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New Dem star’s quick hard-left turn after ‘moderate’ campaign won her coveted response to Trump: Lawmaker

Republican congressman accuses governor of abandoning anti-gerrymandering stance to secure State of the Union response role

By Charles Creitz
Fox News

Published February 24, 2026 6:20pm EST

EXCLUSIVE: Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger would never have been given airtime in the Democrats’ official response to President Donald Trump’s State of the Union if it weren’t for her support of the commonwealth’s controversial redistricting and adherence to the party line, a top Republican said.

A new congressional map credited to Virginia Senate Leader L. Louise Lucas, D-Portsmouth, would eliminate Virginia’s 6–5 Republican-to-Democrat congressional ratio and leave only southwestern Virginia Republican Rep. Morgan Griffith in a favorable seat if a constitutional amendment to redraw the maps passes in April.

Lucas and House Speaker Don Scott, D-Portsmouth, have spearheaded the redistricting plan, while also facing headwinds from a Tazewell County lawsuit supported by the Republican minority.

Rep. Ben Cline, R-Va., whose district runs from the Roanoke suburbs along U.S. 11 and Interstate 81 to the West Virginia line near Berryville, would be one of the Republicans likely unseated by sheer math if Democrats have their way.

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Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger, left; Rep. Ben Cline, right.(Marvin Joseph/Getty Images; Bill Clark; Getty Images)

Cline told Fox News Digital in an exclusive interview that Spanberger’s support for redistricting belies her prior public comments lambasting the idea of gerrymandering or redistricting in a partisan way.

He added that it is Spanberger’s current support that has made her a darling of her national party to the point they are showcasing her as the State of the Union respondent.

“Governor Spanberger is trying to play the national Democrats to raise her profile and try and get on the national scene on the agenda by acquiescing to this partisan gerrymandering of the Virginia legislature,” Cline said.

“She campaigned on not gerrymandering; on saying that gerrymandering was wrong, and that flips when push comes to shove and she gets a chance to reward those leaders in the national party like Barack Obama and Hakeem Jeffries.”

Cline said he’s not surprised by the news, adding that Spanberger also made “misstatements” about key issues during her campaign against former Lt. Gov. Winsome Sears last year.

Cline said he recalls working with then-Rep. Spanberger in Congress – and that the two of them were often united in support of key Virginia industries like agriculture – but that he no longer recognizes the governor in that light.

“Abigail Spanberger was on the House Agriculture Committee and loved to talk about her connection to Virginia agriculture. But my district is currently the most agriculture-based district in Virginia and she has chopped it into five different districts and parceled it out to Northern Virginia Democrats to use to make their numbers work,” he said.

Cline said the move is offensive to Virginia farmers, as the new map strips them of a collective voice in Washington and instead forces them to lobby whichever liberal-suburb-sourced district their community falls into.

[SPANBERGER SIGNALS LEFT BENT AFTER CENTRIST CAMPAIGN; GOP LEADER WARNS OF ‘FAIRFAXING THE REST OF VA’]

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Rep. Ben Cline, R-Va., arrives for the House Republicans’ caucus meeting at the Capitol Hill Club in Washington on Tuesday, May 23, 2023.(Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

“She should be ashamed of herself,” Cline said, adding that if Spanberger had kept to her pre-governorship position that gerrymandering is wrong, “the Democrats wouldn’t have given her a second look, because she wouldn’t have been playing along with a plan that they have for actually seizing the House majority through this gerrymandering effort.”

Instead, she’s being “rewarded” for pivoting to the party line, he said.

People in his district are also sounding the alarm about Spanberger beyond the gerrymandering plans, citing affordability commentary and other promises as well.

[DEMOCRATS SAY TRUMP REDISTRICTING PUSH BACKFIRING AS VIRGINIA ADVANCES NEW HOUSE MAPS]

“They’re very upset with the way she’s flipped from her campaign pledges to the way she’s actually governing. And I don’t think they’re going to respond well on April 21. I think they are going to vote down this effort to gerrymander Virginia.”

Concerns also arose over the legislature-approved language of the amendment — set to go before voters April 21 — which asks if they want to “restore fairness,” a phrase Cline and other opponents, including Del. Wren Williams, R-Stuart, have said is misleading and essentially benefits partisan Democratic politicians.

Cline said the redistricting is the marquee of Spanberger and Richmond Democrats’ efforts to radically change election laws, economic policy, taxation, cooperation agreements with federal immigration authorities and more.

“What Governor Spanberger did by withdrawing from our 287-G agreement with the state police is unacceptable. It makes us a sanctuary state for violent, illegal immigrants who are trying to escape being held accountable for their crimes. They come to Virginia, and Governor Spanberger refuses to allow state police to work with ICE,” he said.

“And so this type of reckless behavior, not only by Governor Spanberger but also the state assembly, is definitely having an impact out here in the western part of Virginia,” he said.

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The Mill Mountain Star dots the Roanoke skyline in Virginia.(Jeff Greenberg/Getty Images)

Under the new map, Cline’s current 6th district would be divided between the new 10th, 11th, 7th, 6th and 9th district, with the 9th being Griffith’s.

Instead of one southwest to northeast oval following the general path of the Colonial-era “Valley Pike” — Cline, who lives in Botetourt County, would find himself in the 6th or 9th.

The 10th, near Winchester, would be connected to liberal Washington suburbs like Reston, the 11th would serpentine from Luray to Washington, leaving room for the “scorpion” 7th jutting in two “pincers” toward Mount Sidney in the west and Powhatan in the east, and the 6th connecting blue cities in the rural interior like Charlottesville, Harrisonburg and Roanoke.

Heavily-populated, liberal Fairfax County will have a piece of five different districts extending into less-populated, conservative areas.

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The new 2nd District, currently comprising Cape Charles, Accomac and Virginia Beach, will shift just westward enough to slice off dense, Democrat-friendly parts of the city of Chesapeake.

Critics have also compared it to the former Maryland 3rd – a district one federal judge denounced as a “pterodactyl” shape that relied upon the Patapsco River and Chesapeake Bay rather than land to connect its several disjointed sections between Annapolis and Baltimore.

A new, slightly more streamlined district is currently represented by Rep. Sarah Elfreth, an Elkridge Democrat.

Fox News Digital reached out to Spanberger for comment.

Charles Creitz is a reporter for Fox News Digital.

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

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

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

These 3 charts highlight the affordability issues Americans worry about most

2026-02-24 / CBS News

President Trump is expected to focus on the economy during his 2026 State of the Union address on Tuesday evening — an urgent topic of concern for millions of Americans who say they’re worried about everything from the price of food to spiraling health care costs.

The address, which will air at 9 p.m. EDT, will highlight the strength of the U.S. economy, with White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt saying on Tuesday morning that the president will outline plans to “make the American dream more attainable.”

By conventional metrics, the economy looks resilient. Unemployment remains low at 4.3%; inflation is cooling; and GDP is expanding, with the U.S. largely shrugging off the impact of tariffs that economists feared could trigger a recession. Consumers — whose spending keeps the economy humming — also report feeling more confident of late amid a burst in January job creation.

At the same time, many households still report grappling with stubbornly high prices for essentials like food, housing and health insurance, a disconnect that underscores the challenge Mr. Trump faces in touting his economic record.

Mr. Trump has offered a range of proposals to address affordability issues. Yet some of the most visible initiatives, such as a push to cap credit card rates at 10%, have yet to show benefits, Bankrate senior economic analyst Mark Hamrick said in an email.

Americans polled by the Pew Research Center in January said their top economic concerns are the cost of food, housing and health care.

Food prices

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The cost of food has been a flashpoint for consumers since inflation soared to a 40-year high in 2022. High food prices also bedeviled former President Biden, prompting Mr. Trump to vow while on the campaign trail that he would end the “inflation nightmare.”

Since Mr. Trump returned to office in 2025, food prices have continued to climb, although at a slower pace than under the Biden administration, when pandemic-related supply disruptions drove price hikes.

But economists have long noted that shoppers tend to be more focused on the prices they see on store shelves than the rate of inflation. Although food costs are rising more slowly, prices of some staples have continued rise sharply in the past year: Ground beef has jumped 17.2% from a year ago, while coffee has surged 18.3%.

The Trump administration has sought to counter rising food prices in part by exempting beef, coffee and bananas from tariffs. Earlier this month, Mr. Trump also said he would boost U.S. imports of beef from Argentina in an effort to ease prices.

Because beef imports from Argentina represent only 0.6% of the overall U.S. beef supply, that policy is unlikely to move the needle on prices, experts have told CBS News.

Housing affordability

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More than 8 in 10 Americans say it is harder today to buy a home than it was for earlier generations, according to a CBS News poll that surveyed consumers in early February. Pew also recently found that 62% of Americans report feeling concerned about the cost of housing.

The Trump administration has proposed several remedies, including banning institutional investors from purchasing single-family homes. The president has also directed the federal government to buy $200 billion in mortgage securities, a move that could help lower the cost of home loans.

Experts say that those ideas may provide some relief, but aren’t likely on their own to address the deeper issue behind rising home prices: a shortage of affordable housing. Homebuilding cratered after the Great Recession in 2008-09 and has never caught up with demand.

The U.S. would need to build as many as 4 million additional homes beyond the normal pace of construction to significantly reduce the housing shortage, Goldman Sachs analysts estimate.

Health care spending

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Paying for health care has emerged as Americans’ top financial worry after Congress failed last year to extend some Affordable Care Act subsidies, triggering premium spikes for millions, health policy research firm KFF found in a recent poll.

Meanwhile, workers with employer-sponsored health insurance face increases of about 6% to 7% in 2026 — more than double the current rate of inflation. Since 2008, the cost of private health insurance has roughly doubled, KFF found.

Millions who rely on the Affordable Care Act marketplaces for insurance plans faced even sharper spikes after Congress failed to extend enhanced premium subsidies, which expired Dec. 31. Some Americans told CBS News they planned to skip coverage this year because they couldn’t afford their soaring premiums.

The Trump administration is tackling drug costs through its new TrumpRx website, which lists lower direct-to-consumer prescription prices. Mr. Trump described the site as “one of the most transformative health care initiatives of all time.”

But experts note that the site is geared to consumers who pay out of pocket, meaning that it doesn’t help people with insurance and won’t count toward meeting a consumer’s health plan deductible.

The Republicans’ “big, beautiful bill” act also paid for tax cuts by significantly trimming spending on Medicaid and other social programs, Vanessa Williamson, senior fellow at the nonpartisan Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center, noted in an email.

“When you add to that the refusal to extend the Affordable Care Act credits, which caused health insurance premiums to double for millions of Americans, and the cuts to affordable energy programs, you can see Americans were really hit in their wallets over the last year,” she said.

New York calls for $13.5 billion tariff refund from Trump administration

February 24, 2026 10:41 PM UTC / Reuters

节点运行失败

People walk on Fifth Avenue as President Trump’s new tariffs are imposed, in New York City, U.S., August 7, 2025. REUTERS/Adam Gray/ File Photo [Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab]

WASHINGTON, Feb 24 (Reuters) – New York Governor Kathy Hochul on Tuesday called on the Trump administration to issue $13.5 billion in tariff refunds after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs.

Last year, shortly after returning to the White House, Trump imposed varying tariffs on most of the world’s countries. The move, which Trump called “Liberation Day,” was met with legal challenges from businesses and some U.S. states.

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Those tariffs, Hochul said, cost the average New York household an estimated $1,751 in added costs over the last year and harmed the state’s small businesses.

“These senseless and illegal tariffs were just a tax on New York consumers, small businesses and farmers, and that’s why I’m demanding a full refund” the governor said.

Hochul joins Illinois Governor JB Pritzker and California Governor Gavin Newsom who last week called on the Republican president to issue refunds following the Supreme Court ruling.

All three Democratic governors are considered contenders for the U.S. 2028 presidential election.

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The White House dismissed the calls by the governors, saying they spent decades talking about issues that Trump was able to address.

“President Trump used tariffs to actually deliver where Democrats could only talk, so naturally Democrats are resorting to gathering more meaningless popcorn headlines – pathetic but unsurprising,” White House spokesman Kush Desai said in a statement.

Reuters reported last week that Penn Wharton Budget Model economists estimated more than $175 billion in U.S. tariff collections are subject to potential refunds.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has said the issue of tariff refunds would be addressed by the lower courts.

(This story has been corrected to remove the line saying White House did not comment in paragraph 5)

Reporting by Jasper Ward in Washington; Editing by Bill Berkrot and Nia Williams

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab

President Donald Trump will deliver his fourth State of the Union address of his presidential tenure Tuesday night, which will include guests ranging from conservative speaker Charlie Kirk’s widow, Erika, to the parents of the National Guard member fatally shot on the streets of Washington, D.C., in November 2025.

Trump will take the dais at 9 p.m. EST Tuesday, when he is expected to deliver a data-heavy speech focused on the economy and his administration’s wins to lower cost-of-living woes.

He will be joined by special guests who will help illustrate how his policies have delivered real savings to everyday Americans, those who have been the victims of crimes and tragedy and those embodying American triumph.

Among top names invited to the address are Erika Kirk, who is now leading conservative group Turning Point USA after husband Charlie Kirk, the group’s co-founder and executive director, was assassinated in September 2025 while touring college campuses.

Trump’s speech will include mentions of the U.S.’ “tremendous revival of faith, Christianity and belief in God in our country” since Kirk’s death, The Daily Wire reported.

The U.S. men’s hockey team is also traveling to the speech after winning gold at the Olympics by defeating Canada 2–1. The team traveled on a blue and white Air Force jet from Miami to the nation’s capital Tuesday.

Everyday Americans also will play a large role in Trump’s speech, with the president inviting women such as Catherine Rayner of Norfolk, Virginia. Rayner and her husband have been navigating fertility complications and in vitro fertilization for five years.

Rayner became the first patient of TrumpRx.gov, a government-run portal designed to steer consumers toward lower-cost prescription drugs offered by manufacturers, earlier in February when it rolled out and saw her pharmaceutical bills drop from about $4,000 to $500, Fox News Digital previously reported.

The president also invited Pennsylvania mom Megan Hemhouser, who homeschools her two children and also works as a waitress in the evenings. Her husband is a heavy machinery operator, and the family is showcasing how the president’s “no tax on tips” and “no tax on overtime” policies have benefited everyday families. The Hemhousers have benefited from a $5,000 increase in take-home pay under Trump’s tax plans included in the one “big beautiful bill.”

Trump also invited the parents of Sarah Beckstrom, the 20-year-old National Guard member who was killed in Washington, D.C., ahead of Thanksgiving 2025.

Dalilah Coleman, 7, will also attend the speech, a White House official confirmed to Fox. Coleman was left seriously injured by a California car crash involving an illegal immigrant truck driver in 2024.

First lady Melania Trump invited guests who the White House said reflect on her “Be Best, Fostering the Future” push, including Sierra Burns, a participant in her Foster Youth to Independence Program, and Everest Nevraumont, a 10-year-old student at an AI-focused private school,Alpha School, an AI advocate and a TedX speaker.

The pair will join the first lady for the 2026 State of the Union, spotlighting her focus on expanding opportunity through education and technology, according to the White House’s website.

Trump additionally invited the U.S. women’s hockey team to the speech after their gold win over Canada, but the team declined due to the timing of the speech.

Trump’s speech is expected to focus on economic wins under his leadership, while celebrating the nation’s landmark 250th anniversary of independence.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News Digital ahead of the speech, “President Trump’s State of the Union Address will celebrate 250 glorious years of our nation’s independence and excellence, highlighting incredible stories of American heroes throughout the speech.”

Fox News’ Pat Ward contributed to this report.

Close friend of U.S. citizen killed by ICE agent in Texas disputed official account of shooting

February 24, 2026 / 3:51 PM EST / CBS News

The close friend of a 23-year-old American citizen and Texas resident who was killed by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent last year disputed officials’ account of the fatal shooting in a declaration he dictated to the slain man’s lawyers.

Ruben Ray Martinez died in March 2025 after being shot in South Padre Island, Texas. While the fatal shooting was reported at the time by local news outlets, the fact that an ICE agent was the one who shot and killed Martinez was not revealed until last week, roughly 11 months later.

In an official statement and internal report, Department of Homeland Security officials said an ICE agent fired

Anthropic digs in heels in dispute with Pentagon, source says

February 24, 2026 8:20 PM UTC / Reuters

The Pentagon is seen from the air in Washington, U.S., March 3, 2022. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts [Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab]

• Summary
• Companies

• Anthropic has refused to ease military usage restrictions, source says
• Pentagon threatens to invoke Defense Production Act
• Pentagon negotiating AI contracts with multiple LLM providers

NEW YORK/WASHINGTON/SAN FRANCISCO, Feb 24 (Reuters) – Artificial intelligence lab Anthropic has no intention of easing its usage restrictions for military purposes, a person familiar with the matter said on Tuesday, adding talks continue after a meeting to discuss its future with the Pentagon.

The meeting between Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei and U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was scheduled to hash out a months-long dispute. The AI startup has refused to remove safeguards that would prevent its technology from being used to target weapons autonomously and conduct U.S. domestic surveillance.

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Pentagon officials have argued the government should only be required to comply with U.S. law.

During the meeting, Hegseth delivered an ultimatum to Anthropic: get on board or the government would take drastic action, people familiar with the matter said. The options included labeling Anthropic as a supply-chain risk or have the Pentagon invoke a law, the Defense Production Act, that would force Anthropic to change its rules, the people said.

The government gave Anthropic until Friday at 5 p.m. to respond, according to a senior Pentagon official with knowledge of the matter.

The Pentagon did not immediately respond to a comment request. An Anthropic spokesperson said Tuesday’s meeting “continued good-faith conversations about our usage policy to ensure Anthropic can continue to support the government’s national security mission in line with what our models can reliably and responsibly do.”

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The Pentagon has been negotiating AI contracts with multiple large language model, or LLM, providers, including Alphabet’s Google (GOOGL.O), opens new tab, xAI and OpenAI, that are set to shape the future of military use of artificial intelligence for battlefield applications, spanning autonomous drone swarms, robots and cyber attacks.

Until recently, Anthropic was the only LLM provider on classified networks. This week, the Pentagon announced it had reached an agreement with xAI to deploy it across classified networks. Reuters has previously reported that it plans to move all AI companies to classified networks.

The Pentagon’s fight with Anthropic reached a fever pitch earlier this month when it grew concerned that the company had asked questions about how its AI products were used during the Venezuela military raid that captured President Nicolas Maduro.

During the meeting with Hegseth, Amodei said Anthropic did not raise concerns to Palantir or the Pentagon about whether the company’s AI products were used during the Venezuela raid, the source said. Amodei also said the safeguards currently in place would not pose a problem to the Defense Department’s current operations.

Hegseth said the Pentagon would either invoke the Defense Production Act to compel Anthropic to comply with its demands, or deem the company a supply chain risk, a determination typically imposed on companies from foreign adversaries. This could upend Anthropic’s business with other companies that do business with the U.S. government.

“This specific scenario is unprecedented and will almost certainly trigger a raft of downstream litigation if the Administration takes adverse action against Anthropic here,

节点运行失败

Abigail Spanberger to deliver Democratic response to 2026 State of the Union tonight

February 24, 2026 / 5:07 PM EST / CBS News

Washington — Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger is set to deliver the Democratic response to President Trump’s State of the Union address Tuesday night as the party tries to counter the president’s message.

Spanberger, a former congresswoman and CIA officer, was elected in November as Virginia’s first female governor in one of Democrats’ first major electoral victories since the 2024 elections. She’s set to deliver the speech from Colonial Williamsburg in Virginia, which she said “has served as a testament to the power of ordinary citizens to shape the future of our nation, demand better from our government, and pursue a more perfect union for all.”

“I look forward to joining Virginians in this historic place to lay out the next chapter of our story — a clear vision for a stronger, safer, and more affordable future for every American who calls our nation home,” Spanberger said in a statement.

Spanberger’s address is expected to focus on affordability, along with criticism of “the chaos” that Democrats say the Trump administration has unleashed across the U.S. Party leaders announced last week that she would deliver the Democratic rebuttal to Mr. Trump’s address, while highlighting her record of public service and commitment to lowering costs for Americans.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said in a statement announcing the address that Spanberger “stands in stark contrast to Donald Trump, who will lie, deflect and blame everyone but himself for his failed presidency on Tuesday evening.”

Jeffries, a New York Democrat, said as the nation looks toward the 250th anniversary this summer, Spanberger “embodies the best of America as a mother, community leader and dedicated public servant.”

Rising stars within the opposing party have often been tapped to deliver the rebuttal to the State of the Union address in recent years. Last year, Sen. Elissa Slotkin, a Michigan Democrat, delivered the response to Mr. Trump’s address to a joint session of Congress, while GOP Sen. Katie Britt of Alabama delivered the Republican response in the final year of President Joe Biden’s presidency.

Abigail Spanberger speaks during a campaign rally on Nov, 1, 2025 in Norfolk, Virginia. Win McNamee / Getty Images

Mr. Trump is giving his first State of the Union address since returning to the White House on Tuesday night, where he’s expected to highlight and celebrate 250 years of the United States of America, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said ahead of the speech.

“You’re going to hear the president share the stories of everyday Americans who have benefited from his policies, you’re going to hear the president share tear-jerking stories of American heroes past and present,” Leavitt said. “He’ll obviously tout the administration’s accomplishments over the past year and he will, of course, lay out a very ambitious agenda, I think, for the working people of this country to make America more affordable and prosperous and safe and make the American dream more attainable.”

Leavitt said a large portion of the speech will focus on the economy, the issue that continues to be a top concern for Americans. She said the president will make a case for why he and Republicans are better suited to continue tackling affordability.

Poll on Trump State of the Union finds most want to hear about economy and say admin. hasn’t explained Iran policy

2026-02-24T17:25:00-0500 / CBS News

Asked how they’d describe the state of the country if they could give the address tonight, most Americans would use the word “divided.”

It’s a belief about division that has spanned administrations — before Joe Biden’s last State of the Union, most described the nation as “divided” too. And even more do now.

“Divided” far outpaces other descriptors like “strong” or “prospering,” though each of those is a bit higher now than in 2024 under Biden, too.

But Democrats and Republicans alike want to hear the president talk about the economy and the cost of living.

Most still call the economy bad — as they have for years, going back to the pandemic — but views are relatively improved of late, and off the lows for this term from last fall.

The way in which the president talks about that may be critical now: going into the State of the Union address, most Americans think Mr. Trump makes the situation with prices and inflation sound better than it really is.

There’s also a big majority that say he hasn’t explained potential military action against Iran.

Something fewer want to hear about: tariffs. Most still oppose them — or, coming off the recent Supreme Court decision — the idea that the president alone should be setting them. That, Americans say, is a job that at least involves Congress, if not one that is exclusive to Congress.

More broadly, asked how they’d describe the country compared to a year ago, Republicans already think it is doing better today. And they’re widely optimistic about the coming years ahead, too. A majority of Americans overall, though, feel the nation is doing worse.

And as with all presidents in recent years, his own partisans say they’re far more likely to watch the speech tonight.

Comparable numbers say “declining” and “weak” describe the state of the country, but the partisan views are flipped. When Joe Biden was in office, preparing to give his final State of the Union address, Republicans tended to use more negative terms than Democrats. Today, ahead of Mr. Trump’s address, Democrats use more negative terms.

What do Americans want to hear about?

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Most want to hear about economic-focused topics like the cost of living and the U.S. economy, whether they plan to watch the speech or not.

Those issues have been on the minds of Americans for a long while.

Many also say it’s important to hear about Immigration and Customs Enforcement, deportation operations and immigration policy generally, along with health care and prescription drugs.

Far fewer want to hear very political things, like criticism of Democrats or support for Republicans — or about the Supreme Court, either.

It’s not just raising the subject, though; it’s the way the president describes things. Most continue to think Trump describes prices and inflation as better than they really are.

A sizable number in his own party — about four in 10 — also hold this view. This has been the case in the public mind for a while.

Tariffs, prices and the economy

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Most Americans disapprove of new tariffs on imported goods, just as they did before the decision by the U.S. Supreme Court last week. (They’ve told us in other recent polls they feel tariffs increase prices.)

Who should decide on tariffs? Americans across party lines see at least some role for Congress in setting tariff policy. Very few say Trump alone should do it.

Specifically, Republicans see it as a matter for cooperation between Mr. Trump and Congress: few think Mr. Trump alone should set policy, even those who favor tariffs more generally.

Most continue to rate the nation’s economy negatively as they have for years, but the percentage who say it is good has been rising, off last fall’s lows for the term.

Americans have often said in previous polling this past year that prices are a main way that they evaluate the economy, and over the course of his second term, have felt the administration hasn’t been focusing enough on it. Today, Mr. Trump continues to get net negative ratings on his handling of the economy and inflation, as he has for several months.

Iran

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Many also feel it’s important to hear about Iran tonight.

One reason: most don’t think the Trump administration has clearly explained the U.S. position on possible action against Iran.

Overall, the nation is divided — with slightly more opposed than in favor — of the idea of military action to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons.

Those who don’t think he’s clearly explained things are mostly opposed to military action.

There are partisan differences, too: Most Democrats and independents would disapprove of military action, but a big majority of Republicans would approve.

(For context, most Republicans — especially MAGA — did approve of the U.S. bombing of Iran’s nuclear facilities last summer, and of the more recent military action in Venezuela.)

Deportation and I.C.E.

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A majority continues to view ICE’s operations when it stops or detains people as “too tough.” This has been the case for a while.

That perception is linked to overall views of the deportation program.

Those who feel ICE operations have been too tough also overwhelmingly disapprove of the deportation program overall.

Over the course of this term, approval of the deportation program started out net positive, then became more divided last summer.

Today, more disapprove than approve of it.

But it has long stood out as something widely backed by the president’s GOP base. Republicans overwhelmingly back the deportation program, and give Mr. Trump high approval for his handling of immigration overall.

Views of President Trump

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The president’s overall job approval rating has been fairly steady in recent months, hovering around the low 40s. It’s also been characterized by very strong backing from Republicans — for example, almost nine in ten today – and especially from MAGA.

Today’s 40% is also where it was last fall; it began this term higher, with majority approval, then dipped in the spring and summer of ’25. Over that same time, approval has declined among independents, younger people, and Latinos, among others.

In a nation that feels it is divided, this may be one reason. There are perceived differences in how the states are impacted by the president’s policies. Two-thirds feel Trump’s policies favor Republican states over Democratic ones (including over a third of Republicans who say so).

More broadly, most Americans think Mr. Trump’s policies have decreased peace and stability in the world rather than increased it.

Who plans to watch?

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As is typical for a State of the Union address in recent times, a president’s partisans are more likely to watch. So the address will likely have a relatively friendly audience with Republicans outnumbering Democrats among viewers, though the impact will ultimately play out over the coming days as people see clips or read about it.

Republicans overall are already optimistic about the next three years — far more so than independents or Democrats.

As for whether it can change anything, most say their minds are made up about President Trump, but roughly a quarter think he might say something that could change their minds about him.

*

This CBS News/YouGov survey was conducted with a nationally representative sample of 2,381 U.S. adults interviewed between February 20-23, 2026. The sample was weighted to be representative of adults nationwide according to gender, age, race, and education, based on the U.S. Census American Community Survey and Current Population Survey, as well as 2024 presidential vote. The margin of error is ±2.3 points.

U.S. and French officials signaled Tuesday they are working to steady relations after a diplomatic flare-up that led France to restrict U.S. Ambassador Charles Kushner’s access to senior government officials.

The U.S. Embassy in France told Fox News Digital that the two sides remain in contact following the dispute, which was triggered by U.S. government social media posts about the killing of a French activist earlier this month.

“Ambassador Kushner and Foreign Minister Barrot, who have met regularly during the Ambassador’s tenure, spoke today in a frank and amicable call, reaffirming their shared commitment to working together, along with all other Ministers and French officials, on the many issues that impact the United States and France, particularly as the two countries celebrate 250 years of rich diplomatic relations,” the statement said.

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The outreach suggests both governments are seeking to contain the fallout from a clash that briefly raised questions about diplomatic protocol and political sensitivities between two of NATO’s closest allies.

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U.S. and French officials signaled Tuesday they are working to steady relations after a diplomatic flare-up that led France to restrict U.S. Ambassador Charles Kushner’s access to senior government officials.(Ludovic Marin/AFP via Getty Images)

France had moved to limit Kushner’s access to top officials after he did not attend a summons at the French Foreign Ministry over remarks posted by official U.S. government accounts following the death of 23-year-old activist Quentin Deranque, who was killed during clashes between far-left and far-right groups in Lyon earlier this month.

The Associated Press reported that Deranque, described as a far-right activist and a fervent nationalist, was beaten during the confrontation and later died of brain injuries sustained in the attack.

In a Feb. 19 post on X, the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Counterterrorism wrote that reports — corroborated by France’s interior minister — that Deranque was killed by left-wing militants “should concern us all,” adding: “Violent radical leftism is on the rise and its role in Quentin Deranque’s death demonstrates the threat it poses to public safety.” The U.S. Embassy in France later shared the statement on its official account.

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France had moved to limit Kushner’s access to top officials after he did not attend a summons at the French Foreign Ministry over remarks posted by official U.S. government accounts following the death of 23-year-old activist Quentin Deranque, who was killed during clashes between far-left and far-right groups in Lyon earlier this month.(Olivier Chassignole/AFP via Getty Images)

TRUMP KEEPS MACRON UNDER SPOTLIGHT AS GREENLAND TALKS GRIND FORWARD FROM DAVOS

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot characterized the remarks as an unwelcome intrusion into France’s domestic political debate and said Kushner’s failure to appear at the Quai d’Orsay “will naturally affect his ability to carry out his mission in our country.” He described the no-show as a “surprise,” saying ambassadors are expected to respect “the most basic practices of diplomacy” when summoned.

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“We have no lessons to learn in matters of maintaining order or public order in matters of violence, and we have no lessons to learn at all from the reactionary international, simply,” Barrot said in an interview with public broadcaster France Info.

While Tuesday’s call between Kushner and Barrot indicates both sides are attempting to prevent the disagreement from escalating, the episode unfolded against a broader backdrop of periodic tension in transatlantic relations.

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French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot characterized the remarks as an unwelcome intrusion into France’s domestic political debate and said Kushner’s failure to appear at the Quai d’Orsay “will naturally affect his ability to carry out his mission in our country.”(Thierry Monasse/Getty Images)

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France has at times pushed for greater European “strategic autonomy” in defense and foreign policy — an approach that can diverge from Washington’s priorities, particularly as President Donald Trump has pressed NATO allies to increase defense spending and align more closely with U.S. strategic objectives. Trade has also been a recurring friction point in recent years, with tariff disputes between the United States and the European Union periodically affecting French exports.

Despite those differences, France remains one of Washington’s closest security partners in Europe, cooperating extensively on counterterrorism, intelligence sharing and NATO operations. Diplomatic access to senior officials plays a central role in coordinating those efforts, making even symbolic restrictions notable.

Senate Democrats blast Trump for failing to use sanctions to pressure Russia

February 24, 2026 9:37 PM UTC / Reuters

By Andrea Shalal

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U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during an event to honor “Angel Families” who have lost family members to crimes committed by people in the country illegally, at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., February 23, 2026. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein

• Summary

• US issued just one sanctions package in 2025, far fewer than allies
• Biden administration rolled out at least 32 sanctions packages per year
• EU sanctioned nearly 900 individuals and entities in 2025

WASHINGTON, Feb 24 (Reuters) – Democrats on the Senate Banking Committee on Tuesday blasted President Donald Trump for failing to ramp up sanctions to pressure Russia to end its war in Ukraine that has now lasted four years, noting the European Union had designated nearly 900 targets in 2025 compared to just two for the U.S.

In an analysis released on the fourth anniversary of Russia’s invasion, Democratic staff on the Republican-led panel identified hundreds of potential sanctions targets they said could have been imposed by Trump during his first year in office. The war has killed hundreds of thousands and devastated swathes of Ukraine, Russia’s neighbor to the west.

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Democratic President Joe Biden, whose term ended in January 2025, rolled out at least 32 sanctions packages in each of the first three years of the war, they said. By comparison, Trump announced just one package of major sanctions – targeting Russian oil majors Lukoil and Rosneft – despite increased Russian attacks that have targeted Ukrainian civilians and decimated its power grid.

Trump has pressed Ukraine to agree to a ceasefire deal that could entail painful concessions of land captured by Russian forces. Talks between Russia and Ukraine have thus far failed to produce a breakthrough. The White House was not immediately available for comment.

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PROPOSED BILL LANGUISHES

A bipartisan bill in Congress that would impose sanctions on countries that buy Russian oil, gas, and uranium has the support of 85 of 100 senators, but Republican leaders have not brought the bill up for a vote because of resistance from Trump.

The Democratic report noted that Russia remains enormously dependent on imports of key technologies required for the war, creating opportunities for sanctions.

“It is unclear why any president serious about negotiating the best peace possible would instead let our sanctions leverage wither,” the minority staff said. “Without follow-up actions, evaders are brazenly profiting without any U.S. pushback, and the Kremlin knows it.”

Washington did announce fresh Russia and cyber-related sanctions on Tuesday, designating four people and three entities, including some based in Russia and the United Arab Emirates, according to the Treasury Department website.

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Treasury was not immediately available for comment.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, questioned during a hearing last month about the sharp drop in sanctions actions, said the designations of Rosneft and Lukoil had been sufficient, and had helped to bring Russia to the negotiating table.

Further sanctions, he said, would depend on talks aimed at ending the war. Bessent said he would consider new sanctions against Russia’s shadow fleet of oil tankers, a step Trump has not taken since returning to office in January 2025.

The report listed many possible sanction targets that the Trump administration had skipped, including more than 130 companies identified in China and Hong Kong as “advertising immediate sales of restricted computer chips to Russia.”

It also listed companies around the world sanctioned by the European Union, Britain and others for helping Russia’s military, as well as Central Asian banks designated by the EU last year.

It said the Trump administration failed to target companies involved with Russia’s shadow fleet, and refrained from sanctioning officials and individuals responsible for human rights abuses, including the deportation of Ukrainian children.

Reporting by Andrea Shalal

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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