Trump Mobile says its phone will ship this week, almost a year after announcing the device

May 14, 2026 / 3:50 PM EDT / CBS News

Trump Mobile said it is beginning to ship its gold-toned mobile phone, almost a year after the company first unveiled plans for the device.

“The T1 Phone has arrived!! Those who pre-ordered the T1 Phone will be receiving an update email. Phones start shipping this week!!!,” the company said in a social media post on Wednesday.

The announcement comes amid delays in the $499 phone’s rollout, which the company said last year had been pushed back because of the U.S. government shutdown. Consumers have also raised concerns after Trump Mobile updated its preorder terms in April to say that making a $100 deposit “does not guarantee that a device will be produced or made available for purchase.”

Trump Mobile didn’t respond to a request for comment.

Trump Mobile CEO Pat O’Brien told USA Today that the phones will be delivered over the next few weeks. He added that the first T1 phones are assembled in the U.S. and that models will use components manufactured domestically.

When Trump Mobile announced the phone in June 2025, it said the device would be built in the U.S. The company’s website now says the device is “shaped by American innovation” and relies on “American teams helping guide design and quality.”

Experts have questions

The updated Trump Mobile preorder terms raised questions among consumer law experts, who noted that consumers who put down a deposit for a phone weren’t guaranteed a device.

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“A preorder deposit provides only a conditional opportunity if Trump Mobile later elects, in its sole discretion, to offer the device for sale,” the preorder terms stated. “A deposit is not a purchase, does not constitute acceptance of an order, does not create a contract for sale, does not transfer ownership or title interest, does not allocate or reserve specific inventory, and does not guarantee that a device will be produced or made available for purchase.”

Such language signals the company is providing a “conditional opportunity to buy a phone,” said Eric Chaffee, a business law professor at Case Western Reserve University.

“Their phrase really is intentionally done to make almost crystal clear that no sort of contractual obligation is being formed,” he said. “First off, the fact that what it means is that individuals who have preordered, what they’ve done is given this company a no-interest loan of $100 each.”

The preorder terms favor the company over the consumer, said Danny Karon, a lawyer specializing in consumer fraud issues. He also noted that the terms don’t guarantee the phone will work in all geographic locations or with all mobile phone networks.

“Anyone is free to make a deposit if they’d like,” Karon said. “But as far as the terms and conditions are concerned, they’re weighted too heavily in favor of the company for my liking.”

FBI offers $200,000 for information on former Air Force intelligence specialist charged with spying for Iran

2026-05-14T17:23:53.215Z / CNN

By Kaanita Iyer

2 hr ago
PUBLISHED May 14, 2026, 1:23 PM ET

The Middle East Federal agencies US military National security

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Monica Witt

FBI

The FBI is offering $200,000 for information that could lead to the arrest of a former Air Force intelligence specialist who was charged in 2019 with spying for Iran.

In an announcement Thursday, the FBI said it is still trying to locate Monica Witt, who it believes defected to Iran in 2013. The agency said it believes she “likely continues to support (Iran’s) nefarious activities.”

“The FBI has not forgotten and believes that during this critical moment in Iran’s history, there is someone who knows something about her whereabouts,” Daniel Wierzbicki, special agent in charge of the FBI Washington Field Office’s Counterintelligence and Cyber Division, said a statement, likely referring to the US’ ongoing tensions with Iran.

“The FBI wants to hear from you so you can help us apprehend Witt and bring her to justice,” it said.

Witt was a former counterintelligence officer for the Air Force Office of Special Investigations. From 2003 and 2008, Witt’s work involved counterintelligence assignments that took her to the Middle East.

In 2019, then-Assistant Attorney General John Demers alleged that Witt was targeted and recruited by Iran, and after she defected, she allegedly revealed to Iran the existence of a “highly classified intelligence collection program” and the identity of a US intelligence officer, “thereby risking the life of this individual.”

Prosecutors alleged in the indictment that from around January 2012 to around May 2015, in Iran and elsewhere outside the US, Witt conspired with Iranians to provide “documents and information relating to the national defense of the United States, with the intent and reason to believe that the same would be used to the injury of the United States and to the advantage of Iran.”

After her defection, Iranian government officials provided Witt with “goods and services, including housing and computer equipment,” to facilitate her work for them, according to the indictment. It’s unclear whether she has a lawyer in the US to represent her.

The indictment also charged four Iranians with conspiracy, attempts to commit computer intrusion and aggravated identity theft.

North Carolina teacher’s killing reignites scrutiny of Roy Cooper’s criminal justice record in Senate race

2026-05-14T12:08:21-04:00 / Fox News

Critics say Zoe Welch’s death was preventable after suspect with 20 prior arrests walked free on reduced charges

By Peter Pinedo, Elaine Mallon Fox News

Published May 14, 2026 12:08pm EDT

Republican lawmaker alleges former Dem governor freed North Carolina murder suspect

Rep. Mark Harris, R-N.C., joins ‘Fox News Live’ to discuss DeCarlos Brown Jr.’s early release from prison despite having fourteen prior arrests and the possible responsibility of former Gov. Roy Cooper.

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FIRST ON FOX:North Carolina Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper is facing renewed accusations of being “soft on crime” after critics pointed to the January murder of a teacher by a career criminal who had been released after a Cooper-appointed judge reduced his charges and allowed him back on the streets.

Cooper is running for the U.S. Senate seat currently held by Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., who is retiring, setting up what is expected to be one of the most competitive races this midterm cycle. Democrats view North Carolina as a key pickup opportunity as Cooper faces Republican candidate Michael Whatley, a former Republican National Committee chairman.

Ever since the killing of Iryna Zarutska by a career criminal last summer, Cooper and North Carolina’s criminal justice system have faced mounting scrutiny from critics who argue repeat offenders are too often cycled back onto the streets.

“Roy Cooper is a soft-on-crime lunatic who lets monsters out of prison instead of fighting to keep North Carolinians safe,” Republican National Committee Spokesperson Emma Hall said. “Cooper’s record has deadly consequences, and he owes every victim and their family an apology for his failure to keep dangerous criminals off the streets.”

CHARLOTTE TRAIN MURDER FRONT AND CENTER IN CRUCIAL 2026 SENATE BATTLE: ‘SOFT-ON-CRIME POLICIES’

Then-Gov. Roy Cooper, a Democrat from North Carolina, speaks with reporters in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on Sept. 10, 2024.(Paul Steinhauser/Fox News)

Those concerns are now resurfacing following the brutal killing of Raleigh science teacher Zoe Welch that critics say may have been preventable.

Welch was found dead in her home in January, and an autopsy revealed she died from blunt force trauma to the head. Her accused murderer, Ryan Camacho, was facing four charges of breaking and entering in April 2025. However, despite having 20 prior arrests, Durham District Court Judge Dorothy Hairston Mitchell reduced his charges to a misdemeanor, allowing Camacho to walk free.

Mitchell was appointed by Cooper in 2021 to serve as District Court Judge in District 14. In a press release announcing Mitchell’s appointment, Cooper praised her, stating that she would lead with “dedication and fairness.”

LENIENT JUDGES IGNORE RED FLAGS, CAVE TO SOFT-ON-CRIME PRESSURES AS THEY RELEASE REPEAT OFFENDERS: ATTORNEY

North Carolina Senate candidate Michael Whatley gives an address.(Eva Marie Uzcategui/Getty Images)

At the time, Mitchell was appointed to replace Brian Wilks, but she won election to the position in November 2022. Now, his office is distancing Cooper from Mitchell’s judgeship.

“To be clear, this judge was elected to her position,” a spokesperson for Cooper’s campaign told Fox News Digital.

The spokesperson added that “while Roy spent his career putting rapists and violent criminals behind bars, Michael Whatley spent his appointing a convicted child sex predator who served time in prison for multiple counts of felony child sex crimes to a powerful position within the North Carolina Republican Party.”

In 2021 and 2024, Whatley, then with the North Carolina GOP, appointed convicted child sex offender Harvey Lee West to the state’s Plan of Organization Committee. In 1999, West pleaded guilty to statutory rape of three girls, two 14-year-olds and one 16-year-old. West claimed that he had been open and honest about his criminal past with North Carolina party leadership.

NORTH CAROLINA LAWMAKERS PASS ‘IRYNA’S LAW’ TO ELIMINATE CASHLESS BAIL AFTER CHARLOTTE TRAIN STABBING

Former North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper appears alongside booking photos of suspects in recent criminal cases cited by critics questioning the state’s public safety and criminal justice policies.(Hannah Beier/Bloomberg/Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Office/Rowan County Sheriff’s Office)

Cooper’s campaign points to his 16 years as North Carolina’s attorney general, along with legislation he signed as governor—such as a law making it easier to prosecute drug dealers who sell fatal doses—as evidence of his strong support for law enforcement.

But under Cooper’s watch, 3,500 inmates were released over a 180-day period in 2021 as part of a settlement agreement with civil rights groups who sued the state over inmates dying of Covid-19. Some of the inmates released were convicted of serious offenses against children and sexual assault.

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Five hundred sixty inmates released during the Cooper administration were arrested on new charges within two years of their release. Among those released was Tyrell Brace, who was later charged with first-degree murder in the killing of young father Elante Thompson in Charlotte.

Another individual released was Jimmie Speight, who had been convicted of indecent liberties with a child and failure to register as a sex offender and was released just under nine months early. In 2023, he was sentenced to more than 32 years in prison for second-degree murder.

Peter Pinedo is a politics writer for Fox News Digital.

Software company owner convicted for running “cold, calculated” $1 billion Medicare fraud scheme

May 14, 2026 / 3:54 PM EDT / CBS News

The owner of a healthcare software company was convicted of massive Medicare fraud on Thursday, the Department of Justice said, ending what Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche called “one of the most egregious fraud schemes in Florida history.”

HealthSplash owner and CEO Brett Blackman, 42, and co-conspirators “aggressively targeted hundreds of thousands of Medicare beneficiaries to get them to accept medically unnecessary” products including orthotic braces, according to a DOJ news release.

Blackman and his co-conspirators used Power Mobility Doctor Rx, LLC, or DMERx, a platform acquired by HealthSplash in 2017, to coordinate illegal kickbacks with telemedicine doctors and pharmacies that would falsely bill Medicare for the unnecessary items, the DOJ said. The fraud was hidden with sham contracts and manipulation of documents.

The scheme included generating “false and fraudulent doctors’ orders” that indicated a doctor had examined a Medicare beneficiary, when in reality the doctor had little or no interaction with the patient. When an undercover agent posed as a Medicare beneficiary, they were shunted to an overseas call center, where representatives pushed them to agree to order multiple braces, according to the Justice Department. A doctor’s note claims that a physician conducted various tests on the undercover agent, but the agent and doctor never met, the DOJ said.

Brett Blackman Department of Justice

Blackman and his co-conspirators billed Medicare and other federal healthcare benefit programs over $1 billion throughout the course of the scheme, the Department of Justice said. Medicare and the other programs paid out more than $450 million.

Blackman showcased his wealth in a music video, including showing off a large waterfront property. A photo shared by the Justice Department shows Blackman posing in gold accessories, including a necklace with a large dollar sign.

Blackman was convicted of conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud and wire fraud, conspiracy to pay and receive healthcare kickbacks, and conspiracy to defraud the United States and to make false statements in connection with healthcare matters, according to the Department of Justice. He faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison on the charges of healthcare and wire fraud, and an additional five years on the other counts. A sentencing hearing is set for Aug. 26.

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“This illegitimate operation stole more than $1 billion from American taxpayers — including hundreds of thousands of Medicare beneficiaries,” Blanche said in a statement. “This was cold, calculated, industrial-scale theft targeting the sick and elderly, coercing vulnerable people into buying unnecessary medical equipment. We will not rest until every fraudster ripping off the American people is held accountable.”

A photo of the mansion shown in Blackman’s music video. Department of Justice

Blackman’s co-defendant Gary Cox was convicted in June 2025, and sentenced to 15 years in prison. Cox was the CEO of DMERx.

Medicare fraud has become a hot political topic, with Republicans and Democrats each blaming the other party for the problem. But the reality is that fraud occurs in both blue and red states.

Blackman and his co-defendants were originally indicted in 2023, under the Biden administration. The Trump administration has named targeting fraud one of its key priorities, leading to several press conferences and announcements on the issue.

In April 2026, the Department of Justice announced the creation of the Fraud Division. Mr. Trump has also established a task force, chaired by Vice President JD Vance, focused on eliminating fraud. Healthcare fraud, particularly in the hospice and home healthcare space, has been a particular target for the administration.

CBS News has been investigating hospice fraud for months. One investigation examined the business and financial records of every hospice currently operating in LA County, California, applying the same indicators identified by state auditors as potential red flags for fraud. The analysis revealed that over 700 of the roughly 1,800 hospices in LA County trigger multiple red flags for fraud as defined by the state.

The CBS News investigation also found one Los Angeles County hospice physician’s name, Dr. Rajiv Bhuva, on Medicare claims for nearly 2,800 patients across 126 California hospices in 2024, according to the last full year of available data. Bhuva told CBS News he doubted the figures and said there was no statutory limit to the number of hospices any one physician can staff. But after a brief exchange, he declined to speak further. Bhuva is no longer allowed to bill Medicare.

In April, Republicans in Congress held a hearing on Capitol Hill, during which two of the people featured in the CBS News reporting were called to testify.

Also in April, five people in California were arrested for allegedly defrauding the state’s Medicaid program of about $267 million.

Trump’s original sin on the economy

May 14, 2026, 12:26 PM ET / CNN

Analysis by Aaron Blake

Updated May 14, 2026, 3:49 PM ET

President Donald Trump speaks to the media on the South Lawn on May 8.

Aaron Schwartz/CNP/Bloomberg/Getty Images

In our polarized political age, it’s rare that 70% of Americans agree on anything. But right now, 70% of Americans agree that President Donald Trump is doing a bad job on the economy, according to a new CNN poll this week.

That number isn’t just big; it was previously unthinkable. The economy was Trump’s rock during his first term, with his disapproval rating on that issue never even reaching 50% in CNN data.

The story of how he got here is one of overriding hubris and unforced errors.

And the new CNN poll makes that clearer than just about anything to date.

Trump’s numbers on handling of the economy are his worst ever: 30% approving to 70% disapproving, according to the survey. That’s a minus-40 net disapproval.

Virtually all Democrats (97%) disapprove. But so do a whopping 79% of independents and even 30% of Republicans. Trump’s disapproval on the economy is now worse than Joe Biden’s or Barack Obama’s ever were.

The poll also shows 65% of Americans say Trump’s policies “have worsened economic conditions,” and 77% say they have “increased the cost of living” in their communities.

And it’s not just that Americans are still skeptical about the economy and are suddenly blaming the incumbent president; it’s that Trump actively did things that Americans saw as exacerbating a shaky economy.

He did that mostly with his tariffs and the Iran war, which the data suggests were the turning points in how Americans viewed his handling of the economy.

The tariffs and the war coincide with the largest and third-largest increases in Trump’s economic disapproval in either of his terms, in fact.

Trump’s disapproval rating on the economy jumped from 56% in March 2025 to 61% in April 2025, after he announced his “Liberation Day” global tariffs.

And it jumped from 61% in January, before he launched strikes on Iran in late February, to 69% in March and now 70% today.

(The only other time it rose by at least 5 points between two CNN polls was in his first few months as president in 2017, when his overall numbers first got much worse.)

These two events also happened at the same time as the largest increases in the percentage of Americans who say Trump’s policies “have worsened economic conditions.” That number jumped from 51% before the tariff announcement to 59% afterward. Then it jumped from 55% shortly before the war to 65% today.

In both instances, the percentage of Republicans who said Trump was harming the economy doubled — from 10% to 22% after the tariffs announcement, and from 13% to 27% after the Iran war began.

The new CNN poll also showed Americans attached both of these issues directly to their negative views of the economy.

Fully 65% said the implementation of tariffs has had a negative effect on their personal financial situation, and 75% said the same of the Iran war. That’s in addition to the 77% that said Trump’s policies overall have increased the cost of living where they live.

And on both of those Iran findings, even a majority of Republicans agree — which is striking.

Why? Because partisans tend to avoid blaming bad developments on politicians they like. They’ll often blame economic problems on environmental factors that are outside of a president’s control, or they’ll blame the policies of the previous president for dogging the incumbent.

Trump’s problem is that he has made it near-impossible for even many Republicans to give him that benefit of the doubt.

It’s no secret why gas prices have skyrocketed over the past two and a half months: the Iran war. And before that, Trump’s tariffs gave Americans an easy culprit to blame for what became prolonged inflation, increasingly dismal jobs numbers and suboptimal economic growth.

Fuel prices seen on a sign as a customer fills their vehicle on April 13 in Miami.

Joe Raedle/Getty Images

The most telling data on this dynamic came shortly after the tariffs announcement last year.

A year into Trump’s first term, NPR-PBS-Marist College polling had showed just 40% of Americans said the current economic conditions were mostly a result of Trump’s policies, rather than something he inherited. That number never went higher than the mid-40s during Obama’s entire presidency.

But just three months into Trump’s second term, it leapt all the way up to 60%.

That was the tariffs in action. Today, the Iran war allows for drawing an even more direct line between the president’s policy and economic pain.

It’s impossible to run a counterfactual scenario, in which Trump never launches his tariffs or this war, to see how much better things might have been for him. It’s possible there could have still been stubborn inflation and other bad economic indicators that Americans would eventually have blamed on him.

But the president unilaterally took action that made things worse. He didn’t even bother to ask for buy in from the Republicans who run both chambers of Congress, despite both tariffs and war being powers the Constitution gives to the legislative branch.

And now it’s severely threatening his legacy.

US says it has removed enriched uranium from Venezuela’s shuttered reactor

2026-05-14 4:19 PM UTC / Reuters

WASHINGTON, May 14 (Reuters) – The United States has removed excess highly-enriched uranium from Venezuela’s shuttered research reactor, the State Department said on Thursday.

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Reporting by Katharine Jackson; Editing by David Ljunggren

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Wisconsin official cries foul alleging FBI showed up at front door of county election director’s home

May 14, 2026 1:52pm EDT / Fox News

The FBI has been active across the country investigating election integrity issues since Trump took office in January 2025

By Andrew Mark Miller Fox News

A county clerk in Wisconsin claims that a Federal Bureau of Investigation agent attempted to interview a county election director at her residence and released a statement defending the state’s handling of the 2020 presidential election.

“I can confirm that a representative of the Federal Bureau of Investigation visited the home of my Elections Director and left her business card,” Milwaukee County Clerk George Christenson said in a statement on Thursday morning.

“We will be following up to determine the nature of this visit. It is unfortunate that the FBI chose to visit the private residence of Milwaukee County’s Elections Director rather than contact the Election Commission’s office directly. No dedicated public servant should be subjected to that type of intrusion simply for carrying out her responsibilities with integrity and professionalism.”

Christenson went on to defend the state’s handling of the 2020 presidential election as “fair and transparent” and said “this has been proven repeatedly over the last six years by the post-election canvass, the Presidential Election Recount, State court-based challenge, Federal court-based challenge, the forensic audit by the Wisconsin’s Legislative Audit Bureau, and two additional independent audits. Continuing to relitigate settled questions does not strengthen public confidence in elections but it undermines it.”

DOJ TAUNTS MEDIA AFTER TRUMP SCORES WIN IN BATTLEGROUND-STATE BALLOT FIGHT

An FBI agent and a Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) officer arrest a man near the White House at Farragut Square Path in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 15, 2025.(Yasin Ozturk /Anadolu via Getty Images)

“While we cooperate with all legitimate law enforcement actions, we will defend against any attack on our democracy and will defend the rights of voters of Milwaukee County,” Christenson wrote. “Our responsibility as election officials is to safeguard the integrity of the process through facts, transparency, and adherence to the law, and the record clearly demonstrates that those standards were met in 2020.”

Christenson went on to suggest the FBI’s actions are an “attack on democracy.”

TRUMP ACCUSES SCHUMER OF TRYING TO ‘INTERFERE IN OUR ELECTIONS’ WITH LATEST STRATEGY

https://www.foxnews.com/video/6388458252112

The FBI declined to comment.

Milwaukee County, the largest county in the state, has been a target of conservatives alleging improprieties with the 2020 election, and the FBI has been active across the country investigating election integrity issues.

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FBI Director Kash Patel speaks during a press conference at the Department of Justice on April 21, 2026.(Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images)

In January, the FBI searched the Fulton County, Georgia, main election facility in Union City, near Atlanta, and focused on records connected to the 2020 general election after obtaining a court-approved search warrant, Fox Atlanta reported.

An underlying affidavit revealed the bureau was probing allegations of ballot irregularities and record-keeping failures in Georgia, a state President Donald Trump lost by a razor-thin margin to President Joe Biden that became ground zero for Trump’s election fraud claims in the aftermath of 2020.

In March, the FBI subpoenaed 2020 voting documents in Arizona. Multiple U.S. officials confirmed the election probe to Fox News, saying the DOJ is looking at a large tranche of Arizona data from 2020 and 2024.

Fox News Digital’s Louis Casiano contributed to this report.

Andrew Mark Miller is a reporter at Fox News. Find him on Twitter @andymarkmiller and email tips to AndrewMark.Miller@Fox.com.

Fed’s Miran says he will vacate board seat on or just before Warsh is sworn in as chair

2026-05-14 / Reuters

By Howard Schneider

May 14, 2026 6:04 PM UTC Updated 1 hour ago

Federal Reserve Board Governor Stephen Miran speaks on “Regulations, the Supply Side, and Monetary Policy” during the Delphi Economic Forum Lecture event, at the National Gallery in Athens, Greece, January 14, 2026. REUTERS/Louisa Gouliamaki/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab

WASHINGTON, May 14 (Reuters) – U.S. Federal Reserve Governor Stephen Miran on ​Thursday said he would resign ‌his seat on or shortly before Kevin Warsh is sworn in as ​the Fed’s next chair, ​a necessary step since there is ⁠no other open seat on ​the seven-member board for Warsh to ​fill and Miran’s term had technically expired in January.

In a letter to President ​Donald Trump released by the ​Fed, Miran recounted the arguments he made ‌in ⁠favor of lower interest rates, familiar from his many public appearances and the dissents he registered ​at every ​Fed ⁠policy meeting since joining the central bank’s board last ​September while on leave ​from ⁠the Trump administration.

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Warsh’s nomination to the Fed was confirmed by the ⁠U.S. ​Senate this week, with ​his swearing-in still to be scheduled.

Reporting by ​Howard Schneider; Editing by Andrea Ricci

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By Dana Bash, CNN

Published 1:44 PM EDT, Thu May 14, 2026

https://www.cnn.com/2026/05/14/politics/video/inside-politics-jack-schlossberg-ny12-democratic-primary-campaign

‘I run an operation that is nimble and small’: Jack Schlossberg dismisses NYT report about ‘erratic’ House campaign

Inside Politics

Kennedy grandson Jack Schlossberg joins Dana Bash on his campaign in New York’s 12th district Democratic primary after the New York Times reported that insiders described his campaign as “erratic” and “plagued by turnover.” He tells her, “Once you’re declared the frontrunner… everyone’s got something to say. People are trying to figure out how our campaign has been so successful and why we’re winning in every single poll.”

9:06 • Source: CNN

U.S. Border Patrol Chief Mike Banks resigns in latest shakeup of immigration leadership

2026-05-14T12:45:00-0400 / CBS News

By Camilo Montoya-Galvez

Camilo Montoya-Galvez Immigration Correspondent

Camilo Montoya-Galvez is the Immigration Correspondent at CBS News, where his reporting is featured across multiple programs and platforms, including national broadcast shows, CBS News 24/7, CBSNews.com and the organization’s social media accounts.

Read Full Bio

Camilo Montoya-Galvez

Updated on: May 14, 2026 / 1:45 PM EDT / CBS News

U.S. Border Patrol Chief Mike Banks, formerly Texas’ border czar until his appointment by the second Trump administration last year, is stepping down from his position, three Department of Homeland Security sources told CBS News on Thursday.

He informed staff on Thursday of his retirement from Border Patrol, the federal agency that oversees the green-uniformed agents in charge of intercepting the illicit movement of people and drugs into the U.S., including along the border with Mexico.

Banks is the latest top Trump administration immigration official to leave in recent months. In March, Kristi Noem was replaced by then-Oklahoma Republican Sen. Markwayne Mullin as homeland security secretary. Her ouster came amid growing backlash to her response to the fatal shootings of two U.S. citizens by federal agents in Minneapolis, as well as her role in controversial television advertisements.

Outspoken Border Patrol commander Gregory Bovino also retired in March, after being sidelined following the controversy around the Minneapolis crackdown. Meanwhile, Todd Lyons, the acting head of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, is set to step down at the end of May, and will be replaced on an interim basis by a longtime agency official.

Banks told Border Patrol employees in a farewell message on Thursday that “it is time for me to retire and return home to Texas to focus on my family and ranch.”

U.S. Border Patrol Chief Mike Banks at a roundtable in Brownsville, Texas, on Jan. 7, 2026. Michael Gonzalez / Getty Images

“What we have accomplished together in the last year and a half is nothing short of amazing,” Banks wrote. “You, the men and women of the Border Patrol, took the United States Border from the most chaotic and unsecured border in the history of this great Nation and have delivered the most secure border this country has ever seen.”

Rodney Scott, the commissioner of Customs and Border Protection, which oversees Border Patrol, congratulated Banks on his retirement.

“We thank U.S. Border Patrol Chief Michael Banks for his decades of service to this country and congratulate him on his second retirement after returning to serve during one of the most challenging periods for border security. During his time as Chief, the border was transformed from chaos to the most secure border ever recorded,” Scott said in a statement. “We wish him and his family well.”

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Banks was tapped to lead Border Patrol in January 2025, when President Trump returned to the White House, pledging to launch a nationwide deportation blitz and seal the U.S. southern border after years of record illegal crossings under the Biden administration.

The appointment was unprecedented, since the Border Patrol chief position had long been filled by career agency officials. Banks took the helm of the agency as a political appointee of the second Trump administration, after serving as Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s border czar. He had previously served in mid-level roles at Border Patrol.

Banks noted in his farewell message that he served in the U.S. Navy for a decade.

During Banks’ tenure as chief, Border Patrol was tasked with playing a bigger role in immigration enforcement far away from U.S. borders.

Border Patrol teams led by Bovino carried out sweeping and often indiscriminate immigration roundups and stops in major cities like Los Angeles, Chicago and Minneapolis. Those “roving” patrols were largely discontinued after the fallout from the Minneapolis operation.