法国航母抵达阿拉伯海 为护航行动做准备

2026年5月16日 16:34 / 联合早报

法国航母抵达阿拉伯海 为护航行动做准备

4月27日，法国航空母舰“戴高乐”号在北约“海王星打击26-2”联合军事演习结束后，停泊在希腊克里特岛附近海域。 （法新社）

法国海军戴高乐号航空母舰已抵达并部署在阿拉伯海，为霍尔木兹海峡多国护航行动做准备。

据新华社报道，法国国防部部长级代表吕福星期五（5月15日）接受法国商业调频电视台访问时说，法国立场是为恢复霍尔木兹海峡通航“提供可能性”，法国的做法完全是防御性且符合国际法。

戴高乐号5月6日穿过苏伊士运河，随后在吉布提的后勤支援点停留数日。

法国总统马克龙10日说，通过部署军事力量重开霍尔木兹海峡“从来不是法国的选项”。他表示，护航行动由法国和英国共同主导，旨在与伊朗展开协商，并与区域国家及美国沟通，防止冲突，确保在条件具备时恢复霍尔木兹海峡航运。

马克龙和英国首相斯塔默4月17日在巴黎主持召开国际会议，重点讨论通过外交途径结束当前中东冲突、重新开放霍尔木兹海峡、局势稳定后为海峡航运提供安全保障等议题。两国将在条件允许时牵头一项防御性多国行动，以保障霍尔木兹海峡航运安全。

Hamas commander who helped plan Oct. 7 attacks has been killed, Israel says

May 16, 2026 / 7:41 AM EDT / CBS News

By Kerry Breen

A long-serving Hamas commander who replaced Mohammed Sinwar and helped plan the Oct. 7 attacks in Israel was killed on Friday, Israeli officials said Saturday.

Izz al-Din al-Haddad was the head of Hamas’ military wing, the Israel Defense Forces said in a news release. The IDF said he “was involved in the holding of many Israeli hostages in Hamas captivity” amid the war in Gaza and “surrounded himself with hostages to prevent his elimination.”

Haddad joined Hamas during its early establishment, according to the IDF. He maintained close ties with Hamas leadership before his death, and recently operated “to rehabilitate Hamas’ military wing capabilities,” the Israeli army said.

Izz al-Din al-Haddad. Israel Defense Forces

“This is an important closing of a circle. In all the conversations I had with the abductees who returned, the name of the master murderer, Iz al-Din Haddad … came up time and time again,” IDF chief of staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir said in a statement.

The Israeli army said Haddad was killed in a “precise strike” in Gaza City. Haddad’s family also confirmed his death to The Associated Press. His funeral was held in Gaza City on Saturday.

The AP reported two Israeli strikes in Gaza City on Friday. One targeted a building and another a vehicle, the AP reported. Health officials in the Palestine Red Crescent Society’s Saraya Field Hospital and Shifa hospital told the AP seven people were killed and dozens more were wounded in the strikes. Haddad’s family told the AP that he was killed alongside six others.

US aircraft carrier returns home after record deployment that included Iran war, Maduro capture

Published May 16, 2026, 5:00 AM ET / CNN

By Sean Lyngaas

Sailors conduct routine operations on the flight deck of the USS Gerald R. Ford while underway in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea, on March 22, 2026.

Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Tajh Payne/US Navy

The USS Gerald R. Ford, America’s largest and newest aircraft carrier, is set to return to port in Virginia Saturday after nearly a year at sea that included participating in the capture of former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, the Iran war, a shipboard fire, and repeated plumbing issues.

It will go down in history as the longest operational deployment by a carrier since the end of the Vietnam War, a voyage that has seen the ship serve as a focal point for a string of President Donald Trump’s military objectives overseas.

For families of the sailors, it’s a long-awaited end to what has been a nerve-wracking year when their service members were regularly participating in military operations that dominated the news.

“Now I can actually relax and breath and go back to a normal sleeping pattern,” Amini Osias, whose daughter is an aviation electrician who served on the Ford, told CNN. He said he planned to go out to eat with his daughter, hear her account of the deployment and just be a dad with her.

It was a rough journey at times. A fire broke out in the Ford’s laundry area in March that took the crew roughly 30 hours to put out, clean up and prevent from reigniting. Some 600 sailors lost access to their bunks due to the damage, but none were seriously injured. The damage meant the ship couldn’t do laundry for a stretch, adding to the challenges for the crew.

The fire happened months into the ships’ deployment after it had already experienced repeated issues with its toilet system that resulted in intermittent partial outages, a hassle for the crew that required a port visit for repairs.

Even though the Ford is technically advanced and the newest carrier in the fleet, Osias said, families of the sailors “still had those doubts that something can happen.” He cited the fire as a cause for worry.

Current and former military officials say the $13 billion ship has been indispensable in the US military operations in Iran and Venezuela. For the Venezuela operation the ship launched aircraft that participated in the capture mission, and in Iran the ship served as a platform to send wave after wave of fighter jets into action.

The ship’s electronic catapult system allows it to launch anything from small drones to big aircraft, giving commanders an array of firepower options, Brent Sadler, a 26-year veteran of the Navy and former submarine officer, previously told CNN. The other 10 US aircraft carriers don’t have that capability, according to Sadler.

After pulling away from Virginia last June, the Ford moved across the Atlantic, initially heading to the Mediterranean and up to Norway as part of its scheduled trip before being pulled to the Caribbean for the operation to capture Maduro in January. Then the ship was ordered to rapidly make its way to aid in a potential Middle East war, where it contributed to Iran war operations, until it began heading home and passed into the Atlantic from the Mediterranean Sea earlier this month.

研究：穿冷背心 六周可减脂近1公斤

2026年5月16日 17:20 / 联合早报

学者指出，每天接触低温会激活棕色脂肪，促使它利用体内储存的脂肪来产生热量。 （档案照片）

（伦敦讯）英国和荷兰一项针对47名超重或肥胖者进行的实验显示，穿冷背心或每天洗冷水澡可能有助于减重。

据《卫报》报道，英国诺丁汉大学和荷兰莱顿大学医学中心的研究人员让一半参与者每天早上穿着冷背心和腰带两小时，同时继续他们的日常生活。

参与者把冷背心和腰带穿在薄T恤外面，里头装有凝胶冷却包，这些冷却包前一晚放在冷冻库内，能保持15摄氏度的温度。

结果显示，这些参与者在六周后平均减重0.9公斤，而且减的几乎全是脂肪；对照组则平均增重0.6公斤。

诺丁汉大学教授巴奇说：“每天接触低温会激活棕色脂肪，它利用体内储存的脂肪来产生热量……穿冷背心可能会促使棕色脂肪更加活跃，并对体内的脂质、血糖和炎症产生有益影响。这些因素都有助于预防心血管疾病。”

莱顿大学医学中心的首席研究员布恩指出，这种“冷暴露”（cold exposure）方法可作为健康饮食和运动以外的一个简单和低成本的辅助减肥方式。

研究团队目前正进一步研究冷水淋浴是否也能带来类似效果，并希望未来能找到一种可融入日常生活的冷暴露减肥方法。

学者指出，每天接触低温会激活棕色脂肪，促使它利用体内储存的脂肪来产生热量。 （档案照片）

（伦敦讯）英国和荷兰一项针对47名超重或肥胖者进行的实验显示，穿冷背心或每天洗冷水澡可能有助于减重。

据《卫报》报道，英国诺丁汉大学和荷兰莱顿大学医学中心的研究人员让一半参与者每天早上穿着冷背心和腰带两小时，同时继续他们的日常生活。

参与者把冷背心和腰带穿在薄T恤外面，里头装有凝胶冷却包，这些冷却包前一晚放在冷冻库内，能保持15摄氏度的温度。

结果显示，这些参与者在六周后平均减重0.9公斤，而且减的几乎全是脂肪；对照组则平均增重0.6公斤。

诺丁汉大学教授巴奇说：“每天接触低温会激活棕色脂肪，它利用体内储存的脂肪来产生热量……穿冷背心可能会促使棕色脂肪更加活跃，并对体内的脂质、血糖和炎症产生有益影响。这些因素都有助于预防心血管疾病。”

莱顿大学医学中心的首席研究员布恩指出，这种“冷暴露”（cold exposure）方法可作为健康饮食和运动以外的一个简单和低成本的辅助减肥方式。

研究团队目前正进一步研究冷水淋浴是否也能带来类似效果，并希望未来能找到一种可融入日常生活的冷暴露减肥方法。

Trump says Iran war is worth the economic pain. These rural voters agree.

2026-05-16 10:14:25 UTC / Reuters

By Brad Brooks

May 16, 2026 10:14 AM UTC Updated 1 hour ago

[1/5]Amy Van Duyn stands for a portrait outside the gas station where she works in Wiggens, Colorado, U.S., May 11, 2026. REUTERS/Kevin Mohatt

Summary

• Rural Colorado Trump supporters accept higher gas prices for Iran policy goals
• Many cite willingness to sacrifice economically to prevent Iranian nuclear threat
• Some express doubts about quick relief, but prefer Trump over Democrats
• Trump’s economic approval rating has declined sharply

WIGGINS, Colorado, May 16 (Reuters) – Perched behind the cash register at Stubs liquor store, Amy Van Duyn gazed out the window at a red-and-green gasoline price sign, which she ​said seemed to tick up daily.

The price was $4.34 per gallon – about 50% higher than it was in these parts when President Donald Trump returned to the White House last ​year.

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“I used to fill my tank for $36,” said Van Duyn, 42. “Now $36 gets me half a tank.”

Her co-worker Tonyah Bruyette said when it’s time to buy groceries, she’s left wondering where all her money went: “We’re putting it in the tank rather than on our table.”

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Like most people in and around Wiggins, a farming town of 1,400 people in northeast Colorado, Van Duyn and Bruyette remain ardent supporters of the president, who won surrounding Morgan County by 49 percentage points in 2024.

Nationally, ​Trump’s political fortunes appear to be waning. His war with Iran has sent fuel prices soaring past $4.50 a gallon nationwide, and a Reuters/Ipsos poll last month found nearly 8 in 10 Americans ​hold the president responsible for higher gasoline prices.

Trump was asked this week if people’s economic woes were motivating him to reach a deal with Tehran. “I don’t ⁠think about Americans’ financial situation,” he responded. “The only thing that matters when I’m talking about Iran, they can’t have a nuclear weapon.”

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Democrats seized on the comments as evidence of an administration losing touch with ​an anxious public. Only 30% of U.S. adults approved of Trump’s handling of the economy as of a May Reuters/Ipsos poll, an issue that had long been one of his political strengths.

But in two dozen recent interviews along ​Colorado’s Highway 52 — a two-lane blacktop road punctuated by grain elevators, feedlots and oil pumpjacks — Trump voters echoed the president’s logic.

Across Morgan and Weld counties, which haven’t voted for a Democrat in a presidential election since 1964, voters were willing to pay more for gas if it meant eliminating a possible Iranian nuclear threat. Energy prices had also spiked under President Joe Biden, many said.

Some begrudgingly stood by Trump because of their distaste for Democrats; others expressed faith the president ​had a plan to bring costs down. It was a testament to the durable, personal bond Trump has built with his base, allowing him to weather multiple crises across his two terms.

“It feels like ​he hears us,” said Bruyette, “that he is fighting for us.”

‘WILLING TO SACRIFICE’

About 25 miles southwest of Wiggins, Jim Miller was elbows-deep in the engine of his ailing Dodge pickup.

A 65-year-old retired commodities broker raised in the liberal city ​of Boulder who ⁠now lives in tiny Prospect Valley, Miller considers himself “half-hippie, half-cowboy.”

He said enduring the momentary pain of high gas prices was worth preventing Iran from pursuing a nuclear weapon.

Miller recalled stories of American resilience during World War II, when goods were rationed and households lived with less.

“I struggle, like everybody else does, but I’m willing to sacrifice a little,” Miller said. “That’s been totally lost in this country, people’s willingness to sacrifice.”

In the unincorporated town of Roggen was Mike Urbanowicz, a 66-year-old trader with multiple college degrees whose farming cooperative moves 150 truckloads of grain each day.

He voted three times for Trump, but like many interviewed by Reuters, he ​considers himself a political independent, saying he distrusts ​the Republican Party nearly as much as their ⁠Democratic foes.

Gas prices were hurting his industry, he said, and Trump was “naive” to think he could quickly solve the issue. He expected prices would remain high into the fall, even if there was a breakthrough in stalled U.S.-Iran peace talks.

But he preferred the status quo to Democrats, whom he saw as moving ​towards “full-blown socialism.”

“I voted for Trump because the alternative is so bad,” he said.

‘ALL ON BOARD’

In Fort Morgan, Lexys Siebrands, 22, lay prone on a ​table inside the Bad Medicine ⁠Inkporium tattoo parlor, smiling through the pain in her left calf, where there were images of a wanted poster, a stagecoach and other Western-themed designs.

A gay woman who recently found Christianity, Siebrands once considered herself a Democrat, but started to think of herself as a Republican around 2022 — citing what she called the hypocrisy of liberals around identity politics — and voted for Trump.

She saw war with Iran as inevitable. “Something was going to happen eventually, whether ⁠it was Iran ​doing something to us or us doing it to them.”

Sitting next to her daughter was 49-year-old Jyl Siebrands. She grew ​up as a political independent but later gravitated towards Republicans.

She said she hated high gas prices, but feared the prospect of a nuclear-armed Tehran even more. “It’s just where we are with this war,” she said. “People just have to give it time.”

Did she have ​any red lines? Anything that might shake her faith in Trump’s handling of the war or the economy?

“No,” she said. “I’m all on board.”

Reporting by Brad Brooks in Colorado; Editing by Jesse Mesner-Hage and David Gaffen;

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

高龄30岁 “世界最长寿犬”在法国逝世

2026年5月16日 18:09 / 联合早报

5月14日，名叫拉扎尔的蝴蝶犬摄于法国东部的维利勒佩卢。 （法新社）

一只名叫拉扎尔（Lazare）、相信为“世界最长寿犬”的蝴蝶犬去世，高龄30岁。

法新社联系了健力士世界纪录，询问拉扎尔在星期四（5月14日）去世前是否保持着这项纪录，得到的回复是：在拉扎尔去世之前，他们“没有收到申请或相关证据”，因此无法确认它是否保持着这项纪录。

据动物慈善机构工作人员安妮-索菲·莫永（Anne-Sophie Moyon）介绍，拉扎尔是一只蝴蝶犬（Continental Toy Spaniel），耳朵竖立时形似蝴蝶，出生于1995年12月4日。它一生的大部分时间都和同一个主人一起生活，直到主人去世后，才到这家慈善机构的收容所生活。

29岁的单身母亲奥菲莉·布多尔（Ophelie Boudol）上个月在收容所里一眼相中了这只比她大一岁的狗狗。她最初是想为母亲找一只宠物，但后来却把它带回了自己家里。几周后，拉扎尔去世了。

30岁零五个月大的拉扎尔已经需要穿尿布，失聪失明，几乎整天都在睡觉。

布多尔本周在位于法国东南部小镇维利勒佩卢的家中抱着拉扎尔时告诉记者：“它真的非常讨人喜欢。”

她说，当莫永和同事们发现拉扎尔的年龄时，他们认为“拉扎尔可能是世界上最老的狗”。他们核实了两个登记处的出生日期，并填写了表格，想让它登记成为世界纪录保持者。

据健力士世界纪录网站记载，一只名叫博比（Bobi）的葡萄牙阿连特茹獒犬（Rafeiro do Alentejo）在2023年去世时，据称高龄31岁，相信是当时世界上最长寿的狗。但2024年的一项复审发现，没有足够的确凿证据证明它的年龄，因此，健力士世界纪录已暂撤其头衔。

5月14日，名叫拉扎尔的蝴蝶犬摄于法国东部的维利勒佩卢。 （法新社）

一只名叫拉扎尔（Lazare）、相信为“世界最长寿犬”的蝴蝶犬去世，高龄30岁。

法新社联系了健力士世界纪录，询问拉扎尔在星期四（5月14日）去世前是否保持着这项纪录，得到的回复是：在拉扎尔去世之前，他们“没有收到申请或相关证据”，因此无法确认它是否保持着这项纪录。

据动物慈善机构工作人员安妮-索菲·莫永（Anne-Sophie Moyon）介绍，拉扎尔是一只蝴蝶犬（Continental Toy Spaniel），耳朵竖立时形似蝴蝶，出生于1995年12月4日。它一生的大部分时间都和同一个主人一起生活，直到主人去世后，才到这家慈善机构的收容所生活。

29岁的单身母亲奥菲莉·布多尔（Ophelie Boudol）上个月在收容所里一眼相中了这只比她大一岁的狗狗。她最初是想为母亲找一只宠物，但后来却把它带回了自己家里。几周后，拉扎尔去世了。

30岁零五个月大的拉扎尔已经需要穿尿布，失聪失明，几乎整天都在睡觉。

布多尔本周在位于法国东南部小镇维利勒佩卢的家中抱着拉扎尔时告诉记者：“它真的非常讨人喜欢。”

她说，当莫永和同事们发现拉扎尔的年龄时，他们认为“拉扎尔可能是世界上最老的狗”。他们核实了两个登记处的出生日期，并填写了表格，想让它登记成为世界纪录保持者。

据健力士世界纪录网站记载，一只名叫博比（Bobi）的葡萄牙阿连特茹獒犬（Rafeiro do Alentejo）在2023年去世时，据称高龄31岁，相信是当时世界上最长寿的狗。但2024年的一项复审发现，没有足够的确凿证据证明它的年龄，因此，健力士世界纪录已暂撤其头衔。

DHS says its new deportation planes are almost ready for takeoff. Critics doubt the plan will work

2026-05-16 6:00 AM ET / CNN

By René Marsh, Audrey Ash

PUBLISHED May 16, 2026, 6:00 AM ET

A Department of Homeland Security aircraft, recently acquired for deportation flights, is seen at Dulles International Airport in Virginia on March 6. This plane is part of the agency’s new fleet for deportations.

CNN

A long-abandoned proposal at the Department of Homeland Security – one so ambitious the agency had never gone through with it before – was revived under the leadership of then-Secretary Kristi Noem.

Officials spent tens of millions of taxpayer dollars to buy the department its own fleet of aircraft and started laying the groundwork for shifting away from relying on charter airline companies for deportation flights, as it had for decades. Ultimately, they planned to start their own mini airline to help execute President Donald Trump’s aim to deport 1 million undocumented immigrants a year.

Now DHS tells CNN exclusively it plans to start using the planes for deportation flights soon – using contractors to operate the planes – after new Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin reevaluated the plan. Mullin, who replaced Noem in March, had undertaken an agency-wide review of contracts signed during her tenure.

“We anticipate we will be able to integrate these planes into our deportation efforts in the coming weeks,” a DHS spokesperson said in a statement.

Under Noem, DHS officials argued the move would save taxpayers $280 million, in part by allowing the department to fly more efficient routes, though they didn’t give a timeframe for those savings.

Kristi Noem, then the Homeland Security Secretary, testifies at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on March 3.

Elizabeth Frantz/Reuters

But some current and former DHS officials, as well as aviation industry sources, question whether the unprecedented endeavor will be viable over the long-term and deliver the promised savings. Some critics point to industry data that suggests the department may have paid more than market value for at least some of the planes.

“It’s hard to see this as anything but a waste of public money,” an aviation industry executive told CNN.

DHS purchased 10 planes between January and March of this year, records show. The fleet has largely sat idle since then – in some cases, for months – at a maintenance facility in Louisiana, according to a source with knowledge of the matter and publicly available flight tracking data.

While some of the aircraft were used for evacuation flights in the early days of the Iran war, none have been used for deportations.

William Walters, the CEO of Daedalus Aviation, the company that sold the aircraft to DHS, told CNN they were sold at cost plus overhead, including the cost of retrofitting the passenger planes for immigration purposes.

Walters and DHS declined to provide a breakdown of the costs of the planes.

The DHS spokesperson said the planes will provide “vital support” to immigration enforcement but that “any decisions related to the purchase of these planes were made prior to the change in DHS leadership.”

The department added that while Mullin and his team worked with Immigration and Customs Enforcement to “assess the operation plan for utilizing these aircraft,” the planes have been “undergoing maintenance and safety checks as well as any necessary make-ready modifications to meet the need of the deportation mission.”

“Secretary Mullin is 100% focused on ensuring the needs of our Department are met while being the best possible steward of taxpayer dollars,” DHS said in another statement to CNN.

Building the fleet

From the beginning of this endeavor, several aviation sources said they thought the plan was “crazy” and said it would “never work.” Some of the sources requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly, while others offering an industry perspective wanted to avoid potential fallout from the White House.

“There’s an old saying in aviation: The fastest way to become a millionaire is to be a billionaire who tries to start an airline,” one industry veteran told CNN, citing a joke about the risks and high startup costs.

Last December, as DHS was assessing what it would take to carry out its plan, the agency issued a public request seeking a wide range of information, including “perspectives and planning considerations” for operating aircraft from charter airline companies –— essentially, asking what is required to operate a fleet for a mission like deportations.

The request for information had a deadline of early January.

One aviation industry insider familiar with DHS’ request for information wondered whether the agency had fully thought through its plan, noting it was purchasing aircraft around the same time it was still seeking industry input.

“They bought the aircraft before they figured out how to operate them and/or what the cost to operate them would be,” the insider said.

Another source, a former ICE official, described the entire effort as akin to “building the plane while they’re flying it.”

A Department of Homeland Security aircraft, recently acquired for deportation flights, is seen at Dulles International Airport in Virginia on March 6.

CNN

The DHS fleet consists of eight Boeing 737s – a workhorse of US domestic travel and among the most widely used commercial planes in the world – and two Gulfstream jets, according to records reviewed by CNN. All were purchased from Daedalus, a private aircraft company and a relative newcomer to the immigration business.

Former ICE officials said the agency considered the idea of buying planes in the past but never moved forward because of the complications that come with operating a fleet and the costs that would have to be baked into the federal budget.

“What’s very difficult is that once you own the aircraft, you have to maintain them, fueling, staffing them with pilots and flight crews and all of that comes at a cost,” the former ICE official told CNN. “You may be able to buy the planes now, but how are you funding the staffing and all the wraparound support and services that are required long-term?”

While DHS says it plans for contractors to fly its fleet, at least initially, aviation industry veterans say several major charter operators that fly deportation flights would need to get regulatory authorization to fly the 737s purchased by the department, which can take several months. They’d also likely need to hire and train pilots to fly that model, and that comes at a cost.

The source with knowledge of the matter said the current contracting model for chartered deportation flights is a major cost driver – with one company acting as a broker and then subcontracting flights to multiple charter airlines. When the profit and overhead for each layer are factored in, “that gets super expensive,” the source said

According to the most recent data, a charter flight costs an average of almost $7,000 per flight hour to nearly $27,000, according to ICE. That includes the aircraft and fuel as well as the flight crew, security personnel, an onboard medical professional and other fees.

Millions allotted for planes

In January, the Office of Management and Budget increased DHS funding for “transportation and removal” by $50 million to $202 million, adding a footnote that a portion of those funds were “available for obligation solely for the purchase of the five Boeing 737-700 aircraft which ICE has previously briefed to OMB.”

By March, the budget for that line had increased to $464.5 million, with an updated footnote indicating the new funds would be used in part to purchase eight Boeing 737s and two Gulfstream G-650 jets.

The purchases – including a $70 million luxury 737 jet complete with a bed, kitchen and bar – raised eyebrows among industry experts and lawmakers on Capitol Hill.

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse grilled Noem during a hearing earlier this year, asking her to respond to critics who said the luxury jet’s purchase was an abuse of federal funds.

She said the department used it for “command and control” flights and reiterated that the purchase of planes for deportations and official travel would save taxpayers money.

DHS reportedly agreed to pay $140 million to buy the initial tranche of planes. The source with knowledge of the matter said the department bought five 737s at this stage.

Some industry experts suggest the department may have paid above market value, noting that would work out to an average of $28 million each.

One independent market analysis from ch-aviation shows that the seven 737s that DHS purchased, not including the luxury jet, have a combined value of $84 million – or roughly $12 million each on average. Another analysis provided to CNN valuated them at an average of $21 million each.

The assessments are based on industry figures for each plane’s tail number and standard assumptions about condition and maintenance. Ch-aviation also noted its estimate doesn’t reflect a review of maintenance records or a physical inspection of the aircraft.

DHS did not respond to questions about the market analyses.

While the agency’s own fleet hasn’t been used for deportations yet, there has been an increase in those flights with the agency using charter flights – and in the number of destination countries, according to Human Rights First, a nonprofit that tracks that information.

The group found there were 245 removal flights last month – a monthly record since it began tracking them in 2020.

CNN’s Priscilla Alvarez and Aaron Cooper contributed to this reporting.

After Indiana purge, Trump sets sights on Louisiana’s Bill Cassidy

2026-05-16T05:00:43-04:00 / Fox News

Cassidy was one of seven Senate Republicans who voted to convict Trump at his 2021 impeachment trial

By Paul Steinhauser , Luke Trevisan Fox News

Published May 16, 2026 5:00am EDT

Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., argues he can work alongside President Donald Trump, and takes aim at Rep. Julia Letlow, R-La., over DEI-related initiatives, casting her as out of touch with conservative voters.

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BATON ROUGE, La.— After taking out five Indiana state senators who opposed his push for congressional redistricting, President Donald Trump’s next target is Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana.

Cassidy, who five and a half years ago voted to convict Trump in his impeachment trial, is fighting for his political life in a competitive race against two major challengers, including one backed by the president, in Saturday’s GOP Senate primary in the solidly red southern state.

Trump and his allies, including Republican Gov. Jeff Landry of Louisiana, are backing GOP Rep. Julia Letlow in the Senate primary. Also in the race is former Rep. John Fleming, who is the state treasurer. If no candidate cracks 50% of the primary vote, the top two finishers will face off for the nomination in a June 27 runoff election.

The primary is the latest test of Trump’s endorsements in GOP nomination races and of the president’s immense grip over the Republican Party.

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Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana fist bumps a supporter during a campaign stop at a gun retailer and firing range in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, on Friday, May 15, 2026, on the eve of the state’s Senate primary.(Paul Steinhauser/Fox News)

After cruising to re-election six years ago, Cassidy was one of only seven Senate Republicans who voted in early 2021 to convict Trump after he was impeached by the House for his role in the violent Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol by supporters who aimed to upend congressional certification of former President Joe Biden’s 2020 election victory. Trump was acquitted by the Senate.

But since the start of Trump’s second term, Cassidy has been supportive of the president’s agenda and his nominees, including voting to approve Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

But Kennedy and his Make America Healthy Again movement are out for revenge.

That’s because Cassidy, a doctor, has been a skeptic of Kennedy’s push to reform the nation’s health policies, including Kennedy’s efforts to cut back on vaccine recommendations.

And Kennedy allies blamed Cassidy, chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, for helping sink the surgeon general nomination of Casey Means, a close Kennedy ally and top MAHA advocate, after Cassidy did not bring it to a committee vote.

Meanwhile, Trump has blasted the senator as a “very disloyal person.”

And on the eve of the primary, the president took to social media to praise Letlow as a “Highly Respected America First Congresswoman.”

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Making Cassidy’s climb to renomination even tougher, Louisiana will now run separate party primaries in the Senate race, which replaces a system where all candidates appeared in one single jungle primary. That guarantees a more conservative and pro-Trump electorate for the GOP nomination.

Cassidy is highlighting his record over two terms in the Senate in delivering for Louisiana, which is one of the nation’s poorest states. And he’s showcased his support for Louisiana’s large oil and gas industry, which accounts for roughly 15% of the state’s workforce.

“When people ask things such as, can you work with President Trump, I point out that he has signed into law four bills that I wrote or negotiated,” the senator said in a primary eve interview with Fox News Digital. “We continue to work together, by the way.”

And Cassidy touted that he’s “a conservative senator who delivers.”

In trying to avert becoming the first elected Republican senator in nearly a decade and a half to be ousted in a primary, Cassidy and an allied super PAC have dished out more than $20 million on ads, according to AdImpact, a national ad tracking firm. That total is more than Letlow and Fleming, combined, have spent.

Some of those ads have knocked Letlow over her past support for diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs during her tenure at the University of Louisiana at Monroe.

Cassidy argued that Republican voters are “concerned about her shifting position on DEI. She was all in for DEI.”

LETLOW EXPLAINS HER PAST SUPPORT FOR DIVERSITY PROGRAMS

President Donald Trump stands with Rep. Julia Letlow during the Congressional Ball at the White House Grand Foyer in Washington, D.C., on Dec. 11, 2025.(Alex Wong/Getty Images)

Defending her record, Letlow explained in a Fox News Digital interview on Friday that “back in 2020 whenever DEI was introduced to us, we had no idea what it was back then, and I quickly witnessed it. I was in higher education at the time. I quickly witnessed the left completely hijack it, turn it into this Marxist leftist indoctrination of our children. And so, when I got to Congress for the last five years, I’ve been fighting against it.

And she charged that the criticism of her from Cassidy and Fleming over DEI is “all baseless attacks, desperate attacks.”

Letlow won her congressional seat in 2021, after her husband, Luke Letlow, died six days after being sworn into the U.S. House after his 2020 election victory for the seat she now holds.

She was backed by Trump even before she entered the race.

“Not only did he encourage me to get into this race, but also to have his complete and total endorsement has been, wow, the honor of a lifetime,” Letlow said.

Letlow has taken aim at Cassidy for his bipartisan efforts in the Senate, including his vote for the 2021 bipartisan infrastructure law that was a signature domestic achievement for then-President Joe Biden.

Asked about her criticism, Cassidy said the “people want someone who can deliver for Louisiana. The Infrastructure Investment Jobs Act has brought $13.5 billion to Louisiana for roads and bridges and high-speed internet, and along the way creating a lot of good paying jobs. My opponent opposed that bill.”

Fleming, who served as a White House deputy chief of staff during Trump’s first term, has argued that he’s the most conservative candidate in the GOP Senate primary.

‘They see me clearly MAGA,” Fleming told Fox News Digital, as he referred to Louisiana Republicans. “I served in his entire first administration at various capacities. I was one of the first congressmen that endorsed him in 2016.”

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Fleming claimed that Letlow is “not the prototype for a Trump endorsement. She’s much more like a Democrat.”

And Fleming, apparently, has become a threat to Letlow, as a super PAC supporting the congresswoman started to run ads attacking him.

But Trump’s endorsement in the nomination race weighs heavily in a state he carried by 22 points in his 2024 election victory.

“It’s the most powerful endorsement in the world,” Letlow said, adding that Louisiana Republicans “are huge fans of the president.”

And the Louisiana primary comes a week and a half after Indiana’s primary, where Trump-backed challengers ousted five state senators who had defied the president over his redistricting push.

The political world was closely watching Indiana’s primary because it was the first of a series of major tests this month of Trump’s endorsement power in GOP nomination showdowns, and the president cleared his first hurdle with ease.

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Voters in Louisiana will also cast ballots in primary contests for State Supreme Court, Public Service Commission and state school board, along with five proposed state constitutional amendments.

But the primaries for the U.S. House seats were postponed by Landry after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the state’s current congressional district map.

Republican state senators in Louisiana on Thursday advanced a plan to eliminate one of the state’s two majority-Black congressional seats ahead of the midterms. Louisiana’s state House will likely vote on the map next week. The U.S. House primaries are being postponed until November.

Paul Steinhauser is a politics reporter based in the swing state of New Hampshire. He covers the campaign trail from coast to coast.