Secretary of State Marco Rubio said he hopes to revoke more student visas from campus disruptors during a heated Senate hearing on Tuesday.
“A visa is not a right, it is a privilege,” Rubio said while testifying before the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations. “People apply for student visas to come into the United States and study, and if you tell me that you are coming into the United States to lead campus crusades, to take over libraries and try to burn down buildings and acts of violence, we’re not going to give you a visa.”
“The bottom line is if you come here to stir up trouble on our campuses, we will deny you a visa,” Rubio said. &#8220;These kids pay money to go to school, and they have to walk through a bunch of lunatics who are here on student visas.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
NEW: <a href="https://twitter.com/SecRubio?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SecRubio</a> doubles down and says he plans to revoke more student visas.
&quot;These kids pay money to go to school and they have to walk through a bunch of lunatics who are here on student visas.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/8CILwzDs8h">pic.twitter.com/8CILwzDs8h</a>
&mdash; Kassy Akiva (@KassyAkiva) <a href="https://twitter.com/KassyAkiva/status/1924862749642752362?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 20, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Rubio added that the State Department will continue to revoke visas and stated, “I hope we can find more of these people.”
The secretary&#8217;s comments followed a fiery exchange with Senator Chris Van Hollen, in which the Maryland Democrat told his former Senate colleague that he regretted voting to confirm him.
&#8220;I have to tell you directly and personally that I regret voting for you for Secretary of State,&#8221; Van Hollen said.
&#8220;Your regret for voting for me confirms I&#8217;m doing a good job,&#8221; Rubio shot back.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Sen. <a href="https://twitter.com/ChrisVanHollen?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" target="_blank" rel="noopener">@ChrisVanHollen</a>: &#8220;I have to tell you directly and personally that I regret voting for you for Secretary of State.&#8221;<a href="https://twitter.com/SecRubio?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" target="_blank" rel="noopener">@SecRubio</a>: &#8220;Your regret for voting for me confirms I&#8217;m doing a good job.&#8221;
Van Hollen: &#8220;That&#8217;s a flippant statement.&#8221; <a href="https://t.co/2UHH7tkkrT" target="_blank" rel="noopener">pic.twitter.com/2UHH7tkkrT</a>
— CSPAN (@cspan) <a href="https://twitter.com/cspan/status/1924865776801951774?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" target="_blank" rel="noopener">May 20, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Rubio also defended the Trump State Department&#8217;s attempts to cut government waste and illegal immigration.
&#8220;I don&#8217;t regret cutting $10 million for male circumcisions in Mozambique,&#8221; Rubio said. &#8220;I don&#8217;t know how that makes us stronger or more prosperous as a nation.&#8221;
&#8220;We spent $14 million for social cohesion in Mali, whatever the hell that means,&#8221; the secretary added. &#8220;I can go on and on. &#8230; I didn&#8217;t even bring the whole list.&#8221;
&#8220;And in the case of El Salvador, absolutely, we deported gang members — including the one you had a margarita with,&#8221; Rubio said, referencing Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the &#8220;Maryland Man&#8221; deported to El Salvador who has become a cause célèbre for Democrats. Van Hollen flew to El Salvador to meet with Garcia, whom Rubio called &#8220;a human trafficker&#8221; and &#8220;a gangbanger.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
NEW: <a href="https://twitter.com/SecRubio?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SecRubio</a> doubles down and says he plans to revoke more student visas.
&quot;These kids pay money to go to school and they have to walk through a bunch of lunatics who are here on student visas.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/8CILwzDs8h">pic.twitter.com/8CILwzDs8h</a>
&mdash; Kassy Akiva (@KassyAkiva) <a href="https://twitter.com/KassyAkiva/status/1924862749642752362?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 20, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/how-trump-and-rubio-put-america-first-in-100-days?author=Kassy+Akiva&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=How+Trump+And+Rubio+Put+America+First+In+100+Days" target="_blank" rel="noopener">HOW TRUMP AND RUBIO PUT AMERICA FIRST IN 100 DAYS</a>
Van Hollen pushed Rubio on the March arrest of Turkish Tufts student Rumeysa Ozturk, who had her student visa terminated over her alleged “activities in support of Hamas.”
In 2024, Ozturk wrote an op-ed calling on her university to acknowledge the &#8220;Palestinian genocide” and to divest from companies with ties to Israel.
The Department of Homeland Security previously <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/morning-brief-trumps-liberation-day-doge-pr-battle-self-deportation-push" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said it had found</a> Ozturk to have &#8220;engaged in activities in support of Hamas,&#8221; though details are scarce, and a federal judge ordered her release on May 9.
The fiery interaction comes as the Trump administration continues to crack down on foreign visa holders participating in activities aligned with terrorist organizations, such as the antisemitic protests on college campuses.
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/homeland-security-to-screen-immigrants-and-foreign-students-social-media-for-anti-semitism?author=Kassy+Akiva&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=29&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Homeland+Security+To+Screen+Immigrants+And+Foreign+Students%E2%80%99+Social+Media+For+Anti-Semitism" target="_blank" rel="noopener">HOMELAND SECURITY TO SCREEN IMMIGRANTS AND FOREIGN STUDENTS’ SOCIAL MEDIA FOR ANTI-SEMITISM</a>
Earlier this month, Rubio said he was <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/rubio-threatens-to-snatch-visas-from-pro-hamas-thugs-at-columbia-university?author=Kassy+Akiva&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Rubio+Threatens+To+Snatch+Visas+From+%E2%80%98Pro-Hamas+Thugs%E2%80%99+At+Columbia+University" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reviewing the visa status</a> of masked anti-Israel protesters arrested for occupying Columbia University’s Butler Library.
“We are reviewing the visa status of the trespassers and vandals who took over Columbia University’s library,” <a href="https://x.com/SecRubio/status/1920293818194178397" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Rubio posted to X</a>. “Pro-Hamas thugs are no longer welcome in our great nation.”
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/zionists-dont-deserve-to-live-meet-the-leader-of-columbia-universitys-anti-israel-encampment" target="_blank" rel="noopener">‘ZIONISTS DON’T DESERVE TO LIVE’: MEET THE LEADER OF COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY’S ANTI-ISRAEL ENCAMPMENT</a>
The keffiyeh-wearing protesters, carrying large signs and chanting, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/masked-anti-israel-activists-take-over-columbia-u-library-during-finals-no-one-expels-them?author=Hank+Berrien&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=1&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Masked+Anti-Israel+Activists+Take+Over+Columbia+U+Library+During+Finals.+No+One+Expels+Them" target="_blank" rel="noopener">invaded the library</a> to disrupt students studying for finals. While inside, the protesters vandalized walls and furniture <a href="https://x.com/CU_JewishAlumni/status/1920278419113124257" target="_blank" rel="noopener">and</a> graffitied “Columbia will burn for the martyrs” on a glass case.
When protesters tried to leave, they were denied by public safety officers who requested to see their IDs before leaving, causing the protest to intensify. For about five hours, the disruption continued until about 80 protesters were taken into custody by law enforcement officers and placed on police buses, <a href="https://nypost.com/2025/05/07/us-news/masked-anti-israel-protesters-storm-columbia-library-shove-past-security-as-ivy-leaguers-prep-for-finals/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the New York Post reported</a>.

Marco Rubio and Columbia University Protesters

Rubio Shares Plans For Campus Protesters In Fiery Senate Hearing

antisemitism

Columbia University

Marco Rubio

State Department

The Trump administration on Monday defended its decision to offer refugee status to dozens of white Afrikaners who said they were persecuted in South Africa.
President Donald Trump in a press briefing at the White House defended welcoming 49 Afrikaners who arrived on a U.S.-chartered flight from South Africa on Monday. Trump told reporters that white Afrikaners are “being killed” in a “genocide.”
“They’re being killed, and we don&#8217;t want to see people be killed,” Trump said. “It&#8217;s a terrible thing that&#8217;s taking place. Farmers are being killed. They happen to be white, but whether they&#8217;re white or black makes no difference to me. But white farmers are being brutally killed and their land is being confiscated in South Africa, and the newspapers and the television media doesn&#8217;t even talk about it.”
The president mentioned that the United States may choose to skip the upcoming G20 summit to be held in Johannesburg, South Africa, in November unless the South African government takes steps to stop the persecution.
The refugee policy sparked questions of race, since the persecuted Afrikaners are white and targeted because of their race.
“I don&#8217;t care who they are. I don&#8217;t care about their race, their color. I don&#8217;t care about their height, their weight. I don&#8217;t care about anything,” Trump said. “I just know that what&#8217;s happening is terrible. I have people that live in South Africa. They say it&#8217;s a terrible situation taking place, so we&#8217;ve essentially extended citizenship to those people to escape from that violence and come here.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
President Trump on giving refugee status to South Africans: &quot;It&#39;s a genocide. White Farmers are being brutally killed and their land is being confiscated. And the media doesn&#39;t even talk about it. If it were the other way around, that would be the only story they talk about.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/YMP2QhYgzt">pic.twitter.com/YMP2QhYgzt</a>
&mdash; TheBlaze (@theblaze) <a href="https://twitter.com/theblaze/status/1921942595325895138?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 12, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Secretary of State Marco Rubio echoed Trump’s comments in a <a href="https://x.com/secrubio/status/1921990312999735528" target="_blank" rel="noopener">post</a> on X: “​​The South African government has treated these people terribly — threatening to steal their private land and subjected them to vile racial discrimination. The Trump Administration is proud to offer them refuge in our great country.”
The South African government has denied that white farmers are being persecuted.
“They can’t provide any proof of any persecution because there’s not any,” said Ronald Lamola, the country’s international relations and cooperation minister, according to <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/2025/05/12/afrikaner-refugees-arrive-dulles-trump/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Washington Post</a>. “There is not any form of persecution to white South Africans.”
The U.S. president suspended aid to South Africa in February. In the executive order directing the action, Trump <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/02/addressing-egregious-actions-of-the-republic-of-south-africa/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">accused</a> the South African government of “fueling” violence against white landowners and legislating “to seize ethnic minority Afrikaners’ agricultural property without compensation.”
Trump ally Elon Musk, who was born in South Africa, has <a href="https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1886321811937189902" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> that his former home has “openly racist ownership laws.”

Donald Trump

Trump Rips Critics Of South African Refugee Policy: ‘It’s A Terrible Thing That’s Taking Place’

Global Politics

Refugees

South Africa

World

Secretary of State <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/marco-rubio-tells-ben-shapiro-why-he-nuked-state-departments-censorship-agency?author=Kassy+Akiva&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Marco+Rubio+Tells+Ben+Shapiro+Why+He+Nuked+State+Department’s+Censorship+Agency" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Marco Rubio</a> is shuttering the State Department&#8217;s Office of Palestinian Affairs, which was opened under the Biden administration as an alternative to the United States Embassy in Jerusalem.
The office worked directly with the Palestinian Authority and Palestinians in Gaza and Judea and Samaria, also known as the West Bank.
“Secretary Rubio has decided to merge the responsibilities of the Office of Palestinian Affairs office fully into other sections of the United States Embassy in Jerusalem,” State Department Press Secretary Tammy Bruce said on Tuesday during a press briefing. “This decision will restore the first Trump term framework of a unified U.S. diplomatic mission in Israel’s capital that reports to the U.S. Ambassador to Israel.”
After Trump opened the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem in 2018, the U.S. Consulate General in Jerusalem — which had handled Palestinian affairs — was merged into the new embassy as the Palestinian Affairs Unit. In 2022, the Biden administration created the Office of Palestinian Affairs, which operated within the Jerusalem embassy but reports directly to the State Department instead of to the embassy.
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-says-he-will-stop-airstrikes-on-houthis-after-terror-group-capitulated" target="_blank" rel="noopener">TRUMP SAYS HE WILL STOP AIRSTRIKES ON HOUTHIS AFTER TERROR GROUP ‘CAPITULATED’</a>
The Office of Palestinian Affairs was embroiled in controversy when it urged Israel to “refrain from violence and retaliatory attacks” in <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/u-s-office-of-palestinian-affairs-deletes-post-urging-israel-to-stand-down-following-hamas-attacks" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a now-deleted tweet</a> following Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack in which terrorists raped, murdered, and kidnapped Israeli civilians. 
Trump’s newly named pick for United Nations ambassador, Mike Waltz, condemned the tweet at the time as “despicable” and said it “shows some of our bureaucrats’ true colors.”
While in the Senate, Rubio and a coalition of 80 other members of Congress <a href="https://www.hagerty.senate.gov/press-releases/2022/06/23/hagerty-zeldin-lead-bicameral-joint-statement-calling-on-biden-administration-to-reverse-its-plan-to-circumvent-u-s-law-and-create-an-unofficial-u-s-consulate-to-the-palestinians-in-jerusalem/">released a statement</a> calling it “alarming” that the Biden administration opened the Office of Palestinian Affairs, which “amounts to be a separate U.S. diplomatic office to the Palestinians in Israel’s capital.”
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/how-trump-and-rubio-put-america-first-in-100-days?author=Kassy+Akiva&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=4&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=How+Trump+And+Rubio+Put+America+First+In+100+Days" target="_blank" rel="noopener">HOW TRUMP AND RUBIO PUT AMERICA FIRST IN 100 DAYS</a>
The letter called for the Office of Palestinian Affairs to be merged into the United States Embassy under the authority of the Ambassador to Israel instead of acting as a “de facto embassy.”
“The Biden Administration’s decision is wrong and not how America should treat Israel, one of our closest allies in the world,” the letter stated.
Ambassador Mike Huckabee will oversee implementing the merger over the coming weeks, according to Bruce.
“The United States remains committed to its historic relationship with Israel, bolstering Israel’s security and securing peace to create a better life for the entire region,” Bruce said. 
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-to-world-stop-buying-iranian-oil-or-else?author=Kassy+Akiva&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=2&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Trump+To+World%3A+Stop+Buying+Iranian+Oil+%E2%80%94+Or+Else" target="_blank" rel="noopener">TRUMP TO WORLD: STOP BUYING IRANIAN OIL — OR ELSE</a>
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/why-trump-recognizing-jerusalem-as-the-capital-of-israel-is-just-and-right" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Trump fulfilled</a> the mandate of the 1995 Jerusalem Embassy Act, which required the United States Embassy in Israel to be moved from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem by 1999. Presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama repeatedly invoked a provision in the law allowing them to sign six-month waivers, delaying the relocation.
It wasn’t until President Trump that the law was fulfilled, with the embassy officially relocated to Jerusalem on May 14, 2018, a date that coincided with the 70th anniversary of the signing of the Israeli Declaration of Independence.

Secretary Of State Marco Rubio

Rubio Orders Palestinian Affairs Office to Fold Into Israel’s Jerusalem Embassy

Israel

Jeruslaem

Palestinian Authority

Secretary of State Marco Rubio revealed during Wednesday&#8217;s cabinet meeting that former President Joe Biden&#8217;s State Department had kept dossiers on the social media posts of American citizens — including one person who was &#8220;sitting at this table today.&#8221;
Rubio explained that the office — which appeared to have been created for the sole purpose of censoring American citizens — had been monitoring the social media posts of numerous individuals who were referred to as &#8220;vectors of disinformation.&#8221;
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
🚨This is NUTS: Secretary Rubio just announced that he found DOZENS of files kept by Joe Biden&#8217;s State Department that classified American citizens as &#8220;vectors of disinformation&#8221; — with the intention of censoring them.
That&#8217;s not all.
Marco Rubio says that there&#8217;s someone in… <a href="https://t.co/Q8FcrNp9M9">pic.twitter.com/Q8FcrNp9M9</a>
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) <a href="https://twitter.com/townhallcom/status/1917630441546240121?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 30, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;We had an office in the Department of State whose job it was to censor Americans,&#8221; Rubio said. &#8220;And by the way, I&#8217;m not going to say who it is, I&#8217;ll leave it up to them, there&#8217;s at least one person at this table today who had a dossier in that building of social media posts to identify them as purveyors of disinformation. We have these dossiers. We are going to be turning those over to these individuals —&#8221;
Vice President JD Vance interrupted with a question: &#8220;Was it me or Elon?&#8221;
Laughter erupted around the table as Rubio continued, &#8220;Well, we are going to turn over these dossiers to the individuals, and they will decide whether they want to disclose it or not. But just think about it — the Department of State of the United States had set up an office to monitor the social media posts and commentary of American citizens, to identify them as vectors of disinformation, when we know that the best [way] to combat disinformation is freedom of speech and transparency.&#8221;
&#8220;And so that&#8217;s what we&#8217;re going to be in the business of doing, we&#8217;re not going to have an office that does that,&#8221; Rubio concluded.

Marco Rubio Sworn In As US Secretary Of State

Rubio Says Biden State Dept Had A Dossier On ‘One Person At This Table,’ And JD Vance Has Questions

Rubio Says Biden State Dept Had A Dossier On 'One Person At This Table,' And JD Vance Has Questions

Censorship

Elon Musk

Executive

JD Vance

Joe Biden

Politics

United States Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee presented his credentials last week to Israel’s President, Yitzchak Herzog, and immediately demonstrated why he is the right person for this vital position at this critical time. It is true that Ambassador Huckabee has visited Israel more than 100 times, in his capacity as a Baptist preacher leading his congregation and as a politician accompanying his constituents, but even more importantly, he understands Israel, its uniqueness, its role in history, its abiding friendship with the United States, and its challenges.
Huckabee declared at the reception that he returns to Israel with “absolute joy and an overwhelming sense of awe that I am in a land where G-d Himself said, ‘This is mine, and these are My people.’” Such sentiments are not often expressed in Israel and not articulated often enough by Jews but they provide the foundation for defining the rightful place of the State of Israel, its reason for existence, and even the relentless antagonism of its enemies. The land of Israel was not only the land of the Bible in ancient times; it remains the land of the Bible and awaits the fulfillment of the prophetic vision of the future. Perceived through that prism, Israel’s struggles against implacable foes take on a new light that is visible only to someone who shares Ambassador Huckabee’s perspective.
Indeed, it is hard to imagine another ambassador having visited the country to which he was posted 100 times before assuming the role. It means that Huckabee’s commitment to Israel’s security stems from his correct understanding of America’s place in the world and its capacity to foster good and promote peace and prosperity.
So, what should be on Ambassador Huckabee’s agenda, especially mindful that he is the U.S. Ambassador who should advance American interests in the region?
The Ambassador has been outspoken in recent years as to the non-viability of a Palestinian state in the land of Israel, now rendered especially incongruous and perilous in light of the Hamas massacre of October 7, the ongoing war, and the Palestinian Authority’s reluctance to condemn that war. As ambassador, he can thwart the subtle encroachment towards a Palestinian state favored by Europe and some elements in the United States by reiterating a number of steps taken during the first Trump administration. He can again shutter the U.S. Office of Palestinian Affairs (OPA), located on Agron Street in the western part of Jerusalem, which was revived by the Biden administration in violation of U.S. and Israeli law and functioned as a quasi-diplomatic mission to the Palestinians. During the first Trump term, this office was closed, and its services provided out of the American embassy in Jerusalem to which it reported directly.
The OPA as currently constituted is an affront to Israeli sovereignty in Jerusalem. Ambassador Huckabee, together with Israel’s Foreign Ministry, can use his good offices to limit or halt the activities of the several European consulates that are located in Jerusalem and operate as missions to the Palestinian Authority in defiance of Israeli and international law. The ambassador can persuade, and certainly the U.S. government can act, to support Israel’s closure of these hostile outposts in the heart of Jerusalem.
<div id="attachment_914553" style="width: 840px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-914553" class="size-large wp-image-914553" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/GettyImages-2206862784-830x576.jpg" alt="WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 25: Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, U.S. President Donald Trump's nominee to be ambassador to Israel, testifies during his Senate Foreign Relations Committee confirmation hearing at the Dirksen Senate Office Building on March 25, 2025 in Washington, DC. Huckabee, the former governor and presidential candidate, answered questions on Israel and its campaign against Hamas. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)" width="830" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/GettyImages-2206862784-830x576.jpg 830w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/GettyImages-2206862784-300x208.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/GettyImages-2206862784-768x533.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/GettyImages-2206862784.jpg 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 830px) 100vw, 830px" />Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images</div>
The Ambassador can urge the State Department to finally designate “Jerusalem, Israel” as an official place of birth on American passports. The State Department has long embraced the chimera that Jerusalem’s status as part of Israel — as Israel’s capital, no less — is somehow still subject to the outcome of negotiations. This policy should be repudiated and U.S. citizens born in Jerusalem who so desire should have their place of birth recorded as “Jerusalem, Israel.”
Ambassador Huckabee should also encourage the Trump administration to follow through on its temporary suspension of funding to UNRWA and make that suspension permanent. UNRWA, although barred by Israeli law from operating in Jerusalem, still maneuvers behind the scenes, controlling schools and in some cases economic development while advancing the interests of Hamas, with which it was integrally linked during the Gaza War. Cutting aid and resigning from UNESCO, another UN organization that is antagonistic to Israel and the United States, is also an American interest.
Additionally, for many decades under Democratic administrations, any type of residential or commercial building in Jerusalem by Jews – not by Arabs – drew immediate condemnations from the State Department. This too must end, and the ambassador is well positioned, as is President Trump, a real estate mogul, to take the lead in supporting Israel’s plans to construct new neighborhoods in Jerusalem and even to explore the expansion of Jerusalem’s municipal boundaries to encompass satellite towns on its periphery.
To his great credit, President Trump has appointed two distinguished emissaries to Israel – David Friedman in his first term and Mike Huckabee in his current term. A person of faith, such as Ambassador Huckabee, deeply understands the centrality of Israel in the narrative of world history. But this ambassador also deeply understands the Israel of the future, and the pivotal role played by the city of Jerusalem, and even more how a secure and prosperous Israel will strengthen the United States and bring the world closer to the vision of peace on earth.
* * *
Rabbi Steven Pruzansky, Esq., is Senior Research Associate at the Jerusalem Center for Applied Policy (JCAP.ngo).
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Mike Huckabee speaks after being sworn in as ambassador to Israel.

Why Mike Huckabee Is The Right Man For Israel

Ambassador

Bible

Jerusalem

Middle East

Mike Huckabee

Opinion

Trump Administration

The White House is making early progress on trade deals with India &#8212; hoping to ease economic tensions stemming from Trump’s tariffs. Marco Rubio announces a major overhaul of the State Department. And, tech stocks rebound as egg prices drop &#8212; what’s the latest on the U.S. economy?
It’s Wednesday, April 23, and this is the news you need to know to start your day. If you’d rather listen to your news, today’s edition of the Morning Wire podcast can be heard below:
<iframe style="width: 100%; max-width: 660px; overflow: hidden; border-radius: 10px;" src="https://embed.podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/us-india-trade-deal-rubio-revamps-state-dept-4-23-25/id1576594336?i=1000704573915" height="175" frameborder="0" sandbox="allow-forms allow-popups allow-same-origin allow-scripts allow-storage-access-by-user-activation allow-top-navigation-by-user-activation"></iframe>
<h2>India And The U.S. Move Toward Trade Deal</h2>
<div id="attachment_910991" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-910991" class="size-large wp-image-910991" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/Liberty-Market-Graphic-864x576.jpg" alt="" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/Liberty-Market-Graphic-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/Liberty-Market-Graphic-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/Liberty-Market-Graphic-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/Liberty-Market-Graphic-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/Liberty-Market-Graphic-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/Liberty-Market-Graphic-1800x1200.jpg 1800w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/Liberty-Market-Graphic-1200x800.jpg 1200w" sizes="(max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />(Photo by Anton Petrus via Getty Images)</div>
Topline: The United States and India are reportedly nearing a trade deal. Meanwhile, President Donald Trump met with top CEOs to address their concerns about the trade war.
Shortly after unveiling his “Liberation Day” tariffs, Trump offered a 90-day pause on his proposed tariff hikes to most of America’s trading partners, with the notable exception of China. A baseline rate of 10% is currently being applied to most imports in the meantime. According to White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, the administration is set to meet with nearly three dozen countries this week to negotiate more favorable terms.
Vice President JD Vance visited India for four days and met with top government officials, including Prime Minister Modi. Last year, trade between the two countries was nearly $130 billion. U.S. imports from India exceeded exports by about $45 billion last year, which is significant since Trump has made it clear that reducing the trade deficit is a key goal of his tariff policy. Negotiations appear to be going well, but if Trump and Modi don’t make a deal, the tariff rate on Indian goods could jump to 26%.
“President Trump and Prime Minister Modi announced in February that our countries aim to more than double our bilateral trade to $500 billion by the end of the decade,” Vance <a href="https://x.com/VP/status/1914664240763257219">said</a> on Tuesday. “Both of our governments are hard at work on a trade agreement built on shared priorities like creating new jobs, building durable supply chains, and achieving prosperity for our workers. In our meeting yesterday, Prime Minister Modi and I made very good progress on all of those points, and we were especially excited to formally announce that America and India have officially finalized the terms of reference for the trade negotiation.”
In general, the Trump administration appears to be dialing back its earlier, maximalist stance on tariffs. On Monday, the CEOs of Walmart, Target, and Home Depot met with the president to air concerns about trade and tariffs. CNBC also reported that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent met with top investors on Tuesday about trade with China. Bessent <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2025/04/22/bessent-trump-tariffs-china-deescalate.html">reportedly</a> said that he expects “there will be a de-escalation” in the “very near future.” He added that “no one thinks the current status quo is sustainable.”
<h2>Rubio Proposes Sweeping Cuts To State Department</h2>
<div id="attachment_910985" style="width: 737px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-910985" class="size-large wp-image-910985" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/State-Department-Facade-727x576.jpg" alt="" width="727" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/State-Department-Facade-727x576.jpg 727w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/State-Department-Facade-300x238.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/State-Department-Facade-768x608.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/State-Department-Facade-1536x1217.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/State-Department-Facade-2048x1622.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 727px) 100vw, 727px" />(Photo by Nathan Posner/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)</div>
Topline: Secretary of State Marco Rubio just announced a sweeping overhaul of the U.S. State Department, aiming to streamline operations and align diplomacy with the Trump administration’s “America First” agenda. The plan includes significant staff cuts and the closure of numerous offices.
Rubio is not being shy in billing this as an aggressive reform plan. In a department-wide email, he called the State Department “bloated” and “beholden to radical political ideology.” Because of this, he aims to reduce the agency’s U.S.-based staff by 15% and reduce the number of offices from 734 to 602.
“Secretary Rubio is announcing a comprehensive reorganization plan that will bring the department into the 21st century,” State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce told the press on Tuesday. “Redundant offices will be removed, and nonstatutory programs that are misaligned with America&#8217;s core national interests will cease to exist.”
There’s also one addition in this plan — Rubio proposes a new Bureau of Emerging Threats that will focus on cybersecurity and artificial intelligence.
None of these proposed cuts have gone into effect just yet &#8212; Deputy Secretary of State Chris Landau said an internal working group will develop “thoughtful plans” by July 1. But some of these changes may require congressional approval.  A preliminary budget proposal from the White House Office of Management and Budget that bolsters Rubio’s plan by cutting the State Department’s funding by 50% isn’t likely to pass Congress.
The Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, which Rubio has criticized for promoting “left-wing agendas” in countries like Poland and Hungary, is currently on the chopping block, as is the Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration, which allegedly funneled taxpayer dollars to NGOs that facilitated mass migration, including at the U.S. southern border. Rubio said in a new State Department Substack that these bureaus have been misused to push policies that are misaligned with national priorities. He says that for the sake of efficiency, the goal is to refocus diplomacy on “great power competition” and consolidate region-specific functions into regional bureaus.
Some analysts are saying this is going to alienate career diplomats, and Democrats are saying these moves will diminish U.S. influence abroad. But apparently, some are breathing sighs of relief because they were expecting even deeper cuts after a draft executive order circulated last weekend. That document proposed slashing entire bureaus like African Affairs and closing embassies across sub-Saharan Africa. But Rubio says that was “fake news.”
<h2>Economic Update – Eggcellent News</h2>
<div id="attachment_910977" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-910977" class="size-large wp-image-910977" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/Eggs-in-hand-864x576.jpg" alt="" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/Eggs-in-hand-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/Eggs-in-hand-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/Eggs-in-hand-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/Eggs-in-hand-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/Eggs-in-hand-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/Eggs-in-hand-1800x1200.jpg 1800w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/Eggs-in-hand-1200x800.jpg 1200w" sizes="(max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />(Photo by Grace Carry via Getty Images)</div>
Topline: Consumers could soon see relief on egg prices while markets attempt to calibrate for Trump’s trade policies.
Markets have been remarkably volatile amid uncertainty over ongoing trade negotiations — the DOW plummeted on Monday, but spiked again on Tuesday. The International Monetary Fund warned on Tuesday that the global economy could be hit hard by tariffs and slashed its forecast for U.S. growth to 1.8% this year, down from the 2.8% it had predicted in January, but it acknowledged the tariff situation is unpredictable due to the Trump administration using them as a negotiating tactic.
Meanwhile, Americans can expect some relief on everyday expenses. Daily Wire White House correspondent Mary Margaret Olohan spoke to Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins about the Trump administration’s ongoing effort to lower the price of eggs.
“A couple months ago, we rolled out our big five point egg plan,” Rollins said. “At the time the eggs were, I think, the highest they&#8217;ve been, perhaps since President Trump left office. I know under Joe Biden, they increased 237%. While the cost of groceries has skyrocketed, nothing has skyrocketed more than eggs … since [Trump took office], the cost of wholesale eggs has gone down 58%.”
Rollins also told us that part of Trump’s plan with tariffs is to correct the agricultural trade deficit that widened under Biden. “There&#8217;s now a $50 billion agriculture trade deficit &#8230; that was zero four years ago. So that means that all of that product &#8212; sorghum, wheat, corn, beef that we were moving out and Trump won, somehow that market disappeared and we&#8217;ve got to get it back.”

FRANCE-US-INDIA-DIPLOMACY-TECHNOLOGY-AI-SUMMIT

Morning Brief: Vance Negotiates India Trade Deal, Rubio Cuts State Dept & Easter Egg Prices

Food

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Morning Wire

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The Trump administration is planning to close 132 State Department offices and cut U.S. personnel, The Free Press <a href="https://www.thefp.com/p/trump-state-shake-up-rubio" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> on Tuesday.
The closures will affect offices that focus on instituting democracy overseas, countering extremism, and protecting human rights, according to The Free Press. The administration seeks to reduce the number of State Department offices by 17%, from 734 to 602. Undersecretaries were also reportedly given 30 days to present plans to slash personnel in individual departments by 15%.
&#8220;Today is the day. Under @POTUS’ leadership and at my direction, we are reversing decades of bloat and bureaucracy at the State Department,&#8221; Secretary of State Marco Rubio posted on social media. &#8220;These sweeping changes will empower our talented diplomats to put America and Americans first.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Today is the day. Under <a href="https://twitter.com/POTUS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@POTUS</a>’ leadership and at my direction, we are reversing decades of bloat and bureaucracy at the State Department. 
These sweeping changes will empower our talented diplomats to put America and Americans first. <a href="https://t.co/CGWz3JrYwu">pic.twitter.com/CGWz3JrYwu</a>
&mdash; Secretary Marco Rubio (@SecRubio) <a href="https://twitter.com/SecRubio/status/1914680613275161078?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 22, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
In a statement, Rubio confirmed that massive changes are coming to the State Department, adding that it is currently &#8220;bloated, bureaucratic, and unable to perform its essential diplomatic mission in this new era of great power competition.&#8221;
&#8220;Over the past 15 years, the Department&#8217;s footprint has had unprecedented growth and costs have soared. But far from seeing a return on investment, taxpayers have seen less effective and efficient diplomacy,&#8221; the statement added. &#8220;The sprawling bureaucracy created a system more beholden to radical political ideology than advancing America&#8217;s core national interests.&#8221;
A report by The New York Times published on Sunday claimed that the State Department&#8217;s restructuring would also &#8220;shut down embassies and consulates across&#8221; Africa. Rubio <a href="https://x.com/marcorubio/status/1913928218450579630" target="_blank" rel="noopener">responded</a> to the Times report, calling it &#8220;fake news.&#8221;
According to The Free Press, internal documents show that the Trump administration plans to eliminate State Department offices &#8220;that focus on a variety of foreign policy issues and are viewed by the Trump administration as no longer necessary.&#8221; Around 700 positions for civil service and foreign service employees in those offices are expected to be cut.
“This approach will empower the Department from the ground up, from the bureaus to the embassies,” Rubio added. “Region-specific functions will be consolidated to increase functionality, redundant offices will be removed, and non-statutory programs that are misaligned with America’s core national interests will cease to exist.”
On Tuesday morning, around a dozen top State Department officials were informed by leadership of the overhaul, a senior official told The Free Press. The State Department is the latest in the Trump administration to be the center of significant cuts.
Trump&#8217;s Department of Government Efficiency project, which is influenced by senior adviser Elon Musk, has targeted numerous government agencies, including the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the Department of Energy, the Department of Education, and the Department of Defense, among others.

‘Sweeping Changes’: State Dept Shuttering More Than 130 Offices, Slashing Staff

Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)

General

Secretary of State Marco Rubio told Ben Shapiro that the closure of the Global Engagement Center (GEC) put an end to a State Department agency that “was labeling American speech by Americans as foreign interference.”
“It metastasized and metamorphosed into a government-run entity that was targeting political speech in America, labeling it disinformation and silencing it, all paid for by the American taxpayers directly and indirectly,” Rubio said.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Biden’s regime used YOUR tax dollars to censor you. <a href="https://twitter.com/SecRubio?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SecRubio</a> is nuking their propaganda machine—firing the censors, ending the abuse, restoring free speech.
Full breakdown on The Ben Shapiro Show tomorrow. Don’t miss it. <a href="https://t.co/5V0KptOZyg">pic.twitter.com/5V0KptOZyg</a>
— The Ben Shapiro Show (@BenShapiroShow) <a href="https://twitter.com/BenShapiroShow/status/1912552542719902129?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 16, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> 
President Donald Trump closed the agency, which was created to counter terrorists, but eventually shifted its focus to combating domestic “misinformation,” via executive order.
“What we are announcing today is that we are taking the whole thing down,” Rubio said. “We’re going to be in the business of promoting free speech in America and around the world.”
Rubio added that the organization’s record will be investigated for being “used as a weapon against the American people.”
The GEC was created in 2011 under President Barack Obama as the Center for Strategic Counter Terrorism Communications. It was renamed the GEC in 2016. The organization was tasked with coordinating government communications “aimed at countering foreign terrorist propaganda, particularly from groups like ISIS and al-Qaeda.” Its mission later expanded to countering misinformation from adversaries, including Russia, China, and Iran.
But after the 2016 election, the agency turned its focus from terrorists to countering &#8220;misinformation&#8221; on American social media platforms, which was deemed a national security threat. GEC established an office in Silicon Valley to ramp up pressure on social media companies. The agency is accused of funding projects that created blacklists of media companies, especially right-wing media.
“They started it by saying Al-Qaeda, ISIS, and all of these terrible groups are radicalizing people online, we should do something about it,” Rubio said. “Then it metastasized, and they [said], ‘There is foreign interference in our elections, we need to start going after that. Well then, by 2020, it became a big movement to go after voices inside of American politics and begin to label people.”
Although GEC was forbidden from operating on Americans as a State Department program, it is believed that the organization may have circumvented the ban by funding private companies to classify news as “misinformation.” It reportedly paid groups like Global Disinformation Index and NewsGuard.
The former labeled outlets, including The Daily Wire, as “risky” and put them on its “Dynamic Exclusion List” that was distributed to advertisers. In response, The Daily Wire, The Federalist, and the State of Texas <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/daily-wire-texas-ag-ask-court-to-block-state-departments-domestic-misinformation-efforts">sued</a> the GEC for working to “render unprofitable, disfavored press outlets by funding the infrastructure, development, and marketing and promotion of censorship technology and private censorship enterprises to covertly suppress speech of a segment of the American press.”
“The issue here is they put labels on people and then that was used to go to social media companies and used to go to outlets to say you have to deplatform these people, you have to cut back on how much views they’re getting,” Rubio said.
The organization fought to censor “conspiracy theories,” including the belief that the coronavirus came from a Chinese lab, which has since been <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/cia-assesses-chinese-lab-leak-responsible-for-coronavirus-pandemic">echoed by the CIA</a>.
When the GEC hit its eight-year sunset, Republicans refused to refund it, leading to the Biden Administration rebranding it under a new name but with similar staff.

Senate Holds Confirmation Hearing For Secretary Of State Nominee Marco Rubio

Marco Rubio Tells Ben Shapiro Why He Nuked State Department’s Censorship Agency

Ben Shapiro

Misinformation

The State Department said on Wednesday it had shuttered the propaganda office that funded efforts to deem media outlets “misinformation” and pressured social media companies to censor content, a major victory for conservative critics who have long pinpointed the agency as key cog of the censorship industry.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that though the Global Engagement Center (GEC) was defunded by Congress last year following scandal, the Biden administration had moved its staff to a similar unit. 
The 2016 authorization of the office had an eight-year sunset, and the Republican-controlled House refused to re-fund the agency in 2024. But before it gave up power, the Biden administration appeared to essentially rebrand the entity, keeping the same staff under a new name: &#8220;the Counter-Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference hub,” or R/FIMI. The State Department said in a court filing that it planned to “realign the Center’s staff and funding to other Department offices.” 
Rubio said all remnants of the operation will be eradicated. All 30 full-time staff that were working for R/FIMI were put on leave, and Congress was notified on Wednesday morning that all full-time staff positions under R/FIMI had been eliminated.
“Under the previous administration, this office, which cost taxpayers more than $50 million per year, spent millions of dollars to actively silence and censor the voices of Americans they were supposed to be serving,&#8221; Rubio said in a statement. &#8220;This is antithetical to the very principals we should be upholding and inconceivable it was taking place in America. That ends today.&#8221; 
“Individuals in America have been slandered, fired, charged, and even jailed for simply voicing their opinions. That is not an America our Founding Fathers would recognize. It is the responsibility of every government official to continuously work to preserve and protect the freedom for Americans to exercise their free speech,” he added
GEC was created in 2011 as the Center for Strategic Counter Terrorism Communications. In 2016 it was renamed and tasked to “coordinate U.S. government communications aimed at countering foreign terrorist propaganda, particularly from groups like ISIS and al-Qaeda.” 
But after the 2016 election, when Democrats began painting “misinformation” as a national security threat, the GEC turned its attention to American social media platforms, even setting up an office in Silicon Valley to pressure them to remove content, such as “conspiracy theories” like the idea that coronavirus came from a Chinese lab.
Like other State Department programs, GEC was forbidden from operating on Americans.
But it may have circumvented that ban by funding third-party groups to do it for them. GEC ran contests encouraging private companies to get into the business of classifying news as “misinformation,” and paid groups like the Global Disinformation Index and NewsGuard. 
The Global Disinformation Index put American media outlets on a “Dynamic Exclusion List” that was distributed to advertisers and named mainstream publications like the New York Post, Reason Magazine, The Daily Wire, and the Federalist as “risky.”
NewsGuard’s business model is similar. In March 2023, its co-CEO, Gordon Crovitz, praised his company for “empowering governments… to support quality journalism and systemically defund sources of harmful misinformation.” NewsGuard has a deal with the teachers union promoting its media-rating browser extension in schools, and public libraries also use the software. The browser extension causes a “Proceed with Maximum Caution” flag to appear next to search results from flagged outlets.
GEC hosted a website called Disinfo Cloud that boosted products aimed at bankrupt conservative news outlets by convincing advertisers to boycott them on the basis that they are dangerous misinformation that should not be economically supported.
The State Department said the contests “were aimed at countering disinformation and propaganda overseas.” But “Defendants admit that Disinfo Cloud users included some members of academia, the private sector, and tech vendors, including some located within the United States,” it <a href="https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.txed.226532/gov.uscourts.txed.226532.75.0.pdf">conceded</a> in lawsuit filings.
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/five-takeaways-from-twitter-fbi-agents-deposition-in-censorship-lawsuit-brought-by-conservative-states">Elvis Chan</a>, an FBI agent involved in asking Twitter to take down posts including those related to the Hunter Biden laptop, told Congress that he worked regularly with GEC, and that GEC did not seem to be concerned with the First Amendment since it was used to operating in foreign countries.
In December 2023, The Daily Wire and The Federalist <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/daily-wire-texas-ag-ask-court-to-block-state-departments-domestic-misinformation-efforts">sued</a> GEC, arguing that it was working to “render unprofitable, disfavored press outlets by funding the infrastructure, development, and marketing and promotion of censorship technology and private censorship enterprises to covertly suppress speech of a segment of the American press.”
“State Department disinformation tools were developed…as tools of warfare…in the context of national security” and “foreign relations,” then “misdirected to be used at home against domestic political opponents,” the suit said.
GEC “researched, assessed, funded, investigated, evaluated, tested, marketed, and/or promoted over 365 so-called Countering Propaganda and Disinformation or ‘CPD’ tools and technologies, including tools and technologies that target American speech and the American  press. These tools and technologies include so-called fact-checking technologies, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/how-the-biden-administration-used-a-counter-terrorism-grant-to-fund-anti-conservative-propaganda">media literacy</a> tools, media intelligence platforms, social network mapping, and machine learning/artificial intelligence technology,” a legal filing alleged. 
The lawsuit was filed in federal court in Texas. The State Department sought to have it moved to a Washington, D.C., judge, but the Texas judge refused. 
GEC operated with a secrecy that suggested a guilty conscience. The State Department admitted in the lawsuit to funding the Global Disinformation Index and NewsGuard through a middleman, Park Capital Investment Group. It <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/state-department-subpoenaed-over-use-of-foreign-propaganda-weapon-against-domestic-media">refused</a> to provide information about the activities even to Congress, forcing the House Small Business Committee to subpoena it.

US-DIPLOMACY-RUBIO-CARICOM

State Department Shutters ‘Misinformation’ Censorship Agency, Salts The Earth

The Daily Wire

An immigration judge ruled on Friday that Mahmoud Khalil – who was detained over his actions leading anti-Israel protests at Columbia University — can be deported, giving him until April 23 to appeal the decision.
Judge Jamee Comans <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/us/columbia-anti-israel-protester-mahmoud-khalil-can-deported-judge-rules" target="_blank" rel="noopener">gave the ruling</a> in a Louisiana court, declaring that the federal government had met the necessary burden of proof to justify removing Khalil from the country.
Judge Comans had requested such proof from the United States government by Wednesday as he was considering the case, and had received a letter from Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
Rubio wrote that Khalil had led &#8220;antisemitic protests and disruptive activities, which fosters a hostile environment for Jewish students in the United States.&#8221;
&#8220;Condoning antisemitic conduct and disruptive protests in the United States would severely undermine that significant foreign policy objective,&#8221; he added, citing the 1952 Immigration and Naturalization Act, which gives the U.S. Secretary of State authorization to deport anyone whose continued presence in the country &#8220;would have serious adverse foreign policy consequences.&#8221;
Fox News anchor Martha MacCallum gave the breaking news update during &#8220;The Story&#8221; on Friday afternoon, getting the live report from National Correspondent Brooke Taylor.
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
BREAKING: A judge rules that the Trump administration can move forward with deportation efforts for Mahmoud Khalil. | <a href="https://twitter.com/Brooketaylortv?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@brooketaylortv</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/marthamaccallum?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@marthamaccallum</a> <a href="https://t.co/JmAGnd3RPu">pic.twitter.com/JmAGnd3RPu</a>
&mdash; Fox News (@FoxNews) <a href="https://twitter.com/FoxNews/status/1910787248255025369?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 11, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Khalil spoke after the ruling, complaining that President Donald Trump&#8217;s administration had specifically sent him to another jurisdiction to ensure that the ruling would not be fair.
&#8220;I would like to quote what you said last time that there&#8217;s nothing that&#8217;s more important to this court than due process rights and fundamental fairness. Clearly, what we witnessed today, neither of these principles were present today or in this whole process,&#8221; he claimed.
&#8220;This is exactly why the Trump administration has sent me to this court, 1,000 miles away from my family. I just hope that the urgency that you deemed fit for me are afforded to the hundreds of others who have been here without hearing for months,&#8221; he added.

Pro-Palestinian rally in New York City

Judge Rules Columbia’s Pro-Hamas Agitator Mahmoud Khalil Can Be Deported

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WASHINGTON— As the United Kingdom negotiates a trade deal with the United States, the country&#8217;s leaders are grappling with a new understanding of the &#8220;Special Relationship&#8221; — namely, that President Donald Trump&#8217;s administration is very serious about European nations respecting the rights of their citizens.
Vice President JD Vance roundly condemned Britain&#8217;s prosecution of pro-life activists in February, and over the weekend, the State Department announced that it is monitoring the case of Livia Tossici-Bolt, a woman prosecuted for holding a sign near a Bournemouth abortion clinic that reads: &#8220;Here to talk if you want.&#8221;
&#8220;U.S.-UK relations share a mutual respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms,&#8221; the State Department&#8217;s Democracy, Human Rights, &amp; Labor Bureau said in a statement. &#8220;However, as Vice President Vance has said, we are concerned about freedom of expression in the United Kingdom.&#8221;
The State Department confirmed to The Daily Wire on Tuesday evening that it is monitoring Tossici-Bolt&#8217;s case, that it is important to the United States that the United Kingdom &#8220;respect and protect freedom of expression,&#8221; as the department said over the weekend, and that State Department senior advisor Sam Samson met with Tossici-Bolt in the United Kingdom recently. 
Sources close to the situation told The Daily Wire that State Department officials held bilateral meetings with members of the British government about the topic, including those officials pushing hate speech laws within the United Kingdom. The United States has emphasized that its alliance with the United Kingdom must be civilizational, and that American allies must be on board with American values, including freedom of speech.
Now, headlines from The Telegraph and other high-profile European publications are signaling that the United Kingdom&#8217;s censorship of its citizens could actually be a massive deal in regard to the transatlantic relationship.
&#8220;No free trade with US without free speech, [British Prime Minister Keir] Starmer warned,&#8221; reads a Telegraph headline, with the subhead: &#8220;PM’s hopes of avoiding Donald Trump’s tariffs may hinge on case of pro-life activist arrested for peaceful protest.&#8221;
&#8220;[UK officials] were surprised the U.S. cares about this,&#8221; one source shared. &#8220;It&#8217;s a field of diplomacy that hasn&#8217;t been addressed.&#8221;
A source familiar with the trade negotiations told The Telegraph that there should be “no free trade without free speech&#8221; — likely a point of concern to British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s attempts to strike a free trade deal with the United States. It&#8217;s a big change for British leaders used to dealing with President Joe Biden&#8217;s administration, which, one source pointed out to The Daily Wire, wasn&#8217;t worried at all about the matter — in fact, he was jailing pro-life activists within the United States.
<div id="attachment_901637" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/as-britain-negotiates-trade-deal-state-department-takes-aim-at-its-censorship-of-pro-life-woman/munich-security-conference-opening-day" rel="attachment wp-att-901637"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-901637" class="wp-image-901637 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/GettyImages-2199525377-864x576.jpg" alt="" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/GettyImages-2199525377-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/GettyImages-2199525377-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/GettyImages-2199525377-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/GettyImages-2199525377.jpg 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" /></a>US Vice President JD Vance during the Munich Security Conference in Munich, Germany, on Friday, Feb. 14, 2025.  Photographer: Alex Kraus/Bloomberg via Getty Images</div>
Tossici-Bolt is one of several pro-life activists who believe that abortion is the murder of an unborn child and have sought to change hearts on the matter through silent protest and prayer outside of abortion clinics. Abortion clinic &#8220;buffer zone&#8221; laws in the United Kingdom prohibit these basic activities, and authorities have arrested individuals like Isabel Vaughn-Spruce as they silently pray in buffer zones, accusing them of illegal protest.
A verdict in Tossici-Bolt&#8217;s case is due Friday, <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/03/31/anti-abortion-protest-bournemouth-free-speech-row-trump/">according to the Telegraph</a>.
The publicity around the issue prompted Kemi Badenoch, a conservative member of Parliament, to warn that free speech in Britain is &#8220;at risk&#8221; and that the United Kingdom should not be “persecuting people for expressing themselves.&#8221;
“We have freedom of expression in this country, we have free speech in this country,&#8221; she <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2025/04/01/free-speech-at-risk-amid-abortion-row-badenoch-warns/?ICID=continue_without_subscribing_reg_first">said</a>. &#8220;However, it is at risk because a lot of people are expanding the law way beyond the original intention.”
Britain&#8217;s Business Secretary, Jonathan Reynolds, downplayed the matter Tuesday morning on BBC radio, saying, &#8220;Obviously there are things from different people in the administration that they’ve said in the past about this, but it’s not been part of the trade negotiations that I’ve been part of.”
Meanwhile, free speech allies like ADF International are thrilled that the United States has spoken up.
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“We are very grateful to the US for standing up for freedom of speech in Great Britain at a time when our leaders are intent on censoring us. This censorship has been happening gradually over decades but the implications of it are being fully realized now,&#8221;  Lorcan Price, an Irish barrister and legal counsel for ADF International, told The Daily Wire on Tuesday evening.
&#8220;It is right for the US to call out human rights abuses in the UK out of concern as a close ally — at times it is necessary for allies to speak frankly and truthfully to each other and this is one of those times,&#8221; he added. &#8220;We sincerely hope that the increased attention on Livia’s prosecution will lead to a return to free speech in the UK.”
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Vance condemned the United Kingdom&#8217;s censorship in strong terms when he spoke at the Munich Security Conference in February,  arguing that “free speech in Britain and across Europe &#8220;was in retreat,&#8221; and referencing the story of Adam Smith Connor, an army veteran who prayed outside an abortion clinic in the United Kingdom on behalf of his unborn son, who his girlfriend aborted years earlier.
The vice president told the gathered world leaders: “Adam was found guilty of breaking the government’s new buffer zones law, which criminalizes silent prayer and other actions that could influence a person’s decision within two hundred meters of an abortion facility.&#8221; 
Speaking Tuesday evening at the Heritage Foundation in Washington, D.C., at the premiere of Rod Dreher&#8217;s &#8220;Live Not By Lies&#8221; documentary, Vance argued that if citizens around the world &#8220;speak the truth, if we refuse to live by lies, then I think we can redeliver on the promise of civilization.&#8221;
&#8220;We can rebuild the kind of society where virtue and freedom in our ancient liberties are preserved and enforced, and facilitated by our government, rather than torn down by our government,&#8221; the vice president said, adding, &#8220;You see, in Europe, people arrested for praying, and you have the police asking them, well what are you praying about? As if it was any of the police&#8217;s business.&#8221;
As for Tossici-Bolt herself, she said Monday that she&#8217;s grateful to the United States for “prioritizing the preservation and promotion of freedom of expression and for engaging in robust diplomacy to that end”.
“It deeply saddens me that the UK is seen as an international embarrassment when it comes to free speech,&#8221; she told The Telegraph. &#8220;My case, involving only a mere invitation to speak, is but one example of the extreme and undeniable state of censorship in Great Britain today.”
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vance42

As Britain Negotiates Trade Deal, State Department Takes Aim At Its Censorship Of Pro-Life Woman

Pro-Life Movement

United Kingdom

WASHINGTON—First Lady Melania Trump honored female recipients with the &#8220;International Women of Courage Awards&#8221; on Tuesday afternoon, sharing that these awardees &#8220;prove that love can inspire extraordinary valor even in the face of vulnerability.&#8221;
The First Lady co-hosted the annual International Women of Courage Awards ceremony at the State Department with Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Dressed in a long, leopard print trench coat, Melania focused on the unique capability of these female advocates, activists, and leaders to act in the name of love.
&#8220;Today, we celebrate courage —a strength that is based in love,&#8221; she said.&#8221;This truth is illustrated through our honorees, who prove that love can inspire extraordinary valor even in the face of vulnerability.&#8221;
&#8220;Their remarkable stories are a testament to the power of love in practice — for family, community, and our world,&#8221; she continued. &#8220;This is especially evident in places where their passion defies convention and when it has been shown at great personal risk of stigma, persecution, or harm.&#8221;
This is the fifth year that Melania Trump has attended the event. Her predecessor, Jill Biden, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/biden-admin-gives-international-women-of-courage-award-to-a-biological-man">previously gave</a> an International Women of Courage award to a man who identifies as a woman named Alba Rueda, Argentina’s Special Envoy for Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity and the first trans-identifying politician to hold a senior governmental position. Rueda had made a name for himself pushing pro-transgender policies in Argentina.
<div id="attachment_901335" style="width: 871px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/melania-celebrates-women-at-state-department-awards-ceremony-strength-that-is-based-in-love/us-politics-diplomacy-women-2" rel="attachment wp-att-901335"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-901335" class="wp-image-901335 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/GettyImages-2207477418-861x576.jpg" alt="" width="861" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/GettyImages-2207477418-861x576.jpg 861w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/GettyImages-2207477418-300x201.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/GettyImages-2207477418-768x514.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/GettyImages-2207477418.jpg 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 861px) 100vw, 861px" /></a>Photo by BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images</div>
Awardees at Tuesday&#8217;s event included human rights defender Henriette Da; Hamas hostage survivor Amit Soussana; womens&#8217; rights activist Major Velena Iga; Phillippines &#8220;Mama Ranger&#8221; Angelique Songco; human rights advocate Georgiana Pascu; women&#8217;s rights leader Zabib Musa Loro Bakhit; journalist Namini Wijedasa; and Yemeni advocate Amat Al-Salam Abdullah Abdo al-Hajj.
Additionally, the Madeleine Albright Honorary Group Award was given to the “Women Student Protest Leaders of Bangladesh.&#8221;
The First Lady described these awardees as &#8220;brave women&#8221; who have &#8220;refused to let fear or hardship define them.&#8221; She specifically singled out Pascu, saying that she &#8220;exemplifies love in action.&#8221;
&#8220;Georgiana is a &#8216;watchdog&#8217; who defends the dignity of Romanians whose voices cannot be heard,&#8221; Melania explained.
&#8220;She fearlessly enters facilities designated as &#8216;care centers&#8217; to rescue people with disabilities who are unwittingly held captive. In fact, Georgiana usually shows up unannounced and discovers the unimaginable — helpless adults and children bound, sedated, starving, and in extreme cases, dying. Thanks to Georgiana’s brave work, dozens of offenders have been charged with human trafficking, exploitation, and even organized crime.&#8221;
The First Lady also extended a message to women across the world who advocate on behalf of others.
<div id="attachment_901337" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/melania-celebrates-women-at-state-department-awards-ceremony-strength-that-is-based-in-love/state-department-hosts-19th-annual-international-women-of-courage-award-ceremony" rel="attachment wp-att-901337"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-901337" class="wp-image-901337 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/GettyImages-2207993780-864x576.jpg" alt="" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/GettyImages-2207993780-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/GettyImages-2207993780-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/GettyImages-2207993780-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/GettyImages-2207993780.jpg 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" /></a>Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images</div>
&#8220;Let us also take a moment to acknowledge those who persist in their struggles,&#8221; she said. &#8220;For each of them, love serves as a powerful catalyst, instilling a profound sense of purpose in their endeavors. To the women who are driven to speak out for justice, even though their voices are trembling. To the women who are motivated to rise up for their community, when all others remain indifferent.To the women who feel compelled to heal wounds caused by hatred – and cherish peace.&#8221;
&#8220;These extraordinary women illuminate the transformative power of love in shaping our world,&#8221; she added. &#8220;Their journeys remind us that true courage is born from a deep commitment to others, showing that love fuels the call for justice. Through their brave actions, they inspire us to embrace our own potential for change, teaching us that while courage drives us forward, it is love that lays the groundwork for lasting impact. Let their stories motivate us to take courageous steps, knowing that each act of love can spark a ripple of transformation.&#8221;

US-POLITICS-DIPLOMACY-WOMEN

Melania Celebrates Women At State Department Awards Ceremony: ‘Strength That Is Based In Love’

Jill Biden

Melania Trump

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