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Trump claims FIFA gifted Club World Cup trophy to White House

Chelsea may have claimed the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup, but according to Donald Trump, the original tournament trophy remains at the White House.

The English Premier League power stunned observers in Sunday’s final by rolling past Paris Saint-Germain 3-0, an upset to cap off the first edition of a massively expanded tournament. President Trump — who spent plenty of time ahead of the event bonding with FIFA head Gianni Infantino — made his presence known after the final at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., taking the field to boos before lingering among Chelsea players in an awkward trophy ceremony.

Eventually, Chelsea captain Reece James managed to hoist the trophy, designed by Tiffany and Co. and inspired by the Voyager space probes. Still, per the president, that may not have been the same trophy that has spent much of the last few months sitting in the Oval Office.

Here’s what President Trump said about the Club World Cup trophy:

Trump: Original Club World Cup trophy remains at White House

On Sunday, Club World Cup broadcaster DAZN conducted an interview with President Trump, who declared that he was told by FIFA that the trophy originally unveiled at the White House back in March could remain there in perpetuity.

‘I said, ‘When are you going to pick up the trophy?’ claimed Trump, before stating that FIFA officials replied, ”We’re never going to pick it up. You can have it forever in the Oval Office. We’re making a new one.’ And they actually made a new one. So that was quite exciting, but it is in the Oval [Office] right now.’

FIFA had not previously announced plans to make a second Club World Cup trophy, while Chelsea’s official Instagram page included a photo of airplane pilots holding the trophy — replica or not — before the team departed for London.

The Club World Cup trophy seems to have become part of the decor in the Oval Office since Infantino joined Trump to reveal its design to the world. It has been present for some soccer-related moments, like a bizarre event where the president offered his take on world affairs while confused-looking Juventus players stood in the background. However, it has also remained in the Oval Office during moments with no soccer context, lingering in the background as Trump awarded Elon Musk a key to the White House in May, among other instances.

USA TODAY Sports’ 48-page special edition commemorates 30 years of Major League Soccer, from its best players to key milestones and championship dynasties to what exciting steps are next with the World Cup ahead. Order your copy today.

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Watch: Ludacris performs ‘Welcome to Atlanta’ at All-Star Game

ATLANTA — Ludacris and Jermaine Dupri performed their legendary anthem ‘Welcome to Atlanta’ on the field before the 2025 MLB All-Star Game at Truist Park, an all-time moment in Atlanta sports history.

After the game’s reserves and pitchers were introduced and ushered onto a stage behind second base, Dupri — who was the master of ceremonies — brought Ludacris out to join him for their seminal 2001 banger.

The duo continued to perform as the All-Star Game starters were announced and the Clark Atlanta Mighty Marching Panthers and Essence Dance Line eventually joined the performers and players around the stage.

Kane Brown performs ‘Georgia On My Mind’ pregame

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‘It’s sort of scary’: Officials flag surprising revelations from deep State Department cuts

When senior State Department officials set out to trim the agency in the ‘biggest reorganization since the Cold War,’ they couldn’t get a total headcount on employees — for months, they say.

‘It took us three months to get a list of the people that actually work in the building,’ one senior State Department official told reporters during a briefing at Foggy Bottom on Monday, defending the job cuts that detractors have claimed will damage U.S. diplomacy. 

‘They couldn’t tell you how many people worked here,’ the official said. ‘It’s sort of scary as a taxpayer and as a public servant to think that we don’t even know how many employees we have. This is a national security agency, you know. Who are these people?’

The reorganization will result in a department with about 3,000 fewer employees. Around half of those took a voluntary buyout, and the other half were given reduction in force (RIF) notices.

 

A handful of Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s closest advisors evaluated over 700 domestic offices within the State Department, submitting RIF (reduction in force) notices to employees in those they found to be ‘duplicative’ or ‘inefficient.’ 

The idea, officials said, was to put a ‘maximum of 12 clearances on any piece of paper,’ meaning documents would go through 12 layers of approval instead ’40, 50 clearances.’

The department had dozens of different offices handling human resources, and when a new employee was hired, they were accepting faxed records on their past work with other agencies. 

‘It’s crazy that a department that’s tasked with so many critical diplomatic, national security functions, with a $50 billion plus budget is running its affairs that way,’ an official said. 

The investigation found three separate offices dealing with sanctions, two handling arms control issues. 

‘Some of these regional offices within this sort of functional civil liberties, civil society, bureaus of democracy, human rights and labor, population, refugees and migration each had their own regional offices in addition to the country desk, regional bureau, construct,’ the official said. ‘Every independent bureau and office had its own executive director, its own HR department, its own payments.We were making payments out of like 60 plus different offices.’

Rubio’s team maintains the reductions focus on nonessential bureaucratic layers while preserving frontline diplomacy. A Supreme Court decision in late June reopened the door for mass federal layoffs after a lower court had blocked the cuts. Legal challenges from unions remain pending, though the reorganization is moving forward. 

The officials shuttered a ‘diplomats in residence’ program, which they determined to be a ‘cushy job.’ 

‘State Department employees are getting paid to go hang out at Georgetown, and sort of recruit for the Foreign Service,’ one official said, ‘without any sort of metrics or accountability.’

They didn’t touch the country desks, those specifically focused on nations like Iran or China, and didn’t fire anyone from passport services or diplomatic security. They did not make cuts at embassies or foreign posts. 

‘We touched the people that are doing these sort of like wasteful, sort of mindboggling functions or places where we found natural efficiencies in combining two offices.’

Critics have warned that cuts to the diplomatic corps could damage U.S. presence globally and cede soft power to China. 

‘A climate change office is not countering China,’ an official shot back. 

The department also shuttered an office that had been tasked with resettling Afghan refugees seeking to flee Talliban rule and culled the Bureau of Population, Refugees & Migration.

‘That office was not doing work that was countering China or serving the national interest,’ the official said. ‘China has overtaken the United States in a number of those countries. So I would argue growth at the State Department has not coincided with a growth of outcomes for the American taxpayer.’ 

In another example, an official told of a Gulf state foreign minister who complained that the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor under the Biden administration kept pushing them to unionize foreign workers. 

‘This created huge diplomatic tension with them,’ the official said. ‘That foreign minister was delighted and wants to work with us on shared prosperity and trade agreements that aren’t trying to to be patronizing to other countries about their domestic affairs.’

Still, the process has sparked palpable tension within the department. Employees gathered tearfully in the Foggy Bottom lobby to say goodbye, some displaying signs reading, ‘Diplomacy matters.’ 

Signs with messages like ‘resist fascism’ and ‘you made an impact’ were taped up throughout the department. 

A group of more than 130 former senior officials, including former National Security Advisor Susan Rice, signed an open letter expressing concern that deep staff reductions could endanger U.S. foreign policy effectiveness.

Some have seized on the results of a whittled-down State Department and foreign aid apparatus: A report by The Atlantic found the Trump administration had given an order to incinerate 500 tons of emergency food that had been purchased during the Biden administration as aid to be distributed in Afghanistan and Pakistan. 

‘It’s a little bit of a shame to see people behaving that way. You sort of wonder whether they had any interest in following the president and sort of, upholding their oath to listen to the commands of the people,’ one official said.

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Paul Skenes, Livvy Dunne stun on All-Star Game red carpet

We’re just hours away from the 2025 MLB All-Star Game. The National League named Pittsburgh Pirates ace Paul Skenes as the starter for the game. At just 23 years old, playing in his second MLB season and second All-Star Game, Skenes has already established himself as one of the best pitchers in the league.

The Cy Young front-runner has been dominant all season long, leading the National League in ERA, FIP, and HR/9. But before he can buckle the best hitters the American League has to offer, he had to match the energy his girlfriend Olivia Dunne — a Sports Illustrated swimsuit cover model and fellow former LSU Tiger — brought to the game’s red carpet.

Paul Skenes, Livvy Dunne on MLB red carpet

Outside of their outfits, Skenes and Dunne also spoke with the media briefly. Skenes reminisced with JomBoy Media about his introduction to Major League Baseball and the home run that Shohei Ohtani hit off him during his rookie campaign.

Dunne, meanwhile, talked about how Skenes has become more fashionable as their relationship has progressed.

When does the MLB All-Star Game start?

The 2025 MLB All-Star Game begins at 8 p.m. ET at Truist Park in Atlanta. The game will air on FOX and can be streamed via Fubo.

Stream the MLB All-Star Game with Fubo

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Major League Baseball forced into awkward dance with Trump in office

ATLANTA — While Major League Baseball likes to frame itself as a pleasant diversion from society’s woes, political realities frequently puncture the game’s bubble.

That point was illustrated in multiple fashions Tuesday during press conferences with MLB commissioner Rob Manfred and Players’ Association executive director Tony Clark.

Perhaps the most immediate day-to-day reality is the Department of Homeland Security’s aggressive actions apprehending people of Latin American descent on U.S. soil. MLB’s significant bloc of Latino players have been put on alert, Clark said.

The message: Carry your papers, always.

“It is a concern,” Clark says of the seemingly chaotic sweeps conducted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Customs and Border Protection, one of which ended with DHS vans attempting to stage activities in Dodger Stadium parking lots. “We’re trying to put them in the best position possible to navigate the atmosphere that we are in with regards to immigration.

“We told them to carry their documentation wherever they go. We ensure the lines of communication are open so that if they’re having an issue or a family member is having an issue, how best can we help support that.”

There were 216 players from Latin American countries on opening-day rosters, with 100 from the Dominican Republic and 63 from Venezuela, comprising 27.7% of all major leaguers. Players must secure visas before the start of every season, a process that can sometimes delay arrivals to spring training.

As such, the union has immigration counselors and attorneys on staff.

“To provide provide support in a way that we have in the past – but not to the extent we do now, in order to assure guys are in the best position possible to come to the ballpark and do their jobs,” says Clark. “It is complicated. It is challenging on multiple levels. But we continue to communicate to our guys, whether on the minor league level or major league level, this how best to protect yourself in the nearest term, by having appropriate documentation.”

Manfred said the league reached out to the Trump administration and received assurances there would be “for our players going back and forth, say, between the US and Canada. They told us that would happen and that’s happened. Beyond that, it’s all speculation.”

Given the visa status of MLB players, Manfred says the prospect of disruption “is speculation at this point. We’ve seen no evidence of that.”

Manfred spoke from a top floor meeting room of a corporate building overlooking Atlanta’s Battery and Truist Park. The sprawling complex was supposed to host the 2021 All-Star Game, but Manfred moved the game after the state of Georgia passed voting laws widely viewed as discriminatory.

He said then that moving the game was “the best way to demonstrate our values as a sport. Major League Baseball fundamentally supports voting rights for all Americans and opposes restrictions to the ballot box.”

Yet in November 2023, he awarded the 2025 game to Atlanta, even as the voting laws the league found distasteful had not changed.

With game day at hand, Manfred was asked again: How were “baseball’s values as a sport” in alignment with Georgia in 2025 when they weren’t in 2021?

 “I think the reason to come back here is self-revealing,” Manfred said, atop a perch that looks down upon Punch Bowl Social, Shake Shack and other options that eventually lead a visitor into Truist Park.

“Walk around here and see the level of interest, the level of excitement, the great facility, the support this market has given to the Atlanta Braves and baseball generally – that’s a real good reason to come back here.”

While Manfred remains cagey on the calculus that drove this Midsummer Classic back to Atlanta, another action earlier this year – the scrubbing of diversity, equity and inclusion efforts from web pages touting MLB’s Diversity Pipeline – reflected a form of political pragmatism.

Manfred removed the All-Star Game from Atlanta days after President Joe Biden suggested that was an appropriate punitive measure. The scrubbing of DEI mentions from the league’s official web site came after executive orders from the Trump administration seeking to end DEI in public and private sectors.

“Sometimes you have to look at how the world is changing around you and readjust to where you are,” he says. “There were certain aspects of some of our programs that were very explicitly race- and gender-based.

“We know, because there were public comments to that effect, that people in Washington were aware of them. We felt it was important to recast our programs in a way to make sure we could continue on with our programs, continue to pursue the values we have always adhered to without tripping what could be legal problems that would interfere with that process.

“That’s my judgment at the end of the day. I think I made the right one.”

This post appeared first on USA TODAY
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Chargers unveil 3 uniform variants, retire old ‘Color Rush’ versions

The team that arguably has the best uniforms in professional sports has just tripled down on its wardrobe.

The Los Angeles Chargers introduced three new elements to their iconic look Tuesday while removing two others. They rolled out an all-gold ‘Charger Power’ look intended to honor the ‘Air Coryell’ teams of the late 1970s and early ’80s. The Bolts are also bringing back the predominantly navy and white uniforms best known for when Hall of Famers LaDainian Tomlinson and Junior Seau were with the team, calling it a ‘Super Chargers’ version. Finally, they’ve added powder blue pants to their uniform closet.

A team spokesman told USA TODAY Sports that both Color Rush versions used from 2020 to ’24, one navy and the other Royal Blue, were retired in favor of the new alternates.

This will mark the first time since 2006, when they were still based in San Diego, that the Chargers will don blue helmets.

“We’ve always considered ourselves to be leaders in the uniform space,” said team president of business operations A.G. Spanos said in a statement. “We take pride in the fact that the Chargers are widely considered to have the best uniforms in the NFL; some even argue in all of sports. One of the main reasons for that is our continued push to evolve, authentically, with every opportunity.” (No argument there.)

Shop new LA Chargers NFL jerseys

Since changing their uniforms in 2007, the Chargers have exclusively worn white helmets, albeit different variations depending on whether or not jersey numbers were included and/or the color of the lightning bolt. Prior to 2007, the Bolts mostly featured what is now called the ‘Super Chargers’ uniform − the team dubbed it as a ‘modern throwback’ − a design that had succeeded the Air Coryell version, which featured Royal Blue, in 1988.

Led by Seau, the team made its lone Super Bowl appearance in the predominantly navy look to cap the 1994 season. Tomlinson scored a single-season NFL record 31 touchdowns in it in 2006, when he was also named the league’s MVP.

And yet since joining the NFL in 1970, the Chargers’ best run arguably occurred under Hall of Fame coach Don Coryell and quarterback Dan Fouts, who led the team to four consecutive playoff berths from 1979 to ’82, losing the AFC championship game twice during that stretch − including the notorious ‘Freezer Bowl’ in Cincinnati, when a minus-59 degree wind chill grounded an offense which ranked No. 1 overall five times between the 1980 and ’85 campaigns.

Those teams helped revolutionize the passing game in the NFL, Fouts throwing for 4,802 yards in 1981, a record at the time.

“It was wonderful. It really was,” Fouts said via a team news release Tuesday.

“As a quarterback, one of the great, unique things you can do is quiet your own crowd. I had to do that so often so the team could hear my signals at the line of scrimmage. Charger Power was real, it wasn’t just a slogan on a T-shirt. That stadium was absolutely alive every time we took the field. We had to calm everyone down, they were so excited.”

While the team hasn’t reproduced uniforms like the ones Fouts and his teammates wore − think Kellen Winslow, Charlie Joiner, John Jefferson, Wes Chandler and Chuck Muncie, among others − the club said of the new ‘Charger Power’ look: ‘While the all-gold ‘Charger Power’ uniforms are the first of their kind to be worn by the Bolts, they manage to still evoke a sense of familiarity and capture the energy of a revolutionary chapter in Chargers football.’

The organization has never worn the NFL crown, blown out 49-26 by the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl 29. However, prior to the merger in 1970, the Bolts did win the AFL title in 1963.

The ‘Charger Power’ uniforms will be initially worn for Legends Weekend against the Indianapolis Colts on Oct. 19. The ‘Super Chargers’ navy throwbacks will debut four days later against the Minnesota Vikings on ‘Thursday Night Football,’ when former Bolts safety Rodney Harrison will be inducted into the team’s Hall of Fame.

Since updating their current uniforms, which coincided with the club’s move into SoFi Stadium in 2020, the Chargers have worn six different uniform combinations, including the new-defunct Color Rush options. They were 0-6 in those navy alternates, which featured dark pants, jerseys and lightning bolts on the white helmet.

Spanos said the new powder blue pants cater to a request from fans.

“Pretty soon after our 2020 uniform launch we began getting the question, ‘Why don’t you have powder blue pants?’ We heard it from fans and players alike,” he said.

“Everyone wanted what we knew was probably a missing look, but rules only allowed for so many pant options and we were at our limit. We knew this time around we needed to be creative in how we could incorporate them into our uniform kit, and we’re excited to bring even more versatility to our primary look for 2025 and beyond.”

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Caitlin Clark suffers apparent injury late in Fever-Sun game: Highlights

The Indiana Fever grinded out a tough road win over the Connecticut Sun on Tuesday despite an off night from Caitlin Clark, but the win may end up being bittersweet as Clark appeared to suffer an injury in the final seconds.

The Fever held on for an 85-77 victory over the Sun to improve to 12-10 on the season after seven lead changes and 10 total ties in the matchup, which was moved to the TD Garden in Boston to accommodate the sold-out crowd that included the likes of Boston Celtics superstar Jaylen Brown.

Clark finished with 14 points in the win, shooting 4-of-14 from the field and 1-of-7 from 3. She was held to five points through three quarters, but exploded for nine points in the fourth quarter to help Indiana pull away from the Sun. But the Fever’s celebration was short-lived after Clark appeared to suffer an injury in the final minute.

With 39.1 seconds remaining in the contest, Clark completed a bounce pass to Kelsey Mitchell to go up 84-75, tying the Fever’s largest lead of the game. After the pass, Clark immediately grabbed for her groin, grimaced and head-butted the stanchion in frustration. She did not return to the game.

It’s the latest blow for Clark, who is still looking to find her rhythm after a left groin injury and left quad strain sidelined her a total of 10 games. Clark’s status in the 2025 WNBA All-Star Game and 3-point contest in Indianapolis could also be in jeopardy.

Kelsey Mitchell finished with a team-high 20 points, while Natasha Howard added 18 points and 13 rebounds.

Tina Charles finished with a game-high 21 points and added 11 rebounds in the loss, marking her league-leading 198th double-double of her career. The 36-year-old veteran now has four 20-point, 10-rebound games this season, tied for the most in the league.  

Indiana Fever vs. Connecticut Sun highlights

End of Q3: Fever 62, Sun 60

Ahead of the fourth quarter, Sun veteran Tina Charles said Connecticut plans to ‘keep making it hard for Caitlin (Clark), she’s the heart of the snake.’ The Sun have done just that and trail by just two points after three quarters.

Clark has been held to five points against the Sun and missed all five of her shot attempts in the third quarter. She’s shooting 2-of-10 from the field and 0-of-5 from 3 on the day, continuing a troubling slump on the road. She’s 1-of-33 from the 3-point line on the road this season.

Natasha Howard and Kelsey Mitchell have a team-high 17 points for the Fever. Aliyah Boston has three points. Meanwhile, Charles has a game-high 18 points, 11 rebounds and two assists for the Sun, who are looking for their fourth win of the season.

Caitlin Clark held back from referee

Clark’s shooting woes have continued and her frustrations appeared to boil over in the third quarter. Clark had to be held back by team personnel after her chat with referee Mike Price went awry during the Sun’s coach’s challenge on an out-of-bounds call. It’s not clear what Clark was upset about, but shooting a disappointing 2-of-8 from the field and 1-of-2 from 3 surely isn’t helping.

Jaylen Brown in the building

Tuesday’s matchup between the Fever and Sun marks only the second WNBA game to take place at TD Garden in Boston, home of the 2024 NBA champion Boston Celtics. So it’s only right that Celtics superstar Jaylen Brown is in attendance. Brown sat courtside during the sold-out game and stopped to take some pictures with fans.

Halftime: Fever 44, Sun 42

The Fever have a two-point advantage over the Sun at halftime after a back-and-forth first half that featured seven lead changes between both teams.

The Fever are shooting 52.9% from the field, compared to the Sun’s 41.9%, but Indiana has been outrebounded 23-16. Turnovers are also starting to build up with six in the first half, three of which belong to Caitlin Clark. Clark’s road woes have continued in Boston and she’s been held to five points (2-of-5 FG, 0-of-2 3PT). Natasha Howard leads all scorers with 12 points and six rebounds, while Kelsey Mitchell added 11 points.

Meanwhile, Tina Charles has set the intensity for her team. Charles, the league’s second-leading scorer of all time, has 11 points, seven rebounds, two assists, one steal and one block. The Sun’s bench added 13 points.

End of Q1: Fever 29, Sun 28

The Fever opened Tuesday’s contest against the Sun red-hot and collectively shot 8-of-8 from the field and 1-of-1 from 3 to build a nine-point lead over the Sun. Connecticut, however, responded with an 11-3 run to take the lead, 28-27, with 54.2 seconds remaining. 

The Fever regained the lead with a pair of free throws from Aari McDonald to close the quarter.

Natasha Howard has a team-high 10 points and four rebounds for the Fever after one quarter. Meanwhile, Tina Charles is doing a little bit of everything for the Sun with nine points, three rebounds, one steal and one block.

The Sun applied early pressure on Caitlin Clark, picking her up full-court and sending early double teams, but Clark was able to efficiently distribute the ball to her teammates in the paint each time. She’s up to two points and four assists.

What time is Fever vs. Sun?

The Indiana Fever’s WNBA game on Tuesday, July 15 at the Connecticut Sun is scheduled to tip off at 8 p.m. ET at TD Garden in Boston.

How to watch Fever vs. Sun: TV, stream for Caitlin Clark

Date: Tuesday, July 15
Time: 8 p.m. ET
Location: TD Garden (Boston)
TV: ESPN
Stream: Fubo

Indiana Fever starting lineup

The Fever’s starting five consists of Caitlin Clark, forward Aliyah Boston, Kelsey Mitchell, Natasha Howard and Lexie Hull. This unit has made eight starts together this season heading into Tuesday and gone 5-3.

Connecticut Sun starting lineup

Caitlin Clark will participate in WNBA All-Star 3-point contest

Ahead of the 2025 WNBA All-Star game, where Caitlin Clark will serve as a team captain, the 2024 Rookie of the Year will compete in Friday’s WNBA STARRY 3-Point Contest. The field is rounded out by Washington Mystics guard Sonia Citron, Atlanta Dream guard Allisha Gray, New York Liberty guard Sabrina Ionescu and Los Angeles Sparks guard Kelsey Plum

‘It’s exciting. I’ve never participated in a 3-point competition or practiced before, so just go out there and have fun,’ Clark said on Tuesday in her pregame press conference. ‘I think the lineup of people competing is tremendous so more than anything, it’s going to be great for our league and for women’s basketball as a whole.’ 

Clark is shooting 28.9% from 3 this season, down from her average of 34.4% last year, and is looking to snap out of a shooting slump. She has shot 23-of-74 from the field and 6-of-35 from beyond the arc in the past five games as she’s dealt with left leg injuries.

Watch Fever vs. Sun with Fubo

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Senate GOP blows through 2nd hurdle of the night, teeing up Trump’s clawback bill for hourslong debate

Senate Republicans again coalesced behind President Donald Trump’s multibillion-dollar spending clawback package and propelled the legislation through its final procedural hurdle, again with the aid of Vice President JD Vance. 

Lawmakers will now go back and forth through 10 hours of debate on the bill, where Senate Democrats are expected to bleed time and slam the legislation for its cuts to foreign aid and public broadcasting funding.

Trump’s smaller, $9 billion package passed with nearly all Senate Republicans, while all Senate Democrats voted against it. Sens. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., were the only Republicans to vote against the bill. 

Once debate has wrapped up on the bill, lawmakers will go through another vote-a-rama, where an unlimited number of amendments can be offered for the bill by either side of the aisle. Democrats will likely try to sideline or derail the package, while the GOP is expected to offer an amendment that would spare about $400 million in international HIV and AIDS funding from the chopping block.

The carveout for the Bush-era President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) was agreed to ahead of the vote and is backed by the White House. Trimming funding from the program rattled some Senate Republicans, who publicly and privately warned they may not support the bill unless a fix was found.

However, slashing the funding cut from the package could prove a tricky sell to the House, where Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., has called on Senate Republicans to not change the bill.

He’s been joined by fiscal hawks in the House Freedom Caucus, too, who have demanded that the Senate GOP stay the course on the rescissions package and warned that they would have serious issues if changes were made, stopping short of declaring a full-on rebellion against the bill.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., hoped that his colleagues in the lower chamber would play ball and pass the bill ahead of a looming Friday deadline.

‘There was a lot of interest among our members in doing something on the PEPFAR issue,’ he said ahead of the vote. ‘So, that’s reflected in the substitute, and we hope that if we can get this across the finish line in the Senate that the House will accept that one small modification.’

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Huckabee demands Israel ‘aggressively investigate’ murder of Palestinian-American killed in ‘terrorist act’

The U.S. ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, on Tuesday called on Israeli authorities to ‘aggressively investigate’ the killing of Sayfollah Musallet, a 20-year-old Palestinian-American who was reportedly beaten to death by a gang of extremist settlers in the West Bank village of Sinjil on Friday.

‘We have asked Israel to aggressively investigate the murder of Saif Mussallet, an American citizen who was visiting family in Sinjil when he was beaten to death in the West Bank,’ Huckabee wrote on X. ‘There must be accountability for this criminal and terrorist act. Saif was only 20 years old.’

According to the family, Musallet was visiting the West Bank from Tampa, Florida, to reconnect with relatives and visit family-owned farmland. 

‘This is an unimaginable nightmare and injustice that no family should ever have to face,’ the family said in a statement. ‘We demand the U.S. State Department lead an immediate investigation and hold the Israeli settlers who killed Saif accountable for their crimes.’

Israeli military officials said the confrontation began when Palestinians threw rocks at settlers, lightly injuring two. IDF forces were deployed to the area and used non-lethal crowd control methods, the army said.

So far, no Israeli suspects have been arrested in connection with the killings. Two Israeli minors detained on Friday night for suspected involvement in public disturbances were later released to house arrest. A reserve soldier questioned by the military police over the shooting during the incident was also released.

The Palestinian Health Ministry said Musallet was fatally beaten during an attack by settlers in the area. Another man, 23-year-old Mohammed al-Shalabi, was shot in the chest and also killed during the same incident. 

Sources in the Israeli police told Haaretz newspaper that the lack of an autopsy and the fact that the bodies were not transferred to Israeli authorities may complicate the investigation.

A military court also released Abdullah Hamida, a Palestinian resident arrested during the settler raid, criticizing police conduct. During the hearing, the police representative admitted he was unaware that any Palestinians had been killed, and incorrectly claimed the only wounded were settlers.

The State Department acknowledged awareness of the incident but declined further comment, Reuters reports, citing ‘respect for the privacy of the family and loved ones.’

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Trump’s $9 billion clawback passes first Senate test, while more hurdles await

President Donald Trump’s clawback of billions in funding for foreign aid and public broadcasting narrowly passed through its first hurdle in the Senate, but it still faces a rocky road ahead with dissent among the Senate GOP ranks.

Senate GOP leaders hoped that an agreement to carve out $400 million in global HIV and AIDS prevention funding will get some of the holdouts on board. However, doing so shrank the expected cuts from $9.4 billion to $9 billion.

But a trio of Senate Republicans joined with all Senate Democrats to vote against advancing the bill from the Senate Appropriations Committee, which required Vice President JD Vance to cast the deciding vote. 

Trump’s rescissions package would yank bank congressionally approved funding for foreign aid programs and public broadcasting. But some Senate Republicans have sounded the alarm and want changes made to the bill before it reaches the finish line.

The bill that advanced out of committee Tuesday includes just shy of $8 billion in cuts from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), and over $1 billion from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), the government-backed funding arm for NPR and PBS.

Republicans’ successful test vote comes after huddling with Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought, who worked to shore up support and apply pressure from the White House to get the ball rolling on the bill.

‘We’re fine with adjustments,’ Vought said. ‘This is still a great package, $9 billion, [it’s] substantially the same package, and the Senate has to work its will.’

While concerns were still raised about other aspects of the spending cuts package during the closed-door meeting, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., believed that carving out the cuts to Bush-era President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) helped ease concerns among lawmakers.

But the changes didn’t sway all Senate Republicans. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, bluntly said ‘no’ when asked if the PEPFAR carveout helped gain her support and argued, ‘I’d like to do some legislating.’ 

‘What a crazy thing, what a crazy thing,’ she said. ‘What have we been doing around here? We did a reconciliation bill. We’re doing a rescissions bill. We’re doing nominations. Nominations are important, but let’s, like, legislate.’

And Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, said she liked the changes but ultimately decided to vote against advancing the bill through its first hurdle.

Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., also joined in to vote against the bill. Fox News Digital reached out to his office for a statement on his decision to vote against the package. 

It now moves to yet another procedural vote, which, if successful, will open up 10 hours of total debate time on the bill and eventually set the stage for a vote-a-rama, where lawmakers on either side of the aisle can offer an unlimited number of amendments to the package.

But, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., made clear that he would prefer the Senate not make any changes to the bill.

However, that request already fell on deaf ears — as it did during the budget reconciliation process that unfolded in the upper chamber last month.

Those demands already have fiscal hawks in the House grumbling, but like the budget reconciliation process before it, an amended rescissions package will likely glide through the House GOP and onto Trump’s desk. 

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