Dem Rep Frederica Wilson announces retirement days after denying ‘crazy rumor’ she would leave Congress

The South Florida congresswoman known for bedazzled cowboy hats has been in Congress since 2011

May 29, 2026 2:02pm EDT / Fox News

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Rep. Frederica Wilson, D-Fla., announced Friday she will not seek reelection, ending a long House career just days after she dismissed reports of her looming retirement as a “crazy rumor.”

Wilson, 83, known for her bedazzled cowboy hats and brightly colored suits, represents Florida’s 24th Congressional District, a heavily Democratic South Florida seat that includes parts of northern Miami–Dade County and southeastern Broward County. In Congress since 2011, Wilson has been a frequent critic of President Donald Trump across both of his administrations.

Congresswoman Frederica Wilson (D-FL) speaks at a press conference with other House Democrats on temporary protected status for Haitian immigrants, set to expire in early February, at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., Jan. 22, 2026.(Nathan Posner/Anadolu via Getty Images)

“I think it’s time, and I think I really held on as long as I did because of the 5000 Role Models program, and my concern about the future of it,” the Democratic lawmaker told the Miami Herald, referring to the mentorship program she created for minority boys more than 30 years ago.

The Herald reported that Wilson had made her decision a while back, but wanted to be “politically strategic” about how she went about it.

CONGRESS HAS TWO DOZEN LAWMAKERS 80 OR OLDER; MORE THAN HALF SEEKING RE-ELECTION IN 2026: REPORT

“I figured if I announced that I was retiring, what would the Legislature and the governor do? What would they say? Would District 24 be an easy target because Frederica is no longer there? I’m a strong candidate,” she told the Miami Herald. “With me not here, would that weaken the survival of District 24?”

• Rep. Wilson in hat speaking to reporters: Rep. Frederica Wilson, D-Fla., speaks before attending a congressional field hearing on nursing home preparedness and disaster response in Miami on Oct. 19, 2017.(oe Skipper/Getty Images)
• Rep. Wilson in pink hat at subcommittee hearing: Rep. Frederica Wilson, D-Fla., speaks during a House subcommittee hearing on rail safety and the East Palestine, Ohio, derailment on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on July 23, 2024.(Samuel Corum/Getty Images)
• Rep. Frederica Wilson, D-Fla., speaks at a press conference: Rep. Frederica Wilson, D-Fla., speaks on behalf of keeping Temporary Protected Status in place for Haitians at an American Business Immigration Coalition press conference on Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2026.(Carl Juste/Miami Herald/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
• Rep. Frederica Wilson, D-Fla., adjusting Miami Heat merch: Rep. Frederica Wilson, D-Fla., adjusts Miami Heat memorabilia in her Cannon House Office Building office while showing support for the team during the NBA Finals.(Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call)
• Rep. Frederica Wilson, D-Fla., and then-Democratic National Committee Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., during a news conference: Rep. Frederica Wilson, D-Fla., and then-Democratic National Committee Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., speak during a news conference on funding efforts to combat the spread of the Zika virus on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 7, 2016.(Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
• Rep. Frederica Wilson, D-Fla., questions witnesses in House subcommittee hearing.: Rep. Frederica Wilson, D-Fla., questions witnesses during a House subcommittee hearing examining the Biden administration’s student loan policies on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on May 24, 2023.(Ricky Carioti/The Washington Post via Getty Images))
• Rep. Frederica Wilson, D-Fla., speaks during a forum on violence prevention and school safety measures: Rep. Frederica Wilson, D-Fla., speaks during a forum on violence prevention and school safety measures on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on March 20, 2018.(Cheriss May/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
• Rep. Frederica Wilson, D-Fla., speaks during a congressional field hearing: Rep. Frederica Wilson, D-Fla., speaks during a congressional field hearing on nursing home preparedness and disaster response in Miami on Oct. 19, 2017, following deaths at a Florida nursing home after Hurricane Irma.(Joe Skipper/Getty Images)
• Rep. Frederica Wilson, D-Fla., at a meeting: Rep. Frederica Wilson, D-Fla., attends a district advocate meeting in Miami on Oct. 2, 2019.(John Parra/Getty Images)
• Rep. Frederica Wilson, D-Fla., in a House Judiciary subcommittee hearing: Rep. Frederica Wilson, D-Fla., attends a House Judiciary subcommittee hearing on reparations for descendants of slaves on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on June 19, 2019.(Cheriss May/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Wilson’s future has been in question following a prolonged absence from Capitol Hill. The absence has been attributed to recovery from left eye surgery, though the weekslong stretch away from Washington also fueled broader questions about the 83-year-old lawmaker’s health and future in Congress.

Wilson’s announcement comes after Axios reported several days ago that Wilson had told allies she was preparing to retire, citing multiple sources familiar with the matter. But, Wilson denied the report at the time, telling the outlet it was “a crazy crazy rumor.”

“I’m almost distraught. It’s not true. I am still planning on running,” Wilson reportedly said.

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The outlet added that Wilson had returned to Capitol Hill to vote May 21 following her hiatus from Washington that included missing more than 40 votes, which Republican critics highlighted earlier in May.

https://www.foxnews.com/video/6371897967112

One of Wilson’s highly publicized clashes with Trump came in 2017 after Army Sgt. La David Johnson, a soldier from Miami, was killed in an ambush in Niger. Wilson said she was in the car with Johnson’s widow, Myeshia Johnson, when Trump called to offer condolences.

Meanwhile, Wilson claimed that Trump said on the call that the Army Sgt. “knew what he signed up for” when he became a soldier, a characterization Trump and his aides denied.

The feud escalated further when then-White House chief of staff John Kelly defended Trump from the White House briefing room and attacked Wilson for having a history of politicizing solemn moments to score political points.

Rep. Frederica Wilson, D-Fla., speaks during a House Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials hearing on “Rail Safety. On Thursday, Wilson blamed the Trump administration for a sharp increase in illegal migrant detentions.(Getty Images)

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Wilson and her supporters subsequently demanded an apology from Kelly, arguing he painted her in a false-light about allegedly seeking credit for obtaining funding for a new FBI field office in Miami at a dedication ceremony that included remarks from survivors of a 1986 clash between law enforcement and drug traffickers.

So far, Florida state Sen. Shevrin Jones and Miami-Dade County Commissioner Oliver Gilbert are among those who have reportedly been mulling runs if Wilson retires, NOTUS reported earlier in May.

White House breaks from precedent by not releasing Trump’s medical report

2026-05-29T18:37:03.710Z / https://www.cnn.com/2026/05/29/politics/trump-physical-exam-results

• The White House has not released results from President Donald Trump’s physical exam on Tuesday, breaking from its own past practice of providing medical readouts quickly.
• Trump said on social media that it went “PERFECTLY,” but medical experts say the lack of official disclosure raises concerns about transparency.
• Trump is approaching his 80th birthday and has been facing increased scrutiny over his mental fitness and physical health.

AI-generated summary was reviewed by a CNN editor.

The White House has yet to release any results from President Donald Trump’s most recent physical exam, a break from its own past practice that’s likely to fuel further questions about his health and fitness.

Trump, who is the oldest president to be inaugurated, declared on social media that he was in perfect health following an hourslong visit on Tuesday to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.

But despite promising to provide a summary of the checkup in “the next day or so,” the White House has since offered no additional information — nor has it confirmed that Trump’s physician plans at any point to offer a public readout.

The three-day silence marks a departure from the White House’s handling of Trump’s prior physical exams. After a visit to Walter Reed last April, personal physician Dr. Sean Barbabella summarized the results in a memo released two days later. When Trump returned for another exam in October, Barbabella’s declaration that he remained in “exceptional health” was published later the same day.

This time, Trump has so far served as the only source of information about his own health just weeks out from his 80th birthday.

“It’s unimaginable to me that the White House would not release a statement about the president’s health — even the most basic statement,” said Dr. Jonathan Reiner, a professor at The George Washington School of Medicine & Health Sciences who was the longtime cardiologist for former Vice President Dick Cheney. “It’s going to really spark concerns about the president’s fitness for office if the White House refuses to disclose his medical report.”

Trump has long been cagey about any personal health problems, placing a great deal of value on portraying himself as a pinnacle of strength and vitality. On the campaign trail and in the Oval Office, Trump has made his vigor core to his political identity, boasting frequently about his mental and physical well-being. Past medical readouts often reflected this attitude: In Trump’s first term, then-presidential physician Dr. Ronny Jackson effusively praised his “incredible genes” during an hour-long press conference solely about Trump’s health, held at the president’s insistence.

But as he approaches his eighth decade, Trump’s visible signs of aging — and at-times erratic behavior — have nevertheless intensified scrutiny of his health and demands for more disclosure. And after intense doubts swirled about the mental acuity of former President Joe Biden, the American public is perhaps particularly sensitive nowadays to questions about the commander-in-chief’s physical and cognitive health.

Trump suffers from frequent bruising on both of his hands that he’s taken to covering with heavy makeup. After photos last year captured swelling in his legs, the White House disclosed that Trump was diagnosed with chronic venous insufficiency, a common condition found in older patients. He was spotted with a rash on his neck in March, which Barbabella attributed to a “preventative skin treatment,” though he did not specify why Trump had needed the treatment in the first place. During several meetings and events over the last year, Trump has appeared to doze off — occurrences that he and the White House have vigorously denied. (The president has previously said that the media has “got me in a blink” and quipped that sometimes meetings get “pretty boring.”)

The visit to Walter Reed on Tuesday also marked Trump’s third in the last 13 months — an unusual cadence compared with past presidents’ typical practice of sitting for one exam a year (his Truth Social post after the appointment called it a “6 month physical”). Trump has visited a dentist in Florida twice this year as well, offering little explanation besides insisting the appointments were routine procedures.

While none of those conditions appear alarming on their own, medical experts say, the White House’s reluctance to provider fuller details only makes it more difficult to allay any bigger concerns.

“It would imply that there is information they don’t want the public to hear,” Reiner said of the lack of disclosure about Trump’s most recent exam. “It intensifies the distrust in their transparency.”

The White House declined to comment on the record. In his Truth Social post earlier this week, Trump wrote after his checkup that “Everything checked out PERFECTLY.” Aides have waved off concerns about his fitness and even mocked concerns, rejecting any suggestion that Trump is in anything but peak health.

“It’s 9:30 PM on a Saturday night and President Trump is still in the Oval Office working hard for the American people,” White House communications director Steven Cheung posted on X last weekend. “He’s simply one of one.”

Barbabella has offered similarly effusive praise in his memos following prior exams, though he has not been as unequivocal as the president. The physician wrote last April that Trump “remains in excellent health,” attributing it in part to his “frequent victories in golf events.”

In October, Barbabella praised Trump as having the “cardiovascular vitality” of someone 14 years younger than his chronological age.

“President Donald J. Trump remains in exceptional physical health,” he wrote in a summary of his exam.

Still, Barbabella’s readouts have offered high-level details that medical experts said were critical to ruling out major health concerns and providing some assurance to voters who have grown more attuned to the state of Trump’s health. A February poll found that six in 10 Americans believe Trump has become more erratic with age.

And in recent months, Democrats have shown more willingness to make Trump’s fitness a chief political concern. After a series of posts last month targeting Iran — including a threat that “a whole civilization will die tonight” and urging the nation to “Open the Fuckin’ Strait, you crazy bastards, or you’ll be living in Hell,” some Democratic lawmakers and other critics revived calls for invoking the 25th Amendment and removing Trump from office.

Republicans have dismissed talk of the 25th Amendment, rendering that prospect moot. Trump’s allies have also defended his rhetoric, arguing such threats are central to his negotiating strategy and insisting that he remains as physically and mentally fit as ever before.

Still, Trump has a history of concealing the true nature of past health issues. After contracting Covid-19 during his first term, Trump and his doctors repeatedly offered rosy portrayals of his condition, even as he had to be hospitalized and at some points put on supplemental oxygen.

Those optimistic accounts were punctured when Trump’s then-chief of staff, Mark Meadows, offered a more sobering analysis — which he tried to do anonymously, suggesting he did not have official clearance to do so.

“The president’s vitals over the last 24 hours were very concerning, and the next 48 hours will be critical in terms of his care,” Meadows said at the time.

US Postal Service seeks to require states to submit lists of voters

2026-05-29 16:49:05 UTC / Reuters

By David Shepardson and Susan Heavey

May 29, 2026 4:49 PM UTC Updated 1 hour ago

A mail-in ballot, during the Pennsylvania primary election, is displayed in this illustration picture taken in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S., May 19, 2026. REUTERS/Hannah Beier/Illustration Purchase Licensing Rights

United States Postal ServiceFollow

WASHINGTON, May 29 (Reuters) – The U.S. Postal Service would require states to provide lists of voters ​who received mailed ballots as part of new rules proposed on Friday, ‌one day after a federal judge declined to immediately block President Donald Trump’s related executive order.

The USPS proposal, published in a Federal Register notice, would require states to give the USPS the names and ​barcodes tied to their mail-in ballots for federal elections, but it would not ​apply to primary elections. The public has 30 days to comment on ⁠the plan before the Trump administration can finalize it.

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The Postal Service is proposing ​to require states also provide unique barcodes applied to the outbound and return ballot mail ​envelopes, saying it “will help determine adherence to federal law and facilitate law enforcement efforts.”

On Thursday, Washington-based U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols declined to block Trump’s March 31 order on mail-in ballots but did not ​say whether it was lawful.

A judge in Boston has set a hearing for Tuesday ​on a separate lawsuit filed by Democratic state attorneys general against Trump, the USPS, and others challenging ‌the ⁠voting order.

The order also directed the administration to use federal data to help state election officials verify who is eligible to vote, required the Postal Service to deliver ballots only to voters on each state’s approved mail-in ballot list, and required states to ​preserve election-related records for ​five years.

A group of ⁠Democratic senators said the order illegally seeks to transform USPS “into an election administration agency with the power to determine who can ​vote by mail and to establish ballot specifications.”

Trump, a Republican, has ​for years ⁠pushed the false claim that his 2020 election defeat was the result of widespread voter fraud and has called for tighter rules on voting by mail ahead of the November midterm ⁠elections.

In ​March 2025, Trump forced out Postmaster General Louis DeJoy. ​Current Postmaster General David Steiner has warned the USPS could run out of money by early next year.

Reporting ​by David Shepardson and Susan Heavey; additional reporting by Daphne Psaledakis; Editing by Rod Nickel

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Louisiana lawmakers pass congressional map designed to pick up GOP seat

2026-05-29T13:45:20-0400 / AP

Louisiana lawmakers passed a new congressional map Friday designed to pick up a Republican seat while leaving the state with just one of its two majority-Black House districts represented by Democrats.

Republican Gov. Jeff Landry is expected to sign the new map into law. Approval of the new House map came a month after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the state’s current map as an illegal racial gerrymander, weakening the landmark 1965 federal Voting Rights Act. That decision intensified a national redistricting battle fueled by President Trump’s efforts to protect the Republicans’ slim House majority in the midterm elections.

Louisiana Republicans had considered drawing a map giving the party a shot at winning all six of the state’s U.S. House seats. But that would have required adding more Black voters to Republican-held districts, potentially backfiring with losses. Some Republicans said a 5-1 map better protects U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson from facing a difficult reelection.

In the weeks following the Supreme Court’s decision, several other Republican-controlled Southern states have seized upon a weakened federal Voting Rights Act to try to redraw their own congressional districts. It’s the latest flare-up in a heated national redistricting battle heading into the November elections, spurred along by the president.

So far, Republicans are winning the redistricting contest. But that doesn’t necessarily mean they will win a narrowly divided U.S. House in November. So far, Republicans think they could gain as many as 14 seats from their redistricting efforts, while Democrats think they could gain six seats from new districts in California and Utah.

In Louisiana, Republicans currently hold four of six congressional seats on a court-ordered map drawn in 2024 to comply with the Voting Rights Act by including a second district with a majority-Black population.

That map, however, was challenged in court, and the Supreme Court responded on April 30 by striking it down as an illegal racial gerrymander.

Landry postponed the state’s U.S. House primary, scheduled for May 16, until later this summer to allow time for Republican lawmakers to draw and pass a new map.

The proposed map redraws Democratic Rep. Cleo Fields’ district, clustering it around predominantly white communities in the Baton Rouge area and southern Louisiana. It also adds part of Baton Rouge to a heavily Democratic, majority-Black district based in New Orleans currently represented by Democratic Rep. Troy Carter.

More lawsuits were expected over the new map.

Democrats say the proposed map could still constitute a racial gerrymander because it packs Black voters into a single congressional district. Meanwhile, the plaintiffs in the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision criticized the Legislature’s map for leaving a majority-Black district in place.

Several other Southern states also have acted on redistricting since the Supreme Court’s decision.

Florida’s Legislature passed new congressional districts just hours after the ruling, completing a redrawing that was in the works in anticipation of the decision. It could yield Republicans as many as four additional seats in the midterm elections.

Tennessee adopted new U.S. House districts a week after the ruling, carving up a majority-Black district based in Memphis in a Republican attempt to win an additional seat.

In Alabama, Republicans are attempting to pick up another seat by redrawing two districts where Black residents compose a majority or close to it. Democrats hold both seats, and the proposal is mired in a court battle.

South Carolina’s Senate, meanwhile, decided against redistricting, despite pressure from Mr. Trump.

Judge says Trump can’t add his name to Kennedy Center and blocks planned closure

May 29, 2026 3:05 PM ET / CNN

By Devan Cole
Updated 12 min ago
Updated May 29, 2026, 3:17 PM ET
PUBLISHED May 29, 2026, 3:05 PM ET

The Donald J. Trump and John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts on May 16, 2026 in Washington, DC.

Al Drago/Getty Images

A federal judge on Friday blocked the Kennedy Center from temporarily closing its doors for a yearslong renovation and said its board violated the law when it added President Donald Trump’s name to the historic performing arts venue.

US District Judge Casey Cooper concluded that the law establishing the center “makes crystal clear that the Center is to be named for President Kennedy, and it cannot bear any other formal name or public memorial based on the Board’s unilateral say-so.”

“Congress gave the Kennedy Center its name, and only Congress can change it,” Cooper wrote in his 94-page opinion.

Within two weeks, Cooper ruled, officials must remove any signage from the Kennedy Center that includes Trump’s name and update its website to remove all references to the name “Trump Kennedy Center” or the “Donald J. Trump and John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts.”

He said the center was permanently blocked from “displaying, installing, or maintaining any physical or digital signage on the Kennedy Center building or grounds that designates, suggests, or implies that the institution is named for any person other than President John F. Kennedy.”

CNN has reached out to the Kennedy Center and White House for comment.

Related article U.S. President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump attend the opening night of ‘Chicago’ at the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, renamed by the Trump administration to The Donald J. Trump and The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, in Washington, D.C., U.S., March 31, 2026. REUTERS/Evan Vucci Evan Vucci/Reuters Trump receives warm reception at the Kennedy Center after transforming the arts institution 2 min read

Cooper, an appointee of former President Barack Obama, said the center may still move ahead with renovations to the decades-old building and could later decide to close down the center after its board more fully considered the impact such a move would have on its statutory requirement to maintain some programming at all times.

“There is no evidence that the Board took account of its full range of statutory obligations in determining that a wholesale shuttering of the Kennedy Center was appropriate,” he wrote in a lengthy ruling issued Friday. “In short, there is no evidence before the Court that the Kennedy Center Board of Trustees considered how it would accomplish its full legislative mandate during the closure period.”

This story is breaking and will be updated.

New Jersey agitators bite, kick and punch ICE agents as Delaney Hall clashes continue; 9 more arrested: DHS

2026-05-29T12:19:24-04:00 / Fox News

Federal agents use pepper spray as Newark detention demonstrations intensify

By Charles Creitz, Robert McGreevy Fox News

Published May 29, 2026 12:19pm EDT

ICE agents deploy pepper spray and beat back agitators in tense Delaney Hall detention center standoff

ICE agents deploy pepper spray and beat back agitators in tense Delaney Hall standoff on the sixth night of anti-ICE demonstrations in Newark, New Jersey.

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Anti-U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) demonstrations continued to escalate Thursday night at Newark, New Jersey’s Delaney Hall detention center, as rioters bit, kicked and punched agents.

Agents responded by deploying pepper spray and beating back agitators on the sixth night of demonstrations.

Nine rioters were arrested during the clashes Thursday, the Department of Homeland Security told Fox News Digital.

Approximately 100 agitators mobbed the area surrounding the detention center, chanting “F— ICE” and brandishing black umbrellas, gas masks and other gear to protect themselves from pepper spray and various anti-riot measures.

WATCH: POLICE ABSENT FROM DELANEY HALL CHAOS AS AGITATORS BLOCK ICE VEHICLES AND AGENTS USE PEPPER SPRAY

https://www.foxnews.com/video/6396944890112

ICE agents pushed heavily into the crowd, beating back agitators and deploying pepper spray as crowds screamed but continued to physically confront the agents.

Photos from the scene, captured by Fox News Digital, showed agitators washing eyes out after being exposed to pepper spray.

An anti-ICE agitator gets his eye washed out after being exposed to pepper spray during a demonstration at Delaney Hall detention center in Newark, New Jersey.(Rashid Umar Abbasi for Fox News Digital.)

“On the evening of May 28th, approximately 100 anti-ICE rioters gathered around the Delaney Hall ICE facility. Rioters bit, kicked, and punched law enforcement officers,” DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin said in a statement to Fox News Digital.

“Governor Sherrill refused to allow state police to assist our officers,” he added. “Assaulting and obstructing ICE law enforcement is a crime and felony. Throughout the night, nine rioters were arrested. Anyone who assaults law enforcement will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”

“Law and order will prevail,” Mullin added.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents stand outside Delaney Hall detention center in Newark, New Jersey.(Rashid Umar Abbasi for Fox News Digital.)

Amid the intense altercations, Fox News Digital captured a Newark Police Department squad car briefly driving by the scene. The appearance was notable as local police have largely refrained from assisting federal forces in containment measures, according to Mullin.

https://www.foxnews.com/video/6396946780112

On Wednesday evening, DHS reported that approximately 100 anti-ICE rioters gathered around the Delaney Hall ICE facility. While rioters assaulted and threw objects at law enforcement, DHS said “local police refused to help our officers.” Six rioters were arrested Wednesday night for allegedly assaulting law enforcement officers.

“We called local police, we called state police multiple times. Listen, I know the law enforcement there would love to respond, but because of Governor Sherrill’s behavior what the governor is doing, she’s not allowing public officers and state officers to respond,” Mullin said during a Thursday morning appearance on Fox & Friends.

Demonstrations over conditions for detainees began Friday, May 22, after detainees penned an open letter claiming they were being denied access to medical care, being insufficiently fed and detained without due process.

SOMETHING TO HIDE? ICE UNDER FIRE FOR SUBSTANDARD CONDITIONS AT FOR-PROFIT DETENTION CENTER

DHS denied the veracity of those claims.

“The facts are all detainees are provided with three meals a day, clean water, clothing, bedding, showers, soap, and toiletries. Illegal aliens also have access to phones to communicate with their family members and lawyers,” the department said in a statement.

Rep. Dan Goldman, D-N.Y., stands outside the Delaney Hall Detention Center in Newark, New Jersey.(Rashid Umar Abbasi for Fox News Digital.)

Still, agitators continued to brawl with ICE agents, buoyed by frequent appearances from prominent Democratic lawmakers. In addition to New Jersey’s Democratic Gov. Mikie Sherrill and Sen. Andy Kim, D-N.J., New York lawmakers such as Rep. Dan Goldman, D-N.Y., and Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., showed up as well.

Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., stands outside the Delaney Hall Detention Center in Newark, New Jersey.(Rashid Umar Abbasi for Fox News Digital.)

Federal authorities are currently trying to track down agitators who allegedly made direct threats to kill federal agents and their families on Wednesday night.

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche told Fox News’ Will Cain that an agitator, who told an ICE agent, “Your children, your wife, all dead. I have your face motherf—–, you’re dead,” committed a federal crime by doing so.

“Think about how disgusting this individual is, threatening his family and his children with death. What is this man doing? He’s just doing his job standing there,” Blanche said.

ICE agents and agitators stand off at Delaney Hall in Newark on May 27, 2026.(Rashid Umar Abbasi for Fox News Digital)

“I promise you, we will find him and when we find him we will arrest him,” Blanche vowed.

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Sherrill, for her part, blamed ICE agents for the violence and said that her administration will continue supporting the demonstrators. The governor categorized the demonstrators as peaceful.

Sherrill also announced that the state’s Department of Health conducted a health inspection on a limited part of Delaney Hall.

Fox News Digital contacted Newark Police, Sherrill’s office and representatives for Goldman and Nadler for additional comment.

Charles Creitz is a reporter for Fox News Digital.

He joined Fox News in 2013 as a writer and production assistant.

Charles covers media, politics and culture for Fox News Digital.

Charles is a Pennsylvania native and graduated from Temple University with a B.A. in Broadcast Journalism. Story tips can be sent to charles.creitz@fox.com.

Zelenskyy says Ukraine bracing for “big attacks” by Russia in next 24 hours

May 29, 2026 / 3:52 PM EDT / CBS News

Washington — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told CBS News Friday that Ukraine is bracing for “big attacks” by Russia as soon as Friday or Saturday night.

In an exclusive interview with “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan,” Zelenskyy said Ukraine has received intelligence indicating that the assault from Russia will involve drones, as well as cruise and ballistic missiles.

“Our people have to be very, very careful, cautious, and children — and they have to use bomb shelters,” he said, “because today at night or tomorrow at night, high percent — of course, nobody knows 100% — but there is a high percent.”

Zelenskyy also thanked the U.S. and European partners for sharing intelligence on Russia’s plans, but he indicated that Ukraine is in need of defensive weapons to intercept incoming Russian missiles. In a letter to Congress and President Trump dated Tuesday, the Ukrainian president pressed the U.S. for more Patriot missile systems, citing what he described as an “especially cruel massive attack” carried out by Russia on Sunday that left two dead and 83 wounded.

As part of that bombardment, Russia launched 600 drones and dozens of cruise and ballistic missiles, among them an intermediate-range hypersonic ballistic missile, which has nuclear capabilities. It was the most significant aerial assault on the capital city of Kyiv since the war began in 2022.

“We used all our weapons, what we have, what we produce, and of course we used anti-ballistic missiles,” Zelenskyy said of Ukraine’s response to the assault on the 25th. “It’s the biggest deficit for us.”

Russia launched another round of attacks outside of Kyiv, including on infrastructure located along the shared Romanian-Ukrainian border. One of its drones entered the airspace of NATO-member Romania, and struck an apartment building in the country, according to the Romanian defense ministry.

A number of NATO countries have attributed the attack to Russia, though the U.S. has not done so. NATO spokesperson Martin O’Donnell told CBS News in a statement that the alliance concurs that the drone was Russian, and NATO jets were scrambled.

A senior NATO military official said it “detected and tracked the Russian drone, but it entered Romanian airspace only minutes before striking the apartment building in Galați.”

In a news conference Friday, Russian President Vladimir Putin sought to blame Ukraine and said the origin of the drone can’t be determined until the wreckage is examined.

A Russian drone also hit a Turkish-owned cargo ship in the Black Sea, wounding two crew members, Ukraine’s Navy said.

Both Romania and Turkey are members of NATO. The 32-member alliance, which includes the U.S., denounced “reckless behavior” by Russia and pledged to “defend every inch of Allied territory.”

The U.S. ambassador to NATO, Matthew Whitaker, posted on X Friday morning, “We stand with our NATO Ally Romania and condemn this reckless incursion on its territory. Our thoughts are with the injured in Galati. We will defend every inch of NATO territory.”

Zelenskyy said he believes the attacks are part of an effort by Putin to pressure Ukraine’s neighbors not to help his country.

“Russia uses this just to attack politically, by weapon, pressure on NATO countries to look at the reaction,” he said. “I think the reaction has to be more strong from the unity of NATO countries, and I think that Putin is comparing how this reaction and how it’s changed during this one year or two years, three years.”

Zelenskyy said the attacks could also be a way for Putin to test NATO countries’ air defenses.

“He’s testing what air defense they have,” he said. “Can they destroy all the missiles or drones? This is what I think.”

_See more of Zelenskyy’s interview on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan” on Sunday at 10:30 a.m. ET on_CBS stations_and streaming on_Paramount+_. The full conversation will be posted on_YouTube_and_CBSnews.com_.

Margaret Brennan contributed to this report.

By Zachary Cohen, Josh Campbell

25 min ago

PUBLISHED May 29, 2026, 3:35 PM ET

Construction continues for the upcoming UFC match on the South Lawn of the White House on May 26, 2026.

Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

Senior Pentagon leaders are putting together lists of uniformed US service members who will be offered the chance to attend the UFC fight at the White House next month hosted by President Donald Trump, but tickets will only be given to those who meet weight requirements that are part of military fitness standards, according to guidance memos reviewed by CNN and sources familiar with the process.

“Ticket recipients are required to meet the DOW waist-to-height ratio standard of less than 0.55, as well as all service specific physical fitness test requirements,” one of the memos sent to service members says, using the Pentagon’s preferred acronym for the agency.

That figure is roughly in line with standards for service members that the Defense Department put in place earlier this year when it made waist-to-height ratio the new body composition standard for measuring a service member’s “warfighting readiness.” It is part of an intense focus on physical fitness by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who described his vision for the military in a speech to senior uniformed leaders last year.

There will be no “fat troops” or “fat generals and admirals in the halls of the Pentagon,” Hegseth said in the October during a speech at Marine Base Quantico, Virginia.

The Pentagon declined to comment on the guidance about the UFC event.

One defense official said the selection requirements for Trump’s made-for-TV UFC event send a very clear message to soldiers interested in attending: “No fattys.”

Another defense official familiar with the approval process said senior Pentagon leaders have signaled their preference that DoD attendees “look good” on camera during the event. “Basically, no fat soldiers,” the person said.

The guidance also directs commanders to only distribute tickets to “genuine UFC fans” and to focus on selecting junior enlisted and junior officers, according to the memos reviewed by CNN.

And while the Pentagon guidance recommends military leaders recruit attendees who live outside the nation’s capital, it notes that service members will be required to pay their own way, though the tickets are free.

The Pentagon has tightly orchestrated the optics of Trump’s appearances with US troops, including at his previous visit to Ft. Bragg where soldiers were handpicked for the audience based on political leanings and physical appearance. The troops ultimately selected to be behind Trump and visible to the cameras were almost exclusively male.

US immigration agent arrested in Texas for Minneapolis shooting

2026-05-29T17:40:32.131Z / Reuters

Federal agents stand guard, as tensions rise after federal law enforcement agents were involved in a shooting incident, a week after a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent fatally shot Renee Nicole Good, in north Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S., January 14, 2026. REUTERS/Ryan Murphy/File Photo

• Summary

• Christian Castro faces assault and false reporting charges for shooting Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis
• Castro is second federal agent charged by Hennepin County attorney this year
• DHS retracted initial account, Justice Department dropped prosecution of Sosa-Celis

May 29 (Reuters) – A U.S. immigration agent was arrested in Texas on Friday, nearly two ‌weeks after a Minnesota prosecutor charged him with assaulting a Venezuelan man in a non-fatal shooting in Minneapolis this year.

Christian Castro, an agent with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, faces four counts of second-degree assault and one count of falsely ​reporting a crime for shooting Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis in the leg on January 14, at ​the height of President Donald Trump’s aggressive and hotly protested deportation surge in Minnesota.

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Investigators ⁠from Minnesota’s Bureau of Criminal Apprehension found Castro in Texas and traveled there, Hennepin County Attorney ​Mary Moriarty, the chief state prosecutor in Minneapolis, said in a statement. He was arrested by Texas ​Rangers and agents from the Department of Homeland Security’s inspector general’s office, which oversees ICE.

TWO FEDERAL OFFICIALS CHARGED THIS YEAR

Sosa-Celis was shot during the chaotic weeks of Operation Metro Surge, which saw hundreds of masked, armed agents roaming the streets ​of Minnesota’s biggest cities looking for immigrants. Also in January, immigration agents shot dead two U.S. ​citizens on Minneapolis streets on different days: Renee Good and Alex Pretti.

In each instance, Trump and other administration officials defended ‌the ⁠federal agents and blamed the victims for the violence, outraging many Minnesotans. It is unusual for state prosecutors to charge federal law enforcement officials, but Castro is the second federal official to be charged by Moriarty’s office this year.

She is also suing the Trump administration for access to evidence in the killings ​of Good and Pretti, ​and said she is ⁠weighing whether to prosecute the agents who killed them.

In the case of Sosa-Celis, DHS retracted its account of his shooting after saying the ICE agents ​involved had lied, and the Justice Department dropped its prosecution of Sosa-Celis. Two ICE ​officers, who ⁠were not named at the time, were put on administrative leave and may face federal prosecution for false statements, according to DHS.

A spokesperson for DHS did not respond to a request for comment about Castro’s arrest, ⁠and it ​was not immediately clear whether Castro had an attorney. A ​DHS spokesperson had previously called the state charges against Castro “a political stunt.” A spokesperson for the department’s inspector general did not ​respond to queries.

Reporting by Jonathan Allen in New York; Additional reporting by Ted Hesson; Editing by Rod Nickel

No tax charges filed in Southern Poverty Law Center probe, after IRS lawyers determined informant program legally structured, sources say

2026-05-29T14:49:00-0400 / https://www.cbsnews.com/news/tax-probe-southern-poverty-law-center/

Federal agents previously investigated the Southern Poverty Law Center’s paid informant program for possible tax crimes, but the probe failed to yield any charges after Internal Revenue Service lawyers determined it was legally structured, sources familiar with the matter told CBS News.

Agents from IRS Criminal Investigation in 2019 and 2020 homed in on shell bank accounts that a former chief financial officer at the civil rights nonprofit opened to pay informants in exchange for intelligence about hate groups. The agents sought to determine whether the SPLC unlawfully failed to file tax returns for those payments, sources said.

But a Treasury Department rule exempts 501(c)(3) nonprofits from filing tax returns in connection with payments to informants who provide information about potential criminal activity. As a result, IRS lawyers later cautioned against seeking an indictment on tax charges, several of the sources said.

A spokesperson for IRS Criminal Investigation declined to comment. A spokesperson for the Justice Department declined to comment beyond its filings in the criminal case.

The tax portion of the investigation, which has not been previously reported, was initiated during President Trump’s first term as an expansion of an FBI probe into whether that same former chief financial officer may have embezzled money from the SPLC, the sources said.

The Justice Department in April obtained an 11-count wire and bank fraud indictment against the SPLC over the center’s informant program, alleging it defrauded its donors and duped its banks by creating shell accounts to funnel money to insiders who belonged to the same hate groups it pledged to dismantle.

The group denies wrongdoing and has pleaded not guilty.

The indictment does not contain any tax-related charges, though the Justice Department press release credited IRS Criminal Investigation with assisting the FBI with its probe.

The same day the indictment was made public, the Treasury Department’s X account lauded the case, posting, “This Administration will not look the other way as nonprofits exploit tax-exempt status to commit fraud. Treasury is committed to identifying and eliminating fraud, abuse of tax-exempt benefits, and other illicit conduct.”

The SPLC’s lawyers discussed the prior investigation Tuesday in a motion to dismiss that alleges vindictive prosecution. In the motion, the lawyers wrote that federal agents from the FBI and IRS previously subpoenaed bank records and interviewed at least two informants and a former employee, but ultimately did not seek criminal charges.

They added that when the case was reopened during Mr. Trump’s second term, prosecutors did not request any documents from the SPLC or seek interviews with any current employees until prosecutors informed the nonprofit it planned to seek an indictment.

At least one person who was interviewed by IRS agents in 2020 during Mr. Trump’s first term told CBS News that no one from the federal government has reached out since then to follow up.

The person, who asked to remain anonymous, is an expert on hate groups who was paid through SPLC’s informant program to help educate law enforcement organizations.

“They asked me about what they paid me for and how they went about paying me. I was in there all of maybe 15 minutes,” the person recalled.

At least some of the SPLC informants the IRS interviewed as part of the investigation in 2020 have since died, several of the sources told CBS.

From victim to target

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche claimed during an interview on Fox News’ “The Ingraham Angle” in April that the Biden administration opened the investigation into the SPLC and later closed it.

“We know that this investigation was opened during the Biden administration and then mysteriously closed … I really don’t have any information about why it was closed, and then we started again last year,” he said.

But sources familiar with the matter said that the probe was in fact launched by the FBI in 2018 during the first Trump administration, while Jeff Sessions was attorney general. Initially, FBI agents treated the nonprofit as a possible victim of theft by its then-chief financial officer, who had control over the organization’s bank accounts, the sources told CBS News.

The investigation was expanded to include possible tax violations in 2019, and in 2020 IRS agents interviewed informants and others who were paid by the SPLC, but the case never resulted in charges against the SPLC or the former chief financial officer, the sources said.

CBS News could not determine why the case was not pursued.

One source said the case was still technically listed as open in early 2021, when President Joe Biden took office, though much of the investigative activity appears to have taken place in the first Trump administration.

Several senior Justice Department and IRS officials in the Biden administration were not aware of the existence of the investigation until recently, when the indictment was made public, sources told CBS News.

Several senior former Justice Department officials who served during Mr. Trump’s first term also could not recall hearing about or being briefed on the case when it was first being investigated.

It was not immediately clear how or why the Justice Department decided to reexamine the case. However, Attorney General Pam Bondi last year instructed the FBI to go back and examine all of its old files to locate cases involving nonprofits that could allegedly be involved in funding acts of domestic terrorism.

The Justice Department reopened the investigation in 2025 and IRS agents re-interviewed at least one of SPLC’s former informants who had ties to multiple neo-Nazi groups, several of the sources said.

But lawyers at the IRS tasked with reviewing potential criminal tax cases before they are presented to the Justice Department did not concur with proceeding with a prosecution when they were presented with the case in February, several sources told CBS News.

In their review, the attorneys cited a U.S. Treasury regulation that explicitly exempts nonprofit groups like the SPLC from filing tax returns in connection with payments made “to an informer as an award, fee, or reward for information relating to criminal activity.”

They also noted that investigators found the CFO had created the shell bank accounts with assistance from at least some of the bank employees, several sources said, with one source adding that the employees understood the accounts were related to SPLC.

That fact could be potentially exculpatory information for the bank fraud charges against the Southern Poverty Law Center because it raises questions about whether the banks were misled about the opening of the accounts.

To prove the bank fraud charges, prosecutors would have to convince a jury beyond a reasonable doubt that the Southern Poverty Law Center had made false statements with an intent to influence the bank to take certain actions.

The indictment does not charge any individuals from the Southern Poverty Law Center with wrongdoing. It references the former CFO and a former intelligence project director, saying they were responsible for creating the shell bank accounts.

The former CFO referenced in the indictment retired from the center several years ago. The former official was reputed to be a stickler on expense reports, several sources told CBS News. No charges were ever filed against the former CFO.

Attempts by CBS News to reach the former CFO were unsuccessful.

Blanche has said the investigation remains ongoing, and Acting U.S. Attorney Kevin Davidson for the Middle District of Alabama told reporters outside the courthouse in May there could be a superseding indictment.

Daniel Klaidman and Michael Kaplan contributed to this report.