President Trump re-designated the Houthis as a foreign terrorist organization (FTO) on Wednesday, four years after his first administration made an identical move.

In an executive order signed on Wednesday, Trump said that the terrorist group ‘threaten[s] the security of American civilians and personnel in the Middle East, the safety of our closest regional partners, and the stability of global maritime trade.’

‘Supported by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds Force (IRGC-QF), which arms and trains terrorist organizations worldwide, the Houthis have fired at U.S. Navy warships dozens of times since 2023, endangering American men and women in uniform,’ the order noted.

Trump also documented that ‘numerous’ attacks that the terrorist group has conducted over the years, including ‘multiple attacks on civilian airports in Saudi Arabia, the deadly January 2022 attacks on the United Arab Emirates, and more than 300 projectiles fired at Israel since October 2023.’

‘The Houthis have also attacked commercial vessels transiting Bab al-Mandeb more than 100 times, killing at least four civilian sailors and forcing some Red Sea maritime commercial traffic to reroute, which has contributed to global inflation,’ the order added.

Trump administration designated the Houthis as an FTO in January 2021. In a Wednesday press release, the White House noted that the Biden administration immediately reversed it.

‘As a result of the Biden administration’s weak policy, the Houthis have fired at U.S. Navy warships dozens of times, launched numerous attacks on civilian infrastructure in partner nations, and attacked commercial vessels transiting Bab al-Mandeb more than 100 times,’ the White House said on Wednesday.

‘The Executive Order directs the Secretary of State, in consultation with others, to recommend the re-designation of the Houthis within 30 days.’

Though the Biden White House removed the FTO designation in January 2021, Biden did name the Houthis as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) entity last week. That designation is considered a lower grade than an FTO.

Then-State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller defended the move in a press conference, claiming that the Houthis recently launched attacks on cargo ships in the Middle East – though the group has targeted commercial ships for years.

‘The Houthis were procuring military equipment long before that designation and they continued to procure it in the year since,’ Miller explained. ‘What’s changed as we have seen them launching attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea, something that wasn’t the case in 2021. And that’s why we decided it was important to take this step. ‘

We’re quickly approaching the fourth weekend of 2025.

And the Senate is already running behind.

This could trigger weekend Senate sessions as Senate Republicans try to accelerate the process on some of President Donald Trump’s Cabinet nominees.

Senators failed to forge a time agreement to expedite the confirmation of CIA Director nominee John Ratcliffe.

So, here are some Senate vocabulary terms for you.

Cloture, filibuster and ripen.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., filed ‘cloture’ Tuesday to break filibusters on three nominees, starting with Ratcliffe. ‘Invoking cloture’ is the parliamentary means to break a filibuster.

A filibuster is in the eyes of the beholder. A filibuster could be a way to hold something up via a lengthy speech. It could be a way to just object and sidetrack the Senate’s course. Or, it could be implied that senators who plan to deploy either option. Thus, the Senate Majority Leader gets the joke. He knows he must ‘file cloture’ to terminate the ‘filibuster.’

Democrats appear dug in on Ratcliffe. So Thune took the procedural step of filing cloture petitions to overcome a filibuster on the the Ratcliffe nomination, but also for Defense Secretary nominee Pete Hegseth and Homeland Security Secretary nominee Kristi Noem.

By rule, once cloture is filed, it must ‘ripen’ for a day before the Senate may consider it. Thune filed cloture on Ratcliffe Tuesday. Therefore Wednesday serves as the intervening day. The Senate could vote to break the filibuster one hour after the Senate meets on Thursday at 10 am et. By rule, the cloture vote can begin at 11 am et. That will only need 51 yeas to break the filibuster.

CIA Director is not recognized as a full-level cabinet position. So the ‘post cloture’ time is limited to only two hours – not the full 30 hours of debate allowed for all cabinet level slots.

Thus, if the Senate breaks the filibuster on Thursday, a vote to confirm Ratcliffe as CIA Director could come just two hours later. Confirmation only needs 51 votes.

Next in the queue is the Hegseth nomination. And the process starts all over again.

Fox has learned that unless there is a time agreement to accelerate debate on nominees, it is possible that the confirmation vote on Defense Secretary nominee Pete Hegseth could come late Friday night or in the wee hours of Saturday morning.

So let’s say the Senate clears the filibuster on Ratcliffe by late morning. It debates his nomination for a couple of hours. That means the Senate could vote by 3 or 4 p.m. ET to confirm Ratcliffe.

Once Ratcliffe is confirmed, Hegseth is next. The Senate could then vote to break the filibuster on Hegseth on Thursday afternoon. If the Senate breaks the filibuster, that would then trigger up to 30 hours of debate. If all time is used, final confirmation on Hegseth could come late Friday night or early Saturday morning.

Regardless, this is where things get interesting:

Fox is told it’s possible there could be a tie on the confirmation vote for Hegseth. It’s about the math. Republicans have 53 members. Fox is told to keep an eye on Sens. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska. All have played their cards close to the vest as to their opinions on Hegseth. If they vote nay, Vice President Vance could need to come to the Capitol to break the tie and confirm Hegseth as Defense Secretary.

No vice president had ever broken a tie to confirm a cabinet secretary until former Vice President Mike Pence did so to confirm Betsy DeVos as Education Secretary on February 7, 2017. Pence also broke ties to confirm former Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., as ambassador for religious freedom in 2018. He also broke a tie to confirm current Budget Director nominee Russ Vought as Deputy Budget Director in 2018.

Once the Senate dispenses with the Hegseth nomination, it’s on to a procedural vote for Noem. The Senate would need to break a filibuster on Noem’s nomination. If that vote comes late Friday/early Saturday, the Senate could vote to confirm Noem midday Sunday if they burn all time. If the vote to break the filibuster on Noem comes at a ‘normal’ hour Saturday (say 10 or 11 am et), the Senate doesn’t vote to confirm Noem until Sunday night or Monday if all time is required.

Thune also filed cloture on the nomination of Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent late Thursday. So that’s up once Noem is confirmed. If all time is used, Bessent isn’t confirmed until early next week.

And so it goes.

‘Do you all have your sleeping bags and cots?’ asked Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Roger Wicker, R-Miss.

Everyone is settling in for a slog.

‘Right now it appears there’s every indication that votes will be taking place through Saturday. We’ll see if that goes into Sunday or Monday without any days in between. But right now, I’m planning on being there for the weekend for votes,’ said Sen. Ben Ray Lujan, D-N.M.

‘I’m happy to be here all weekend, if that’s what it takes,’ said Sen. Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo.

That said, Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin, D-Ill., cautioned that things sometimes accelerate in the Senate. Especially when there’s chatter of late-night votes and weekend sessions.

‘I think I’ve seen this game before,’ said Durbin Tuesday. ‘I think it ends with an accommodation and a bipartisan agreement. So I wouldn’t jump too quickly now to reach a conclusion.’

That said, there are two factors afoot:

Democrats want to make a point about their reservations Trump nominees – especially those with whom they vehemently disagree or believe are unqualified. So politically, it’s important that they go to the mat and show their base they’re standing up to the President and his cabinet.

By the same token, this is Thune’s first rodeo as Majority Leader. He needs to establish his bona fides as Leader. Politically, Thune must demonstrate he’s fighting for Mr. Trump and his nominees – and willing to keep the Senate in session around the clock. In other words, there’s a new sheriff in town.

So, unless something changes, everyone is dialed in for some lengthy weekend and even late-night sessions. It’s likely the Senate will confirm President Trump’s nominees.

But it might just take a while.

President Trump re-designated the Houthis as a terrorist group on Wednesday, according to the White House.

In an executive order signed on Wednesday, Trump said that the terrorist group ‘threaten[s] the security of American civilians and personnel in the Middle East, the safety of our closest regional partners, and the stability of global maritime trade.’

‘Supported by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds Force (IRGC-QF), which arms and trains terrorist organizations worldwide, the Houthis have fired at U.S. Navy warships dozens of times since 2023, endangering American men and women in uniform,’ the order noted.

‘Since seizing most Yemeni population centers by force from the legitimate Yemeni government in 2014-2015، the Houthis have launched numerous attacks on civilian infrastructure, including multiple attacks on civilian airports in Saudi Arabia, the deadly January 2022 attacks on the United Arab Emirates, and more than 300 projectiles fired at Israel since October 2023.’

This is a breaking news story. Check back with us for updates.

A Danish Member of European Parliament (MEP) seethed at U.S. President Donald Trump amid his bid to have Greenland sold or ceded to the United States.

MEP Anders Vistisen, a member of the right-wing Danish People’s Party, addressed Trump’s efforts at an EU session in Strasburg, France.

‘Dear President Trump, listen very carefully: Greenland has been part of the Danish kingdom for 800 years. It is an integrated part of our country. It is not for sale,’ Vistisen said.

Appearing to cue into the American president’s occasional salty language, Vistisen said he would put his remarks in ‘words you might understand.’

‘Mr. Trump, f— off,’ said Vistisen. The remark drew a formal reprimand from European Parliament Vice President Nicolae Ștefănuță, who, however, suggested he too has reservations about Trump.

‘If the translation was correct, the term you used is not allowed in this House, and there will be consequences to the message you have used,’ said Ștefănuță, who represents Romania.

‘It is not OK in this House of Democracy. Regardless of what we think of Mr. Trump, it is not possible to use such language.’

First son Donald Trump Jr. led a small delegation to Nuuk — the Greenlandic capital — prior to the inauguration and met with members of the public and reportedly held a luncheon.

Both Greenlandic Prime Minister Mute Egede and Danish PM Mette Frederiksen have said the landmass is not for sale.

The island enjoys relative autonomy in domestic affairs and relies on Copenhagen for foreign policy and support.

The U.S. does, however, retain a U.S. Space Force presence on Greenland — at Pituffik (formerly Thule) Air Base near Savissivik.

Just over 100 years ago, the U.S. did successfully purchase Danish lands from Copenhagen.

King Christian X of Denmark and the U.S. Senate both ratified a 1916 treaty that led to the purchase of what are now the United States Virgin Islands (USVI) — St. Thomas, St. John and St. Croix. Then-President Woodrow Wilson, a Democrat, approved the treaty.

Wilson’s Secretary of State Frank Polk said the island chain’s people would have American nationality but not the ‘political status of citizens,’ according to the State Department’s archives.

Residents were, however, later given full citizenship through a 1932 act of Congress.

With its roots as the Danish West Indies and originally home to British expatriates, it is also the only U.S. territory where driving on the left side of the road is the law.

Republican senators are putting forth legislation that would ban China from buying U.S. land entirely. 

The Not One More Inch or Acre Act, led by Republican Sens. Tom Cotton of Arkansas, Kevin Cramer of North Dakota and Katie Britt of Alabama, would require the sale of land owned or ‘influenced’ by the CCP that is deemed a national security risk. It would direct the president to take action to prohibit the purchase of public or private real estate in the U.S. by Chinese citizens or companies.

China owned around 350,000 acres of farmland across 27 states as of last year, according to data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. 

As of 2022, foreign entities and individuals held 43.4 million acres of U.S. agricultural land, which is nearly 2% of all land in the U.S.

Lawmakers have argued that China’s land buys are a national security risk since many of them are near military installations. For years, Chinese nationals have attempted to breach U.S. military facilities, often through the use of surveillance drones or posing as tourists. 

‘For decades, the Chinese Communist Party has been gobbling up American farmland and real estate,’ Cotton, chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said in a statement.

‘At best, this submits American land and resources to China’s best interests, not America’s—at worst, these purchases serve as outposts for Chinese espionage campaigns against American businesses and military bases. We can’t allow Chinese citizens, or anyone affiliated with the CCP, to own one more inch of American soil. And any American land exploited by current Chinese ownership should be sold.’

Some states have already barred foreign nationals from purchasing land.

Smithfield Foods, which has a Chinese parent company, makes up the largest share of Chinese-owned land with 110,000 acres. 

A 2022 Chinese land purchase brought concerns to a fever pitch when food producer Fufeng Group bought 370 acres for corn milling near a North Dakota Air Force base.

‘One acre of American farmland owned by the Chinese Communist Party is one acre too many,’ said Britt. ‘The CCP’s strategic acquisition of farmland, particularly near our military installations, isn’t just a national security risk, it is a threat to our economic and food security.’

That prompted the Biden administration to propose a rule requiring any foreign company or individual looking to buy land within 100 miles of certain U.S. military bases to get government approval.

Last month, a Chinese national was arrested at San Francisco International Airport before he could board a flight to China on accusations that he tried to fly a drone over Vandenberg Air Force base in California.

Efforts to thwart China from purchasing U.S. farmland near U.S. military installations have gained steam among Republicans in both chambers. 

‘It’s a major concern for me that countries like China have increased purchases of American farmland tenfold over the last decade to control our land and threaten our food, energy and national security,’ Rep. Randy Feenstra, R-Iowa, who led efforts in the House to ban China from buying farmland suitable for energy production, told Fox News Digital. 

President Donald Trump’s first actions in the Oval Office included rolling back healthcare policies put forth by former President Joe Biden, including expansions to the Affordable Care Act (ACA), otherwise known as ‘ObamaCare.’  

Directly after he was sworn in on Monday, Trump moved quickly to revoke a long list of Biden executive orders covering a wide range of issues. Two of the orders that were revoked included efforts by Biden to expand access to the ACA and restore the federal program ‘to the way it was before Trump became president’ the first time around.

The move angered Democrats, who argued the action was an ‘attack’ on the federal health insurance program.

‘Donald Trump’s immediate priority as president is ripping away affordable health care coverage for tens of millions of Americans and screwing over people with preexisting conditions,’ the Democratic National Committee said in a Tuesday statement. 

Shortly after taking office in January 2021, Biden passed Executive Order 14009, titled the ‘Strengthening Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act.’ The move, which Trump rescinded as part of his Day One executive actions, doubled the window of time that uninsured Americans had to apply to participate in the federal insurance program. Under Trump’s first term, the ACA’s open enrollment period was six weeks long.  

In addition to expanding the open enrollment period, Biden’s January 2021 executive order also directed all relevant federal agencies to examine their policies and implement any necessary changes to help get more people covered under the ACA.

Meanwhile, in April of the following year, Biden signed a second executive order on ‘Continuing to Strengthen Americans’ Access to Affordable, Quality Health Coverage,’ which Trump also reversed on Monday. The April order from Biden directed the Department of Health and Human Services to analyze new policies aimed at ‘exploring how medical debts are collected from beneficiaries,’ in order to find new ways to reduce ‘the burden of medical debt on working families and individuals across the country.’ 

Consistent with both of these orders, agencies facilitated the expansion of the ACA through new eligibility provisions, increased funding to groups that help people sign up for the ACA, and more. 

Other changes enacted by Trump during his first days in office included the revocation of a Biden-era policy that directed Medicare and Medicaid to investigate how to lower drug costs. In response to that order, the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) implemented a $2 cap for certain generic drugs, ensured Medicare beneficiaries did not overpay for drugs that received accelerated approval, and helped state Medicaid programs pay for certain high-cost, cutting-edge therapies. Biden’s policy that capped insulin costs at $35 and implemented a $2,000 out-of-pocket maximum for prescription drug costs went unaffected by Trump’s Day One orders.

Trump also acted during his first day in office to rescind several of Biden’s COVID-19 health orders, such as directives to ensure equity in the pandemic response and COVID-19 vaccine requirements for federal workers. He withdrew the U.S. from its participation in the World Health Organization, as well.

The Democratic National Committee argued Tuesday that Trump was ‘screwing over people with pre-existing conditions.’ 

‘Donald Trump’s immediate priority as president is ripping away affordable health care coverage for tens of millions of Americans,’ the DNC said in a Tuesday statement. ‘Thanks to the Biden-Harris administration, more Americans have health coverage than ever before, and Trump wants to unwind this progress even though the American people overwhelmingly support the ACA. Trump’s plans will do nothing but raise costs and make Americans sicker.’

Yet, according to a health policy expert from Vanderbilt University, the moves Trump made on health policies will likely not be consequential when it comes to how much Americans are paying for their healthcare. 

‘When administrations change over, many of them want to undo some of the actions of other presidents, even when those are more symbolic,’ Dr. Stacie Dusetzina, a professor at Vanderbilt’s Department of Health Policy told NBC News. ‘It could mean that the Trump administration is not interested in pursuing any of the work that has since developed out of these executive orders.’

Fox News Digital reached out to the Trump administration for comment, but did not receive a response by publication time.

President Donald Trump revealed the contents of the letter that President Joe Biden left him upon leaving the Oval Office earlier this week exclusively to Fox News on Wednesday.

The letter, which Trump found inside the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office with a little help from Fox News senior White House correspondent Peter Doocy, is addressed ‘Dear President Trump’ and reads as follows:

‘As I take leave of this sacred office I wish you and your family all the best in the next four years. The American people — and people around the world — look to this house for steadiness in the inevitable storms of history, and my prayer is that in the coming years will be a time of prosperity, peace, and grace for our nation.

‘May God bless you and guide you as He has blessed and guided our beloved country since our founding.’

The letter was signed ‘Joe Biden’ and dated Jan. 20, 2025.

On Monday, Trump found the letter — a white envelope addressed to ’47″ — after Doocy asked if Biden left him a letter while he was signing a flurry of executive orders in the Oval Office in front of a gaggle of reporters.

‘He may have. Don’t they leave it in the desk? I don’t know,’ Trump told Doocy before discovering the letter. ‘Thank you, Peter. It could have been years before we found this thing.’

On Tuesday, Trump responded to further questions from Doocy about the contents of the letter.

‘It was a very nice letter,’ Trump told reporters. ‘It was a little bit of an inspirational-type letter. Enjoy it, do a good job. Important, very important. How important the job is.’

‘It was a positive, for him, in writing it,’ Trump continued. ‘I appreciated the letter.’

The presidential tradition of leaving a letter to their successor began in 1989 when President Ronald Reagan left the White House after two terms in office, with former President George H. W. Bush taking over. The tradition has carried on to this day through Presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama, Trump and Biden.

Biden, however, was the first president to find himself in the unique position of writing a letter to someone who is both his successor and the predecessor who left him a note four years earlier. Trump became the first president to serve nonconsecutive terms since Grover Cleveland in the late 1800s.

Biden has said Trump left him a ‘very generous letter,’ but has so far declined to share the content of what Trump wrote, deeming it private.

Fox News Digital’s Greg Wehner contributed to this report.

Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, on Wednesday unveiled a lengthy report that he says serves as a ‘roadmap’ to ‘Make America Healthy Again’ and points to how the flawed American healthcare system impacts ‘national defense.’ 

The 47-page report – titled ‘The Case for Healthcare Freedom’ – is a ‘painstakingly researched’ summary of ‘America’s health crisis and how to address it,’ Roy said.

Its findings include that U.S. healthcare spending had reached $4.9 trillion in 2023. 

As a share of the nation’s gross domestic product (GDP), health spending accounted for 17.6%, and costs are growing around 1% faster than the annual GDP, the report says.

The report argues that ‘if conservatives care about a strong national defense and low taxes, these trends have to be reversed.’ 

‘The Case for Healthcare Freedom lays out a detailed roadmap for how Congressional Republicans can help President Trump deliver on the promise to address America’s health crisis,’ Roy said in a statement. ‘The problem isn’t just health insurance, or Big Pharma, or food additives that are making us unhealthy; it’s the fact that politicians, bureaucrats and corporations are all benefitting from a broken, cronyistic system that lets them put profits over patients with impunity.’ 

Roy argued that right now, Congress has ‘a tremendous opportunity to put American healthcare back on track by embracing the empowerment of patients and doctors through the promotion of expansive health savings accounts in the budget reconciliation process, and we need to take full advantage.’ The congressman went on to say, ‘giving the same actors more power and money won’t work; if we want to Make America Healthy Again, the answer is healthcare freedom. If we want to control our budgets and healthcare spending, the answer is healthcare freedom.’

The wide-ranging report comes just two days after President Donald Trump was sworn into a second term. The pledge to ‘Make America Healthy Again’ became a focal point of Trump’s campaign when Democrat turned Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. dropped out of the race and backed him. Trump tapped Kennedy to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, but his confirmation hearing has not yet been scheduled. 

The report includes criticism of the program providing food welfare assistance for low-income households. 

‘While chronic food illness kills up to 678,000 Americans per year, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) will likely pay over $250 billion on junk food for the next 10 years,’ Roy’s office notes.

The report also targets the coveted weight loss and diabetes drugs championed as ‘miracle medication,’ which has even used by celebrities to drop pounds in recent months. It found the Danish pharmaceutical company, Novo Nordisk, ‘spent at least $25.8 million over the past decade on U.S. medical professionals to promote two of its obesity drugs, Wegovy and Saxenda.’

The report assesses that families and their employers on average in 2024 spent $25,000 annually, or nearly the cost of a company car, for health insurance, and that’s despite ‘the false promise of Obamacare to lower premiums by $2,500 a year.’ The cost of premiums has increased at least 100% since 2010, according to the report. 

‘Obamacare has made healthcare so expensive that it now subsidizes households earning up to $600,000 per year for their health insurance,’ the report says.

In 2024, the report found, four of the top five American industries by revenue were healthcare-related. Those were hospitals, which came in first; drug, cosmetics and toiletry wholesaling, which came second; health insurance, which earned the third place slot; and pharmaceutical wholesaling, which came in fifth. 

The report also discusses how 47% of hospital cash prices are lower than the insurer-negotiated price ‘that people pay hundreds of dollars a month for the privilege of having.’ 

The report argues multiple insurance companies, including UnitedHealth, Anthem/Elevance, and Humana, ‘earn’ a majority of their revenue from taxpayers.

‘We do not have a free market in the healthcare system. The government controls more than 80% of health spending,’ according to a summary of the report provided by Roy’s office. ‘The Left’s solution to fix our healthcare system is spending even more money and giving the government even further control over the healthcare system. ‘Medicare for All’ would cost an additional $33 trillion over 10 years, and it would leave 70% of Americans financially worse off.’ 

President Donald Trump revealed the contents of the letter that President Joe Biden left him upon leaving the Oval Office earlier this week exclusively to Fox News on Wednesday.

The letter, which Trump found inside the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office with a little help from Fox News Senior White House correspondent Peter Doocy, is addressed ‘Dear President Trump’ and reads as follows:

‘As I take leave of this sacred office I wish you and your family all the best in the next four years. The American people – and people around the world – look to this house for steadiness in the inevitable storms of history, and my prayer is that in the coming years will be a time of prosperity, peace, and grace for our nation.

‘May God bless you and guide you as He has blessed and guided our beloved country since our founding.’

The letter was signed ‘Joe Biden’ and dated Jan. 20, 2025.

On Monday, Trump found the letter – a white envelope addressed to ’47″ – after Doocy asked if Biden left him a letter while he was signing a flurry of executive orders in the Oval Office in front of a gaggle of reporters.

‘He may have. Don’t they leave it in the desk? I don’t know,’ Trump told Doocy before discovering the letter. ‘Thank you, Peter. It could have been years before we found this thing.’

On Tuesday, Trump responded to further questions from Doocy about the contents of the letter.

‘It was a very nice letter,’ Trump told reporters. ‘It was a little bit of an inspirational-type letter. Enjoy it, do a good job. Important, very important. How important the job is.’

‘It was a positive, for him, in writing it,’ Trump continued. ‘I appreciated the letter.’

The presidential tradition of leaving a letter to their successor began in 1989 when President Ronald Reagan left the White House after two terms in office, with former President George H. W. Bush taking over. The tradition has carried on to this day through Presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama, Trump and Biden.

Biden, however, was the first president to find himself in the unique position of writing a letter to someone who is both his successor and the predecessor who left him a note four years earlier. Trump became the first president to serve nonconsecutive terms since Grover Cleveland in the late 1800s.

Biden has said Trump left him a ‘very generous letter,’ but has so far declined to share the content of what Trump wrote, deeming it private.

Fox News Digital’s Greg Wehner contributed to this report.