President Donald Trump said he would reveal the future of a rare-earth minerals deal with Ukraine Tuesday during his address to Congress, after peace negotiations with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy came to a halt Friday after a disorderly White House visit. 

Zelenskyy visited Washington Friday amid negotiations to end the war in Ukraine, and was poised to sign a minerals agreement that would allow the U.S. access to Ukraine’s minerals in exchange for U.S. support in the country. 

But after a tense exchange between Trump, Vice President JD Vance and Zelenskyy over whether diplomacy was the correct avenue to secure a peace deal and whether Russian President Vladimir Putin could be trusted, Trump kicked Zelenskyy out of the White House and said the Ukrainian leader could return when he was ready for peace. 

When asked Monday about the status of the rare-earth minerals deal, Trump told reporters that he would disclose where the deal stands when he addresses a joint session of Congress Tuesday in a speech akin to the annual State of the Union. 

‘I’ll let you know,’ Trump told reporters Monday. ‘We’re making a speech, you’ve probably heard about it, tomorrow night. I’ll let you know tomorrow night… it’s a great deal for us.’

Zelenskyy told reporters in London Sunday that he was still on board with the deal, and that he predicts the relationship between Ukraine and the U.S. will persevere. 

Trump also said Monday he wanted to see the Ukrainian leader express more gratitude for U.S. support during the war in order to rekindle peace negotiations with Zelenskyy. 

‘I just think he should be more appreciative because this country has stuck with him through thick and thin,’ Trump said. ‘We’ve given them much more than Europe, and Europe should have given more than us because, as you know, that’s right there, that’s the border.’ 

Trump previously hailed the minerals agreement as a breakthrough deal that would benefit both the U.S. and Ukraine, touting that it would serve as the foundation for a more ‘sustainable’ future relationship between the two countries and allow the U.S. access to resources like oil and gas that ‘we need for our country.’ 

‘We’re going to be signing really a very important agreement for both sides, because it’s really going to get us into that country,’ Trump told reporters Thursday while meeting with U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer. ‘We’ll have a lot of people working there and so, in that sense, it’s very good.’

Trump also said Thursday it would reimburse taxpayers for financial contributions backing Ukraine after Russia’s invasion in 2022. 

Precise numbers on financial assistance to Ukraine vary slightly, depending on what is considered aid. However, the Council on Foreign Relations reports that Congress has appropriated $175 billion since 2022 for aid to Ukraine. 

All European assistance to Ukraine between January 2022 and December 2024 amounts to roughly $138.7 billion, German-based think tank Kiel Institute estimates. The organization also estimates that the U.S. contributed $119.7 billion in that same time frame. 

The meeting between Trump, Vance and Zelenskyy soured after Zelenskyy said that Putin couldn’t be trusted and had breached other agreements. Trump and Vance then accused Zelenskyy of not being grateful for the support the U.S. has provided over the years and said the Ukrainian leader was in a ‘bad position’ at the negotiating table. 

‘You’re playing cards,’ Trump said Friday. ‘You’re gambling with the lives of millions of people. You’re gambling with World War III. You’re gambling with World War III. And what you’re doing is very disrespectful to the country, this country.’

Following his departure from the White House on Friday, Zelenskyy issued a social media post on X expressing gratitude to the U.S. for its support. 

‘Thank you America, thank you for your support, thank you for this visit,’ Zelenskyy said. ‘Thank you @POTUS, Congress, and the American people. Ukraine needs just and lasting peace, and we are working exactly for that.’

Conservatives on social media praised Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Sunday after he responded to an attack from former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton with a photo that was seen over 2 million times on X.

‘Wouldn’t want to hurt Putin’s feelings,’ Clinton posted on X over the weekend along with a Gizmodo headline that read, ‘Trump’s Defense Secretary Hegseth Orders Cyber Command to ‘Stand Down’ on All Russia Operations.’

Hegseth responded to the post with a photo of Clinton smiling with Russian Foreign Affairs Minister Sergei Lavrov in March 2009 in which the two are holding a ‘reset’ button that was meant to symbolize a reset of relations between the two countries. 

The post was quickly praised by conservatives on X.

‘Crooked Hillary just got OWNED,’ Department of Defense Press Secretary Kingsley Wilson posted on X.

‘Call an ambulance …,’ Rasmussen Reports posted on X.

‘LOL,’ conservative commentator Jack Posobiec posted on X.

‘Total Secretary Hegseth W,’ Greg Price of the Trump White House Rapid Response Team posted on X.

Hegseth’s post was reposted over 10,000 times on X with over 3,000 comments and over 70,000 likes.

Fox News Digital reached out to Clinton’s office for comment.

Democrats have been highly critical of the Trump administration in recent days and attacked the president as being aligned with Russia based on the heated Oval Office exchange between Trump and Ukrainian President Zelenskyy on Friday.

The Trump administration has maintained that the controversy shows Zelenskyy is not serious about peace talks, and Trump has publicly said the Ukrainian president can return to the White House at a later time to resume negotiations.

‘We should spend less time worrying about Putin, and more time worrying about migrant rape gangs, drug lords, murderers, and people from mental institutions entering our Country – So that we don’t end up like Europe!’ Trump recently posted on Truth Social over the weekend. 

Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., has made border security a cornerstone issue of his tenure in the House of Representatives, a theme he’s continuing through President Donald Trump’s address to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday night.

Fox News Digital has learned that Johnson’s partial list of guests to the prime-time speech will include Tom Homan, the former acting Immigration and Customs Enforcement director, who Trump has tapped to serve as his border czar.

Johnson also invited Olivia Hayes, a young widow from his district who lives in Kinder, Louisiana. Her husband, Wesley Hayes, was killed by an illegal immigrant in a drunken-driving incident, the speaker’s office said.

On another Republican priority front, Commonwealth LNG Chair Ben Dell will also be one of Johnson’s guests on Tuesday night.

The Commonwealth LNG project was the first major beneficiary of the Trump administration’s reversal of former President Joe Biden’s pause on new liquefied natural gas (LNG) export permits. Energy has been a top issue for Republicans, particularly in resource-rich areas like Louisiana.

Energy Secretary Chris Wright last month announced the permit for the project, which is also in Johnson’s home state of Louisiana.

Wright said at the time that it was ‘one of many steps that DOE will be taking to assure our future as a reliable energy supplier to the world and resume regular order to our regulatory responsibilities over natural gas exports.’

In a nod to U.S. ties to Israel, Johnson is also bringing Noa Argamani, who was taken hostage by Hamas after the terror group’s brutal Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel.

His guests will also include members of conservative media. Ben Shapiro and Matt Walsh, both of the Daily Wire, are expected to attend as Johnson’s guests.

Johnson is expected to sit on the dais behind Trump on Tuesday night, the speaker of the House’s traditional position, beside the vice president during the president’s big annual speech.

Because Trump has not been president for the entire past year, the speech is not called a ‘State of the Union’ but rather a presidential address.

First lady Melania Trump spoke on Capitol Hill Monday for the first time since returning to the White House, participating in a roundtable with lawmakers from both chambers of Congress focused on punishing online abuse and revenge pornography. 

‘I am here with you today with a common goal — to protect our youth from online harm,’ Melania Trump said Monday. ‘The widespread presence of abusive behavior in the digital domain affects the daily lives of our children, families and communities.’ 

‘Addressing this issue is essential for fostering a safe and supportive environment for our young people,’ she said. ‘I hope today’s roundtable builds awareness of the harm caused by nonconsensual intimate imagery and eventually the approval of the Take it Down Act in Congress.’

The Take it Down Act is a bill introduced in the Senate by Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., that would make it a federal crime to publish, or threaten to publish, nonconsensual intimate imagery, including ‘digital forgeries’ crafted by artificial intelligence. The bill unanimously passed the Senate earlier in 2025, with Cruz saying Monday he believes it will be passed by the House before becoming law. 

Trump was joined by California Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna, alongside Republicans such as Cruz, House Speaker Mike Johnson, House Republican Conference Chair Lisa McClain, Reps. Maria Salazar, R-Fla., Brett Guthrie, R-Ky., Kevin Hern, R-Okla.

The bill also would require social media companies, like Snapchat, TikTok and Instagram and similar websites, to put procedures in place to remove such content within 48 hours of notice from the victim. 

The bill would protect victims of digital exploitation and hold internet platforms accountable by requiring them to remove such imagery. 

Reps. Maria Salazar, R-Fla., and Madeleine Dean, D-Penn., introduced the legislation in the House in January. That measure is under consideration in the House Energy and Commerce Committees before consideration on the House floor. 

‘If you’re a victim of revenge porn or AI-generated explicit imagery, your life changes forever,’ Cruz said during the roundtable. ‘Most likely you’ve been targeted by someone you know, and you’re likely struggling to have that material removed from the internet. Disturbingly, many of these victims are teenagers at American high schools who are facing a surge in AI-generated sexual images hundreds of teens, often targeted by their own classmates, are enduring senseless psychological harm.’ 

‘The Take It Down Act empowers victims across the entire United States,’ he continued. ‘It makes it a felony for these deviants to publish any non-consensual intimate images, including fake, lifelike pornographic images of real people.’ 

The law would require penalties of up to three years in prison for sharing nonconsensual intimate images — authentic or AI-generated — involving minors and two years in prison for those images involving adults. It also would require penalties of up to two and a half years in prison for threat offenses involving minors, and one and a half years in prison for threats involving adults. 

AI-generated images known as ‘deepfakes’ often involve editing videos or photos of people to make them look like someone else by using artifical intelligence. Deepfakes hit the public’s radar in 2017 after a Reddit user posted realistic-looking pornography of celebrities to the platform, opening the floodgates to users employing AI to make images look more convincing and widely shared in the following years. 

‘In today’s AI-driven world, the threat of privacy breaches is alarmingly high,’ Trump explained. ‘As organizations harness the power of our data, the risk of unauthorized access and misuses of personal information escalates. We must prioritize robust security measures and uphold strict ethical standards to protect individual privacy.’ 

Nearly every U.S. state has a law protecting people from nonconsensual intimate image violations, but the laws vary in classification of crime and penalty. 

The event Monday is the first where the first lady delivered public remarks since President Donald Trump’s Jan. 20 inauguration. 

Melania Trump was joined on Monday by a 15-year-old girl, Elliston Berry, whose high school peers used AI to create nonconsensual imagery of the young girl and spread them across social media, the first lady explained. 

‘It’s heartbreaking to witness young teens, especially girls, grappling with the overwhelming challenges posed by malicious online content, like deepfakes,’ Trump said. ‘This toxic environment can be severely damaging. We must prioritize their well-being by equipping them with the support and tools necessary to navigate this hostile digital landscape. Every young person deserves a safe online space to express themselves freely, without the looming threat of exploitation or harm.’ 

Berry told the roundtable she was just 14 years old when she realized in 2023 that ‘a past Instagram photo with a nude body and my face attached made from AI,’ was circulating on social media. 

‘Fear, shock and disgust were just some of the many emotions I felt,’ Berry said. ‘I felt responsible and began to blame myself and was ashamed to tell my parents. Despite doing nothing wrong. As I attended school, I was scared of the reactions of someone or someone could could recreate these photos.’  

‘We need to hold big tech accountable to take action,’ the young woman continued. ‘I came here today to not only promote this bill, but to fight for the freedom of so many survivors, millions of people, male, female, teenage children, kids all are affected by the rise of this image based sexual abuse. This is unacceptable. The Take It Down act will give a voice to the victims and provide justice.’ 

During the first Trump administration, Trump hosted virtual roundtables on foster care as part of her ‘Be Best’ initiative and focused on strengthening the child welfare system. The ‘Be Best’ initiative also focused on online safety. 

‘As first lady, my commitment to the ‘Be Best’ initiative underscores the importance of online safety,’ she said. ‘In an era where digital interactions are integral to daily life, it is imperative that we safeguard children from mean-spirited and hurtful online behavior.’ 

During her husband’s first term as president, she also worked with members of Congress on legislation that secured funding for grants awarded to youth and young adults currently or formerly in foster care to help pay for college, career school or training. The bill ultimately was signed by the president in December 2020. 

Trump gave a nod to Democratic Sen. Klobuchar and Republican Sen. Cruz for their bipartisan support of the bill, while remarking she was let down by the lack of additional support from Democrats. 

‘I must admit, however, I expected to see more Democrat leaders with us here today to address this serious issue,’ she said. ‘Surely as adults, we can prioritize America’s children ahead of partisan politics. I urge Congress to prioritize the passage of the Take It Down Act. This legislation is essential for addressing the growing concerns related to online safety, protecting individual rights, and promoting a healthier digital environment.’ 

‘Congress can take an important step toward ensuring accountability and fostering responsible online behavior,’ she continued. ‘The Take It Down Act represents a powerful step toward justice, healing and unity.’

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

Republican Reps. Andrew Clyde, of Georgia, and Eli Crane, of Arizona, are launching a judicial task force ‘to unite members in exposing judicial activism’ and target ‘rogue, activist judges’ amid a flurry of legal challenges to the Trump agenda.

‘I’m excited to lead this critical effort with my friend and fellow patriot, Congressman Eli Crane. Our Judicial Activism Accountability Task Force aims to unite members in exposing judicial activism, with the ultimate goal of impeaching rogue, activist judges,’ Clyde said in a statement to Fox News Digital.

Clyde notably announced in February he was drafting impeachment articles against Rhode Island-based District Judge John McConnell, who is overseeing a lawsuit against President Donald Trump. McConnell, at the time, filed a motion ordering the Trump administration to comply with a previous restraining order. The order temporarily blocked the administration’s efforts to pause federal grants and loans. 

Crane and other representatives have since followed Clyde’s lead, announcing impeachment articles against other judges presiding over Trump-related lawsuits. 

Clyde said he encourages other members of Congress to join the task force who ‘are passionate about ending abusive judicial overreach, upholding the separation of powers, and defending the U.S. Constitution,’ saying they ‘look forward to delivering accountability for the American people.’

Crane, who announced he was drafting impeachment articles against U.S. District Judge Paul Engelmayer, told Fox News Digital in a statement that, in recent years, ‘leftists weaponized the judicial branch.’ 

The Arizona Republican said, ‘If these activist judges want to be politicians, they should resign and run for public office.’

‘The American people delivered President Trump a mandate to disrupt the administrative state,’ Crane said. ‘These judges are violating the will of the people, and Congress has constitutional authority to impeach and convict these partisans.’

Tennessee Republican Rep. Andy Ogles also announced he was drafting impeachment articles of his own following Clyde and Crane’s efforts.

Ogles announced he had introduced impeachment articles against U.S. District Judge Amir Ali late last month. Ali, a D.C.-based Biden appointee, recently ordered the Trump administration to pay around $2 billion in foreign aid funds to contractors with a midnight deadline.

Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts paused Ali’s order after the Trump administration said it had created ‘an untenable payment plan at odds with the President’s obligations under Article II to protect the integrity of the federal fisc and make appropriate judgements(sic) about foreign aid – clear forms of irreparable harm.’

Clyde and Crane’s task force comes as the administration has become the target of more than 90 lawsuits aimed at President Donald Trump’s executive orders and directives. The legal challenges cover Trump’s executive order on birthright citizenship, the Department of Government Efficiency’s (DOGE) efforts to slash unnecessary government spending, and Trump’s removal of various federal employees. 

Clyde spoke with Fox News Digital shortly after announcing his impeachment articles against McConnell, saying the real victims of judicial pushback against Trump’s policies are the American people. 

‘You’re not just hurting the president,’ Clyde said. ‘You’re hurting the American people because they’re the ones who elected him, and they’re the ones who want him to do this – to exercise these specific authorities. And these judges are really denying the American people their rights.’

Fox News Digital’s Bradford Betz contributed to this report.

A group closely tied to House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., is spending millions of dollars on a new ad campaign against 23 lawmakers, accusing Republicans of trying to take away healthcare from senior citizens and children.

The ads, which begin running on Monday, accuse Republicans of ‘threatening healthcare for 37 million kids and kicking seniors out of nursing homes just to make billionaires like Elon Musk even richer.’

Fox News Digital got a first look at a list of 23 Republican lawmakers being targeted by House Majority PAC (HMP), a fundraising operation aligned with Democratic leadership.

The majority of them won close races across California, Pennsylvania, Arizona and other states that were critical to clinching the House GOP’s razor-thin majority in the 119th Congress.

Mike Smith, president of HMP’s action arm House Majority Forward, linked the ads to House Republicans’ vote last week to advance President Donald Trump’s agenda via the budget reconciliation process.

‘Last week, Republicans betrayed the American people – breaking their promise and paving the way to strip millions of men, women, and children of their health insurance,’ Smith said. ‘We will make sure every American knows exactly who is responsible.’

The 23 House Republicans being targeted are:

Rep. Nick Begich, R-Alaska
Rep. David Schweikert, R-Ariz.
Rep. Juan Ciscomani, R-Ariz.
Rep. Kevin Kiley, R-Calif.
Rep. David Valadao, R-Calif.
Rep. Young Kim, R-Calif.
Rep. Ken Calvert, R-Calif.
Rep. Gabe Evans, R-Colo.
Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, R-Iowa
Rep. Zach Nunn, R-Iowa
Rep. Tom Barrett, R-Mich.
Rep. John James, R-Mich.
Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb.
Rep. Tom Kean Jr., R-N.J.
Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y.
Rep. Ryan Mackenzie, R-Pa.
Rep. Rob Bresnahan, R-Pa.
Rep. Scott Perry, R-Pa.
Rep. Rob Wittman, R-Va.
Rep. Jen Kiggans, R-Va.
Rep. Bryan Steil, R-Wis.
Rep. Derrick Van Orden, R-Wis.
Rep. Monica De La Cruz, R-Texas

It’s part of Democrats’ continued pushback against the proposed $880 billion in cuts Republicans are seeking to programs under the jurisdiction of the House Energy & Commerce Committee.

Republicans are looking for at least $1.5 trillion in cuts to government spending to offset the cost of Trump’s priorities expected to be included in the bill, including eliminating taxes on tipped and overtime wages as well as more funding for U.S.-Mexico border operations.

GOP lawmakers have consistently pointed out that Medicaid and other federal aid programs are not mentioned in the text of their framework for that legislation.

Republicans have argued they are only looking to root out waste, fraud and abuse in the federal government. Trump, for his part, told reporters last week that he would not touch Medicaid.

Mike Marinella, spokesman for House Republicans’ campaign arm, the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC), told Fox News Digital in response to HMP, ‘Democrats are running the same playbook of resorting to shameless fearmongering and outright lies because they’re trying to hide the fact that they just voted to raise taxes on hardworking Americans. This is a disgusting, pathetic attempt to distract voters from their failures, and they know it.’

But Democrats and some moderate Republicans are skeptical that the savings can be found without cutting deeply into those programs.

Democrats also appear to have found a potential new boogeyman in Musk ahead of the 2026 midterm elections, as he and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) work to find at least $1 trillion in cuts to the federal bureaucracy.

HMP’s ad strategy was first reported by Punchbowl News last week.

The NRCC pointed Fox News Digital to a memo sent by them last week that accused Democrats of weaponizing the Trump budget bill vote.

‘They have turned their backs on the working class and have taken a wrecking ball to America’s fiscal future. This vote is an anvil around the ankles of vulnerable House Democrats, and the NRCC plans to weaponize it to ensure they lose their races in 2026,’ the memo said.

President Donald Trump, the consummate showman, is shining a spotlight on his primetime address Tuesday to a joint session of Congress.

‘TOMORROW NIGHT WILL BE BIG. I WILL TELL IT LIKE IT IS!,’ the president touted in a social media post on Monday ahead of his first major speech to Congress during his second presidential administration.

As Trump prepares for his address, he’s in a stronger polling position than where he found himself eight years ago when he first entered the White House.

A national survey released Monday by Marist College for PBS News and NPR indicated Trump at 45% approval and 49% disapproval. And a survey from CNN released on Sunday put the president’s approval rating at 48%, with 52% disapproving. Both surveys were conducted last week.

But Trump’s approval ratings are slightly above water in other new polls, including one for CBS News that was also conducted in recent days and released over the weekend.

Trump has kept up a frenetic pace during his opening six weeks back in the White House with an avalanche of executive orders and actions. His moves not only fulfilled some of his major campaign trail promises, but also allowed the returning president to flex his executive muscles, quickly put his stamp on the federal government, make major cuts to the federal workforce, and also settle some long-standing grievances.

Trump as of Monday had signed 81 executive orders since his Jan. 20 inauguration, according to a count from Fox News, which far surpasses the rate of any recent presidential predecessors during their first weeks in office.

‘Best Opening Month of any President in history,’ Trump wrote in a social media post last week, as he touted his accomplishments.

Expect Trump in his address to Congress and the nation to showcase the moves – many of them controversial – that he’s taken so far. That includes a high-profile crackdown on immigration, threatening tariffs on major trading partners, including Canada and Mexico, and upending the nation’s international agenda and freezing foreign aid.

‘We’re seeing a president who is certainly back in the realm of major controversy just over a month since he took the oath of office. And it’s been a flooding-of-the-zone here every day, often multiple times a day,’ Lee Miringoff, director of the Marist Institute for Public Opinion, told Fox News Digital.

Miringoff noted, ‘We’re just seeing a lot of things happening with little time for the public to digest. The net effect of it all is there’s a sense, on the part of the public, that some things are moving just a little too fast.’

An average of all the most recent national polls indicates the president’s approval ratings are just above water. But Trump’s seen his numbers edge down slightly since returning to the White House in late January, when an average of his polls indicated the president’s approval rating in the low 50s and his disapproval in the mid 40s.

‘The honeymoon is over, and he’s actually governing, and that typically does bring numbers down,’ veteran political scientist Wayne Lesperance, the president of New Hampshire-based New England College, told Fox News Digital. ‘I expect the numbers to continue to slip as the changes in Washington really do begin to impact people’s everyday lives.’

It’s no surprise that the polls indicate a massive partisan divide over Trump’s performance. In the CNN survey, 90% of Republicans gave Trump a thumbs up, while nine out of 10 Democrats disapproved of the job he’s been doing. Independents by a 59%-41% margin disapproved.

While Trump’s approval ratings for his second term are an improvement from his first term – he started in 2017 in negative territory and remained underwater throughout his tenure in the White House – his numbers are below where former President Joe Biden began his single term in office.

Biden’s approval rating hovered in the low to mid 50s during his first six months in the White House, with his disapproval in the upper 30s to low to mid 40s. 

However, Biden’s numbers sank into negative territory in the late summer and autumn of 2021, in the wake of his much-criticized handling of the turbulent U.S. exit from Afghanistan and amid soaring inflation and a surge of migrants crossing into the U.S. along the nation’s southern border with Mexico.

Biden’s approval ratings stayed underwater throughout the rest of his presidency.