President-elect Trump is seeking to ‘save’ the popular Chinese-owned social media app TikTok, according to his transition team – even if the Supreme Court looks to enforce a federal law that could essentially outlaw it in the U.S.

When questioned on Wednesday about a Washington Post report claiming that Trump might issue an executive order to prevent TikTok from being banned, Rep. Mike Waltz, R-Fla., Trump’s pick for national security adviser, suggested that Trump could consider the move.

‘If the Supreme Court rules in favor of the law, President Trump has been very clear. First, TikTok is a widely used platform by many Americans and has been instrumental in his campaign and in spreading his message,’ Waltz told Fox News’ Bret Baier. ‘But number two, he’s going to protect their data. He’s a dealmaker. I don’t want to get ahead of our executive orders, but we’re going to create this space to put that deal in place.’

Karoline Leavitt, the Trump-Vance transition spokeswoman, echoed that sentiment on Thursday.

‘President Trump has repeatedly expressed his desire to save TikTok, and there’s no better dealmaker than Donald Trump,’ Leavitt told Fox News Digital.

A recent law giving the company nine months to either divest from its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, or be removed from U.S.-based app stores and hosting services was the subject of oral arguments heard by the Supreme Court in January.

Trump’s attorneys filed an amicus brief in the case in December, urging the Supreme Court to delay a potential ban until Trump takes office. 

The Supreme Court’s decision on the fast-tracked case will determine whether the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act – a law signed by President Biden that passed Congress in April with bipartisan approval – would be enforced and restrict U.S. access to the app.

There are roughly 170 million active American users on the social media app, data shows. 

While Trump tried to ban the app from U.S. access during his first administration, he credited TikTok for reaching young voters during the 2024 presidential campaign. 

Fox News Digital reached out to TikTok for comment and did not receive a response by time of publication. 

Fox News Digital’s Breanne Deppisch contributed to this report. 

White House national security communications adviser John Kirby said Thursday morning that he is ‘confident’ that a cease-fire and hostage exchange deal can still be ‘implemented’ Sunday as families of two Americans slated for immediate release await answers. 

‘There’s a deal,’ Kirby told ABC’s George Stephanopoulos. ‘We’re confident that we’re going to be able to start implementing it on Sunday. There are some implementing details that still need to be ironed out. We’re working with the Israelis on that very, very hard right now.

‘But we’re confident that we’re going to get there,’ he added.

Confusion over whether a deal had been successfully reached – as both the U.S. and Qatar had confirmed on Wednesday – erupted after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday claimed Hamas was ‘creating a last-minute crisis that prevents a settlement.’

‘Hamas is backing out of the explicit understandings agreed upon with the mediators and Israel in a last-minute blackmail attempt,’ he claimed, according to a statement shared by Israeli news agency TPS-IL.

Hamas has reportedly rebuffed the Israeli government’s accusations.

Netanyahu deferred a cabinet hearing that was supposed to be set for Thursday morning to vote on the deal until ‘the mediators announce that Hamas has approved all the details of the agreement.’

But Kirby appeared determined to make clear that the deal had not collapsed and told MSNBC, ‘It’s not breaking down.’

Also telling NBC ‘We’re aware of these issues that the prime minister has raised… We’re confident that we’ll be able to solve these last-minute issues and get it moving.’

Some 33 hostages have been slated to be released in the first phase of the agreement that will prioritize the release any potential children, women, the elderly and the sick or wounded.  The initial phase will last a 42-day period with hostages being incrementally released, including three captives that will be freed on the first day that the deal is implemented.

Some reports have suggested that three Israeli female soldiers may be released on the first day of the agreement.

Though a senior administration official on Wednesday told Fox News, as well as other reporters, that two of the three living Americans in Gaza are slated to be released on the first day.

‘We will see – and I don’t want to say until we actually see them – but Keith Siegel and Sagui Dekel-Chen will come out in the first day and Edan will come out of Gaza, no doubt about it,’ the official said.

Edan Alexander is a 21-year-old American Israeli who served in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) on the day of the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks, though soldiers are not slated to be released until the second phase, which will begin on the 43rd day of the cease-fire. 

Specifics of the release of the remaining hostages, both dead and alive, will begin to be negotiated on the 16th day of the first phase. 

At least 98 hostages continue to be held in Gaza, 94 of whom were taken on Oct. 7, 2023. While 62 of them are believed to be alive, 36 are assessed to be deceased. 

‘We are committed to getting all Americans. These are American-Israeli citizens, all of them out of Gaza,’ the official said. ‘Whether living or remains. That is our commitment.’ 

The Trump-Vance Transition Team unveiled on Thursday the administration’s official portraits of President-elect Donald Trump and Vice President-elect JD Vance.

‘In just four days, Donald J. Trump will be sworn in as the 47th President of the United States and JD Vance as the 50th Vice President of the United States — and their official portraits are here,’ the team said in a statement.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

President Biden is warning Americans of an ‘ultra-wealthy’ ‘oligarchy’ taking shape that is presenting a danger to the country, but did not mention in his farewell speech Wednesday night the numerous billionaires that have supported his campaigns in recent years. 

Biden spoke about the ‘dangerous concentration of power in the hands of a very few, ultra-wealthy people’ and said ‘an oligarchy is taking shape in America of extreme wealth, power and influence that literally threatens our entire democracy, our basic rights, freedoms, and a fair shot for everyone to get ahead.’ 

Here are five billionaires who have recently supported President Biden: 

1. George Soros 

George Soros, a left-wing billionaire, investor and philanthropist, sent $250,000 to the Biden Victory Fund in September 2023, filings reviewed by Fox News Digital show. 

Soros’ check followed a maxed-out contribution directly to Biden’s campaign that summer. Soros and his son Alex, who recently took control of the Open Society Foundations network that funnels large amounts of money to left-wing nonprofits and causes, both pushed $6,600 to Biden’s campaign on June 30. 

During the last presidential election, George provided $500,000 to the Biden Victory Fund while sending millions more to super PACs backing him. Alex added $721,300 to the Biden Victory Fund in 2020. 

2. Reid Hoffman 

LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman donated $699,600.00 on April 26, 2023, to the Biden Victory Fund, the campaign’s joint fundraising vehicle, according to Federal Election Commission (FEC) records. 

Biden attended a fundraiser that Hoffman hosted on behalf of the super PAC at the private residence of Shannon Hunt-Scott and Kevin Scott in Los Gatos, California, in June 2023. 

3. Michael Bloomberg  

Former New York City mayor, billionaire entrepreneur and media magnate Michael Bloomberg contributed nearly $20 million to help boost President Biden in his 2024 election rematch with former President Trump, sources confirmed to Fox News last year. 

Bloomberg, a one-time Republican-turned-independent-turned-Democrat, wrote a massive $19 million check to the Future Forward PAC, known as the FF PAC, which was the leading super PAC supporting Biden’s bid for a second term in the White House. 

4. Howard Schultz 

Former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz announced in 2020 that he would be voting for Biden that year and would be contributing to the former vice president’s campaign. 

‘In my view, our choice this November is not just for one candidate over another,’ Schultz wrote in a letter to supporters at the time. ‘We are choosing to vote for the future of our republic.’ 

Schultz went on to say, ‘What is at risk is democracy itself: Checks and balances. Rigorous debate. A free press. An acceptance of facts, not ‘alternate facts.’ Belief in science. Trust in the rule of law. A strong judicial system. Unity in preserving all of our rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.’ 

5. Tom Steyer 

In 2020, Biden reportedly brought in $4 million during a virtual fundraiser hosted by a small group of billionaires and other Silicon Valley donors. 

The virtual event was held by Climate Leaders for Biden, a group of environmental activists that includes billionaire and former Democratic presidential candidate Tom Steyer, according to an invitation. 

A pair of Republicans are introducing legislation that would offer service members who were fired over the military’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate a chance to get their jobs back and receive back pay. 

The AMERICANS Act, put forth by Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and freshman Rep. Pat Harrigan, R-N.C., bans the Pentagon from instituting any additional COVID-19 vaccine mandates without congressional approval. 

It would offer reinstatement to any service member discharged solely for their refusal of the COVID vaccine and credit them for the time of their involuntary separation for retirement pay, 

It would also restore the rank of anyone who was demoted over the vaccine mandate, offering them back pay and benefits for any compensation they lost as a result of their demotion. 

For those who do not want to rejoin service, it would restore their discharge to ‘honorable’ to restore their GI Bill and health care benefits. 

In August 2021, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced a requirement that troops take the COVID-19 jab for ‘readiness’ purposes. That order was rescinded in January 2023 after lawmakers directed the Pentagon to do so in the annual defense policy bill Congress passed for that year. 

More than 8,400 troops were separated in the year and a half that the order was in effect. Thousands of others sought religious or medical exemptions. 

Austin’s repeal did not require the Pentagon to reinstate troops separated because of the mandate and stipulated that commanders would still have the authority to consider troops’ immunization status when making decisions on deployments or other assignments. He added that 96% of U.S. forces had taken the vaccine. 

‘Our military is still dealing with the consequences of the Biden administration’s wrongful COVID-19 vaccine mandate,’ Cruz said in a statement. ‘The AMERICANS Act would provide remedies for servicemembers whom the Biden Department of Defense punished for standing by their convictions. It’s the right thing to do.’

‘The Biden Administration’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate wasn’t about science or readiness—it was about control,’ said Harrigan. ‘As a Green Beret, I’ve seen the sacrifices our service members make firsthand, and I will not stand by while their honor is tarnished.’ 

The legislation is in line with a pledge President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for Defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, made on Tuesday to re-recruit those who parted ways with the military over the vaccine. 

‘Service members who were kicked out because of the experimental vaccine,’ Hegseth told lawmakers, ‘they will be apologized to. They will be reinstituted with pay and rank.’

Trump told supporters over the summer he would ‘rehire every patriot who was fired from the military’ because of the mandate. 

Pentagon leadership considered offering back pay to troops after the vaccine mandate was rescinded in early 2023, but it never came to fruition.

Republicans have long railed against the vaccine mandate and the separations it caused, arguing it was a detriment to morale at a time of major recruitment issues. Pentagon leaders argued that their forces had been required to get vaccines for years, particularly if they deployed overseas. 

President Biden warned in his farewell speech of an ‘ultra-wealthy’ ‘oligarchy’ posing a threat to America as big tech CEOs have been warming up to President-elect Trump in recent months — despite his own administration accepting donations from Democratic mega-donors. 

Biden spoke Wednesday as reports emerged this week that Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg – the three most wealthy people in the world who collectively are worth more than $850 billion, according to Forbes – will be seated next to Trump’s Cabinet picks and elected officials next Monday at his inauguration. 

‘I have no doubt that America is in a position to continue to succeed. That’s why in my farewell address tonight, I want to warn the country of some things that give me great concern. And that’s the dangerous concentration of power in the hands of a very few, ultra-wealthy people. And the dangerous consequences if their abuse of power is left unchecked,’ Biden said from the Oval Office. 

‘Today, an oligarchy is taking shape in America of extreme wealth, power and influence that literally threatens our entire democracy, our basic rights, freedoms, and a fair shot for everyone to get ahead,’ Biden continued. ‘We see the consequences all across America, and we’ve seen it before, more than a century ago. But the American people stood up to the robber barons back then and busted the trust. They didn’t punish the wealthy, they just made the wealthy play by the rules everybody else had to.’ 

Musk, the CEO of SpaceX and Tesla, Bezos, the founder of Amazon, and Zuckerberg, the CEO of Meta, have all met with Trump at his Mar-a-Lago home in Florida following his election victory in November. 

During the election cycle, Musk gave at least $277 million in donations to help get Trump and other Republicans elected, according to The Washington Post, which cited filings from the Federal Election Commission. 

Tech giants including Amazon, Meta, Apple, Google and Microsoft are reported to have donated $1 million each to Trump’s inauguration on Jan. 20. 

In 2023, George Soros and other prominent billionaires bolstered Biden’s re-election efforts during the third quarter, filings reviewed by Fox News Digital show.

The deep-pocketed donors each cut six-figure contributions to the Biden Victory Fund — a joint fundraising venture that consists of Biden’s campaign, the Democratic National Committee (DNC), all 50 state Democratic parties and Washington, D.C.’s Democratic committee — between July and September. 

Later in 2023, Fox News Digital confirmed that a Soros-funded group pushed $15 million to a nonprofit tied to Biden’s main outside super PAC for the 2024 elections to evaluate crucial policy matters, records reveal.

Tax documents provided to Fox News Digital showed that the Open Society Policy Center, an advocacy nonprofit in the Soros-bankrolled Open Society Foundations network, funneled $15.18 million to Future Forward USA Action in 2022 for research and ‘content testing on critical policy issues.’ 

That same year, billionaire Reid Hoffman, LinkedIn co-founder, dropped amassive six-figure donation backing Biden’s re-election bid.

As far back as 2020, billionaires Howard Schultz, former Starbucks CEO, former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and investor Tom Steyer made substantial donations to the Biden campaign. 

For his part in the incoming Trump administration, Musk has been tasked with heading up the newly created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which will examine issues of government spending, waste, efficiency and operations. 

In order to do that, Musk may occupy space in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building right next to the West Wing that houses the bulk of office space for White House staffers, the New York Times reported. 

Biden also said in his farewell speech that American leadership and technology is an ‘unparalleled source of innovation that can transform lives,’ but ‘we see the same dangers, the concentration of technology, power and wealth.’ 

‘You know, in his farewell address, President Eisenhower spoke of the dangers of the military industrial complex. He warned us then about, and I quote, the potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power, end of quote. Six decades later, I’m equally concerned about the potential rise of a tech industrial complex that could pose real dangers for our country, as well,’ Biden added. 

‘Americans are being buried under an avalanche of misinformation and disinformation, enabling the abuse of power. The free press is crumbling. Editors are disappearing. Social media is giving up on fact checking. The truth is smothered by lies told for power and for profit,’ the president continued. ‘We must hold the social platform accountable to protect our children, our families and our very democracy from the abuse of power. 

‘Meanwhile, artificial intelligence is the most consequential technology of our time, perhaps of all time. Nothing offers more profound possibilities and risks for our economy and our security, our society, for humanity. Artificial intelligence even has the potential to help us answer my call to end cancer as we know it. But unless safeguards are in place, AI could spawn new threats to our rights, our way of life, to our privacy, how we work and how we protect our nation. We must make sure AI is safe and trustworthy and good for all humankind,’ Biden said. 

Fox News’ Andrew Mark Miller, Joe Schoffstall, Jessica Chasmar and Diana Stancy contributed to this report. 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday accused Hamas of backing out of a cease-fire deal to release hostages and bring a pause to more than a year of fighting in the Gaza Strip. 

Netanyahu’s office said Thursday his Cabinet won’t meet to vote on the Gaza cease-fire deal until Hamas backs down from what it called a ‘last minute crisis.’

Netanyahu’s office accused Hamas, without elaborating, of trying to go back on part of the agreement in an attempt ‘to extort last minute concessions.’ 

The Israeli Cabinet was set to ratify the deal Thursday.

President Biden joined Vice President Kamala Harris and Secretary of State Antony Blinken for a Wednesday news conference announcing that the deal would roll out in three phases. 

Biden said the first phase will last six weeks and ‘includes a full and complete cease-fire, withdrawal of Israeli forces from all the populated areas of Gaza, and the release of a number of hostages held by Hamas, including women and elderly and the wounded. And I’m proud to say Americans will be part of that hostage release and phase one as well. And the vice president and I cannot wait to welcome them home,’ he said. 

In exchange, Israel released hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, Biden said, and Palestinians ‘can also return to their neighborhoods in all areas of Gaza, and a surge of humanitarian assistance into Gaza will begin.’

Izzat al-Rishq, a senior Hamas official, said the militant group ‘is committed to the ceasefire agreement, which was announced by the mediators.’

Netanyahu’s office had earlier accused Hamas of backtracking on an earlier understanding that he said would give Israel a veto over which prisoners convicted of murder would be released in exchange for hostages.

Under the terms of the cease-fire deal, 33 hostages are set to be released over the next six weeks in exchange for hundreds of Palestinians imprisoned by Israel. Israeli forces will pull back from many areas, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians would be able to return to what’s left of their homes, and there would be a surge of humanitarian assistance.

The remainder of the hostages, including male soldiers, are to be released in a second phase that will be negotiated during the first. Hamas has said it will not release the remaining captives without a lasting ceasefire and a full Israeli withdrawal, while Israel has vowed to keep fighting until it dismantles the group and to maintain open-ended security control over the territory.

Netanyahu has faced great domestic pressure to bring home the scores of hostages, but his far-right coalition partners have threatened to bring down his government if he makes too many concessions. He has enough opposition support to approve an agreement, but doing so would weaken his coalition and make early elections more likely.

Meanwhile, Palestinians in Gaza reported heavy Israeli bombardment overnight as people were celebrating the ceasefire deal. Gaza’s Health Ministry said at least 48 people were killed in Israeli strikes between midday Wednesday and Thursday morning. Around half of the dead were women and children, Zaher al-Wahedi, head of the ministry’s registration department, told The Associated Press. He said the toll could rise as hospitals update their records.

Mediators from Egypt, Qatar and the U.S. are expected to meet in Cairo on Thursday for talks on implementing the agreement. They have spent the past year holding indirect talks with Israel and Hamas that finally resulted in a deal after repeated setbacks.

President-elect Donald Trump’s Mideast envoy joined the talks in the final weeks, and both the outgoing administration and Trump’s team are taking credit for the breakthrough.

Israel’s offensive has killed over 46,000 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the Health Ministry. it does not say how many of the dead were militants. Israel says it has killed over 17,000 fighters, without providing evidence.

The war has destroyed vast areas of Gaza and displaced some 90% of its population of 2.3 million people, according to the United Nations.

Fox News Digital’s Efrat Lachter and The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

Days away from his upcoming Jan. 20 inauguration, President-elect Donald Trump declared in a Truth Social post that the incoming administration had already hired more than 1,000 people to work for the U.S. government.

He also indicated that individuals who have worked with or been backed by ‘people suffering from Trump Derangement Syndrome,’ are not desirable job candidates.

Trump named former National Security Adviser John Bolton, former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley, former Vice President Mike Pence and others, noting that those who have worked with or been endorsed by those individuals should not be floated as job candidates.

‘As of today, the incoming Trump Administration has hired over 1,000 people for The United States Government. They are outstanding in every way, and you will see the fruits of their labor over the coming years. We will MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN, and it will happen very quickly!’ the incoming commander-in-chief said in the post.

‘In order to save time, money, and effort, it would be helpful if you would not send, or recommend to us, people who worked with, or are endorsed by, Americans for No Prosperity (headed by Charles Koch), ‘Dumb as a Rock’ John Bolton, ‘Birdbrain’ Nikki Haley, Mike Pence, disloyal Warmongers Dick Cheney, and his Psycho daughter, Liz, Mitt Romney, Paul Ryan, General(?) Mark Milley, James Mattis, Mark Yesper, or any of the other people suffering from Trump Derangement Syndrome, more commonly known as TDS. Thank you for your attention to this matter!’ he added.

Haley and Pence each mounted bids for the GOP presidential nomination during the recent election cycle, but both ultimately dropped out. While Haley endorsed Trump, Pence did not.

Cheney, who was one of the 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach Trump in the wake of the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol riot, has been a vociferous Trump critic over the years. Last year she backed Vice President Kamala Harris, and campaigned with the 2024 Democratic presidential nominee.

Ryan, a former House Speaker, told Yahoo Finance last year that he would not vote for Trump, but planned to write in a Republican, as he had done the last time.

Romney was one of the seven GOP senators who voted to convict Trump after the 2021 House impeachment. In 2020, Romney voted to convict on one of the two impeachment articles levied against Trump. Romney, who has indicated that he did not vote for Trump in 2016 or 2020, declared last year that he would not vote for Trump in 2024.

Bolton, an outspoken Trump detractor, said last year on BBC’s ‘HARDtalk’ that he did not think the candidates were fit to serve as president, and he would not vote for either one.

President Biden warned in his farewell speech of an ‘ultra-wealthy’ ‘oligarchy’ posing a threat to America as big tech CEOS have been warming up to President-elect Trump in recent months. 

Biden spoke Wednesday as reports emerged this week that Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg – the three most wealthy people in the world who collectively are worth more than $850 billion, according to Forbes – will be seated next to Trump’s cabinet picks and elected officials next Monday at his inauguration. 

‘I have no doubt that America is in a position to continue to succeed. That’s why in my farewell address tonight, I want to warn the country of some things that give me great concern. And that’s the dangerous concentration of power in the hands of a very few, ultra-wealthy people. And the dangerous consequences if their abuse of power is left unchecked,’ Biden said from the Oval Office. 

‘Today, an oligarchy is taking shape in America of extreme wealth, power and influence that literally threatens our entire democracy, our basic rights, freedoms, and a fair shot for everyone to get ahead,’ Biden continued. ‘We see the consequences all across America, and we’ve seen it before, more than a century ago. But the American people stood up to the robber barons back then and busted the trust. They didn’t punish the wealthy, they just made the wealthy play by the rules everybody else had to.’ 

Musk, the CEO of SpaceX and Tesla, Bezos, the founder of Amazon, and Zuckerberg, the CEO of Meta, have all met with Trump at his Mar-a-Lago home in Florida following his election victory in November. 

During the election cycle, Musk gave at least $277 million in donations to help get Trump and other Republicans elected, according to The Washington Post, which cited filings from the Federal Election Commission. 

Tech giants including Amazon, Meta, Apple, Google and Microsoft are reported to have donated $1 million each to Trump’s inauguration on Jan. 20. 

Musk has been tasked with heading up the newly created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which will examine issues of government spending, waste, efficiency and operations. 

In order to do that, Musk may occupy space in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building right next to the West Wing that houses the bulk of office space for White House staffers, the New York Times reported. 

Biden also said in his farewell speech that American leadership and technology is an ‘unparalleled source of innovation that can transform lives,’ but ‘we see the same dangers, the concentration of technology, power and wealth.’ 

‘You know, in his farewell address, President Eisenhower spoke of the dangers of the military industrial complex. He warned us then about, and I quote, the potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power, end of quote. Six decades later, I’m equally concerned about the potential rise of a tech industrial complex that could pose real dangers for our country, as well,’ Biden added. 

‘Americans are being buried under an avalanche of misinformation and disinformation, enabling the abuse of power. The free press is crumbling. Editors are disappearing. Social media is giving up on fact checking. The truth is smothered by lies told for power and for profit,’ the president continued. ‘We must hold the social platform accountable to protect our children, our families and our very democracy from the abuse of power. 

‘Meanwhile, artificial intelligence is the most consequential technology of our time, perhaps of all time. Nothing offers more profound possibilities and risks for our economy and our security, our society, for humanity. Artificial intelligence even has the potential to help us answer my call to end cancer as we know it. But unless safeguards are in place, AI could spawn new threats to our rights, our way of life, to our privacy, how we work and how we protect our nation. We must make sure AI is safe and trustworthy and good for all humankind,’ Biden said. 

Fox News’ Andrew Mark Miller and Diana Stancy contributed to this report.