Special Envoy Steve Witkoff is still planning on meeting with Iranian officials for the sixth round of nuclear talks on Sunday in Oman despite some U.S. personnel moving out of the Middle East amid rising tensions with Iran.
“Senior Advisor and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff plans to travel to Muscat on Sunday for a sixth round of talks with Iran,” a source familiar with the talks told The Daily Wire. “Discussions are expected to be both direct and indirect, as in previous rounds.”
The news comes as all United States embassies within striking distance of Iran were instructed to convene emergency action committees and to develop measures to mitigate risks, <a href="https://archive.is/O2oXf">The Washington Post reported</a>.
The U.S. is also reducing its personnel at its Iraq missions in Baghdad and Erbil and reportedly permitting non-essential personnel and dependents to leave other countries in the region, such as Bahrain and Kuwait.
President <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/u-s-begins-to-evacuate-iraq-embassy-after-iranian-minister-threatens-military-bases">Trump confirmed</a> that some U.S. personnel are moving out of the Middle East on Wednesday night.
“Well they are being moved out because it could be a dangerous place and we’ll see what happens, but they are— we’ve given notice to move out,” Trump said.
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-sanctions-shadow-banking-network-funding-irans-nuclear-program?author=Kassy+Akiva&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Trump+Sanctions+Shadow+Banking+Network+Funding+Iran%E2%80%99s+Nuclear+Program">THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION SANCTIONS SHADOW BANKING NETWORK FUNDING IRAN’S NUCLEAR PROGRAM </a>
The personnel reduction comes after Iran’s Defense Minister Aziz Nasirzadeh <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/iran-threatens-us-bases-region-if-military-conflict-arises-2025-06-11/">threatened to strike</a> American bases if nuclear negotiations fail and conflict arises.
“All U.S. bases are within our reach and we will boldly target them in host countries,” Nasirzadeh said during a press briefing.
A State Department official confirmed to The Daily Wire that it is reducing its “footprint” at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad.
“President Trump is committed to keeping Americans safe, both at home and abroad,” the official said. “In keeping with that commitment, we are constantly assessing the appropriate personnel posture at all our embassies. Based on our latest analysis, we decided to reduce the footprint of our Mission in Iraq.”
<a href="https://www.axios.com/2025/06/11/middle-east-evacuating-baghdad-iran">According to Axios</a>, Israeli officials told the outlet that the IDF has been on “extremely high alert in recent days” due to possible escalation with Iran.
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/terrorist-who-killed-israeli-embassy-staffers-was-influenced-by-a-foreign-linked-leftist-org?author=Kassy+Akiva&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Terrorist+Who+Killed+Israeli+Embassy+Staffers+Was+Influenced+By+A+Foreign-Linked+Leftist+Org">TERRORIST WHO KILLED ISRAELI EMBASSY STAFFERS WAS INFLUENCED BY A FOREIGN-LINKED LEFTIST ORG</a>
While previous rounds of talks have been described <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/heres-what-you-need-to-know-about-saturdays-nuclear-talks-between-the-u-s-and-iran?author=Kassy+Akiva&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Here%E2%80%99s+What+You+Need+To+Know+About+Saturday%E2%80%99s+Nuclear+Talks+Between+The+U.S.+And+Iran">as productive</a> by U.S. officials, Trump told <a href="https://nypost.com/2025/06/11/us-news/trump-tells-post-hes-less-confident-about-iran-deal-but-vows-mullahs-wont-get-nukes/">the New York Post</a> this week that he is getting “less confident” about getting Iran to make an acceptable deal.
“They seem to be delaying, and I think that’s a shame, but I’m less confident now than I would have been a couple of months ago,” he said. “Something happened to them, but I am much less confident of a deal being made.”
Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi <a href="https://x.com/araghchi/status/1932723483592573015">on Wednesday</a> morning said an agreement could “ensure the continued peaceful nature of Iran&#8217;s nuclear program,” which relies on the “continuation of Iran&#8217;s enrichment program, under the full supervision of the IAEA and the effective termination of sanctions.”
The issue over Iran enriching its own uranium has become the top contention point in negotiations, with the Trump administration believing that any enrichment capabilities enable the regime to obtain a nuclear weapon.
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-to-world-stop-buying-iranian-oil-or-else?author=Kassy+Akiva&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Trump+To+World%3A+Stop+Buying+Iranian+Oil+%E2%80%94+Or+Else">TRUMP TO WORLD: STOP BUYING IRANIAN OIL — OR ELSE </a>
For the first time in 20 years, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), took the stance that Iran had breached its non-proliferation obligations. The resolution declaring Iran in violation was submitted by the United States, United Kingdom, France, and Germany, and passed with support from 19 countries. Eleven nations abstained, while only Russia, China, and Burkina Faso voted against it, according to <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/china/iaea-board-declares-iran-breach-non-proliferation-duties-diplomats-say-2025-06-12/">Reuters</a>.
<a href="https://www.securitycouncilreport.org/whatsinblue/2025/03/iran-non-proliferation-private-meeting.php#:~:text=In%20its%20most%20recent%20quarterly,significantly%20during%20the%20reporting%20period%2C">A February report</a> from the International Atomic Energy Agency found that Iran’s uranium stockpile is enriched to 60 percent purity — close to the 90 percent level considered weapon-grade. The total enriched uranium stockpile now stands at approximately 8,294 kilograms, vastly exceeding the deal’s cap of 300 kilograms.
Iran can currently produce enough weapons-grade fissile material to make a nuclear weapon in a week or two, former Secretary of State Antony Blinken <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/blinken-iran-one-two-weeks-away-from-producing-enough-material-for-nuclear-weapon/">revealed</a> in July 2024, adding that Iran had not yet produced a weapon to utilize the material.
Trump has expressed his preference to resolve Iran’s nuclear challenges with diplomacy, but has threatened military force if a deal cannot be made.
In March, during an interview with Fox News’ Maria Bartiromo, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-iran-was-told-to-accept-nuclear-deal-or-face-u-s-military">Trump said</a> Iran can be handled militarily or through negotiating a deal.
“I would rather negotiate a deal,” he added. “I’m not sure that everybody agrees with me, but we can make a deal that would be just as good as if you won militarily. But the time is happening now. The time is coming up. Something’s going to happen one way or the other.”
Trump withdrew President Barack Obama’s 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) in 2018, calling it “one of the worst and most one-sided transactions the United States has ever entered into.”

Trump and Ayatollah

Despite Soaring Tensions, Trump Admin Set To Have Sixth Round Of Iran Nuclear Talks

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Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced Wednesday that the State Department would start to “aggressively” revoke the visas of Chinese students. 
Rubio said that the revocations would focus on those with close ties to the Chinese Communist Party or studying in “critical fields.” Rubio’s actions come after he froze all new student visa interviews pending the development of new admittance guidelines. 
“Under President Trump’s leadership, the U.S. State Department will work with the Department of Homeland Security to aggressively revoke visas for Chinese students, including those with connections to the Chinese Communist Party or studying in critical fields,” Rubio announced in a statement. “We will also revise visa criteria to enhance scrutiny of all future visa applications from the People’s Republic of China and Hong Kong.”
There are roughly 275,000 Chinese students studying in the United States. 
Chinese theft of American intellectual property has been a problem for years, and several Chinese students have been charged and convicted of espionage. 
In 2020, a Chinese woman studying at Boston University named Yanqing Ye <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/boston/news/fbi-wanted-yanqing-ye-china/">fled</a> the country after being accused of working for China while studying chemistry, physics, and biomedical engineering. According to the FBI, Ye was a lieutenant in the Chinese military but did not disclose that when she applied for a student visa. She reportedly gathered intelligence on two American scientists. 
In another <a href="https://abc7chicago.com/post/convicted-ex-chicago-illinois-institute-technology-college-student-chaoqun-ji-part-us-china-spy-swap/15596442/">incident</a>, a Chinese student named Chaoqun Ji, who was attending the Illinois Institute of Technology, was convicted in 2023 of acting as an unregistered agent for China after gathering information on defense contractors. 
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The targeting of Chinese student visas comes as the Trump administration <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-admin-freezes-all-new-student-visa-interviews-in-major-blow-to-elite-universities?author=Nathan+Gay&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=2&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Trump+Admin+Freezes+All+New+Student+Visa+Interviews+In+Major+Blow+To+Elite+Universities" target="_blank" rel="noopener">has increased vetting</a> for what foreign students are allowed into the country. On Tuesday, Rubio signed a cable directing U.S. embassies to “not add any additional student or exchange visitor (F, M, and J) visa appointment capacity until further guidance is issued … which we anticipate in the coming days.”
The pause affects all applicants for student visas while the administration reportedly prepares guidance for expanded social media vetting requirements.
Rubio also <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/rubio-announces-new-visa-restrictions-for-foreigners-who-censor-americans?author=Hank+Berrien&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=1&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Rubio+Announces+New+Visa+Restrictions+For+Foreigners+Who+Censor+Americans" target="_blank" rel="noopener">took steps</a> on Wednesday to implement new visa restrictions targeting foreigners “complicit” in censoring Americans.
“Today, I am announcing a new visa restriction policy that will apply to foreign nationals who are responsible for censorship of protected expression in the United States,” Rubio said. “It is unacceptable for foreign officials to issue or threaten arrest warrants on U.S. citizens or U.S. residents for social media posts on American platforms while physically present on U.S. soil.”
RELATED: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/group-trying-to-convince-asians-that-america-is-oppressive-has-ties-to-chinese-state-media">Group Trying To Convince Asians That America Is Oppressive Has Ties To Chinese State Media</a>

Secretary of State Marco Rubio testifies on the 2026 Budget In House Hearing

Rubio Promises To ‘Aggressively’ Target Students Tied To Chinese Communist Party

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In a fiery defense of Israel and the Jewish people, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio noted the constant attempts by different empires and groups throughout history to wipe out Jews, then declared, “There can be no compromise with antisemitism. There can be no nuanced separation of hatred of Israel and hatred of the Jewish people.”
Rubio made the remarks in a pre-recorded video shown on Wednesday at the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance Minister’s Conference in Jerusalem.
“Golda Meir once said, ‘It took Moses 40 years to find the only place in the Middle East with no oil,&#8217;” Rubio began. “But Israel‘s wealth lay not under the ground, but in its people; the Jewish people: exiles, pilgrims and dreamers from around the world who made the desert bloom into a high-tech superpower.”
“Israel accomplished this miracle, not by abandoning history and identity, but by embracing it,” he continued. “Sadly, some of Israel’s neighbors have failed to appreciate how following Israel’s example could have brought prosperity to the region. Instead, they chose war. They decided to impoverish their people in a futile effort to destroy Israel. They succeeded in the former while failing in the latter.”
Rubio turned to history: “Antisemitism is the world’s oldest bigotry, and given that we are all here today, it is also the world’s most futile. Egyptian pharaohs, Roman emperors. Persian shahs and Middle Eastern despots have sought to destroy the nation of Israel. Adolf Hitler dreamed of a world without Jews; an idea he shares with Hamas. Today, these regimes and empires have crumbled into dust, but Israel stands, and the Jewish people prosper.”
Then he segued to the future: “I pray for the day when the entire world will recognize the futility of antisemitism; when leaders will abandon self-destructive hatred and forge a new future and partnership with Israel by building on the Abraham Accords. Under President Trump‘s leadership, there are signs that the future may be closer than we dared dream, but only if we can overcome the futile persistent evil of antisemitism, can we reach that future.”
<a href="https://get.dailywire.com/subscribe/plus/?utm_medium=website&amp;utm_source=editorial&amp;utm_campaign=memorial&amp;utm_content=editorialmemorialday" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Get 40% Off New DailyWire+ Annual Memberships</a>
Rubio spoke of the young couple who worked at the Israeli Embassy who were murdered in cold blood at the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington D.C. on May 21 by a Palestinian supporter:
<blockquote>
Earlier this year I stood beside Foreign Minister Sa’ar at the Yad Vashem memorial. I remembered the millions of Jews who were slaughtered, and reflected on the meaning of the words, “Never again.” The importance of those words were brought home to every American last week when Yaron Lischinski and Sarah Milgrim were murdered in cold blood outside of the Capital Jewish museum here in Washington D.C. Yaron was a Christian, born in Germany, who came to love the Jewish state. Sarah was from Kansas and loved Yaron. They  dreamed of marrying in Jerusalem; instead they were cut down in cold blood by a monster who did not care about Yaron’s faith or Sarah‘s background. We should never forget that as he was being arrested after killing two innocents, who he believed were Jews, the murderer proudly screamed, “Free, free Palestine,” words that serve as a battle cry for the death of Jews, the destruction of Israel and the horrors we must never again allow.
</blockquote>
“There can be no compromise with antisemitism,” he said bluntly. “There can be no nuanced separation of hatred of Israel and hatred of the Jewish people. Those who called to boycott Israel are calling for the boycott of their Jewish neighbors and classmates. Those who call for violence against Israelis are calling for violence against Jews. Those who call for the destruction of Israel are calling for the destruction of the Jewish people. That is why as we extend our prayers to Yaron and Sarah‘s loved ones we must stand in solidarity with Israel. There can be no coexistence with evil. There can be no nuance to hatred.”
“Under President Trump the United States will stand with the Jewish people,” he declared. “We have implemented a vigorous new visa policy that will prevent foreign nationals from coming to the United States to foment hatred against our Jewish community. We are holding international organizations and nations accountable for rhetoric against Israel that resurfaces in the manifesto of monsters like Yaron and Sarah‘s killer.”
He concluded triumphantly: “But we do see an eventual light at the end of this long tunnel of suffering. One can imagine the Middle East in which the Abraham Accords eventually reign.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
In his remarks to the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (<a href="https://twitter.com/TheIHRA?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@TheIHRA</a>) Minister’s Conference currently being held in Jerusalem, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio <a href="https://twitter.com/SecRubio?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SecRubio</a> thanked Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar <a href="https://twitter.com/gidonsaar?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@gidonsaar</a> for the invitation and expressed regret for not… <a href="https://t.co/aaZbCIaFZN">pic.twitter.com/aaZbCIaFZN</a>
— Israel Foreign Ministry (@IsraelMFA) <a href="https://twitter.com/IsraelMFA/status/1927697520924168419?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 28, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&nbsp;

‘There Can Be No Coexistence With Evil’: Rubio Gives Fiery Defense Of Israel And The Jewish People

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WASHINGTON—A group of senior State Department officials will head to France and Ireland this week to push both countries to respect citizens’ rights, The Daily Wire has learned.
The trip is part of a State Department effort to fight &#8220;egregious examples of democratic backsliding&#8221; and &#8220;violations of basic natural rights&#8221; in Europe, a senior State Department official shared with The Daily Wire. The initiative, launched by the department’s Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, is especially focused on defending freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and the right to privacy.
The countries in question “claim to be bastions of democracy,&#8221; the senior State Department official explained, &#8220;they&#8217;re so-called liberal democracies that preach inclusivity and tolerance and progress, and the reality on the ground just simply shows that isn&#8217;t the case.&#8221;
In France, the State Department delegation will meet with government officials to discuss the recent arrest of French politician Marine Le Pen. In Ireland, their discussion will focus on concerns that a new European Union law could be used to censor free speech.
Under President Donald Trump, the State Department is working to push American allies to respect the rights of their citizens and the rights of American citizens. Foggy Bottom sees trips like this as opportunities to battle the global political apparatus that has been weaponized against both European and American people, an apparatus that wants to silence individuals who stand up for traditional values like faith, freedom, and family.
As Vice President JD Vance highlighted at the Munich Security Conference earlier this year, President Donald Trump&#8217;s administration sees real threats facing its allies in Europe &#8220;from within&#8221; — particularly cases of governments targeting their own citizens and particular forms of political and religious speech. Those targeted are disproportionately Christian, conservative, or nationalist.
&#8220;It&#8217;s not a coincidence that these kinds of global forces are using similar tactics to those that were used on this side of the Atlantic against President Trump and his supporters over the past eight years,&#8221; the State Department official shared.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio has <a href="https://f233cf64.streaklinks.com/CcLXDh56OqECKj6vpgth4qlU/https%3A%2F%2Fwww.state.gov%2Freleases%2Foffice-of-the-spokesperson%2F2025%2F05%2Fsecretary-of-state-marco-rubio-before-the-house-committee-on-appropriations-subcommittee-on-state-foreign-operations-and-related-programs-on-the-fy26-department-of-state-budget-request%2F" target="_blank" rel="noopener">repeatedly emphasized</a> that everything the State Department is doing must be done in the &#8220;national interest.&#8221; Increasingly, the State Department is noticing that the measures taken by the European Union are not only affecting European citizens, but also affecting American individuals and companies.
&#8220;In the spirit of our common culture or common Western heritage, that champions natural rights and free speech, we think we can speak frankly with our European allies about these real concerns,&#8221; that official noted. &#8220;If we&#8217;re not on the same page civilizationally, if we&#8217;re not on the same page politically, if we&#8217;re not on the same page values-wise, it makes those very important relationships much harder to guarantee.&#8221;
In March 2025, French authorities charged Marine Le Pen — a conservative and  presumptive presidential candidate for the &#8220;National Rally&#8221; — with embezzlement. A court quickly found her guilty, placed her on house arrest, and banned her from seeking elected office for five years.
The State Department is taking her stature as a political leader and the disproportionate speed at which the French government proceeded with the ban into consideration. They find her case &#8220;unique and concerning,&#8221; The Daily Wire has learned.
In Ireland, the officials will focus on the Digital Services Act, European Union legislation that will impact American companies based in Ireland, particularly technology companies. The legislation ostensibly aims to protect children by moderating online content and harmful practices like child pornography.
But in practice, a State Department official told the Daily Wire, it has been used to target political speech deemed to be hateful or offensive by European governments. American social media companies face heavy fines if they do not conform to the censorship rules.
&#8220;It&#8217;s obviously being weaponized, for political purposes,&#8221; the State Department official said.
State Department officials traveled to the United Kingdom earlier this year, where they met with Livia Tossici-Bolt, a woman prosecuted for holding a sign near a Bournemouth abortion clinic that read: “Here to talk if you want.”
The State Department issued a statement at the time announcing that it was monitoring Tossici-Bolt&#8217;s case and that it was important to the United States that the United Kingdom “respect and protect freedom of expression.&#8221; Tossici-Bolt was convicted in April and ordered to pay a fine of £20,000, <a href="https://f233cf64.streaklinks.com/CcLXDhZ391NTbBI6xAEv1WCt/https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fworld%2F2025%2Fapr%2F04%2Fabortion-campaigner-livia-tossici-bolt-buffer-zone-clinic" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Guardian reports</a>.
The State Department trip comes amid an ongoing trade war between the United States and European nations. Pressed by The Daily Wire earlier this month as to whether a newly-signed trade deal with the United Kingdom included any assurances from Britain to protect free speech and freedom of religion, Trump and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said the agreement was solely focused on the economy.

Former President Donald Trump Rallies For Marco Rubio In Florida

EXCLUSIVE: State Department Officials Head To Europe To Fight For Free Speech

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Marine Le Pen

The Biden administration’s global ambassador for all things LGBT was a travel diva with no regard for cost, who even got smacked down for &#8220;inappropriate&#8221; spending requests as she traveled on the government dime, of emails obtained by The Daily Wire reveal.
The emails show that Jessica Stern, the Biden State Department’s Special Envoy to Advance the Human Rights of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, and Intersex Persons, failed to report travel expenses on time, requested a costly car for a week in Rome, and berated staff for missing vegetarian meals on her flights as she jetted around the world pushing far-left ideology, according to a batch of emails obtained by The Daily Wire.
Stern raked in $180,000 a year as her state-sanctioned LGBT <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/meet-the-biden-official-making-six-figures-to-travel-the-globe-pushing-transgenderism">activism</a> took her to all six habitable continents, with stops in places like Fiji and Brazil, where she traveled on the taxpayer dime to march alongside a “transvestite sl*t,” a previous <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/meet-the-biden-official-making-six-figures-to-travel-the-globe-pushing-transgenderism">Daily Wire exposé</a> found.
Documents reviewed by The Daily Wire, obtained by the <a href="https://advancing-america.org/">Center to Advance Security in America</a> (CASA), show that Stern, who <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/state-department-lgbt-racial-equity-envoy-profiles-scrubbed-after-trump-takes-office">left her post</a> after President Donald Trump&#8217;s re-election, failed to even report her travel expenses on time. The envoy, who said in her emails that she identifies with “all pronouns,” even admitted that she didn’t know where she would find her expenses after a State Department official asked for her accounting.
“We are still waiting on last year’s accounting for travel from your office … before approving further travel,” wrote a State Department official whose name is redacted in October 2022. “We have every other office except yours. I have asked several times and no one has provided. Please do so as soon as possible.”
READ MORE: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/meet-the-biden-official-making-six-figures-to-travel-the-globe-pushing-transgenderism">Meet The Biden Official Making Six Figures To Travel The Globe Pushing Transgenderism</a>
Stern then wrote to a different State Department official and made a stunning admission. “I don’t read all of her messages but I don’t recall seeing multiple requests for our expenses,” Stern wrote. “I also don’t know where we would get our expenses.”
<div id="attachment_923509" style="width: 802px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-923509" class=" wp-image-923509" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/Stern-1-300x131.png" alt="" width="792" height="346" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/Stern-1-300x131.png 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/Stern-1-1024x448.png 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/Stern-1-768x336.png 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/Stern-1.png 1340w" sizes="(max-width: 792px) 100vw, 792px" />Obtained by The Daily Wire</div>
The documents also show that, about a year after the expense reporting mishap, Stern was admonished after she requested a costly rental car for a week in Rome.
An email from a State Department staffer to Stern indicates that the LGBT envoy was originally set to get a rental van in Rome for a week at the cost of $7,000, but that the plan was shot down because of the excessive cost. Stern then hoped to get a rental car for $3,000 to $4,000.
“Sorry for the hassle and expense. This is a stupid way to spend money,” Stern admitted in an email to <a href="https://2021-2025.state.gov/biographies/christopher-le-mon/">Christopher Le Mon</a>, the former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor. “Apparently there aren&#8217;t options due to a taxi shortage. Do you think we could swing $3-4K for a car?”
Le Mon shot down the proposal. “No, I do not think that $3k for a car for five days can be supported. We have asked offices to cut entire trips,” he said in an email. “The overall climate we are in is one of cost consciousness.”
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Then another State Department official pushed Le Mon to give his approval. “Emb Rome has been able to shave SE Stern&#8217;s costs down and is urging me to find out today whether the updated transportation estimates would work,” the unnamed State Department staffer wrote. “Could you authorize the hotel-airport transfers?”
Le Mon denied the ask for the costly car again and called the request “inappropriate.”
“Apologies for not being clearer earlier: I&#8217;m not going to approve standby transportation in Rome in this budget environment,” Le Mon said in response. “To again make the point I made earlier, there have been DRL trips disapproved where the entire cost of the trip was less than $4000.”
“It&#8217;s inappropriate to keep asking for several thousand dollars for a car,” Le Mon admonished Stern.
“Airport transfers and ground transportation can be done by taxi or Uber the same way other DRL principals traveling to European capitals have done,” he added. “I apologize but I do not have time for further back and forth on this question.”
<div id="attachment_923521" style="width: 828px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-923521" class=" wp-image-923521" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/Stern-2-300x171.png" alt="" width="818" height="466" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/Stern-2-300x171.png 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/Stern-2-1008x576.png 1008w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/Stern-2-768x439.png 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/Stern-2.png 1330w" sizes="(max-width: 818px) 100vw, 818px" />Obtained by The Daily Wire</div>
In another exchange over travel arrangements, Stern berated State Department staff in an “urgent” message about her vegetarian meal preferences.
“This is urgent,” Biden’s LGBT activist wrote. “I have taken many flights since I have joined the State Department, and the airlines have repeatedly had no record of my vegetarian meal.”
“This is a serious problem,” she added.“I ask you to assure me that my vegetarian meal has been ordered for my flights this week, and I ask you to confirm how this can be corrected moving forward.”
<div id="attachment_923529" style="width: 845px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-923529" class=" wp-image-923529" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/Stern-3-300x152.png" alt="" width="835" height="423" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/Stern-3-300x152.png 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/Stern-3-1024x518.png 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/Stern-3-768x388.png 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/Stern-3.png 1388w" sizes="(max-width: 835px) 100vw, 835px" />Obtained by The Daily Wire</div>
An unnamed State Department staffer sprung into action in a follow up email. “I have added the requests for the vegetarian meals to the reservations you currently have booked.”
It is unclear if Stern successfully received her vegetarian meals on subsequent flights. She did not respond to a request for comment.
“Biden State Department LGBT Special Envoy Jessica Stern repeatedly advocated for excessive taxpayer resources to travel the world in luxury,” CASA Director James Fitzpatrick told The Daily Wire. “The Trump administration has since eliminated Stern’s position and the Biden era of using government resources for LGBT advocacy is over.”
While the documents don’t outline how much money was spent on Stern’s travel, one spreadsheet shows that Stern and another State Department official working to advance the Biden administration’s LGBT agenda dropped almost $42,000 in taxpayer funds over roughly five months.
Those funds went towards everything from interpreters to an “overtime photographer” on her trips to Peru, Nepal, Hungary, and other countries across the world.
“While the working men and women of this country were struggling, Stern was asking for more of their money for a private car and a photographer.&#8221; Fitzpatrick said. &#8220;The American people are sick and tired of this type of irresponsible behavior from their government officials.&#8221;
Since leaving the State Department, Stern has “rejoined the resistance” and is working to <a href="https://www.washingtonblade.com/2025/04/01/former-us-envoy-for-global-lgbtq-intersex-rights-slams-trump/">create</a> a leftwing organization to oppose the Trump administration. She’s also teaching a new generation of activists at Columbia University in a <a href="https://doc.sis.columbia.edu/subj/INAF/U6376-20251-001/">seminar</a> that “offers students an opportunity to reflect, in-depth, on the challenges and opportunities of working on LGBTI rights transnationally.”

Jessica Stern Special Envoy

Biden’s LGBT Envoy Was Slammed For ‘Inappropriate’ Travel Spending, Emails Show

Biden

LGBT

Transgender

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>
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<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

Columbia University

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>
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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.”

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

Refugees

South Africa

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

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

Elon Musk

Executive

JD Vance

Joe Biden

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.

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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:
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<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.”

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

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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.

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