The latest addition to the pool of Democrats seeking to challenge Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, is doubling down on Zohran Mamdani-style socialism, says the chief of Maine’s Republican Party.

Democrat Graham Platner launched his campaign highlighting his history as an Army and Marine veteran as well as an oyster farmer, but state GOP chief Jason Savage told Fox News Digital that rural accolades aren’t policy positions. He pointed to Platner’s hiring of a top Mamdani adviser, Morris Katz, to produce his campaign launch video.

In that video, Platner rails against the ‘oligarchy’ and endorses universal healthcare. His website features messaging that claims the U.S. has a ‘billionaire economy,’ and that – if elected – Platner would view it as a key part of his job ‘to dismantle’ it.

‘Graham Platner is Maine’s Mamdani,’ Savage told Fox News Digital in an interview. ‘He brought in the Mamdani team to support his campaign. He’s out doing a lot of work with socialist groups.… He’s a Bernie bro.’

‘What we’re seeing here is the exporting of the Mamdani ideology to the state of Maine because they think that they can gain ground in a small state where things aren’t as expensive,’ he added.

‘You can look through Graham Platner’s donor history, and you can see that he donated to Harris for President, Bernie Sanders, Ilhan Omar,’ he continued, arguing that far-left candidates are a major threat to the Democratic Party.

Platner’s campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.

‘If common-sense Democrats, and then the leadership like [Sen.] Chuck Schumer don’t do something and say that isn’t the future of our party, then they’re gonna run in a bunch of these races. and we’re gonna beat them,’ he said.

Savage argued that the Democratic Party’s embracing of the far-left is a ‘double-edged sword.’ He said Democratic candidates can’t succeed without the ‘extreme wing’ of the party, and now ‘they’ve created a monster that they don’t have the ability to control.’

‘In the long run, it’s going to be catastrophic for them. I mean, Graham Platner advocates for allowing men to be in girls’ and women’s sports,’ Savage said. ‘He advocates for all sorts of policies that are very, very unpopular, and the Democrats can’t say anything to stop that.’

The Democratic challenger list against Collins is growing, and reports say those already in office are trying to tap Janet Mills, the state’s 77-year-old Democratic governor, for the seat.

Republicans currently control the majority of the Senate by a 53-47 margin. Democrats would need to flip four seats in the 2026 midterm elections to take the majority. 

A spokesperson for Collins told Fox News Digital that Platner is ‘just another progressive entering the race.’

Fox News’ Pilar Arias contributed to this report 

A judge on Thursday found that Alina Habba was unlawfully serving in the role of acting U.S. attorney of New Jersey after President Donald Trump sidestepped typical processes to keep her in charge.

Judge Matthew Brann said Habba has not been the rightful temporary U.S. attorney for New Jersey since July 1, a ruling that follows two criminal defendants in New Jersey challenging her appointment in court, alleging it was unconstitutional.

‘Faced with the question of whether Ms. Habba is lawfully performing the functions and duties of the office of the United States Attorney for the District of New Jersey, I conclude that she is not,’ Brann wrote in a 77-page order.

Habba, Trump’s former personal defense lawyer, had been serving as interim U.S. attorney, but when her term expired last month, Trump and Attorney General Pam Bondi used loopholes in federal vacancy laws to install her as ‘acting’ rather than ‘interim’ U.S. attorney.

One of the defendants in the district, Julien Giraud, alleged that the moves violated his constitutional rights because of the string of unconventional actions it took to attempt to keep Habba in the role.

Brann, an Obama appointee serving in the Middle District of Pennsylvania, agreed and found Habba could not prosecute Giraud or another defendant who challenged Habba’s position.

Brann is presiding over the matter after the chief judge of the Third Circuit Court of Appeals, which covers New Jersey and Pennsylvania, decided the case presented too much of a conflict for New Jersey’s federal judges.

The New Jersey judges made the rare decision to decline to extend Habba’s term and instead appointed career attorney Desiree Grace to the job. Trump and Bondi fired Grace, withdrew Habba’s nomination as permanent U.S. attorney and then reinstated Habba as acting U.S. attorney, which they said kept Habba in charge for at least another 210 days under federal statute.

Fox News Digital reached out to a spokeswoman for Habba for comment.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

The Pentagon has created a new medal for service members who’ve deployed to the southern border to assist federal law enforcement with President Donald Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigration. 

The Pentagon unveiled plans for a Mexican Border Defense Medal for U.S. troops serving with Joint Task Force Southern Border, according to a new memo the Pentagon released Aug.13 that was shared on social media. 

A U.S. defense official confirmed the authenticity of the memo to Fox News Digital Wednesday. 

Now, service members will receive the Mexican Border Defense Medal (MBDM) instead of the Armed Forces Service Medal (AFSM) like they previously earned for supporting Customs and Border Protection at the border, the memo said. 

The Armed Forces Service Medal, originally created in 1996 by former President Bill Clinton, is awarded to troops who have participated in a military operation with ‘significant activity,’ but didn’t encounter foreign armed opposition or imminent hostile action, according to a U.S. Army description of the medal. 

The Pentagon said in July that approximately 8,500 military personnel are assigned to Joint Task Force Southern Border, and have been tasked with responding to security threats there. The task force got underway in March and completed approximately 3,500 patrols between then and July, according to the Pentagon. 

Those eligible for the award must have deployed since Jan. 20 to support Customs and Border Protection, and served within 100-nautical miles from the international border shared with Mexico in either Texas, New Mexico, Arizona or California. 

Those who’ve also served in adjacent waters up to 24 nautical miles away from the border also are eligible. 

‘Service members must have been permanently assigned, attached, or detailed to a unit that deployed to participate in a designated DoD military operation supporting CBP within the (area of eligibility) during the (period of award) for 30 consecutive or nonconsecutive days,’ the memo said. 

Those who already have received the Armed Forces Service Medal for service at the southern border may appeal to receive the new award but are ineligible to receive both, according to the Pentagon. 

‘Service members and Veterans previously awarded the AFSM for DoD support to CBP may apply to their respective Military Service for award of the MBDM in lieu of the AFSM previously awarded to recognize such service; however, no Service member or Veteran may be awarded both the AFSM and the MBDM for the same period of qualifying service,’ the memo said. 

The Pentagon, per the direction of the president, has established four national defense areas along the border, bolstering U.S. troops’ capacity to assist Customs and Border Protection under the task force. 

The national defense areas operate under military jurisdiction, paving the way for U.S. troops to detain trespassers. Without placing these stretches of land under military jurisdiction, U.S. troops were barred from doing so under existing federal law. 

‘Through these enhanced authorities, U.S. Northern Command will ensure those who illegally trespass in the New Mexico National Defense Area are handed over to Customs and Border Protection or our other law enforcement partners,’ Air Force Gen. Gregory Guillot, commander of U.S. Northern Command, said in an April statement. ‘Joint Task Force Southern Border will conduct enhanced detection and monitoring, which will include vehicle and foot patrols, rotary wing and fixed surveillance site operations.’

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he wants a ‘strong reaction’ from the U.S. government if Russian President Vladimir Putin does not sit down with him for a bilateral meeting.

This comes as U.S. President Donald Trump is seeking to broker a peace agreement between the two countries that have been at war since Moscow’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, although Trump has conceded that Putin may not be prepared to make a deal.

Zelenskyy has said he has already agreed to a proposed meeting with Putin.

‘I responded immediately to the proposal for a bilateral meeting: we are ready. But what if the Russians are not ready?’ Zelenskiy said at a news briefing in Kyiv on Wednesday.

‘If the Russians are not ready, we would like to see a strong reaction from the United States,’ he added.

Trump separately met with both leaders in the past week, with Zelenskyy visiting the White House along with other European leaders earlier this week and the U.S. president meeting Putin in Alaska last week.

The White House has said Putin was willing to meet with his Ukrainian foe after a phone call this week with Trump.

‘President Trump spoke with President Putin by phone, and he agreed to begin the next phase of the peace process, a meeting between President Putin and President Zelenskyy, which would be followed, if necessary, by a trilateral meeting between President Putin, President Zelensky and President Trump,’ White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters on Tuesday.

The path toward peace between the two sides remains uncertain despite U.S. efforts for diplomacy, as the U.S. government and its allies attempt to work out potential security guarantees for Ukraine.

Zelenskyy said it was unclear what concessions about territory Russia was willing to make to end the conflict. Trump has previously said Kyiv and Moscow would both need to cede territory.

‘To discuss what Ukraine is willing to do, let’s first hear what Russia is willing to do,’ Zelenskyy said. ‘We do not know that.’

Reuters contributed to this report.

The Trump administration scored a major victory in the Supreme Court Thursday as the justices, in a 5-4 order, cleared his administration to slash more than $783 million in National Institutes of Health (NIH) research grants tied to diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, LGBTQ issues and other hot-button topics.

The unsigned majority order said NIH ‘may proceed with terminating existing grants’ while leaving in place a partial block on issuing new directives. 

The move delivers a political win for Trump’s broader push to roll back DEI programs across the federal government.

The decision overturns rulings by lower courts that had blocked the cuts. In June, U.S. District Judge Angel Kelley of Massachusetts called the administration’s actions ‘arbitrary and capricious’ and said NIH had ‘failed to provide a reasoned explanation’ for cutting grants midstream. The 1st Circuit upheld her injunction in July, setting up Trump’s emergency appeal to the Supreme Court.

The Justice Department argued in its July 24 filing that leaving the injunction in place ‘forces NIH to continue funding projects inconsistent with agency priorities’ and warned the order ‘intrudes on NIH’s core discretion to decide how best to allocate limited research funds.’

Opponents framed the cuts as ideological. The American Public Health Association warned that ‘halting these grants would devastate biomedical research across the country, disrupting clinical trials and delaying urgently needed discoveries’ and said ‘the administration has offered no scientific basis for these cancellations — only ideology.’ 

A coalition of Democrat-led states led by Massachusetts argued that ‘patients should not be collateral damage in a political fight.’

News outlets stressed the stakes of Thursday’s decision. 

The Associated Press described the ruling as the court letting Trump cut $783 million in research funding ‘in an anti-DEI push.’ 

Reuters reported that ‘the Supreme Court in a 5–4 order cleared the way for the Trump administration to cut diversity-related NIH grants, though it left in place part of the ruling blocking new restrictions.’

Research groups warned of the cuts’ fallout. The Association of American Universities said the cuts ‘risk chilling scientific inquiry by discouraging researchers from pursuing politically sensitive topics.’ 

Scientists cautioned the decision could derail progress on diseases such as cancer and Alzheimer’s, even as the broader legal fight continues in the 1st Circuit and may return to the Supreme Court.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

The White House made headlines this week by finally joining TikTok. As someone who has been urging Republican leadership to modernize our outreach to young people for years, I believe this is a long-overdue step in the right direction. But joining TikTok isn’t enough on its own. To win over the next generation of voters, this White House must go further — and faster.

President Trump’s political comeback in 2024 wasn’t a fluke. It was built on connecting with youth voters in ways no Republican had ever tried before. When he tapped me to come on as chair of the RNC’s inaugural Youth Advisory Council in 2023, I told party leaders bluntly that the days of relying on a Sunday newspaper ad to deliver the GOP’s message were over. My generation doesn’t read the classifieds — we scroll feeds. We share memes. We stream podcasts. We are digital natives, and any party serious about winning our support has to meet us where we are.

That’s exactly what President Trump did. He embraced new platforms, leaned into long-form podcasts, and even launched a TikTok account that quickly became the fastest-growing account in the platform’s history. The results spoke for themselves. Nationally, 46% of Gen Z backed Trump in 2024, a 10-point surge from 2020. In Wisconsin, Republican support among 18-to-29-year-olds jumped from 36% in 2020 to 48% in 2024. That is a generational shift in motion.

But the work is far from over. The GOP holds the House at 218 seats — a razor-thin margin — and the results showed clear divides among young voters. Young men trended right while young women leaned left, especially on issues like abortion. The takeaway is obvious: Republicans can’t take their foot off the gas when it comes to modern youth outreach. 

And here’s the truth: if Republicans don’t stay in the game, others will. My peers are not only watching President Trump — they’re also listening to progressive Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y. and even far-left figures like democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani, who could soon be mayor of New York City. 

Many in Gen Z are flirting with socialism because those voices are showing up online and on campus in ways conservatives too often don’t. If the White House and the GOP want to cement Gen Z gains, they need to get in the game now — not two years from now.

Here are three ways the White House can seize this moment:

1. Launch a White House Podcast — The Modern Fireside Chat

One of the biggest turning points in 2023 came when Trump started appearing on popular podcasts. These weren’t 7-minute cable news hits clipped for social media. They were long, unfiltered, authentic conversations lasting up to three hours. And they reached tens — sometimes hundreds — of millions of people, many of them first-time voters.

Young Americans are drowning in student debt, struggling to afford eggs, and working two jobs. They’re not paying for cable bundles. They’re streaming on YouTube and Spotify. That’s why podcasts were so effective — because they met people where they already were.

Now that he’s back in the Oval Office, President Trump should take it further by hosting a monthly White House podcast. Thirty minutes, once a month. It would be the modern equivalent of FDR’s fireside chats: a direct, unfiltered line from the president to the people. That kind of accessibility would deepen his connection with young voters and bypass the hostile filter of legacy media.

2. Take a Campus Speaking Tour

This May, just before he walked on stage to deliver the commencement address at the University of Alabama, I had the opportunity to meet with President Trump one-on-one. I told him directly: my peers don’t just want to see their president online — they want to see him on campus.

The impact of a campus speaking tour would be enormous. Universities are the beating heart of Gen Z political culture. Too often, conservatives have ceded that ground to the Left. But when Trump goes into these spaces — whether it’s a stadium filled with graduates in Alabama or a rally near a college town — students show up. And they listen.

The Kamala Harris campaign’s approach to keeping their monopoly on Gen Z last November was a political consultant’s fever dream: using trendy phrases like ‘joy’ in messaging, posting TikTok trends, and bringing our A-List celebrities. Up until that point, they executed the perfect made-in-a-lab playbook to win over my peers, but there was just one problem: she screamed at us instead of talking to us. 

There’s a difference between standing on stage next to Beyoncé and thinking that’s all you have to do to win over America’s youngest voters, and actually taking the time to fly to college campuses and throw out hot dogs in the student section like President Trump did in Tuscaloosa last October.

Remember when the world was shocked when Trump descended on the Bronx for a rally in a territory Republicans never talked about much less visited? That same feeling of excitement–of an unseen community being seen–could happen again if the president held a speech on Harvard’s campus. 

Imagine a presidential speaking tour that takes him to major universities across the country, not just red states but swing states where young voters could decide the balance of power in 2026. Hearing directly from the president of the United States, not filtered through CNN or MSNBC, would cut through the noise and give students a chance to engage with conservative ideas firsthand.

3. Keep the TikTok Account Active

Trump’s TikTok account broke records as the fastest-growing in the platform’s history. That momentum cannot go to waste now that the campaign is over. TikTok is where millions of young Americans spend their time, and the White House should treat it as a permanent tool for outreach, not just a campaign gimmick.

Behind-the-scenes videos, short policy explainers, and even lighter content showing the human side of the presidency would reach audiences that traditional news outlets will never touch. TikTok’s algorithm thrives on authenticity, and the White House has the chance to use it as a window into The People’s House — not just a political stage.

President Trump’s youth outreach strategy helped rewrite the rules of American politics. It showed Republicans that Gen Z isn’t a lost cause. In fact, we are trending conservative faster than any recent generation. But winning our support takes effort. It takes consistency. And it takes meeting us where we live — online and on campus.

Joining TikTok is a good move, but it must be the beginning, not the end. A monthly White House podcast, a presidential campus tour and a daily energetic presence on TikTok would send a clear message: this president isn’t just talking at young people — he’s talking with us. That’s how you prevent Gen Z from drifting toward AOC or Zohran Mamdani and instead lock in a generation for the conservative movement.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) is set to begin turning over documents related to Jeffrey Epstein to the House Oversight Committee Friday.

Committee Chair James Comer, R-Ky., told reporters Thursday that he had no timeline for when materials would be sent over, but confirmed he still expected files Friday.

Comer suggested that documents would be made public at some point after being assessed by the committee.

‘We’ll work as quickly as we can…this is sensitive information,’ the Kentucky Republican said in response to Fox News Digital asking about a timeline for a wide release. 

‘We want to make sure we don’t do anything to harm or jeopardize any victims that were involved in this. But we’re going to be transparent. We’re doing what we said we would do. We’re getting the documents. And, I believe the White House will work with us.’

Comer was directed to subpoena the DOJ for materials related to Epstein’s case via a bipartisan vote by committee members last month.

The subpoena deadline, originally set for earlier this week, was moved to Friday in an effort to accommodate the Trump administration – which Comer said was complying with his request.

‘There are many records in DOJ’s custody, and it will take the Department time to produce all the records and ensure the identification of victims and any child sexual abuse material are redacted,’ Comer said on Tuesday. ‘I appreciate the Trump administration’s commitment to transparency and efforts to provide the American people with information about this matter.’

He told reporters Thursday that he believed there were ‘hundreds and hundreds of pages’ of documents in existence.

‘It’s just a matter of getting it together and reviewing it, which I’m sure the Department of Justice is doing as we speak,’ Comer said.

Requested materials included all documents and communications in the DOJ’s possession relating to both Epstein and his accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell, as well as files ‘further relating or referring to human trafficking, exploitation of minors, sexual abuse, or related activity,’ according to a subpoena viewed by Fox News Digital.

Documents relating specifically to the DOJ’s prosecutions of Epstein and Maxwell, Epstein’s 2007 non-prosecution agreement with federal prosecutors in Florida, and any materials related to Epstein’s death were requested.

Renewed furor over Epstein’s case engulfed Capitol Hill after intra-GOP fallout over the Trump administration’s handling of the matter.

The DOJ effectively declared the case closed after an ‘exhaustive review,’ revealing Epstein had no ‘client list,’ did not blackmail ‘prominent individuals,’ and confirmed he did die by suicide in a New York City jail while awaiting prosecution.

In response to the backlash by some on the right, President Donald Trump and his DOJ have sought to take steps to make more information public.

Democrats seized on the backlash with newfound calls for transparency in Epstein’s case, prompting some on the right to accuse them of hypocrisy for not pushing the matter earlier.

When asked about that divide, House Oversight Committee member Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, told reporters that Epstein’s case was not a priority for Democrats in the same way it was seen by the GOP.

‘I can tell you that Democrats, when they went out there and campaigned, they campaigned on costs, whether it was housing costs, whether it was food costs or whether they were campaigning on children, being able to get the education that they deserve in this country. This wasn’t a promise that we made. So this was not something that was front and center,’ Crockett said. 

‘I don’t see anything wrong with the fact that we were trying to do everything that we could to prevent our economy from being where it is right now. But ultimately, when people voted, they’re telling us that they voted for this particular reason. It’s important that we follow up.’

Fox News Digital reached out to the DOJ for comment but did not hear back by press time.

House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer, R-Ky., is lauding FBI Director Kash Patel and other Trump administration officials for their promises to take down the ‘deep state’ as federal agents raided John Bolton’s home and office.

‘I don’t know what John Bolton did. Obviously, he deserves due process,’ Comer told ‘America’s Newsroom’ on Friday.

‘But I do believe that Kash Patel and [Attorney General] Pam Bondi and [CIA Director] John Ratcliffe and [Director of National Intelligence] Tulsi Gabbard are serious about holding the deep state accountable for all the mistakes and all the abuses of power that we’ve witnessed from the deep state over the past decades.’

Comer pointed to Patel’s post on X early on Friday morning that said ‘NO ONE is above the law.’

‘I think today’s a positive day. We’ll see what Bolton had in his possession,’ Comer said.

Meanwhile, the chair of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, Rep. Rick Crawford, R-Ark., said in a statement that he was ‘monitoring the situation closely.’

‘While all accused are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law, the news of this situation is incredibly troubling. Nobody is above the law,’ Crawford said, adding that he was grateful for Patel and Bondi’s ‘professionalism’ in the matter.

A spokesperson for the committee told Fox News Digital that the FBI gave Crawford, as well as the top Democrat on the committee, Rep. Jim Himes, D-Conn., prior notice before executing the raid. Fox News Digital reached out to Himes’ office for comment.

Federal agents raided Bolton’s Maryland home in the early hours of Friday morning. Agents were also seen going into Bolton’s Washington, D.C., office.

A source told Fox News that the raid was related to potential classified documents in Bolton’s possession.

Bolton served as President Donald Trump’s national security advisor from April 2018 through early September 2019, during the Republican leader’s first term.

He was previously ambassador to the United Nations under former President George W. Bush, from August 2005 through December 2006.

Since leaving the first Trump administration, however, Bolton has not shied away from criticizing the president on matters of national security and other issues.

Bolton, a lifelong Republican, made headlines in late 2024 when he announced he would not be voting for Trump in the November election, but rather writing in former Vice President Dick Cheney’s name.

Fox News Digital reached out to a spokesperson for Rep. Robert Garia, D-Calif., the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, for a response to Comer.