it, according to her social media post on TikTok on Monday.

“Apparently I need to ask,” Finau said on Tuesday on the range at Riviera Country Club ahead of this week’s Genesis Invitational.

In the post, Alayna showed a picture of the happy couple from their wedding day and wrote, “It’s Feb. 12 and he hasn’t asked me to be his Valentines yet … ” That was juxtaposed next to a picture of his golf bag and “Golf Clubs for sale, 99 cents. Hits far, thick grips, custom leather, head covers, Foresight launch monitor included.”

“For like 99 cents, can you believe it?” Finau said.

“I’m not on TikTok but yesterday one of the equipment reps said to me, ‘Your wife is so funny. I can’t believe she’s selling (your clubs) for 99 cents.’ I just went along with it and smiled but in my head I was thinking, ‘I don’t really know what he’s talking about,’” Tony recalled. “Then I went on Instagram and saw a post about it and I had a good laugh. It’s too funny.”

Tony said he would cook up something special to celebrate Valentine’s Day with his wife, who would be coming to town for the tournament this week.

Whatever you do to celebrate the occasion on Wednesday, make sure it doesn’t lead to your golf clubs being sold for less than a dollar.

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The U.S. has intelligence of a national and international security threat related to Russian nuclear capabilities in space which could threaten satellites, including potentially knocking out U.S. military communications and reconnaissance, Fox News has learned. 

Sources tell Fox News that the Russian capability has not yet deployed.

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Turner on Wednesday morning first warned of a ‘serious national security threat,’ and called on President Biden to declassify it. 

‘The House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence has made available to all Members of Congress information concerning a serious national security threat,’ Turner said. ‘I am requesting that President Biden declassify all information relating to this threat so that Congress, the Administration, and our allies can openly discuss the actions necessary to respond to this threat.’ 

Fox News Digital obtained the notice sent to congressional members Wednesday, which pointed to ‘an urgent matter with regard to a destabilizing foreign military capability that should be known by all Congressional Policy Makers.’

Sources told Fox News that the deliberations about declassifying the intelligence relate to interests in protecting intelligence sources and methods.  

A separate source told Fox News that the threat is ‘concerning Russian capability,’ noting that the ‘potential seriousness of the threat is grave,’ but ‘the threat is not immediate in nature.’ 

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., later attempted to quell any panic caused by Turner’s statement by explaining that last month, he sent a letter to the White House ‘requesting a meeting with the president to discuss a serious national security issue that is classified.’

‘In response to that letter, a meeting is now scheduled tomorrow on this matter here at the Capitol with the Gang of Four and with the president’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan,’ Johnson said. ‘I will press the administration to take appropriate action, and everybody can be comforted by that.’ 

Johnson said he ‘saw Chairman Turner’s statement on the issue, and I want to assure the American people there’s no need for public alarm.’ 

‘We are going to work together to address this matter as we do all sensitive matters that are classified,’ Johnson said. ‘And beyond that, I’m not at liberty to disclose classified information and really can’t say much of that, but we just want to assure everyone, steady hands are at the wheel, we’re working on it. There’s no need for alarm.’ 

Meanwhile, Senate Select Committee on Intelligence Chairman Mark Warner, D-Va., and Vice Chairman Marco Rubio, R-Fla., said their committee ‘has the intelligence in question, and has been rigorously tracking this issue from the start.’ 

‘We continue to take this matter seriously and are discussing an appropriate response with the administration,’ Warner and Rubio said. ‘In the meantime, we must be cautious about potentially disclosing sources and methods that may be key to preserving a range of options for U.S. action.’

White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan on Wednesday at the White House press briefing said that he was surprised by Turner’s statement, given that earlier in the week he reached out to members of Congress to offer himself to come to Capitol Hill to give a personal briefing on the matter. 

That briefing will take place on Thursday.

‘I am a bit surprised that Congressman Turner came out publicly today in advance of a meeting on the books for me to go sit with him alongside our intelligence and defense professionals tomorrow. That’s his choice to do that,’ Sullivan said.

‘All I can tell you is that I’m focused on going to see him, sit with him, as well as the other House members of the Gang of Eight tomorrow, and I’m not in a position to say anything further from this podium at this time, other than to make the broad point that this administration has gone further, and in more creative, more strategic ways, dealt with the declassification of intelligence in the national interest of the United States than any administration in history,’ he continued.

Sullivan added: ‘You definitely are not going to find an unwillingness to do that when it’s in our national security interest to do so.’

He said, however, that the administration has prioritized ‘the issue of sources and methods.’

‘Ultimately, these are decisions for the president to make, but in the meantime, the most important thing is we have the opportunity to sit in a classified setting and have the kind of conversation with the House Intelligence leadership that I, in fact, had scheduled before Congressman Turner went out today,’ Sullivan said.

Sullivan again stressed that he ‘personally reached out’ to Congress on the matter.

‘It is highly unusual, in fact, for the national security adviser to do that,’ he said. 

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The House on Wednesday passed a bipartisan resolution condemning Hamas terrorists’ use of rape and sexual violence as weapons of war during — and since — the attacks in Israel on Oct. 7. 

The resolution, introduced by Rep. Lois Frankel, D-Fla., and endorsed by 200 co-sponsors from both sides of the aisle, passed in a vote of 418 to 0. 

Democrat Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., voted ‘present.’

‘Our bipartisan resolution says it loud and clear: rape and sexual violence are crimes against humanity and should never be used or accepted as weapons of war,’ said Rep. Frankel. 

The resolution ‘condemns all rape and forms of sexual violence as weapons of war, including those acts committed by Hamas terrorists’ and calls on ‘all nations to criminalize rape and sexual assault, and hold accountable all perpetrators of sexual violence, including state and non-state armed groups.’ 

‘There are some subjects that are so difficult to talk about, but it is our responsibility to do so,’ Rep. Frankel said from the House floor Wednesday.

‘Hamas’ actions on Oct. 7 and continuing is almost too difficult to speak about, raping, mutilating and burning to inflict psychological pain and unleashing trauma that continues to plague a grieving Israel,’ she said. 

‘Shockingly and alarmingly, Hamas’ violence has been met with a shrug from many corners in the world, and many deny it. Such weapons have been used throughout history and around the world to terrorize and traumatize victims, but that doesn’t make it OK. It must never be normalized. Our resolution makes it clear sexual violence is a crime against humanity,’ Frankel said. 

Rep. Tlaib said she was ‘disturbed’ that the resolution ‘completely ignores and erases any sexual violence committed’ allegedly committed by IDF forces. Those claims are unsubstantiated. 

The resolution also calls on all international bodies to ‘unequivocally condemn the barbaric murder, rape, sexual assault, and kidnapping by Hamas and other terrorists’ on and since Oct. 7 and hold accountable all perpetrators.’

It also reaffirms the United States Government’s support for independent, impartial investigations of rape and sexual violence committed by Hamas and reaffirms its commitment to supporting survivors of rape and sexual violence, including those brutalized on and since the Oct. 7 attacks. 

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President Biden attacked Special Counsel Robert Hur for bringing up his son’s death, but it was allegedly Biden who first brought up the death of Beau in an interview. 

According to NBC, citing multiple sources, Hur never asked the president about his recollection of his son’s death in 2015 to brain cancer during two days of interviews last October.

The sources said that Biden brought up Beau’s death, not Hur nor his team.

Biden first brought up his son’s death after being asked about his workflow while he and a ghostwriter were writing a memoir at a Virginia rental home from 2016 to 2018, the sources said.

The sources said that during the interview Biden began trying to recall what was happening in his life at the time and he ‘appeared confused’ about when Beau had died.

The 81-year-old president allegedly got the date of his son’s death correct– May 30, but not the year.

The reported revelations came after Biden lashed out last Thursday at Special Counsel Robert Hur who investigated his handling of classified documents after the prosecutor in his final report noted that the president struggled to remember details such as when his son died.

‘How in the h— dare he raise that,’ Biden said in a press conference on Thursday. ‘Frankly, when I was asked the question I thought to myself it wasn’t any of their d— business.’

While Hur’s report absolved Biden of criminal wrongdoing relating to his handling of classified documents, it characterized the president as an ‘elderly man with a poor memory.’ 

The report, released last Thursday, described the president’s memory as ‘hazy,’ ‘fuzzy,’ ‘faulty,’ ‘poor,’ and suggested Biden did not remember when his son Beau Biden died. 

‘We conclude that no criminal charges are warranted in this matter,’ the report, released Thursday, states. ‘We would reach the same conclusion even if the Department of Justice policy did not foreclose criminal charges against a sitting president.’

The White House did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

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FBI Director Christopher Wray made an unannounced trip to Israel, where he sat in on intelligence meetings before speaking to Fox News.

Wray’s visit was his first time on the ground in Israel since the Oct. 7 Hamas attack. 

The FBI director met with his counterparts in Israel’s Shin Bet (Israeli intelligence) and others. He spoke to Fox News before boarding a plane to leave the country for Germany for the Munich Security Conference, where he’ll speak Thursday. 

‘We’ve seen a rogues’ gallery of foreign terrorist organizations both express support and praise for the Hamas attacks and threaten to attack U.S. interests at home and abroad,’ Wray said. ‘We’re working with all our partners to confront the elevated threat picture, which includes, I should add, the threats posed by Iran and Hezbollah, both in terms of the Hamas attacks on Oct. 7, and more broadly.’ 

‘We have learned a lot,’ Wray added of the information gathered by the FBI in the wake of Oct. 7. ‘The information exchange between our two countries has been terrific as well. As with a number of our other close allies who are all collaborating out of a shared commitment to combat the scourge of terrorism.’

Wray also spoke about the FBI’s role in protecting Americans in Israel and Gaza. 

‘The FBI has been working side by side, really around the clock, to aid in investigative and recovery efforts to provide support and services to U.S. victims of the attack and their families, and to identify and disrupt additional threats that we’re seeing emanating from the conflict,’ he said. 

Wray said he felt it was important to travel to meet with Israeli law enforcement and intelligence partners on Israeli soil ‘to show our unwavering support and commitment to these partners in the wake of the horrific terrorist attacks perpetrated by Hamas against innocent civilians on Oct. 7, and second, because we are closely working — again, I cannot overstate this — closely working with our partners in Israel and others around the world to investigate these attacks.’

‘Some of our FBI folks here in Israel have literally not taken a day off since Oct. 7, and I’m proud of the incredible support the team has provided to our partners during this dark time. The FBI’s partnership with our Israeli counterparts is long-standing, close and robust,’ he said. ‘Whenever we meet and talk — which we do all the time — these are deeply substantive conversations across a whole range of common threats between countries with shared values and shared commitment to the rule of law.’

‘I’m confident the closeness of our agencies contributed to our ability to move so quickly in response to these attacks and to ensure our support is as seamless as possible,’ he said. ‘My hope is that today’s meetings with Israeli intelligence and law enforcement partners, as well as our FBI personnel and officials at the U.S. Embassy, are demonstrative of the bureau’s continued commitment to these partners and helped identify even more ways that we can work together to keep people around the world safe from terrorism.’  

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The White House is mocking Rep. Ronny Jackson, R-Texas, for reiterating his demand that President Biden sit for a cognitive exam.

Jackson told reporters on Wednesday that he’s making his fifth attempt at pressuring Biden to prove his mental fitness for office.

Asked about Jackson’s comments by Fox News Digital, White House spokesman Andrew Bates replied: ‘Hi, Dr. Nick!’

Attached was a photo of a character from ‘The Simpsons’ named Dr. Nick Riviera, a physician whose running gag in the cartoon is about his questionable medical practices and maiming of patients.

Jackson, a medical doctor who formerly served as the White House physician, slammed the White House for making light of the situation.

‘Even Dr. Nick knows something is wrong with President Biden,’ Jackson said in a statement to Fox News Digital. ‘The American people are legitimately concerned and the clowns in the Biden administration think this is a joke. This is not a joke.’

‘Rather than administer a cognitive test or coming up with legitimate answers to Biden’s apparent cognitive decline, the clowns inside the White House are sending cartoon memes to address a concern they know is real,’ he said. ‘Nearly 80 percent of Americans are concerned about Biden’s physical and mental health, and 73 percent of Democrats feel he is too old or unfit for another term.’

Jackson said earlier during a Wednesday press conference that he was sending a letter directly to the president as well as every member of his Cabinet.

‘We are going to continue to make this an issue. I will be introducing another letter today. This will be the fifth letter that I’ve introduced that I’ve sent to the president,’ he said.

Jackson pointed out that former President Donald Trump took a cognitive exam when he was in the White House after mounting questions about his mental state in the media.

‘I would like to see that same type of enthusiasm and insistence from the press right now, that President Biden submit to a cognitive exam as part of his physical exam,’ Jackson said. ‘And if he thinks he’s fit to lead this country, prove it to us with some objective data that says so.’

It comes as Biden’s critics continue to seize on a recent report by Special Counsel Robert Hur regarding the president’s handling of classified documents before he took office. 

Hur’s 388-page report cleared President Biden of wrongdoing despite having ‘willfully retained and disclosed classified materials.’

Hur said Biden came off ‘as a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory’ and that ‘it would be difficult to convince a jury that they should convict him-by then a former president well into his eighties-of a serious felony that requires a mental state of willfulness.’

Earlier this week, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters that Biden would not be taking a cognitive test as part of his regular physical exam.

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House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Turner is urging President Biden to declassify information related to a ‘serious national security threat. However, House Speaker Mike Johnson says the threat is not immediate, and there is ‘no need for public alarm.’ 

Turner, R-Ohio, on Wednesday morning released a statement saying that ‘the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence has made available to all Members of Congress information concerning a serious national security threat.’

‘I am requesting that President Biden declassify all information relating to this threat so that Congress, the Administration, and our allies can openly discuss the actions necessary to respond to this threat,’ he added.

Fox News Digital obtained the notice sent to congressional members Wednesday, which pointed to ‘an urgent matter with regard to a destabilizing foreign military capability that should be known by all Congressional Policy Makers.’

A separate source told Fox News that the threat is ‘concerning Russian capability,’ noting that the ‘potential seriousness of the threat is grave,’ but ‘the threat is not immediate in nature.’ 

And a Pentagon source told Fox News the threat is related to space. 

Johnson, R-La., attempted to quell any panic caused by Turner’s statement by explaining that last month, he sent a letter to the White House ‘requesting a meeting with the president to discuss a serious national security issue that is classified.’

‘In response to that letter, a meeting is now scheduled tomorrow on this matter here at the Capitol with the Gang of Four and with the president’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan,’ Johnson said. ‘I will press the administration to take appropriate action, and everybody can be comforted by that.’ 

Johnson said he ‘saw Chairman Turner’s statement on the issue, and I want to assure the American people there’s no need for public alarm.’ 

‘We are going to work together to address this matter as we do all sensitive matters that are classified,’ Johnson said. ‘And beyond that, I’m not at liberty to disclose classified information and really can’t say much of that, but we just want to assure everyone, steady hands are at the wheel, we’re working on it. There’s no need for alarm.’ 

Turner’s office did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment and more information. 

White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said Wednesday at the White House press briefing that he was surprised by Turner’s statement, given that earlier in the week he reached out to members of Congress to offer himself to come to Capitol Hill to give a personal briefing on the matter. 

That briefing will take place on Thursday.

‘I am a bit surprised that Congressman Turner came out publicly today in advance of a meeting on the books for me to go sit with him alongside our intelligence and defense professionals tomorrow. That’s his choice to do that,’ Sullivan said.

‘All I can tell you is that I’m focused on going to see him, sit with him, as well as the other House members of the Gang of Eight tomorrow, and I’m not in a position to say anything further from this podium at this time, other than to make the broad point that this administration has gone further, and in more creative, more strategic ways, dealt with the declassification of intelligence in the national interest of the United States than any administration in history,’ Sullivan continued.

Sullivan added: ‘You definitely are not going to find an unwillingness to do that when it’s in our national security interest to do so.’

Sullivan said, however, the administration has prioritized ‘the issue of sources and methods.’

‘Ultimately, these are decisions for the president to make, but in the meantime, the most important thing is we have the opportunity to sit in a classified setting and have the kind of conversation with the House Intelligence leadership that I, in fact, had scheduled before Congressman Turner went out today,’ Sullivan said.

Sullivan again stressed that he ‘personally reached out’ to Congress on the matter.

‘It is highly unusual, in fact, for the national security adviser to do that,’ he said. 

Meanwhile, Senate Select Committee on Intelligence Chairman Mark Warner, D-Va., and Vice Chairman Marco Rubio, R-Fla., said their committee ‘has the intelligence in question, and has been rigorously tracking this issue from the start.’ 

‘We continue to take this matter seriously and are discussing an appropriate response with the administration,’ Warner and Rubio said. ‘In the meantime, we must be cautious about potentially disclosing sources and methods that may be key to preserving a range of options for U.S. action.’

Fox News’ Jacqui Heinrich contributed to this report.  

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Former Vice President Mike Pence’s policy think tank, Advancing American Freedom (AAF), sent a memo to senators Wednesday pushing back against Sen. JD Vance’s theory that the $95 billion foreign aid package contains an ‘impeachment’ clause for the next administration hidden in its text.

AAF’s memo comes after Vance circulated a memo ahead of the national security supplemental package vote Monday arguing the bill includes a provision that could be grounds to impeach former President Donald Trump if he wins the White House again. 

The text assures the delivery of $1.6 billion to finance Ukraine’s military as well as just under $14 billion for Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative through Sept. 30, 2025 – the same aid mechanism that Trump temporarily paused while pushing for an investigation into Biden family foreign business dealings. 

‘The president’s duty to faithfully execute the law is written into the Constitution,’ AAF’s memo reads. ‘It’s not an ‘impeachment time bomb’ created by the foreign aid package.’

A spokesperson for Vance told Fox News Digital that the AAF memo repeated talking points circulated by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a long-time advocate of aid to Ukraine. 

‘It’s unfortunate to see Mike Pence adopting Mitch McConnell’s talking points and advocating for a bill that would tie the next president’s hands on Ukraine. Their America Last foreign policy has been rejected by Republican voters,’ the spokesperson said.

According to the memo, AAF argues that the Constitution mandates the president to faithfully execute laws, rejecting attempts from lawmakers to interpret this as permission to ignore statutes. 

The Impoundment Control Act ensures Congress controls funding, requiring presidential notification and approval for cuts within a 45-day timeframe. Congress wields the power of the purse, the AAF memo states, despite changes in administrations. 

‘Congress routinely appropriates funds across presidential terms,’ the memo reads. ‘Following the argument to its logical conclusion, all advance appropriations are ‘impeachment time bombs.’’

‘The Trump-Pence administration sold weapons to Ukraine that the Obama-Biden administration refused to,’ the memo continued. ‘It also countered Putin’s influence by blocking Russia’s Nord Stream 2 pipeline, which President Biden green-lighted.’

Meanwhile, Vance’s memo claimed that the supplemental bill ‘represents an attempt by the foreign policy blob/deep state to stop President Trump from pursuing his desired policy, and if he does so anyways, to provide grounds to impeach him and undermine his administration.’

Trump has promised he would end the war in Ukraine within 24 hours if he is elected president. 

The Trump administration, through the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), withheld a total of about $400 million in security assistance from Ukraine in 2019. This came just before Trump asked Ukrainian President Voldomyr Zelenskyy to investigate the family of his 2020 rival, Joe Biden, and while the White House allegedly was withholding an Oval Office visit from Zelenskyy in exchange for an investigation.

These actions are what fueled the impeachment effort against Trump, in which he was ultimately acquitted. 

Mark Paoletta, former OMB general counsel during the Trump administration, told Fox News Digital in a statement this week that the clause in the bill text is an ‘effort to inappropriately tie President Trump’s hands in his next term by locking in Ukraine funding for multiple years.’ 

Last week, AAF praised the bill for its continued assistance to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, but bashed the billions of dollars earmarked for ‘non-lethal’ aid, such as ‘direct budget support’ to Ukraine. It also criticized the bill for not including H.R 2, the House’s border security policy passed last year that would crack down on asylum screenings and restore most Trump-era restrictions at the southern border. 

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Former President Donald Trump jumped into the fray this week after former Democratic Rep. Tom Suozzi won a closely watched special election for a vacant House seat once held by former Republican Rep. George Santos, who was expelled from the chamber in December.

Trump slammed Republican candidate Mazi Pilip after she lost to Suozzi, claiming it was because she did not endorse him.

Meanwhile, Trump and his GOP primary rival Nikki Haley have their eyes on the next major contest on the 2024 Republican nominating calendar — Haley’s home state of South Carolina.

Here’s a snapshot of where the battle to lead the Republican Party stands. 

Former Democratic Rep. Tom Suozzi won the New York special election against Republican county lawmaker Mazi Pilip. Suozzi, speaking at his victory celebration, emphasized that ‘despite all the attacks and despite all the lies about Tom Suozzi and the squad, about Tom Suozzi being the godfather of the migrant crisis, about Sanctuary Suozzi, despite the dirty tricks, despite the vaunted Nassau County Republican machine, we won.’

Former President Trump blasted Pilip after she lost the special election to Suozzi. In a late night Truth Social post, Trump called Pilip a ‘foolish woman’ and claimed she lost because she did not endorse him.

‘Republicans just don’t learn, but maybe she was still a Democrat? I have an almost 99% Endorsement Success Rate in Primaries, and a very good number in the General Elections, as well, but just watched this very foolish woman, Mazi Melesa Pilip, running in a race where she didn’t endorse me and tried to ‘straddle the fence,’ when she would have easily WON if she understood anything about MODERN DAY politics in America,’ Trump wrote.

Trump announced his recommendations for changes within the Republican National Committee, proposing leadership positions for North Carolina GOP chair Michael Whatley, daughter-in-law Lara Trump and campaign senior adviser Chris LaCivita.

Trump officially announced that he believes Whatley, who currently serves as the national party committee’s general counsel, should be the RNC’s next leader, and his daughter-in-law Lara Trump should run as co-chair of the RNC. He’d also like to see veteran Republican strategist LaCivita, who’s a top adviser in Trump’s 2024 campaign, as the committee’s chief operating officer.

Former Navy SEAL Tim Sheehy’s campaign is dropping six-figures to promote his coveted Senate endorsement from Trump with a new ad buy across the Big Sky State. 

Trump announced last week he was endorsing Sheehy in the crucial Montana Senate race to unseat Democrat Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont. The announcement came just hours after Rep. Matt Rosendale, R-Mont., also announced his candidacy for the primary race.

A large majority of Americans believe both President Biden and former President Trump are too old to serve another term in the White House. Eighty-six percent of Americans think Biden, 81, is too old to serve another term as president, while 62% think the same of Trump, 77, according to the results of a new ABC News/Ipsos poll.

 

‘Who knows what she really stands for? She’s George Santos 2.0.’

— Tom Suozzi, a Democrat, criticized his opponent, Republican county lawmaker Mazi Pilip, on the eve of his special election victory for Santos’ New York seat.

Fox News Digital’s Paul Steinhauser and Chris Pandolfo contributed to this report.

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