A group focused on combating the influence of China in the United States has launched a major ad buy to push state Republicans to move on President Trump’s agenda related to the threat China poses to U.S. agriculture.

The Protecting America Initiative, which bills itself as a ‘coalition of concerned American citizens and public policy experts who are committed to stopping Chinese influence in the states,’ launched a five-figure ad buy for the one-minute ad set to run in key agricultural states warning of China’s push to ‘control the U.S. agriculture industry.’

‘The CCP (Chinese Communist Party) is buying up farmland across our country,’ the ad says. ‘Stealing American jobs: Communist China is moving in to control the agricultural industry. This new war is happening right now without armies or any shots being fired. Who will dominate the world’s food supply? China is on the rise.’

‘We’re being ripped off at levels that nobody’s ever seen before,’ Trump says in a clip in the ad before the narrator says, ‘Republicans in the states need to step up and help President Trump combat the CCP.’

A farmer is featured in the ad with a clip from a Fox News interview in which he explains that ‘we all feel that we’ve been forgotten about here.’

‘We just want Trump to keep doing what he’s doing: Put America first,’ the farmer, Pennsylvania GOP state Rep. Eric Davanzo, continues. ‘Make sure that America’s food is safe right here and make sure that we have the land and the opportunity to produce and grow our food here.’

‘Tell Republicans to stand with Trump and protect America’s food supply,’ the closing line of the ad states. 

The ad will be placed on national cable channels, including Fox News, in the key agricultural states of Missouri, Iowa, Georgia and Idaho.

Last year, the Protecting America Initiative released polling it said demonstrated that the ‘overwhelming majority of Americans are concerned about the CCP’s threat to the United States’ national security, food security, infrastructure, and higher education, and influence over our elected officials.’

Fox News Digital reported last year that the USDA’s most recent data suggests that, as of 2021, foreign investment in U.S. agricultural land grew to approximately 40 million acres. Additionally, Chinese agricultural investment in the U.S. increased tenfold between 2009 and 2016 alone.

The increasing number of land purchases has sparked concern that foreign companies and investors, particularly those from China, may be establishing a stranglehold on key U.S. food and energy supplies.

‘The Chinese national government, or some people say the Chinese Communist Party, has been about acquiring all manner of assets, not just in the United States but around the world, to control all sorts of resources,’ GOP Rep. Frank Lucas of Oklahoma told Fox News Digital in a 2023 interview. ‘I would argue that, in addition to the importance of national security – the guns and the bullets and the planes and the resources to defend ourselves – if we cannot feed ourselves, then we are lost.’

Fox News Digital’s Thomas Catenacci contributed to this report.

A key senator on the Armed Services Committee says he is standing by President Donald Trump’s Secretary of Defense nominee Pete Hegseth, pushing back on those he called ‘anonymous sources with ulterior motives’ who are casting doubt on his character.

Senate Armed Services Chairman Roger Wicker, R-Miss., in a statement Wednesday criticized recent reports on a confidential briefing on the FBI background investigation of Hegseth as ‘starkly and factually inaccurate.’

‘It is disturbing that a sensitive, longstanding process used by committee leadership to vet presidential personnel is being litigated in the press by anonymous sources with ulterior motives,’ Wicker said, adding that he’s received three separate, detailed briefings on the FBI’s background investigation.

Wicker was responding to a CNN report that cited two sources familiar with the matter who claimed that Hegseth’s ex-wife, Samantha Hegseth, gave a statement to the FBI about Hegseth’s alleged alcohol use. The outlet said one of the sources said Samantha Hegseth told the FBI, ‘He drinks more often than he doesn’t.’

A source familiar with the FBI investigation confirmed the recent briefing and its contents to Fox News, saying ‘yes, Samantha provided a prepared statement to the FBI in which she said Pete Hegseth has had and continues to have a problem with alcohol abuse. That statement was communicated by the FBI to Senators Wicker and Reed.’

Meanwhile, Wicker says that he continues to stand by Hegseth.

‘After this thorough review, I am ironclad in my assessment that the nominee, Mr. Hegseth, is prepared to be the next Secretary of Defense, and that the allegations unfairly impugning his character do not pass scrutiny,’ the senator said.

Wicker said that Hegseth has the confidence of Trump and the backing of Senate Republicans, and called on the Senate to confirm the nominee ‘as fast as possible’ during this ‘precarious national security moment.’

A vote on the Defense Secretary nominee is expected to come this weekend if the Republicans and Democrats in the Senate do not come to a time agreement to expedite the process. 

Hegseth has faced controversy throughout his confirmation process.

On Tuesday, Fox News obtained an affidavit from Hegseth’s former sister-in-law, Danielle Hegseth, which alleges he has an alcohol abuse problem and at times made his ex-wife, Samantha, fear for her safety. Danielle Hegseth was married to Pete Hegseth’s brother. She is not the sister of Samantha, Pete Hegseth’s second wife.

But Danielle Hegseth added that she never witnessed any abuse herself, physical or sexual, from Pete against Samantha. 

Samantha Hegseth has also denied any physical abuse in a statement given to NBC News.

‘There was no physical abuse in my marriage. This is the only further statement I will make to you. I have let you know that I am not speaking and will not speak on my marriage to Pete. Please respect this decision,’ she reportedly said. 

Fox News’ Kelly Phares and Daniel Scully contributed to this report.

Buckle up. 

President Donald Trump is back in the White House and moving at warp speed.

In his inauguration address, the new president vowed that things across the country would ‘change starting today, and it will change very quickly.’

And moments later, White House deputy chief of staff Taylor Budowich took to social media to tease, ‘Now, comes SHOCK AND AWE.’

They weren’t kidding.

Trump signed an avalanche of executive orders and actions in his first eight hours in office, which not only fulfilled major campaign trail promises, but also allowed the returning president to flex his executive muscles as well as settle some longstanding grievances.

The president immediately cracked down on immigration, moved towards a trade war with top allies and adversaries, reversed many policies implemented by former President Biden, including scrapping much of the previous administration’s federal diversity actions and energy and climate provisions.

He also sparked a major controversy by pardoning or commuting the sentences of roughly 1,500 supporters who took part in the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol in an unsuccessful attempt to upend congressional certification of Biden’s 2020 election victory. Among those whose sentences were commuted included some who violently assaulted police officers on one of America’s darkest days.

Trump also fired some top government officials, made a high-profile half-trillion dollar tech investment announcement, held unscripted and wide-ranging, informal, and impromptu news conferences during his first two days back at the White House, and even renamed the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America.

‘I think it’s brilliant how they’ve been handling it, to immediately meet the moment with action. It’s exactly what he needs to do and its exactly what the people voted for,’ veteran Republican strategist Kristin Davison told Fox News.

‘Americans vote for decisive, fast action, and true leadership. And Trump understands that more than anyone. I think he and his team knew how important it was out the gate to show that they heard what the people wanted and are answering with leadership,’ Davison argued.

Longtime Republican consultant Alex Castellanos agreed

‘He’s flooding the zone. He’s making a case for action. He’s demonstrating action. He is rallying a wave of American support for a massive transformation of government,’ Castellanos, a veteran of numerous GOP presidential campaigns, told Fox News. 

Seasoned Democratic strategist Joe Caiazzo didn’t dispute Trump’s frenetic actions.

‘The pace of this shouldn’t be surprising to anyone. Trump made it abundantly clear he was going to act quickly, he was going to act boldly, and he was going to do exactly what he told voters he would do,’ Caiazzo said.

But he argued that ‘the things he is doing is going to directly negatively impact working families from coast to coast. It’s also a signal he has no respect for the rule of law.’ 

Asked if Trump’s actions were what Americans voted for this past autumn, Caiazzo replied ‘of course not. What Americans voted for was cheaper groceries. What Donald Trump is going to give us is a litany of policies that work to deteriorate our institutions, that work to enrich the wealthy and solidify his standing among the oligarchy in this country.’

There’s another reason for Trump’s fast pace – even though he’s the new president, he’s also a term-limited and lame-duck president. And by Labor Day, much of the political world will start looking ahead to the 2026 midterm elections.

‘This is his second term. He’s got to move quickly,’ Davison emphasized.

Trump’s show of force in the opening days of his second administration is also in contrast to eight years ago, when he first entered the White House.

The president and his team are much more seasoned the second time around, and the supporting cast is intensely loyal to Trump.

‘In the past administration, there would be logjams and bottlenecks because there were people who didn’t agree with him,’ a senior White House source told Fox News. ‘Now we have a whole infrastructure and staff that’s built around him, in support of him. When he says something, it’s getting done. It’s testament to him and the team that he built.’

Credit is also being given to White House chief of staff Susie Wiles, who, as co-campaign manager of Trump’s 2024 presidential bid, kept the trains on the tracks.

‘What Susie has done is look at the totality of Trump and found the best players and put them in the best positions to support the president. Trump is surrounded by Trump people who’ve all proven themselves over the years not just to be loyal but ultra-competent operators,’ added the adviser, who asked for anonymity to speak more freely.

Democratic lawmakers grilled President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) on a series of issues Wednesday, ranging from abortion to the constitutionality of the Impoundment Control Act. 

While Republicans argue that Russell Vought is qualified for the role because he served as Trump’s OMB director during the president’s first term, Democrats like Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., have labeled Vought an ‘ultra-right’ ideologue. 

Vought appeared before the Senate Budget Committee on Wednesday for a confirmation hearing and defended his previous statements that the Impoundment Control Act is unconstitutional — an issue Democrats claim should disqualify him from leading the Office of Management and Budget.

The law, adopted in 1974, stipulates that Congress may oversee the executive branch’s withholding of budget authority, and affirmed that Congress holds the power of the purse. Ultimately, the law bars the executive branch from circumventing Congress and withholding appropriated funds.

The first Trump administration and Vought have come under fire after the Office of Management and Budget held up $214 million in military aid for Ukraine in 2019, a decision that ultimately led to Trump’s first impeachment.

‘You’re quite comfortable assuming that the law doesn’t matter and that you’ll just treat the money for a program as a ceiling… rather than a required amount,’ Senate Budget Committee ranking member Jeff Merkley said. ‘Well, the courts have found otherwise.’

Additionally, the Supreme Court also ruled in 1975 that the executive branch cannot impound funds without congressional oversight. 

In that case, Train v. City of New York, the Supreme Court determined the Environmental Protection Agency must use full funding included in the Federal Water Pollution Control Act Amendments of 1972, even though then-President Richard Nixon issued orders not to use all the funding. 

Lawmakers have pointed to this case in Vought’s confirmation hearings as further evidence that the executive branch cannot tie up funding Congress has approved. 

Even so, Vought told lawmakers in multiple exchanges he believes the Impoundment Control Act is unconstitutional, because presidents historically could spend less than what Congress had approved prior to the Impoundment Control Act, and that Trump campaigned on that position.

Democrats aren’t the only ones worried about Vought’s views on the Impoundment Control Act. Senate Budget Committee chair Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said he also shared some concerns and would disclose them at a markup hearing for Vought’s nomination. 

Vought also faced questioning on his views regarding abortion, given his connection as an author of Project 2025, a political initiative The Heritage Foundation released in 2023 that called for policy changes, including instituting a national ban on abortion medication. 

Other proposals included in Project 2025 include eliminating the Department of Education, cutting DEI programs, and reducing funding for Medicare and Medicaid. 

‘You have said that you don’t believe in exceptions for rape, for incest, or the life of the mother,’ said Democratic Sen. Patty Murray of Washington. ‘Is that your position?’

‘Senator, my views are not important. I’m here on behalf of the president,’ Vought said. 

Trump has repeatedly stated that he backs abortion in certain instances, and stated that ‘powerful exceptions’ for abortion would remain in place under his administration.

Meanwhile, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., pressed Vought on whether healthcare is a ‘human right.’ Sanders has previously introduced legislation called the Medicare for All Act that would establish a federal, national health insurance program. 

‘Do you think we should join every other major country on Earth and say, ‘You know what? Whether you’re poor, you’re rich, you’re young, you’re old, healthcare is a human right,’’ Sanders said. ‘We have the richest country in the history of the world. Do you think we should do what every other major country on Earth does?’

Vought declined to disclose specifics, but said that he believed it’s critical to provide ‘legitimate, evidence-based outcomes for people within the healthcare system, and to make sure that we tailor all of the dollars that are spent toward that.’ 

After serving as director of the Office of Management and Budget under the first Trump administration, Vought founded the Center for Renewing America in 2021. The organization claims its mission is to ‘renew a consensus of America as a nation under God,’ according to its website. Vought also served as the vice president of Heritage Action for America. 

Meanwhile, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. said his meeting with Vought only exacerbated his concerns about the nomination. 

‘I walked out of the meeting even more deeply troubled,’ Schumer said on the Senate floor on Wednesday. ‘Of all the extremists President Trump could have picked for OMB, he picked the godfather of the ultra-right.’

Vought has repeatedly told lawmakers that he would uphold the law and that his personal views aren’t important — carrying out Trump’s vision is what matters. 

The OMB is responsible for developing and executing the president’s budget, as well as overseeing and coordinating legislative proposals and priorities aligned with the executive branch. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report.