Just weeks before a presidential election in which Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., endorsed former President Trump, excerpts from a new book about the longtime Republican leader reveal a fiery McConnell’s thoughts on the now-GOP presidential nominee, including that he was ‘not very smart, irascible, [and] nasty.’

Despite the quotes from him over the last several years outlined in the biography, McConnell told Fox News Digital in a statement, ‘Whatever I may have said about President Trump pales in comparison to what JD Vance, Lindsey Graham, and others have said about him, but we are all on the same team now.’  

In ‘The Price of Power,’ the leader is quoted saying, ‘I can’t think of anybody I’d rather be criticized by than this sleazeball,’ in 2022, as Trump continued to attack his wife, former Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao, calling her ‘Coco Chow.’ 

McConnell provided a series of oral histories for the forthcoming book by Michael Tackett, deputy Washington bureau chief of the Associated Press. 

In the minority leader’s quotes revealed in the book, he doesn’t hold back, reportedly slamming Trump as ‘stupid,’ ‘erratic,’ a ‘despicable human being,’ and a ‘narcissist.’ 

Despite their publicly strained relationship during and after Trump’s time in office, McConnell announced in March his endorsement of the former president, noting that he ‘earned the requisite support of Republican voters to be our nominee.’ 

Further, when Trump met with Senate Republicans in Washington, D.C., over the summer, he and McConnell shook hands. 

In the weeks after the 2020 presidential election and before the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol riot, McConnell said, ‘It’s not just the Democrats who are counting the days’ until Trump is no longer president. 

He further praised the ‘good judgment of the American people’ for voting Trump out in 2020.

‘They’ve had just enough of the misrepresentations, the outright lies almost on a daily basis, and they fired him,’ he said, according to the excerpt. 

McConnell additionally blamed Trump for the House Republicans losing the majority in the lower chamber in the 2018 midterm elections. He ‘has every characteristic you would not want a president to have,’ he said.

In 2022, the Kentucky Republican reflected on Trump’s 2020 election fraud claims, which continued to repeat. McConnell lamented, ‘Unfortunately, about half the Republicans in the country believe whatever he says.’ 

The Trump campaign did not provide comment to Fox News Digital in time for publication. 

The Senate minority leader announced in February that he would not seek the position again in the next Congress. Reigning since 2007 as Republican leader, McConnell is the longest-serving party leader in the chamber’s history. 

After the presidential election next month, the Republican senators and likely GOP senator-elects will vote in a secret ballot to decide on the next leader. The announced candidates are Senate Minority Whip John Thune, R-S.D., Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, and Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

The world is watching for Israel’s response to Iran’s missile attacks on Oct. 1, and the nation’s U.N. ambassador, Danny Danon, promised it would be ‘very painful’ in order to deter Iran from attacking again in the future. 

Danon emphasized Israel’s authority over the decision on how they strike back at Iran – they won’t be paying much heed to President Biden’s insistence on ‘proportionality.’ 

‘We will decide about the timing, the location,’ he said in an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital. 

‘The regime is vulnerable, and it’s up to us to decide which message we want to send to them,’ Danon went on. ‘It will be very painful for the Iranian regime, and they will think twice in the future whether to attack Israel or not.’

Iran rained down some 200 missiles on Tel Aviv on Oct. 1. A looming counterattack has awaited Iran in the two weeks since – and Biden has urged Israel to avoid striking nuclear or oil facilities and limit the counter-strike to military sites. 

Danon said the world needs to do more to prevent Iran from becoming a nuclear power. 

‘God forbid, if they will have a nuclear bomb,’ said Danon. ‘We all can imagine what they will do with that. So, I don’t think we should wait for that day. I expect the U.S., Europe and other strong democracies to take action against Iran today.’

Since Oct. 7, 2023, Iran has been fighting Israel through its proxies, Hamas and Hezbollah. Its missile attack earlier this month represented the first direct attack from Iran on Israel since April.

Over the past week, Iran’s foreign minister has traversed the Middle East to shore up backing from other nations, including Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Qatar and Jordan. Soon, he’ll travel to Egypt and Turkey. 

In the U.S., Biden has come under pressure from progressives to use leverage and condition aid to Israel to avoid further civilian casualties. 

Once a vocal antagonist of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from the right, Danon insists the Netanyahu government of today is united – even as condemnation for Israel’s actions pours in from other parts of the globe. 

‘We have no place to go. That’s why we stand united, committed to fight back and to protect our people and our nation.’ 

Some have called for a day-after plan once Israel determines its enemies defeated in Gaza and Lebanon. ‘We can speak about reconstruction only after we defeat Hamas,’ Danon said. 

‘All of those who care about the future of the Palestinians in Gaza should support Israel,’ he went on. ‘If we allow Hamas to stay there, there will be no future for Gaza.’

In Gaza, eradicating Hamas, which have controlled the strip since 2006, leaves open the question of who will maintain the authority. 

And as Israel furthers its incursion into Lebanon to push back Hezbollah, Danon called on the local population to starve Hezbollah of its power and reclaim their sovereignty from Tehran’s influence. 

‘I approached the Lebanese people, I even spoke to them in Arabic, I urged them to take responsibility over the future, not to allow Iran to use Lebanon as a launch pad against Israel,’ he said, referring to a United Nations Security Council session earlier this month. 

‘Lebanon is for the Lebanese people, not for the interest of Iran.’

Different from its goal of eradication of Hamas in Gaza, Danon said Israel is looking to push Hezbollah back in Lebanon and away from its own northern border.

‘We want to go back to the situation where Hezbollah is not on the border with Israel according to U.N. Resolution 1701. Hopefully, this time, it will be better implemented,’ said Danon. ‘We are pushing them back, and I hope it will be completed soon.’ 

Resolution 1701, adopted in 2006, established a buffer zone between Israel and Hezbollah, where the terror group is not sitting along Israel’s border. 

United Nations peacekeeping forces, UNIFIL, were tasked with enforcing that resolution, but Hezbollah quickly moved back into the area. 

For the past two weeks, Israel has been telling U.N. peacekeepers to move 5 km (3 miles) back from the so-called Blue Line – a U.N.-mapped line separating Lebanon from Israel and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights – for their own safety.

They’ve so far refused to do so, but Danon said he is still in conversations imploring the UNIFIL troops to relocate for their safety. 

‘We think it’s a mistake [to stay put], but we will continue to do our best to make sure that the U.N. forces are not targeted by accident. But you know, when you are in the crossfire between Hezbollah and the IDF, it’s not safe.’

Danon has often found himself on the front line of tense relations between Israel and the United Nations as the organization has continuously demanded the IDF cease hostilities. 

‘We have seen that the U.N. forgot about the moral issues that they have to advocate for,’ said Danon. 

Asked if he still believed in the U.N. as a force for peace and security, he said: ‘Well, the idea was good… Unfortunately, today, it’s being used by hostile forces to attack the victims and not to condemn those who attack other countries and civilians.’

After allegations of plagiarism levied against Vice President Harris, the New York Times quoted an expert who insisted Republicans were ‘mak[ing] a big deal’ out of minor violations that were ‘an error and not an intent to defraud.’ Meanwhile, speaking to the Washington Post, the same expert blamed Harris’ plagiarism on technical difficulties.

Despite the benign reaction to the revelations of Harris’ plagiarism from her 2009 book about prosecuting crime, the reaction to plagiarism accusations against Joe Biden during his 1987-1988 run for president was much more aggressive, and many, such as the Washington Post, have credited the scandal with derailing his then-campaign.

‘Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr., fighting to salvage his Presidential campaign,’ the New York Times wrote in 1987 after reports he lifted excerpts from other politicians’ speeches to use as his own and plagiarized a paper in law school. They also called the revelations ‘damaging,’ while independent columnist Lewis Grizzard described Biden’s plagiarism as ‘thievery and disinformation.’

The public was concerned enough about Biden’s alleged plagiarism that he was forced to withdraw from his regular duties in Congress, which, at the time, included the Senate confirmation of Supreme Court Justice nominee Robert Bork, to hold an impromptu press conference to answer questions about the ordeal. Roughly a week later, Biden withdrew from the race amid the backlash.

When asked during the press conference if he thought the plagiarism accusations would affect his run for the presidency, Biden said he didn’t think so but conceded it would come down to how the press portrayed it to the American people: ‘You all will make the judgment about that. It will all depend on how you write it. I don’t mean that – I’m not being smart. It will all depend on how the American people look at me. They’re going to look at me and say, ‘Is Joe Biden being honest with me? Or is Joe Biden not being honest with me?’ 

The New York Times’ reporting on Harris’ plagiarism was slammed by Republican critic Christopher Rufo, who was the force behind the Harris account of plagiarism. Rufo, alongside an Austrian plagiarism expert, said they found dozens of violations in Harris’ 2009 book, ‘Smart on Crime: A Career Prosecutor’s Plan to Make Us Safer.’ These reportedly included verbatim passages lifted from news reports at NBC and the Associated Press, as well as sections taken from Wikipedia, all without any citation or quotes indicating it was not her language. Harris also plagiarized excerpts from a Bureau of Justice Assistance report, a report from the Urban Institute and a press release from the John Jay College of Criminal Justice for her book, according to Rufo.

After the New York Times came out with its reporting on the matter, Rufo criticized the paper for ‘lying.’ The Times, which spoke to plagiarism expert Jonathan Bailey, said Rufo only found ‘five sections’ of ‘about 500 words’ that amounted to something problematic. Bailey referred to the alleged plagiarism as an ‘error and not an intent to defraud,’ adding that Rufo was trying to ‘make a big deal of [something minor].’ 

The paper added that ‘none of the passages in question took the ideas or thoughts of another writer.’ Meanwhile, in 1987, the Times slammed claims from Biden that the ideas he reportedly plagiarized came to him spontaneously: ‘Mr. Biden’s borrowing raises questions about how much a candidate can adapt someone else’s language and thoughts, whether he remembers to give credit or not,’ the outlet posited at the time.

Rufo also blasted the Washington Post’s coverage for downplaying the Harris plagiarism allegations. The paper, which spoke to Bailey as well, blamed the ‘errors’ on technical difficulties.

‘Bailey said such errors are not uncommon in material written from the late 1990s to around 2010, a period when electronic research became more common, but plagiarism detection had not yet emerged,’ wrote the Post.

Rufo also drew a contrast between how the Post criticized first lady Melania Trump for what he described as ‘lifting a few turns of phrase’ during a 2016 speech.

‘When Kamala Harris did this more than a dozen times, the paper explained that it was OK because Kamala didn’t know how to use a computer,’ he said.

In addition to alleging plagiarism by Harris, Rufo was also the force behind alleging plagiarism by the former president of Harvard, Claudine Gay. The revelations that Gay had reportedly copied numerous academics over the course of her own academic career subsequently led to her removal as Harvard’s president.

Fox News Digital reached out to the New York Times, the Washington Post and the Harris campaign for comment but did not hear back by press time.

The United States has attacked five military sites controlled by Houthi forces in Yemen by using B-2 bombers for precision strikes against weapons storage locations.

‘U.S. forces targeted several of the Houthis’ underground facilities housing various weapons components of types that the Houthis have used to target civilian and military vessels throughout the region,’ Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III said in a statement. 

‘This was a unique demonstration of the United States’ ability to target facilities that our adversaries seek to keep out of reach, no matter how deeply buried underground, hardened, or fortified.’

Austin said the employment of U.S. Air Force B-2 Spirit long-range stealth bombers demonstrated U.S. global strike capabilities to ‘take action against these targets when necessary, anytime, anywhere.’ 

‘For over a year, the Iran-backed Houthis, Specially Designated Global Terrorists, have recklessly and unlawfully attacked U.S. and international vessels transiting the Red Sea, the Bab Al-Mandeb Strait, and the Gulf of Aden,’ he said. 

The Houthis’ illegal attacks continue to disrupt the free flow of international commerce, threaten environmental catastrophe, and put innocent civilian lives and U.S. and partner forces’ lives at risk, he said. 

Austin said the attack was approved by President Joe Biden.

‘At the direction of President Biden, I authorized these targeted strikes to further degrade the Houthis’ capability to continue their destabilizing behavior and to protect and defend U.S. forces and personnel in one of the world’s most critical waterways.

‘Again, the United States will not hesitate to take action to defend American lives and assets; to deter attacks against civilians and our regional partners; and to protect freedom of navigation and increase the safety and security in these waterways for U.S., coalition, and merchant vessels. 

‘We will continue to make clear to the Houthis that there will be consequences for their illegal and reckless attacks. I am grateful for the professionalism and skill of the brave American troops who took part in today’s actions and who continue to stand guard in defense of our Nation.’

Early assessments by the U.S. Central Command indicate that none of the strikes injured any civilians. Here’s some background about the Houthi effects in the Middle east and throughout shipping corridors in the region:

The Houths have launched at least 270 attacks on U.S. Navy ships, commercial shipping and coalition ships in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden since last November, according to U.S. defense officials
The Houthis have shot down at least eight U.S. MQ-9 Reaper drones since Oct. 7th last year. Each of these drones cost up to $32 million dollars.
Here are the key points to quickly summarize: 
At lease 29 major energy and shipping companies have changed their routes to avoid Houthi attacks
At least 65 countries have been affected by the Houthi attacks, including Russia, Iran and China
Container shipping in the Red Sea has declined by 90% since December of 2023
Shipping through the Red Sea accounts for 10-15% of all international maritime trade
Alternate shipping routes around Africa add 11,000 nautical miles, 1-2 weeks of transit time and $1 million in fuel costs for each voyage
Humanitarian aid for both Sudan and Yemen has been delayed significantly because the ships have to go around Africa

This is a developing story.

The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) announced Wednesday that it will provide Ukraine with an additional $425 million worth of supplies and weapons as it continues to defend itself against Russian forces.

According to a press release from the DoD, this is the 67th tranche of equipment from DoD inventories being sent to Ukraine from the Biden administration since August 2021.

The Presidential Drawdown Authority (PDA) package is estimated to hold a value of about $425 million and will provide Ukraine with the ability to meet its most urgent needs in terms of air defense, air-to-ground weapons, rocket systems and artillery munitions, armored vehicles and anti-tank weapons.

Particularly, the capabilities being provided to Ukraine by the U.S. included additional munitions for National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems (NASAMS); RIM-7 missiles and support for air defense; Stinger anti-aircraft missiles; ammunition for High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS); air-to-ground munitions; 150mm and 105mm artillery ammunition; tube-launched, optically-tracked, wire-guided (TOW) missiles; Javelin and AT-4 anti-armor systems; High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicles (HMMWVs); small arms and ammunition; grenades, thermals and training equipment; demolitions equipment and munitions; and spare parts, ancillary equipment, services, training and transportation.

‘The United States is committed to supporting Ukraine with the equipment it needs to strengthen its position on the battlefield, defend its territory and people from the Kremlin’s brutal aggression, and secure a just and lasting peace,’ Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Wednesday. ‘As President Biden has made clear, the United States and the international coalition we have assembled will continue to stand with Ukraine.’

Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2025, and both sides have made little gains on the battlefield.

As the winter fighting season begins soon, the Ukrainian government needs to step up its efforts to recruit new soldiers, train them and provide the necessary military equipment to win the war, the country said. 

With no end in sight, mobilization is proceeding according to plans laid out by the Ukrainian government.

In April, Ukraine passed a mobilization law to reform the military recruitment process as the war continues and casualties stack up.

Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov told Fox News Digital the aim of the law is to make recruitment more efficient and transparent.

Umerov said that the positive numbers show that Ukrainians are ready to ‘defend their land with weapons in their hands.’

Still, he said Ukraine needs help from its international partners.

‘We have enough troops. However, we need support from international partners in weapons and equipment, and we require it fast.’

Umerov said Ukraine desperately needs modern Western-made air defense systems and a sufficient supply of ammunition for these systems. Ukraine needs a multi-layered air defense system to protect critical infrastructure and long-range capability to strike airfields and other military facilities deep inside Russia. 

So far, the Biden administration has been hesitant to consent to the need for long-range systems for fear of antagonizing Russian President Vladimir Putin and escalating a possible confrontation with Russia.

Official data on Ukrainian battlefield casualties are unreliable, but the U.S. estimates that some 70,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed and between 100,000 and 120,000 wounded. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the goal is to mobilize up to 500,000 additional conscripts for future war efforts. 

Fox News’ Chris Massaro contributed to this report.

A Republican congressman released a new advertisement showing him shooting a Chinese spy balloon out of the sky.

Rep. Mike Flood, R-Neb., is running for a second full term in the House of Representatives, having first won a special election in 2022 to succeed indicted Rep. Jeff Fortenberry.

The 30-second video clip emphasizes Flood’s record as a China hawk by using comments from the congressman himself, while emphasizing China’s imminent threat with a Chinese flag-covered balloon floating across the screen.

‘China is our enemy. Plain and simple. The Chinese Communist Party hacks our computers, buys up land near military bases, and spies on our armed forces, even here in Nebraska,’ Flood says in the ad.

‘That’s why I’m fighting to keep Chinese technology off our cell towers, stop China from buying Nebraska farmland, and protect Americans from Chinese spying and cyberattacks.’

Toward the end of the video, Flood promises to do ‘whatever it takes’ to defend Nebraska while cocking a pistol and blowing the balloon to smithereens. 

It’s a callback to when a suspected Chinese spy balloon entered U.S. airspace and subsequently floated across multiple states, at a level low enough to be seen with the naked eye, before being shot down off the coast of South Carolina after several days.

Republicans used the incident as evidence of their criticism that President Biden has not been tough enough on China, arguing that the surveillance device was sent by the Chinese military with little fear of U.S. reprisal.

Beijing has denied that the balloon was a spying tool.

It comes after new revelations of a swarm of unidentified drones over a sensitive military site in Virginia caused alarm. 

U.S. officials were stumped in December last year when the unidentified aircraft flew over Langley Air Force Base in Virginia for more than two weeks, the Wall Street Journal reported Saturday.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre insisted Wednesday that President Biden is ‘not at all’ holding Vice President Kamala Harris back and has been ‘really clear about passing the torch’ following his decision to drop out of the 2024 race. 

Jean-Pierre made the remark after Biden said last night that Harris is ‘going to cut her own path’ if elected president, and just days after reports emerged of growing tension and miscommunication between the White House and the Harris campaign. 

‘Kamala and I have specific plans to bring down the cost of housing, child care, elder care and more,’ Biden said during a campaign event for Harris in Philadelphia.  

‘Every president has to cut their own path. That’s what I did. I was loyal to Barack Obama, but I cut my own path as president. That’s what Kamala is going to do. She’s been loyal so far, but she’s going to cut her own path,’ Biden added. 

When asked Wednesday at the White House press briefing if Biden feels he has held Harris back, Jean-Pierre said, ‘No, not at all.’ 

‘I’m not going to speak to politics from here, but what I can say more broadly is that every president has the opportunity to cut their own path. And the president has been really clear about passing the torch,’ Jean-Pierre said, ‘and seeing Vice President Harris as a leader from day one.’ 

‘He’s incredibly proud of her. He has supported her from day one,’ she also said. ‘He has said many times the best decision that he made in 2020 was asking her to be his running mate.’

However, an Axios report alleged Sunday that there are growing tensions between the White House and the Harris campaign. 

National political correspondent Alex Thompson reported that ‘many senior Biden aides remain wounded by the president being pushed out of his re-election bid and are still adjusting to being in a supporting role on the campaign trail.’ 

Thompson wrote the main issue with some Harris campaign members is that White House aides ‘aren’t sufficiently coordinating Biden’s messaging and schedule to align with what’s best for the vice president’s campaign.’ 

Thompson cited recent conflicts such as Biden holding an impromptu press conference on Friday while Harris was attending an event in Michigan.  

Another notable incident included Biden complimenting Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis for handling recent hurricanes shortly after Harris criticized DeSantis for not taking her calls. Thompson wrote that a person familiar with the situation said Biden wasn’t briefed on Harris’ comments before praising DeSantis. 

Fox News’ Lindsay Kornick contributed to this report.