作者： root

Amid war & record debt, Trump unveils new White House construction

Published 7:20 PM EDT, Wed August 19, 2026 / CNN Politics

Amid war and record debt, Trump unveils new White House construction

Despite an ongoing war with Iran and a national debt that has reached a record $40 trillion, President Trump’s unpopular White House makeover is expanding with a new driveway and helipad. Kristen Holmes reports.

1:34 • Source: CNN

Trump threatens ‘unprecedented’ economic consequences for any nation aiding Iran

August 19, 2026 7:23pm EDT / Fox News

Trump called the operation ‘an economic D-Day’

By Louis Casiano Fox News

UAE cuts off Iran following hostile missile strikes

Retired two-star Marine Corps Gen. Arnold Punaro discusses Iran targeting its neighboring trade partners, which could initiate an Article 5 NATO response, on ‘America Reports.’

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President Donald Trump on Wednesday issued a stern warning to any nation thinking about offering a lifeline to Iran after announcing the launch of a U.S. operation he likened to an “economic D-Day.”

“Today, I am announcing the MOST CRUSHING ECONOMIC OPERATION EVER TAKEN AGAINST ANY COUNTRY! This will be Economic Warfare and Isolation on an unprecedented scale,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “I am also announcing that ANY country that allows its financial institutions, businesses, airports, or government entities to provide any type of lifeline to Iran will itself face TREMENDOUS Economic Consequences.”

Presidnet Donald Trump warned other nations that they will face dire economic consequences if they assist Iran.(Getty Images)

“Oil smuggling, swap lines, cash transfers, exchange houses, ship registries, front companies — It all needs to stop NOW,” he continued. “You know who you are. This will be an ECONOMIC D-DAY, and we need all of our Allies to stand with the United States of America to isolate, and defeat, the Iran threat. These maniacs are on the ropes, and these HISTORIC MEASURES will cripple them and their ability to project terror worldwide.”

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

Louis Casiano is a reporter for Fox News Digital. Story tips can be sent to louis.casiano@fox.com.

特朗普警告：任何援助或支持伊朗的国家将面临经济后果

2026年8月20日 07:46 / 联合早报

美国总统特朗普星期三（8月19日）在社媒Truth Social发文称：“任何允许金融机构、企业、机场或政府实体向伊朗提供任何形式援助的国家，都将面临巨大的经济后果。” （法新社）

美国总统特朗普警告称，任何支持德黑兰或向伊朗提供“任何形式的援助”的国家，都将面临经济后果。

路透社报道，特朗普星期三（8月19日）在社媒Truth Social发文称：“任何允许金融机构、企业、机场或政府实体向伊朗提供任何形式援助的国家，都将面临巨大的经济后果。”

他没有具体说明华盛顿将采取哪些具体措施，也没有点名任何国家。

特朗普对伊朗的策略出现明显转变，从之前积极推动迅速达成协议，转而暂停与德黑兰接触，试图通过长期封锁和制裁向德黑兰施压。

他星期二（8月18日）Truth Social发文说：“目前没有与伊朗进行或安排任何会谈或对话。”他说，美国对伊朗港口的海上封锁“仍全面有效”，霍尔木兹海峡已经开放，所有水雷也已清除或引爆。

这与特朗普过去数周不断宣称谈判进展顺利、新协议即将达成明显不同。

Ex-counterterrorism chief advocates for Trump to ‘walk away from’ Iran war, yank troops out of Middle East

2026-08-19 3:16pm EDT / Fox News

A White House spokesman said in a statement to Fox News Digital that Kent ‘doesn’t know his ass from his elbow’

By Alex Nitzberg Fox News

Published August 19, 2026 3:16pm EDT | Updated August 19, 2026 3:17pm EDT

Ex-counterterror official Joe Kent explains his opposition to the Iran war and discusses his goal to help forge a ‘political coalition’

Former National Counterterrorism Center Director Joe Kent discusses his opposition to the Iran war, contends that President Donald Trump should ‘walk away’ from the conflict, and speaks about his aspirations to help create a “political coalition.”

Former National Counterterrorism Center Director Joe Kent, who resigned in March due to his opposition to the Iran war, contends that President Donald Trump should remove U.S. combat troops from the Middle East. During an interview with Fox News Digital on Tuesday, he said Republicans and Democrats both support U.S. involvement in “endless foreign wars,” but that he wants to help create another “political coalition.”

Kent, a military veteran and gold star husband who personally grasps the grave consequences of war because his late wife Shannon was killed in Syria in 2019, said that the U.S. is “making our troops basically tripwires so that if the Iranians hit us, and we lose more troops, then we will have to double down” on the war.

“This war is not in our national security interest,” he said. “Iran posed no imminent threat,” the retired Green Beret asserted, reiterating the same view he voiced in his mid-March resignation letter to the president less than a month after the start of the Iran war. “This war was prompted by the pressure that the Israelis were able to exert on the Trump administration and the influence that the, the Israelis have over our government.”

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U.S. bases in the region have proven to be a liability, he said.

“The Iranians were able to hit them with their ballistic missiles, with their drones. We had to evacuate our bases. We couldn’t even fight a war from our military bases. So the fundamental question is, what good is a military base that you can’t fight a war from? So really our bases and our presence in the region simply give the Iranians the ability to reach us and strike us whenever they want,” Kent asserted.

EX-COUNTERTERRORISM OFFICIAL JOE KENT CONTINUES CALLING FOR US MILITARY WITHDRAWAL FROM MIDDLE EAST

Joseph Kent, director of the National Counterterrorism Center, during a House Homeland Security Committee hearing in Washington, D.C., on Thursday, Dec. 11, 2025.(Daniel Heuer/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

More than five months have passed since Trump launched the war against Iran in conjunction with Israel. The U.S. military is currently conducting a blockade against Iran and it remains unclear when the conflict will conclude.

“Right now, we’re at a place where President Trump could walk away from it. We haven’t recently taken any losses,” Kent said, adding that the president could withdraw U.S. troops from the region. “And I think he has the political power to basically sell it as a win or at least kind of a draw to the American people.”

Kent said he would encourage those who agree with him to “call their congressmen, call their senators, call the White House and” tell them “that we want out of war right now.”

In a statement to Fox News Digital on Wednesday, White House spokesman Davis Ingle targeted Kent.

“President Trump has destroyed nearly all of Iran’s military capabilities and is crushing what’s left of its abysmal economy with the most powerful naval blockade in world history. In quitter Joe Kent’s twisted mind, that somehow means Iran is winning, which only proves he doesn’t know his ass from his elbow,” Ingle said in the statement.

TRUMP CAN DECLARE IRAN VICTORY NOW AND WITHDRAW TROOPS, FORMER COUNTERTERROR OFFICIAL ARGUES

U.S. President Donald Trump boards Air Force One on August 9, 2026 at Morristown Airport in Morristown, New Jersey. President Trump spent the weekend at his Bedminster, N.J. golf club.(Eric Lee/Getty Images)

Asked whether he has any interest in running for political office again, Kent, who has run unsuccessfully for Congress twice, told Fox News Digital that he does not “have any political aspirations.”

But he said that he wants to help construct a “political coalition” that conveys to Americans “that a reason why it seems like no matter who they vote for their, their quality of life is not improving,” is because no matter who occupies the Oval Office, much of “their time and our money … and our national will” is expended “on these foreign wars,” and “propping up an empire that does not benefit the American people.”

Both parties “agree that we should be engaged in … endless foreign wars,” he said.

When Americans choose between a Republican and Democrat, they end up with “the next war,” “more deficit,” “more debt,” and have “their civil liberties … encroached upon,” he said.

TRUMP SAYS IRAN TALKS ARE DEAD, INSISTS STRAIT OF HORMUZ IS ‘OPEN AND OPERATING’

Then-Director of the National Counterterrorism Center Joseph Kent testifies before the House Committee on Homeland Security in the Cannon House Office Building on Dec. 11, 2025, in Washington, D.C.(Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

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Kent said the U.S. cannot afford to dole out foreign aid, given the national debt, inflation, and the condition of the economy — but if foreign aid is going to be distributed, he said that it should go “to partners that actually benefit our nation’s security, not to countries that are gonna drag us further into more conflicts” which “actually end up costing America more in the long run.”

He said the U.S. should not provide aid to nations “that are actively spying on us and running influence operations like the Israelis are.”

Alex Nitzberg is a writer for Fox News Digital.

Karen Bass ripped after viral video lays out taxpayer-funded match of campaign donations

Los Angeles’ super match program has been in effect since 1990, and the 6-to-1 ratio took effect in 2019

August 19, 2026 2:24pm EDT / Fox News

By Peter D’Abrosca, Louis Casiano

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass is facing scrutiny after a viral campaign video shows her peddling 6-to-1 taxpayer cash match of donations to her reelection campaign. (Credit: KarenBassLA via X)

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Democratic Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass is facing scrutiny after an online ad revealed that campaign contributions from supporters of her re-election bid would be matched by taxpayer dollars.

“Your donation to our campaign right now is more critical than ever before,” said Bass, speaking into a lapel microphone with upbeat music playing in the background of the ad, which was posted to her campaign’s X account.

“Let me explain,” she continued. “Thanks to LA’s super match program, every qualified donation from Los Angeles residents is matched 6-to-1 by the city. But after the primary, we had to start over from scratch, so we need you to rush your matching donation right now to help fuel this campaign.”

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass attends the Women for Bass phone bank event in the Baldwin Hills area of Los Angeles, Calif., June 1, 2026.(Louise Barnsley/Splash for Fox News Digital)

CALIFORNIA ELECTION RESULTS STILL UNDECIDED AS LOS ANGELES BEGINS COUNTING BALLOTS

Bass noted that chipping in $5 would equate to a $35 total donation, while $25 would become $175.

The explanation immediately raised eyebrows for those concerned that taxpayer dollars are being used as campaign contributions.

“It’s a system they set up to enrich themselves and their friends and get themselves elected,” Roxanne Hoge, chairwoman of the Republican Party of Los Angeles County, told Fox News Digital in response to Bass’ video.

“It’s like when you’re a kid, and the kid with the fancy ball gets to make all the rules of the game you’re about to play. That’s what this is.”

But the system is perfectly legal.

“It’s much like when people complain about election fraud in California. It’s not fraud. Everything is codified just the way they like it,” said Hoge.

A view of Los Angeles(Reuters/Lucy Nicholson)

“Almost none of the money that Los Angeles takes in is used for things that make sense,” she continued. “Money goes to homelessness and it increases homelessness. Basically, nothing makes sense here, and this is another thing that doesn’t make sense.”

Bass’ campaign did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

Still, critics raged online about a program that has been in use for mayoral candidates since the 1990s.

“This is grotesque,” author and University of Austin professor Michael Shellenberger said in response to the video of Bass.

“Outrageous,” quipped Richard Grenell, a Trump administration official.

“Hold your horses… The current Mayor of the City of LA, who is running for reelection, is allowed to take money from the city to fund her campaign at a 6 to 1 payout???” former Ronald Reagan official David McIntosh asked incredulously.

Vice President Kamala Harris congratulated Karen Bass after she was sworn in as mayor during her inauguration at LA Live in Los Angeles Dec. 11, 2022.(Frederic J. Brown/AFP)

“That’s so innovative, I’m sure this totally legit and not communist at all,” Los Angeles activist Tony Moon said sarcastically.

SUPREME COURT STRIKES DOWN LIMIT ON PARTY CAMPAIGN SPENDING IN COORDINATION WITH CANDIDATES

The matching program has been in effect for qualified mayoral candidates since 1990.

Slowly over time, the match limit has increased, and, in 2019, the current 6-to-1 match took effect and has been in use since then.

Qualified candidates can choose to participate in the matching program and must fill out a statement of acceptance of matching funds, according to city campaign rules.

LA MAYORAL RACE HEADS TO NOVEMBER RUNOFF AS KAREN BASS FACES MAMDANI-STYLE SOCIALIST

A CHP vehicle burns beneath the Main Street overpass in downtown Los Angeles during anti-ICE riots June 8, 2025, after rioters targeted officers below, according to federal prosecutors.(The United States Department of Justice)

To qualify, a candidate must have already raised 300 times the maximum matchable amount per contributor — $257 — have at least 100 donors who have contributed $5 or more and live in Los Angeles, have an opponent and hold at least one public town hall or debate.

All matched donations must come from Angelenos.

FAR-LEFT POLITICIANS STILL USING ACTBLUE AS 88-YEAR-OLD DISPUTES DONATING NEARLY $150,000 TO FUNDRAISING GIANT

The maximum allowable qualifying donation is $257, which, after the taxpayer-funded 6-to-1 match becomes $1,799. The total cap on matched donations is just over $1.5 million in the general election.

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Peter D’Abrosca is a politics reporter at Fox News Digital.

Who is Angie Nixon? Bullhorn-wielding socialist upsets establishment favorite in Sunshine State stunner

August 19, 2026 12:33pm EDT / Fox News

The Florida progressive known for her bullhorn protest against DeSantis-backed redistricting won with roughly $1M

By Peter Pinedo Fox News

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Another Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) member just toppled the party establishment’s preferred candidate, this time in Florida.

Florida state lawmaker Angie Nixon, who recently disrupted a vote in the Florida Legislature with a bullhorn protest inside the state Capitol, defeated establishment-backed candidate Alexander Vindman. Nixon, a progressive activist and DSA member, defeated the retired Air Force officer by more than 10 percentage points despite Vindman’s $16.3 million campaign war chest, compared with Nixon’s roughly $1 million.

Nixon’s viral moment came in April when she took a bullhorn to a legislative fight, walking down the aisle and disrupting proceedings on the Florida House floor during final passage of a redistricting bill backed by Gov. Ron DeSantis.

Dressed in a pink jumpsuit and carrying a pink megaphone, Nixon approached the House speaker’s dais and shouted to fellow Florida representatives as the final vote was called. She shouted, “This is a violation of the Constitution! It is!”

SOCIALISTS CAPTURE MAJOR FLORIDA VICTORY ON HIT-OR-MISS NIGHT FOR TRUMP-ENDORSED PRIMARY CANDIDATES

Reps. Tray McCurdy, D-Orlando, Angie Nixon, D-Jacksonville and Felicia Robinson, D-Miami Gardens, sit on the Florida Seal in protest as debate stops on Senate Bill 2-C: Establishing the Congressional Districts of the State in the House of Representatives on April 21, 2022.(AP Photo/Phil Sears)

Nixon continued shouting into the bullhorn for the entirety of the vote. She insisted, “What y’all are doing is illegal!” and “I will not allow you to destroy our democracy!” As she shouted, several colleagues could be seen filming her on their phones.

The protest did not stop the vote. While she continued shouting, “You are out of order!” and “This is a violation of the Constitution,” the Florida House granted final approval of the redistricting bill in an 83-28 vote.

A month later, WUSF reported that Nixon was arrested after she refused to leave DeSantis’ office while protesting the redistricting measure. She was released shortly afterward.

WUSF previously reported that Nixon self-identified as a member of the DSA.

SHOCKING PERCENTAGE OF DEMOCRATS IDENTIFY AS ‘DEMOCRATIC SOCIALISTS’ ACCORDING TO NEW POLL: ‘TOXIC POLICIES’

Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Florida state Rep. Angie Nixon participates in a worship service during a visit to Ebenezer Missionary Baptist Church in Hallandale Beach, Fla., on Aug. 17, 2026. Nixon, who previously protested on the floor of the state House with a bullhorn after Republicans redrew district lines, vies with retired Lt. Col. Alex Vindman in the Aug. 18 primary. The winner is likely to face incumbent Republican U.S. Sen. Ashley Moody in the November general election.(Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

Nixon also publicly objected to resolutions honoring the late Charlie Kirk. In a September social media post, Nixon called it “BEYOND disrespectful” to honor Kirk because, as she wrote, “that man said some of the most hateful about Black People and cloaked it in scripture.”

Nixon claimed that if someone supported honoring Kirk, “you are a tool of white supremacy.” After his assassination, Nixon also claimed that Kirk was “homophobic, antisemitic, [and] misogynistic.”

On her campaign website, Nixon vows to fight for what she calls a “working families guarantee,” which she says includes Medicare for all, free childcare, a national rent freeze, a moratorium on evictions and a universal jobs program with inflation-adjusted wages. Her website says the government could pay for the programs by taxing billionaires “so that everyone pays their fair share” and by prioritizing “the needs of everyday Americans instead of spending trillions on war and violence overseas.”

Nixon also advocates for “abolishing ICE and rebuilding immigration enforcement from scratch.” Nixon has said, “I don’t believe any person is illegal, and I don’t believe human beings should be treated as commodities in a system built to punish rather than to heal.”

On policing, Nixon has called for “demilitarizing policing and investing in community-based public safety, violence prevention and crisis response.”

SOCIALISTS LAUNCH RADICAL PLATFORM TO ABOLISH THE US SENATE IN BID TO FUNDAMENTALLY TRANSFORM AMERICA

[image_4]

Rep. Angie Nixon, D-Jacksonville breaks up a debate on Senate Bill 2-C: Establishing the Congressional Districts of the State in the House of Representatives on Thursday, April 21, 2022.(AP Photo/Phil Sears)

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Nixon has also claimed that the U.S. has “fueled the genocide in Palestine.”

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Fox News Digital reached out to Nixon and the DSA for comment.

Fox News Digital’s Peter D’Abrosca contributed to this report.

Peter Pinedo is a politics writer for Fox News Digital.

‘Stripper’ Venmo ‘scandal’ makes Dems the punchline as Trump candidate flips script on viral DNC post

2026-08-19T13:10:44-04:00 / Fox News

The Wisconsin congressional candidate and Sean Duffy’s son-in-law asked supporters for $5 donations after joke payments went viral

By Ashley J. DiMella Fox News

Published August 19, 2026 1:10pm EDT

Video

CNN uses quote from fake X account about Mitch McConnell’s health

Lydia Moynihan and Brian Kilmeade expose CNN’s left-wing bias as the network aired a quote from a fake X account regarding Sen. Mitch McConnell’s health. Moynihan explains the account was a complete parody, even referencing a non-existent congressional district, highlighting CNN’s lack of fact-checking and media moments that matter.

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Conservatives mocked criticism of Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy’s son-in-law, Republican congressional candidate Michael Alfonso, over old Venmo payments with suggestive captions, arguing the notes were being taken too literally as Alfonso called the criticism “wildly dishonest” and turned it into a fundraising pitch.

A post from the DNC’s social media account, FactPost, went viral this week after highlighting Venmo payments Alfonso made with notes reading “The strippers” and “High supplies.” Alfonso responded by sharing screenshots of the payments and saying the captions were jokes.

“It’s wildly dishonest to leave out the part where the ‘strippers’ were $5 because—brace yourself—they obviously weren’t actual strippers. You can write literally anything in a Venmo note. This is called a joke—something the humorless left is incapable of comprehending,” he wrote.

TRUMP-BACKED MICHAEL ALFONSO WINS CROWDED GOP PRIMARY FOR HIS FATHER-IN-LAW’S FORMER WISCONSIN SEAT

First lady Melania Trump, Michael Alfonso, President Donald Trump and Evita Duffy-Alfonso are seen in this photo. On Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2026, Alfonso won the Republican nomination in the race for Wisconsin’s 7th Congressional District.(Alfonso for Wisconsin)

“Patriots: I would be very grateful for $5 or any amount you can contribute to my campaign. None of the proceeds go to strippers or high supplies—only toward defeating the radical left in November,” he wrote.

The exchange sparked a broader discussion about Venmo payment captions and the joking or unserious descriptions users may attach to payments, with conservatives arguing that Alfonso’s critics were reading too much into the notes.

“I have no idea if there is anything here. I do know that literally not one of my male friends has ever—ever—sent me a Venmo payment with a description that wasn’t a joke,” said National Review editor Charles C.W. Cooke.

“People thinking the Venmo comment line is an actual audit trail,” wrote Wisconsin State Representative Calvin Callahan.

YOUNG CONSERVATIVES REVEAL WHAT’S TOP OF MIND AS GOP, DEMOCRATS BATTLE FOR ‘HOPELESS’ GEN Z VOTERS

Michael Alfonso, Republican U.S. congressional candidate for Wisconsin, attends a roundtable with President Donald Trump at Custer Farms Inc. in Chippewa Falls, Wis., on Friday, June 5, 2026.(Steven Garcia/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

“Yeah, because people who pay strippers totally put that truthfully in Venmo,” said one user.

“BREAKING: boomers have discovered the Venmo comment section exists,” said New York Post correspondent Lydia Moynihan.

“This is such a Gen Z ‘scandal’ I’m dying Buckle up, because every incoming member of Congress under 30 is going to have something like ‘heroin — $1’ in their Venmo history,” Alfonso’s wife, Evita Duffy-Alfonso, wrote.

“The Left can’t meme, can’t take a joke, and then wonders why it keeps losing young men at the ballot box,” she added.

TWO HOUSE RACES TAKE CENTER STAGE AS CONSERVATIVE PAC LAUNCHES MULTIMILLION-DOLLAR BIG TECH PUSH

Sean Duffy, U.S. secretary of transportation, left, and Michael Alfonso.(Ryan Collerd/Bloomberg via Getty Images | Olivier Touron / AFP via Getty Images)

“One time my wife Venmoed a bunch of our friends for their share of an Airbnb with risqué captions, got banned from the app, and had to call customer service to explain it was just a joke. Unlike the media, Venmo understood and let it go,” shared Daily Wire bureau chief Tim Rice.

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The 26-year-old congressional candidate advanced Aug. 11 in a crowded GOP primary and is set to face Democrat Fred Clark in November.

Fox News Digital reached out to Alfonso for comment.

Ashley J. DiMella reports on politics for Fox News Digital.

Scandals, socialists and Trump roil primaries, send incumbents packing at near-record pace

2026-08-19 2:13pm EDT / Fox News

Trump-backed challengers, far-left insurgents and generational change all contributed to the historic number of ousters

By Paul Steinhauser Fox News

Published August 19, 2026 2:13pm EDT | Updated August 19, 2026 2:16pm EDT

Democratic strategist Michael LaRosa breaks down 2026 primary election upsets as younger progressives defeat a number of older incumbents.

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Republican Rep. Cory Mills of Florida, facing a pair of controversies, is the latest in a growing list of congressional incumbents sent packing in party primaries this year.

Twelve House members and two senators have been ousted in the 2026 midterms as they bid for renomination, according to the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia.

“It’s one of the highest numbers in decades in a non-national redistricting year,” Center for Politics Communications Director Kyle Kondik told Fox News Digital.

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Republican Rep. Cory Mills of Florida was defeated Tuesday as he bid for renomination in the state’s 7th Congressional District.(Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

Kondik noted that “the years that the number was higher are years that end in the number two, which are full national redistricting years. This was a partial redistricting year, but it’s a very high number historically.”

While the rare but not unheard of redistricting push over the past year contributed to some of the losses by incumbents, there were plenty of other factors. Those include incumbents wounded by scandals, President Donald Trump’s moves to oust some GOP lawmakers, the increasing push by Democrats for generational change and the successful movement by the far left to target more moderate, establishment-backed Democrats in nomination showdowns.

Democratic Rep. Shri Thanedar of Michigan was defeated earlier this month by a left-wing challenger, state Rep. Donavan McKinney, who is a member of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA).

Democratic Rep. Dan Goldman of New York was ousted in the state’s June primary by progressive challenger Brad Lander, a former New York City comptroller who was backed by socialist Mayor Zohran Mamdani.

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Congressional candidate Claire Valdez, congressional candidate Brad Lander, Mayor Zohran Mamdani and congressional candidate Darializa Avila Chevalier raise their hands during a Get Out the Vote rally at King’s Theatre June 18, 2026, in New York City.(Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

Rep. Adriano Espaillat of New York, a Democrat who serves as Congressional Hispanic Caucus chair, was defeated by community organizer and activist Darializa Avila Chevalier, a DSA member who was also supported by Mamdani. Age was also a factor in the race, as the 32-year-old Chevalier ousted the 71-year-old Espaillat.

Ideology and age were also key ingredients in DSA member Melat Kiros’ victory over more moderate Democratic Rep. Diana Degette of Colorado, who has served in the House for nearly three decades.

Age and the push for fresh faces fueled a victory by 38-year-old Democratic Rep. Christian Menefee, who won a special congressional election earlier this year, over Rep. Al Green, a fellow Democrat who turns 79 next month. The two incumbents faced off for a House seat redrawn through a Texas Republican redistricting push.

CHECK OUT THE LATEST FOX NEWS POWER RANKINGS IN THE MIDTERM RACES

Rep. Al Green, D-Texas, joins Texas House Democrats for a press conference at the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers union hall Aug. 4, 2025, in Warrenville, Ill.(Scott Olson/Getty Images)

Redistricting in Texas also forced Democratic Rep. Julie Johnson into a showdown in the state’s 33rd Congressional District against her predecessor, former Rep. Colin Allred, which Allred won in a runoff election.

Generational change was the key factor as 47-year-old former Mayor Luke Bronin of Hartford, Connecticut, scored a victory in the Democratic primary over nearly 30-year congressional veteran Rep. John Larson, who is 78.

Trump played a key role in the ouster of Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana earlier this year. Cassidy was one of a handful of Republicans who voted to convict Trump during his second impeachment trial five years ago.

Meanwhile, longtime Republican Sen. John Cornyn was defeated in the Texas GOP Senate nomination runoff election in late May by state Attorney General Ken Paxton, a MAGA firebrand and major supporter of the president. Trump stayed neutral during the year-long bitter battle but endorsed Paxton at the last minute ahead of the runoff.

10 HOUSE INCUMBENT LAWMAKERS WHO SAW THEIR 2026 RE-ELECTION BIDS END IN PRIMARY DEFEAT

Republican Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky is interviewed by Fox News Digital May 18, 2026, in Mason County, Ky.(Paul Steinhauser/Fox News)

Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky, a vocal Republican Trump critic, lost his renomination bid to former Navy SEAL Ed Gallrein, who was backed by the president.

Republican Rep. Dan Crenshaw of Texas went down in defeat to a more conservative challenger, state Rep. Steve Toth, who cast the incumbent as anti-Trump. While the president remained neutral in the race, Toth was supported by conservative firebrand Sen. Ted Cruz.

Republican Rep. Andy Ogles of Tennessee lost in his bid for renomination despite having Trump’s endorsement.

Ogles, saddled by controversial comments and social media posts in recent years, was defeated by former Tennessee Agriculture Commissioner Charlie Hatcher, who was backed by Gov. Bill Lee, former Gov. Bill Haslam and other prominent Republicans including former Trump Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue.

Rep. Andy Ogles, R-Tenn., at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., Feb. 25, 2025.(Kent Nishimura/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

In Florida, Mills was topped by Ryan Elijah, a former local television news and sports reporter, in a four-way GOP primary in the right-leaning 7th Congressional District.

Elijah repeatedly targeted Mills over a House Ethics Committee investigation into the congressman and the restraining order placed against Mills by a judge last year after a former girlfriend said the two-term lawmaker threatened to release sexually explicit videos of her.

Mills, an Army veteran and former military contractor, denied the allegations but faced bipartisan calls to resign. An endorsement earlier this year from President Donald Trump wasn’t enough to save him in Tuesday’s primary.

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Earlier this year, GOP Rep. Tony Gonzales of Texas, who had advanced to a runoff election, quit his race after admitting to an affair with a former staffer who died by suicide.

Facing heavy pressure from House leaders, he resigned from Congress entirely weeks later.

If you or someone you know is having thoughts of suicide, please contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255).

Paul Steinhauser covers the national campaign trail from coast to coast for Fox News

Israeli military orders criminal investigations into killings of 5-year-old Hind Rajab and 15 others in Gaza

August 19, 2026 / 2:36 PM EDT / CBS News

The Israeli military has ordered a criminal investigation into the killing by its forces of 5-year-old Hind Rajab, a Palestinian girl whose death in Gaza sparked international outrage after a recording of her final, heart-wrenching moments speaking to paramedics was heard around the world.

In a statement Wednesday, the Israel Defense Forces acknowledged for the first time that troops opened fire on the vehicle carrying Rajab’s family in January 2024, having previously said no forces were in the area at the time.

“Following review of the findings and due to alleged failures in the coordination of the movement of the Palestine Red Crescent ambulance, it has been decided to initiate a criminal investigation of the incident,” the IDF said.

Hind Rajab is shown in this photo shared by the Palestinian Red Crescent. Palestinian Red Crescent

The military said it was also ordering a criminal investigation into the March 2025 killing of 15 Gazans, including rescue workers.

The investigations will be conducted by Israeli military police.

Rajab, whose story was made into the award-winning 2025 docudrama “The Voice of Hind Rajab,” was in a car with six family members when it came under Israeli fire in Gaza City.

Only Rajab and her cousin Layan survived the initial attack. Audio from her cousin’s phone call to the Palestinian Red Crescent emergency service captured 15-year-old Layan describing the chaotic scene around her, amid the sound of gunfire and screaming, before the call dropped.

Rajab answered a return call, which lasted hours, telling the emergency operator at one point: “The tank is next to me,” in Arabic. “I’m so scared. Please come.”

Rajab’s desperate pleas for rescue as night fell, telling the operator she was afraid of the dark, were cut off as gunfire again rang out and the call abruptly ended.

Twelve days later, her body was recovered, along with those of two paramedics who had been sent to rescue her. The IDF said it would grant the ambulance safe passage, before forces at the scene opened fire, killing those inside, according to the military’s statement on Wednesday.

A few weeks after the incident, CBS’ 60 Minutes spoke with Palestinian Red Crescent workers at the emergency call center in Ramallah, 50 miles away, which handled the calls with Rajab and her cousin.

“The story of Hind is not the only story. It’s absolutely dozens of calls we’re getting since the beginning of the war in Gaza, where we feel helpless,” spokesperson Nebal Farsakh said.

Haunted “by the sound of gunfire”

As well as the Rajab case, the IDF also said it was opening a criminal probe into the killing of Palestinian medics, including a U.N. staffer, in Tel al-Sultan, Gaza, in March 2025.

The IDF initially said its forces opened fire because the vehicles were “advancing suspiciously” without headlights or emergency signals, but walked back that account after cellphone video surfaced of the attack, showing Red Crescent and Gazan Civil Defense teams driving slowly with their emergency lights flashing and logos visible as they pulled up to help an ambulance that had come under fire earlier.

In the clip, they do not appear to be acting in a threatening manner as three medics emerge and head toward the stricken ambulance. Their vehicles then come under a barrage of gunfire, which goes on for more than five minutes with brief pauses.

The person holding the phone who recorded the incident can be heard praying.

“Forgive me, mother. This is the path I chose, mother, to help people,” the person recording cries, his voice trembling.

Video showed the Israeli troops then bulldozing over the bodies, along with their mangled vehicles, burying them in a mass grave. The IDF said Wednesday that there were Hamas operatives among those killed, and that the forces had “decided to crush the vehicles and to cover the bodies with metal mesh.”

U.N. and rescue workers were only able to reach the site a week later to dig out the bodies.

After the video emerged, the IDF said the deaths were due to an “operational misunderstanding” among Israeli forces, and that a separate incident 15 minutes later, when Israeli soldiers shot at a Palestinian U.N. vehicle, was a breach of orders.

The Palestinian Red Crescent told The Guardian last June that Asaad al-Nasasra, one of the two medics who survived the mass killing, was haunted “by the sound of gunfire, the sight of his wounded colleagues, and their brutal killings.”

IDF investigations rarely lead to punishment or convictions. An investigation by Action on Armed Violence in August 2025 found that 88% of 52 publicly acknowledged Israeli military investigations into alleged war crimes in Gaza and the occupied West Bank stalled or closed without findings, with only one resulting in a prison sentence against the accused.

Wednesday’s IDF statement said there was no criminal misconduct involved in the deaths of seven World Central Kitchen employees in April 2024, or the IDF’s killing of two Doctors Without Borders (MSF) employees in Gaza’s Khan Younis in February 2024, or two further deaths of MSF employees in Gaza City in November 2023, which the IDF said could have been caused by “bullet ricochet or bullet splash” from “warning fire.”

Israel’s military actions have killed more than 70,000 Palestinians in Gaza since the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel, which killed more than 1,200 people, saw hundreds more taken hostage, and sparked the war in Gaza.

Bond market sell-off threatens higher borrowing costs. Here is what it means for your money.

August 19, 2026 / 12:20 PM EDT / CBS News

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A bond sell-off driven by investor fears over inflation and rising government debt has rattled markets and threatened to raise borrowing costs for everyday Americans looking to purchase a home or car.

The yield on the 30-year Treasury reached 5.3% earlier this week, its highest level since 2007, while the 10-year Treasury yield, which influences mortgage rates, rose to 4.7%, up from 4.2% at the start of the year.

Bond yields and prices move in opposite directions, with higher yields reflecting investors’ desire for higher returns on their investments, often amid fears of economic or geopolitical instability.

“Bond markets are sending an equally loud signal,” Nigel Green, CEO of financial consultancy deVere Group, said in an email Wednesday.

“30-year yields at their highest since before the financial crisis are not a footnote to the equity story. They’re a warning about the true cost of government borrowing,” he added.

What caused the bond sell-off?

Green said the sell-off could reflect a shift in market sentiment as investors come to terms with several forces, including elevated borrowing costs and mounting government debt, which, according to Treasury Department data, is close to hitting $40 trillion.

Instability in the Middle East may have also contributed to the bond rout. Bond yields moved higher on Monday after a 60-day ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran came to an end, with no clear resolution in sight.

The conflict in the Middle East, now nearing its six-month mark, has sent oil prices higher, elevating inflation concerns. Inflation eased in June and July after hitting a three-year high, but it remains above the Federal Reserve’s 2% target.

Is the market stabilizing?

U.S. yields dropped on Wednesday after the Treasury Department announced it would double the size of its bond buybacks from $2 billion to “at least $4 billion,” a move aimed at stabilizing the bond market by injecting it with more liquidity.

The Treasury Department said it would focus its efforts on longer-term bonds, including those with maturities of 10 to 20 years and 20 to 30 years.

“While long-term government bond yields have dropped back a little today, their recent surge suggests investors are losing patience with fiscal profligacy,” Jonas Goltermann, a chief market economist at Capital Economics, said in a research note Wednesday.

Recent data on home sales and import prices also came in better than expected, Oxford Economics said in a report Wednesday, putting further downward pressure on bond yields and allowing the market to stabilize.

The economic advisory firm predicts Treasury yields will remain elevated before gradually declining next year.

What do rising yields mean for your money?

Bond yields act as a barometer for interest rates across the economy, influencing everything from auto loans to mortgage rates. When bond yields rise, borrowing costs for consumers increase.

That could present a challenge for Americans, who already report feeling financially strained amid elevated inflation.

While rising yields hurt borrowers, they present an opportunity for savers, said Matt Schulz, chief consumer finance analyst at LendingTree.

They can be “great news for savers because yields on CDs, high-yield savings accounts and other products rise, too,” he said in an email.

Schulz encouraged borrowers to seek quotes from different lenders, as offers can vary widely.

“If you don’t take the time to shop around, you can end up paying thousands of dollars more than you need to over the life of the loan,” he said.

Edited by Aimee Picchi