Reactions on social media came pouring in Friday afternoon after President Trump, Vice President Vance, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy were involved in a fiery exchange in the Oval Office that turned into a shouting match at points. 

‘Finally we have a President who will speak the TRUTH and stand up against Washington’s endless wars. American taxpayers have been funding this war, it’s time to stop the killing and stop risking World War 3!’ GOP Sen. Bernie Moreno posted on X after the tense exchange that ultimately resulted in a canceled press conference on Friday.

‘Wow!’ Conservative commentator Charlie Kirk posted on X. ‘President Trump and JD Vance just told Zelenskyy exactly what millions of Americans have wanted to tell him, right to his face. Someone needed to say it.’

‘Zelensky owes America and the President an apology,’ former Trump campaign manager Chris LaCivita posted on X. ‘What an absolute dumba–.’

‘Zelensky is doing a serious disservice to the Ukrainian people insulting the American President and the American people – just to appease Europeans and increase his low polling in Ukraine after he failed miserably to defend his country,’ GOP Rep. Victoria Spartz, who was born in Ukraine, posted on X. ‘This is not a theater act but a real war!’

‘America First in action,’ GOP Congressman Brandon Gill posted on X. ‘Thank you, @realDonaldTrump and @JDVance for prioritizing our people first and for promoting peace!’

‘This full Zelensky interaction is INSANE: He is an emotionally incontinent idiot who dares to lecture and belittle the elected leaders of his total benefactor on OUR SOIL Trump and JD should send him packing with NOTHING,’ Breaking Points co-host Saagar Enjeti posted on X. ‘Ukrainians should be ashamed to have a leader like this.’

‘Thank you President Trump and VP Vance for standing up for America,’ GOP Sen. Marsha Blackburn posted on X. 

‘I am so proud of our Commander-in-Chief,’ DHS Secretary Kristi Noem posted on X. ‘Thank you President @RealDonaldTrump and @VP for standing up for America. We will not tolerate the political games and disrespect of America. America is back.’

Democrats on social media took a different tone and strongly criticized Trump over the exchange, including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, who posted on X that Trump and Vance ‘are doing Putin’s dirty work.’

The heated exchange in the Oval Office involved the three political leaders going back and forth about the ‘cards’ Ukraine is holding in the negotiations with Russia and whether Zelenskyy has been grateful to the United States during the process. 

‘Mr. President, with respect, I think it’s disrespectful for you to come into the Oval Office to try to litigate this in front of the American media,’ Vance told Zelenskyy. ‘Right now, you guys are going around and forcing conscripts to the front lines, because you have manpower problems. You should be thanking the president for bringing it, to bring it into this country.’ 

Zelenskyy later said that under war, ‘everybody has problems, even you’ and that the U.S. would feel the war ‘in the future.’

‘You don’t know that,’ Trump responded as Zelenskyy said ‘God bless you’ to Trump.

‘Don’t tell us what we’re going to feel. We’re trying to solve a problem. Don’t tell us what we’re going to feel,’ Trump continued. 

At one point, Trump pointed at Zelenskyy and told him that what he’s doing is ‘very disrespectful’ to the United States. 

After the exchange, it was announced that a scheduled press conference had been canceled, and Zelenskyy was seen briskly leaving the White House with no word on the mineral rights deal that had been expected to be signed on Friday.

‘We had a very meaningful meeting in the White House today,’ Trump posted on Truth Social after the meeting. 

‘Much was learned that could never be understood without conversation under such fire and pressure. It’s amazing what comes out through emotion, and I have determined that President Zelenskyy is not ready for Peace if America is involved, because he feels our involvement gives him a big advantage in negotiations. I don’t want advantage, I want PEACE. He disrespected the United States of America in its cherished Oval Office. He can come back when he is ready for Peace.’

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) released most of its investigation of what happened on Oct. 7, 2023, and in the days leading up to Hamas’ massacre. While the initial investigation began in November 2023, outgoing IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi ordered all units to start probes in March 2024. The IDF refrained from offering recommendations in its report, saying that those would be left to incoming IDF Chief of Staff Maj. Gen. (res.) Eyal Zamir, who will enter the role next week.

1. Oct. 7 in numbers

According to the IDF’s assessment, 5,000-5,600 militants infiltrated Israel in three waves. Meanwhile, 4,696 rockets and mortars were fired towards Israel. The attacks left 829 Israeli civilians, 76 foreign nationals and 415 security personnel dead. Additionally, 251 hostages were taken into the Gaza Strip.

‘The fundamental failure was a result of failure to understand Hamas’s intentions and readiness for a wide-scale surprise attack,’ IDF senior officials say in the report.

2. Hamas attack timeline

Hamas’ attacks were not done hastily, according to the IDF, the planning began nearly seven years before the massacre, with the formation of the ‘fundamental concept’ in November 2016 and an ‘initial plan’ in July 2017. Hamas’ plan was approved in July 2019 and the operational plan was set in August 2021. In early 2022, a readiness committee was established and over the course of the year the terror group evaluated options for implementing its plan.

The IDF says Hamas considered numerous dates for the attacks, including Sept. 16, which was Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish new year, and Sept. 25, Yom Kippur, the Jewish day of atonement. Ultimately, Oct. 7, 2023, which coincided with the Jewish holiday of Simchat Torah, which marks the end and re-start of the Torah.

3. Full timeline of Oct. 7

The attack, according to the IDF’s assessment began taking shape in the early hours of Oct. 7. Hamas allegedly began preparing its forces around 11:00 p.m. on Oct. 6, after spending much of the day putting them on alert and gathering weapons, and concluded briefings by 4:00 a.m. on Oct. 7. 

The infiltration itself began with the first wave at 6:29 a.m. when 1,154 members of Hamas’ Nukhba forces invaded, breaking the security barrier between Gaza and Israel. The IDF declared a state of emergency at 6:43 a.m., and at 7:10 a.m. the Israeli Air Force (IAF) followed suit.

Between 7:00 a.m. and 9:00 a.m., 3,400 militants were inside Israeli territory. Additionally, just before 8:00 a.m., Hamas military commander Mohammed Deif called on civilians in Gaza to join the attacks. The assessment states that after 9:00 a.m. attackers took advantage of IDF failures and seized opportunities to further the assault. Some allegedly planned to go deeper into Israeli territory.

Several of the ‘main attacks’ were stopped by the IDF around 1:00 p.m., but there were still hundreds of attackers in Israel at 3:00 p.m. The IDF says it gained control of some of the communities and surrounding areas by 9:00 p.m., but dozens were present around midnight. 

‘We did not predict Hamas would be able to be so brutal in its fighting,’ IDF senior officials wrote.

4. IDF’s incorrect assessment of threats

Much of the IDF’s focus was on Iran and Hezbollah prior to the Oct. 7 attacks, and Hamas was defined as a secondary threat at the time. Additionally, the IDF assumed that it could contain Hamas activity as it worked toward ‘gradually improving the existing reality’ with the goal of removing the terror group. 

The IDF also believed that ‘Hamas didn’t want a full-scale war,’ leading Israel to conclude that a large-scale invasion was unlikely. In the assessment, the IDF says Hamas took advantage of Israel’s perception of the situation and used it to its advantage.

Another major misconception highlighted in the assessment is the IDF’s thinking that the main threat from Hamas were the rockets and mortars being shot from Gaza. This combined with reliance on defense tactics and a barrier, as well as the reduction of troops on the Israel-Gaza border would lead to catastrophe.

5. Intelligence failures

Israel’s Intelligence Directorate did not fully grasp or analyze intel it had on Hamas and its intentions. This apparently also applies to the IDF’s perception of the Shi’ite ‘Axis’ and its views on Israel. The IDF says that during the review it found deep-rooted systemic issues with the intelligence directorate and culture. 

Since 2018, the Intelligence Directorate had been gathering information on Hamas’ concept for a large-scale attack on Israel. However, the plan was deemed unfeasible and was thought to reflect Hamas’ long-term goals. 

In August 2021, intel on Hamas’ military wing described the plan for a large-scale attack on Israeli communities and military outposts surrounding the Gaza Strip. Intelligence officials failed to make the connection between this new intel and what it had gathered in 2018.

The intelligence received in the months leading up to Oct. 7 indicated that Hamas was carrying out training exercises for raids. This apparently changed Israel’s elite Unit 8200’s assessment of the situation, but this was allegedly not communicated with senior leadership.

6. ‘Early signs’ missed 

In the evening hours of Oct. 6, 2023, Israeli sim cards were activated inside Gaza. However, this was not alerted as it had happened before. Those same sim cards would later allow Hamas militants to communicate after they crossed the border into Israel. There were also indications that night that Hamas leaders were meeting. However, according to the IDF’s assessment, neither of these facts were enough to change the Intelligence Directorate’s way of thinking on Gaza, therefore there was no alert.
There were also indications of both usual and unusual Hamas activity that evening. The inquiry revealed that there were intelligence sources that could have been utilized overnight to enhance information that were not used. However, the IDF asserts that had the Intelligence Directive changed its assessment of the situation, there would have been a higher alert for a localized Hamas offensive, but not for an all-out war.

7. Assessment of the IAF

The IAF was found to have met and even exceeded the defined standards for readiness except for two instances due to heavy rocket fire. However, these standards did not align with what would have been required to prepare for a large-scale surprise attack. The IDF concluded that there was ‘significant difficulty’ distinguishing IDF troops, civilians and terrorists from one another.

While the IAF struck key Hamas command centers, the IDF admits that even in its review of the strikes it is challenging to determine if there could have been a more effective strike effort given the circumstances.

However, it was noted that the IDF did not prepare for anything like the brutal Oct. 7 massacre.
‘We were addicted to the precise intelligence and information we got as commanders and did not consider other scenarios. This failure will forever be etched in our memories, and we will never and should never forget,’ IDF senior officials wrote.

In its conclusion, the IDF notes that the assessment of the situation in Gaza and regarding Hamas was so entrenched in the establishment that there was no deep discussion about alternate possibilities. Additionally, it now says that it was ‘incorrect’ to try to ‘conflict manage’ Hamas and, in the future, the removal of threats should be prioritized.

The assessment also addresses the possibility of a future attack, saying that a preventative strategy will be key. 

Former White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre was blasted on social media this week after she sat down for an interview giving a recap on her thoughts about the Biden debate performance and the fallout from Democrats.

‘I … look, personally, I think what was the toughest thing to see in the three weeks was there was a disconnect for me [in] what was happening with leadership in the Democratic Party and how it was truly, as my former colleague, communications director Ben Labolt said, it was a firing squad,’ Jean-Pierre said at an event for the Institute of Politics at Harvard University on Wednesday.  

‘I had never seen anything like it before. I had never seen a party do that in the way that they did, and it was hurtful and sad to see that happening,’ Jean-Pierre added. ‘A firing squad around a person who I believe was a true patriot, a person who I believe did everything that he can for this country. A person who I believe, as I mentioned before, has done more in one term than most presidents had done in two terms, historical things, and I was shocked by what I was seeing.’

Jean-Pierre’s analysis, the first in-depth comments she has made on Biden’s exit from the race since she left the White House, drew immediate pushback from conservatives on social media. 

‘She openly lied about Biden’s mental decline,’ Fox News contributor Joe Concha posted on X. ‘She blamed cheap fake videos, which many in media echoed. Worst press secretary of our lifetimes. And now she’s shocked, shocked. . . .’

‘The most important takeaway from this is Karine still doesn’t understand that they did anything wrong,’ Republican communicator Matt Whitlock posted on X.

‘She either genuinely believes that Joe Biden was the most cognitively aware person to ever be President, or she knows he wasn’t fit to serve four more years and is once again lying to you,’ Greg Price of the White House Rapid Response team posted on X. ‘Either way, she’s the worst Press Secretary in American history.’

‘She’s complicit,’ Fox News contributor Guy Benson posted on X. 

‘She really thought she could just lie her way past Father Time,’ Substack writer Jim Treacher posted on X. 

Jean-Pierre said during her Harvard appearance that she has not been focused on watching the news since she left the White House. 

‘I have not watched the news,’ she said. ‘I have really tried to focus on self-care. I’ve really tried to focus on my daughter. I have a 10-year-old. And I have done . . . it’s, I think the best way to say this is, I have deprogrammed myself so that I could be a civilian again. I used to wake up at 4:30 in the morning. Like, that was my schedule every day for four years. And I thought that when I stepped away from the lectern and the podium that I would have this, like, adrenaline, like, I would need to feed my, like, ‘Aaah, I need to be doing something!’’

Fox News Digital’s Alexander Hall contributed to this report

Conversations about a peace deal between Ukraine and Russia came to a screeching halt Friday, after a tense meeting between President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy led to a canceled press conference, a minerals deal off the table and Trump asking the Ukrainian president to leave, a White House official confirmed.  

Trump accused Zelenskyy of ‘disrespecting’ the U.S. during their Friday meeting, and said the Ukrainian leader was not ready to secure peace for his country. 

‘I have determined that President Zelenskyy is not ready for peace if America is involved, because he feels our involvement gives him a big advantage in negotiations,’ Trump said in a Truth Social post Friday. ‘I don’t want advantage, I want PEACE. He disrespected the United States of America in its cherished Oval Office. He can come back when he is ready for Peace.’ 

Zelenskyy visited Washington amid negotiations to end the war in Ukraine, and was expected to sign a minerals agreement that will allow the U.S. access to Ukraine’s minerals — in exchange for support the U.S. has provided the country since Russia’s invasion in 2022.

But things took a turn south, and Trump and Vice President JD Vance accused Zelenskyy of not being grateful for the support the U.S. has provided over the years and said that the Ukrainian leader was in a ‘bad position’ at the negotiating table. 

‘You’re playing cards,’ Trump said. ‘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.’

After Vance told Zelenskyy that Ukraine was suffering from manpower and military recruiting problems, Zelenskyy said that war means ‘everybody has problems, even you’ and that the U.S. would feel the war ‘in the future.’

‘Don’t tell us what we’re going to feel,’ Trump responded. ‘We’re trying to solve a problem. Don’t tell us what we’re going to feel.’ 

‘You are in no position to dictate that, remember that,’ Trump said.

Vance and Zelenskyy also sparred when Vance questioned if Zelenskyy had ever said ‘thank you once this entire meeting,’ prompting Zelenskyy to assert that Vance was speaking ‘loudly.’ 

Trump then clapped back at Zelenskyy, and cautioned him that Ukraine was in ‘big trouble.’ 

‘Wait a minute,’ Trump said. ‘No, no, you’ve done a lot of talking. Your country is in big trouble.’ 

Additionally, when asked if Zelenskyy believed Trump was on Ukraine’s side, Zelenskyy told reporters at the Oval Office that he believed the U.S. is on Ukraine’s side and reiterated the importance of stopping aggression from Russian President Vladimir Putin. 

Zelenskyy also emphasized the importance of Europe’s assistance during the conflict with Russia — prompting Trump to interject and claim U.S. contributions were more significant than Europe’s. But Zelenskyy pushed back and said that wasn’t true. 

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

Meanwhile, all European assistance to Ukraine between January 2022 and December 2024 totals roughly $138.7 billion, the German-based think tank the Kiel Institute estimates, with the U.S. contributing $119.7 billion in that same time frame. 

Tensions between Zelenskyy and Trump have increased in recent weeks as the U.S. has worked with Ukraine and Russia to advance a peace negotiation. After U.S. officials met with Russian officials in Saudi Arabia Feb. 18 without Ukraine, Zelenskyy told reporters that ‘nobody decides anything behind our back.’

Trump and Zelenskyy then traded barbs at one another, with Zelenskyy accusing Trump of advancing Russian ‘disinformation’ and Trump labeling Zelenskyy a ‘dictator’ that has failed his country.

On Thursday, Trump didn’t double down on that statement though.

When asked if he stood by his statement, he told reporters: ‘Did I say that? I can’t believe I said that. Next question.’

Trump also told reporters while meeting with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer Thursday that a peace negotiation was in the final stages, but he exercised caution about sharing details concerning a peacekeeping force in the region until a deal was finalized. 

‘I think we’re very well advanced on a deal,’ Trump said. ‘But we have not made a deal yet. So I don’t like to talk about peacekeeping until we have a deal. I like to get things done.’

Trump also said he didn’t expect Putin to violate any agreement to create peace with Ukraine. 

‘I don’t believe he’s going to violate his word,’ Trump said Thursday. ‘I don’t think he’ll be back when we make a deal. I think the deal is going to hold now.’

Fox News’ Jacqui Heinrich and Emma Colton contributed to this report. 

Former President Joe Biden blamed ‘Barack’ and former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi for his political ousting amid the election cycle in 2024, President Donald Trump shared in an interview reflecting on his conversations with the 46th president. 

‘I went to the White House a few months before this all happened. … But I went there and he asked for a meeting, and I went and we talked for a little while, and at first I couldn’t… You couldn’t… He talked so low,’ Trump said in an interview with The Spectator’s Ben Domenech on Thursday afternoon at the White House. 

Trump’s comments came after Domenech asked about Biden’s apparent warm attitude toward Trump following the November 2024 election. He explained that Biden invited Trump to the White House following his electoral win over former Vice President Kamala Harris and asked him whom he ‘blamed’ for the loss. 

‘I asked him, I said, ‘So who do you blame?’ Because he was very angry, you know, he was a very angry guy, actually,’ Trump said. ‘And he said, ‘I blame Barack.’ And I never think of him as ‘Barack.’ You know, you always hear ‘Obama.’ You say, you have to think about that for a second. And he said, ‘and I also blame Nancy Pelosi.’’

Biden noted in his conversation that he did not blame Harris for the disarray in the Democratic Party during the election year, Trump said. 

‘I said, ‘What about the vice president?’ He said, ‘No, I don’t blame her,’ which was interesting,’ Trump said. ‘He didn’t blame her. He blamed… he told me he blamed those two people.’ 

The year 2024 kicked off with Biden in the driver’s seat of the Democratic Party as he keyed up a re-election effort in what was shaping up to be a second match-up against Trump. 

In February 2024, however, Biden’s 81 years of age and mental acuity fell under public scrutiny after years of conservatives questioning the commander in chief’s mental fitness. 

Special counsel Robert Hur, who was investigating Biden’s alleged mishandling of classified documents as vice president, announced he would not recommend criminal charges against Biden for possessing classified materials after his vice presidency, calling Biden ‘a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory.’

The report renewed scrutiny over Biden’s mental acuity, which rose to a fever pitch in June 2024 after the president’s first and only presidential debate against Trump. 

Biden faced backlash for a handful of gaffes and miscues in the days leading up to his ill-fated debate against Trump, including Obama taking Biden’s wrist and appearing to lead him off a stage during a swank fundraiser, and also abroad when Italian Prime Minister Giogia Meloni guided Biden back to a group of world leaders when he appeared to wander off to give a thumbs-up to a parachutist during the G-7 summit. 

When the big debate day arrived, Biden missed his marks repeatedly, tripping over his responses and appearing to lose his train of thought as he squared up against Trump. The disastrous debate performance led to an outpouring from both conservatives and traditional Democrat allies calling on the president to bow out of the race in favor of a younger generation. 

On July 21, 2024, Biden issued a post announcing he would bow out of the race. He endorsed Harris to take the reins of the election in a follow-up post. 

Pelosi’s relationship with Biden hit the rocks amid the speculation and the ultimate decision to bow out of the race, with Pelosi revealing on MSNBC earlier in February that she still has not spoken to Biden or former first lady Jill Biden in months but hopes to patch up their yearslong friendship. 

Some Democrats and insiders have pointed to Obama for the 2024 loss, after Obama reportedly worked in the background in summer 2024 to encourage Biden’s ouster from the race. 

A handful of Obama’s allies and former advisers helped lead the charge in calling on Biden to drop out of the race earlier in the summer of 2024, including former Obama adviser David Axelrodsaying that Biden was ‘not winning this race;’ longtime Obama friend George Clooney calling on the president to drop out of the race in a bombshell op-ed; and Jon Favreau, who served as former director of speech writing for Obama, also calling on Biden to drop out of the race ahead of his eventual departure. 

Fox News Digital reached out to the respective offices for Pelosi, Obama and Biden regarding Trump’s comments but did not immediately receive replies. 

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., warned Friday that children, families, seniors and everyday Americans with disabilities will be ‘devastated’ after House Republicans this week ‘passed the budget resolution that sets in motion the largest Medicaid cut in American history.’ 

‘Children will be devastated in the city of New York and beyond. Families will be devastated. Seniors will be devastated. Everyday Americans with disabilities will be devastated,’ the New York Democrat said. ‘Hospitals will potentially close here in New York state, in rural America and across the country. And nursing homes will certainly be shut down. 

‘Every single House Democrat from New York City, from New York State and across the country oppose this reckless Republican budget, and we will continue to do so as long as the health care of the American people is being targeted, as long as nutritional assistance for children and families is being targeted by the extreme MAGA Republicans,’ Jeffries added. 

Jeffries spoke Friday as Republicans in Congress searching for a way around the $880 billion budget shortfall needed to be covered in order to extend President Donald Trump’s tax cuts are considering changing the way Medicaid is funded, according to Politico. 

As it stands, states must contribute their own matching funds to qualify for federal Medicaid dollars, but Republicans are weighing whether to prevent states from taxing insurers and healthcare providers as a way to raise that cash, a Politico report said Wednesday. Doing so would leave states with a $612 billion hole in their budgets over the next 10 years, the report said.

GOP leaders argue that states are inflating Medicaid costs because they are kicking back the taxes to those sources through higher payment rates, the report added. 

‘States and providers scheme so that the provider gets an enormous flow of federal dollars with no state cost exposure,’ Brian Blase of the Paragon Health Institute think-tank told the outlet. 

However, the American Hospital Association is calling on Congress to ‘reject changes to states’ use of provider taxes, which help fund their Medicaid programs,’ as ‘[e]ven small adjustments in the use of this financing source would result in negative consequences for Medicaid beneficiaries as well as the broader health care system.’ 

‘States’ approaches to financing their share of the program are subject to federal rules and oversight, including limits on the amount of revenue that states can generate through provider taxes. Congress is contemplating further restrictions on states’ ability to finance their share of Medicaid spending through such taxes,’ it said earlier this month. 

‘Most states would be unable to close the financing gap created by further limiting states’ ability to tax providers,’ it warned. ‘States would need to make significant cuts to Medicaid to balance their budgets, including reducing eligibility, eliminating or limiting benefits, and reducing already low payment rates for providers.’ 

‘States can use various sources to finance the non-federal share and would look to other sources if Congress limited their ability to use provider taxes,’ it also said. ‘This means that some states would have to consider increasing other forms of taxes, including income and sales tax, levied on all state residents.’