Israel-supporting Democratic Rep. Ritchie Torres revealed on Tuesday he no longer has a relationship with some of his family due to his support for Israel. 

‘I’ve lost friends, all of you have lost friends there,’ he told a room full of Jewish students at the Israel on Campus Coalition Summit on Tuesday. ‘I’m no longer on speaking terms with with certain members of my family.’

Torres’ deep support for Israel has put him at odds with progressives in his party — but the New York Democrat has only recently begun to express frustration with the Jerusalem government. 

‘No offense, but there are moments when I feel like the Israeli government has the worst PR operation that I’ve ever seen,’ he told a room full of Israel-supporting students at the Israel on Campus Coalition Summit, some of whom applauded the remark. 

‘If I have like a normal constituent who comes to me, is not anti-Israel, is not anti-Semitic, but expresses this concern about hunger in Gaza, I cannot tell her there’s no issue,’ he said. ‘I cannot deny it. I cannot downplay that.’

The Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry reports that 60,000 Palestinians have died as a result of Israel’s offensive campaign in Gaza to eradicate Hamas, and 154 have died from lack of food. President Donald Trump this week acknowledged there’s ‘real starvation’ in Gaza due to food shortages.  

Torres said that while he doesn’t hold Israel responsible for that starvation, ‘I feel like we should be doing everything we can to ease the human suffering in Gaza.’

He claimed that Israel is held to a ‘double standard’ because ‘no other country has been and has been expected to deliver food to its adversaries.’ 

Aid has been trickling into Gaza through the Israel-partnered Gaza Humanitarian Fund, which, since operations began on May 27, the group says has delivered more than 97 million meals. 

That ‘definitely contradicts the narrative that there’s a deliberate policy of starvation,’ Torres said. 

However, Israeli forces guard distribution sites, and the United Nations — which opposes GHF — claims over 1,000 Palestinians have died seeking aid through the group. GHF, in turn, argues the U.N.’s aid distribution has been entirely ineffective: U.N. data shows that only 8% of U.N. aid has reached its destination without being looted in the last 10 weeks, according to a Reuters report.

Israel has said there is no widespread famine in Gaza, asserting photos are misleading or of isolated cases, but has started to pause fighting in large swathes of the strip for 10 hours a day to allow for a surge of aid by land and air. 

A ceasefire and hostage deal has so far evaded Israel and Hamas leadership. White House envoy Steve Witkoff is on his way to Israel for negotiations as of Wednesday, Axios reported. 

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said Wednesday that Democrats invoked a century-old law to force President Donald Trump’s Department of Justice and the FBI to release the Jeffrey Epstein files. 

At a press conference, Schumer said he joined all his Democratic colleagues on the Senate Homeland Security Committee in invoking ‘a century-old and little-known law known as the Rule of Five.’ Under the federal law, Schumer said, ‘when any five senators on the Homeland Security Committee call on the executive branch, the executive branch must comply.’ 

Schumer said their request ‘covers all documents, files, evidence and other materials’ in possession of the DOJ and the FBI related to the case of the United States v. Jeffrey Epstein. 

‘While protecting the victims’ identities can and must be of top importance, the public has a right to know who enabled, knew of, or participated in one of the most heinous sex trafficking operations in history,’ Schumer said. 

He pointed to past statements from Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel promising transparency, but argued the public has only received ‘stonewall, evasion, lies.’ 

‘Donald Trump campaigned on releasing the Epstein files. He broke that promise,’ Schumer continued. ‘Trump should stop hiding from the truth. He should stop hiding from the American people. So today, Senate Democrats took action. We’re invoking federal law and using our authority as a check on the executive to compel transparency.’ 

‘It’s not a stunt. It’s not symbolic. It’s a formal exercise of congressional power under federal law. And we expect an answer from DOJ by August the 15th,’ the top Senate Democrat continued. ‘That’s what accountability looks like. This is what oversight looks like. And this is what keeping your promises to the American people look like.’ 

He also appealed to Senate Republicans. 

‘If you believe in transparency, if you believe Congress has a role to play in checking the executive, join us. Join us in calling for more transparency on the Epstein files, because once there’s transparency, the truth emerges,’ Schumer said. 

The DOJ did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.

Schumer initially made the announcement during a speech on the Senate floor earlier Wednesday. The top Democrat argues that he and four other senators can force the Department of Justice to release the files to the public.

Wednesday’s floor speech was Schumer’s second in the past few days focusing on the Epstein files. He also called on the FBI to conduct a counterintelligence threat assessment on the Epstein case on Tuesday.

He argued the FBI assessment should accomplish three things: determine if foreign intelligence agencies could gain access to the information ‘the president does not want to release in the Epstein files, through methods that include cyber intrusion;’ identify any vulnerabilities that could be exploited by foreign intelligence agencies with access to non-public information in the Epstein files, ‘including being able to gain leverage over Donald Trump, his family, or other senior government officials;’ and result in the FBI publicly showing that the bureau is ‘developing mitigation strategies to counter these threats and safeguard our national security.’

President Donald Trump dished on the ‘strange story’ stemming from reports that a Secret Service agent attempted to smuggle his wife onto a Secret Service cargo plane accompanying the president on his trip to Scotland, as the Secret Service kicks off an investigation into the incident. 

Trump told reporters that he had just heard about the alleged incident, which he labeled a ‘weird deal’ and said that the agency was handling the matter. 

‘I don’t know, that’s a strange one. I just heard that two minutes ago. I think Sean’s taking care of it … Is that a serious story?’ Trump told reporters on Air Force One Tuesday, appearing to reference Sean Curran, Secret Service director. 

‘I don’t want to get involved, it’s a strange story,’ Trump said. 

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital on whether Trump had been briefed on the matter or on the investigation. 

Real Clear Politics first reported that a Secret Service agent attempted to smuggle his wife aboard a Secret Service cargo aircraft during Trump’s travels for his Scotland trip. 

When asked about the report, the Secret Service told Fox News Digital a personnel investigation is underway. 

‘The U.S. Secret Service is conducting a personnel investigation after an employee attempted to invite his spouse – a member of the United States Air Force – aboard a mission support flight,’ a Secret Service spokesperson said in a Tuesday statement to Fox News Digital. 

‘The aircraft, operated by the U.S. Air Force, was being used by the Secret Service to transport personnel and equipment,’ the spokesperson said. ‘Prior to the overseas departure, the employee was advised by supervisors that such action was prohibited, and the spouse was subsequently prevented from taking the flight. No Secret Service protectees were aboard and there was no impact to our overseas protective operations.’ 

The Secret Service has come under scrutiny following the aftermath of the July 2024 assassination attempt against Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania. 

In that incident, 20-year-old gunman Thomas Matthew Crooks fired eight bullets at Trump from a rooftop during a campaign rally. One bullet grazed Trump’s ear, and the gunman killed Corey Comperatore, a 50-year-old firefighter, father and husband attending the rally. 

Additionally, another man was apprehended and charged months later with attempting to assassinate Trump at his Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida. 

Both incidents are under investigation, and a bipartisan House task force that investigated the Pennsylvania attack determined the episode was ‘preventable,’ and that various mistakes were not an isolated incident.

Since these episodes, the Secret Service has implemented a host of changes to its agency to beef up its security practices. 

Specific steps taken include expanding the use of drones for surveillance purposes, and overhauling its radio communications networks and their interoperability with Secret Service personnel, and state and local law enforcement officers. 

President Donald Trump pressured the top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee to end a longstanding practice in the Senate to expedite his nominations to district courts and U.S. attorney’s offices, but the lawmaker isn’t budging.

Trump late Tuesday night demanded that Senate Judiciary Chair Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, ‘have the courage’ to end the ‘blue slip’ tradition in the Senate, which effectively gives senators the ability to veto district court and U.S. attorney nominees in their home states.

He charged that the practice was ‘probably unconstitutional,’ and lamented that a president would ‘never be permitted to appoint the person of his choice’ because of it.

‘Chuck Grassley, who I got re-elected to the U.S. Senate when he was down, by a lot, in the Great State of Iowa, could solve the ‘Blue Slip’ problem we are having with respect to the appointment of Highly Qualified Judges and U.S. Attorneys, with a mere flick of the pen,’ Trump said in a lengthy post on his Truth Social platform.

‘Democrats like Schumer, Warner, Kaine, Booker, Schiff, and others, SLEAZEBAGS ALL, have an ironclad stoppage of Great Republican Candidates,’ he continued.

The 91-year-old Grassely, who has been a member of Congress since 1975 and in the Senate since 1981, handily beat his previous opponent by over 12 points three years ago.

The longtime lawmaker addressed Trump’s comments during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Wednesday that he was surprised to see the president ‘go after me and Senate Republicans over what we call the ‘blue slip.”

‘Now, to people in the Real America — not here in Washington, D.C., an island surrounded by reality — the people in Real America don’t care about what the ‘blue slip’ is, but, in fact, it impacts the district judges who serve their communities and the U.S. Attorneys who ensure law and order is enforced,’ Grassley said. ‘I was offended by what the President said, and I’m disappointed that it would result in personal insults.’

Trump’s fury comes as Senate Republicans are working to ram as many of his nominees through Senate Democrats’ blockade as possible. Currently, lawmakers are working on a deal to get more low-hanging fruit nominations, like ambassadors, through in a large group rather than eating away at floor time.

One instance where Democrats have opted to block some of Trump’s nominees came earlier this year when Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., used his blue slip privileges to nix Trump’s U.S. Attorney nominees for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York.

‘Donald Trump has made clear he has no fidelity to the law and intends to use the Justice Department, the U.S. Attorney offices and law enforcement as weapons to go after his perceived enemies,’ Schumer said at the time. 

‘Such blatant and depraved political motivations are deeply corrosive to the rule of law and leaves me deeply skeptical of Donald Trump’s intentions for these important positions,’ he said. 

Steve Ricchetti, a longtime Democratic operative and lobbyist, is sitting down with House Oversight Committee investigators Wednesday.

He’s known as a member of former President Joe Biden’s inner circle who reportedly played a key role in downplaying concerns, both public and private, about the ex-commander-in-chief’s mental fitness for office.

Ricchetti also reportedly helped craft Biden’s historic letter announcing the end of his 2024 re-election bid that July, according to the New York Times.

But long before that, Ricchetti graduated from Miami University in Ohio and got a Juris Doctor from Virginia’s George Mason University.

His first major role in electoral politics came when Ricchetti served as executive director for the Senate Democrats’ campaign arm, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, from 1990 to 1992.

Ricchetti then worked for former President Bill Clinton as a congressional liaison from 1993 to 1996 and then again as White House deputy chief of staff for operations from 1998 to 2001.

During that second stint, he played a critical role in wrangling House Democrats during the GOP’s impeachment proceedings against Clinton.

In between and in later years, Ricchetti enjoyed a lucrative career as a lobbyist, even founding the lobbying firm Ricchetti Inc. with his brother in 2001.

His work with Biden began in 2012 when Ricchetti was appointed to be counselor to the vice president during the Obama administration – one of several ex-lobbyists appointed to that White House, despite former President Barack Obama’s vow not to hire K Street operatives. He was soon elevated to be Biden’s chief of staff in late 2013.

Ricchetti also chaired Biden’s 2020 campaign before playing a critical role in his administration, where he acted as part of a small ‘Politburo’ of close advisors who helped control the White House, Axios reporter Alex Thompson and CNN host Jake Tapper wrote in their book ‘Original Sin.’

‘In terms of who was running the White House, it’s a small group of people that have been around,’ Thompson told the PBS program ‘Washington Week’ earlier this year.

Several members of Ricchetti’s family also notably had roles in the Biden administration; two of his sons and his daughter worked for the Treasury, State Department, and in the White House, respectively.

At the time, the White House argued they got the jobs on their merits rather than their father’s closeness to Biden.

Ricchetti also reportedly played a key role in dismissing concerns about Biden’s mental health.

Two weeks after Biden’s disastrous debate against current President Donald Trump, the New York Times reported that Ricchetti got into a ‘shouting’ argument with Rep. Pete Aguilar, D-Calif., after the latter called to express concerns about Biden’s political viability.

U.K.-based outlet The Times reported that Ricchetti ‘sounded like a mob boss’ in a conversation with actor George Clooney days before the Hollywood star and longtime Democratic donor penned an explosive op-ed calling for a new 2024 nominee in early July 2024.

And multiple outlets have reported that Ricchetti also denied any concerns about Biden’s mental acuity in an off-the-record conversation with an unnamed reporter at an unnamed outlet that almost ran a story shining a light on concerns about Biden’s mental health.

Ricchetti is the seventh ex-Biden aide to speak with investigators in House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer’s probe into whether White House officials covered up signs of Biden’s decline.

President Donald Trump warned that his August 1 deadline for making a trade deal with the U.S. ‘stands strong’ on Wednesday, threatening several key nations with a big tariff hike.

‘The August first deadline is the August first deadline — it stands strong, and will not be extended. A big day for America!’ Trump wrote on Truth Social, using all-caps.

Here are the major countries that still need to negotiate deals with the U.S.

Canada

Trump sent a letter to Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney threatening a 35% tariff if a deal isn’t struck, but negotiations appear to have stalled.

‘We haven’t really had a lot of luck with Canada. I think Canada could be one where they’ll just pay tariffs. It’s not really a negotiation,’ Trump said of the negotiations with our neighbor to the north on Friday.

Carney himself said on Monday that negotiations have reached an ‘intense phase.’

‘It’s a complex negotiation. You see with the various trade deals that have been agreed to by other jurisdictions — the European Union yesterday, Japan before that, Indonesia, United Kingdom — that there are many elements to these negotiations. We’re engaged in them. But the assurance for Canadian businesses, for Canadians, is we will only sign a deal that’s a good deal, the right deal for Canada,’ he told reporters Monday.

According to the US Trade Representative (USTR), Canada is America’s third-largest importer, totaling $412.7 billion in 2024. The U.S. exported $349.4 billion to Canada in the same year.

Mexico

Trump sent a similar letter to Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum earlier this month, this one threatening a 30% tariff.

No deal has been struck as of Wednesday, however, and neither party has been vocal about where negotiations stand.

Mexico is America’s top source of imports, totaling $506 billion in 2024, according to the USTR. Meanwhile, the U.S. exported $334 billion to the country over the same year.

China

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent negotiated with Chinese officials in Sweden this week and said Tuesday that the talks were ‘very constructive.’

He emphasized to reporters that no final agreement was made, however. Unlike most countries, China is facing an August 12 deadline rather than August 1, giving them somewhat more breathing room for negotiations.

‘Nothing is agreed until we speak with President Trump,’ Bessent told reporters.

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told Fox News on Monday that the deadline for China could be extended even further than August 12, though that decision will be up to Trump.

South Korea

Trump warned South Korean President Lee Jae Myung in a July 7 letter that the country would face a 25% blanket tariff if a deal isn’t reached by August 1.

Lee’s office said late last week that it was preparing a proposal. Lutnick met with three top Korean officials in Washington this week, though no news has come out of the meeting.

Taiwan

Taiwan has yet to reach a trade deal with the Trump administration, but Taipei has a delegation in Washington hoping to reach one before August 1, Reuters reported Wednesday.

The self-governed island is facing a 32% tariff if it does not secure a deal.

‘All the relevant talks are still ongoing,’ one source familiar with the talks told Reuters, with another saying negotiators were still in the U.S.

‘We hope these negotiations will accomplish four objectives: safeguarding national interests, protecting industrial interests, ensuring public health, and securing food safety. These objectives serve dual purposes: promoting balanced bilateral trade between Taiwan and the U.S., and enhancing cooperation in diverse areas like technology and national security,’ Taiwan’s cabinet said in a statement.

India

Trump appears to have slammed the door shut early on India, announcing on Truth Social that the country will face a 25% tariff across the board beginning August 1.

‘Remember, while India is our friend, we have, over the years, done relatively little business with them because their tariffs are far too high, among the highest in the world, and they have the most strenuous and obnoxious non-monetary trade barriers of any country. Also, they have always bought a vast majority of their military equipment from Russia, and are Russia’s largest buyer of energy, along with China, at a time when everyone wants Russia to stop the killing in Ukraine — all things not good!’ Trump wrote.

‘India will therefore be paying a tariff of 25%, plus a penalty for the above, starting on August first. Thank you for your attention to this matter. MAGA!’ he added.

Brazil

Trump threatened a massive 50% blanket tariff on Brazilian goods in a letter to Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva earlier in July.

Trump credited the higher rate to Brazil’s prosecution of former President Jair Bolsonaro, who many compared to Trump himself. The U.S. president said Bolsonaro was the victim of a ‘witch hunt.’

Lula’s regime has requested that the U.S. exempt certain industries from the tariffs, but a deal before August 1 appears unlikely.

A top White House official waded into the Sydney Sweeney-American Eagle advertisement controversy late Tuesday, calling left-wing backlash and claims of a ‘shift toward whiteness’ more ‘cancel culture run amok.’

Steven Cheung, President Donald Trump’s communications director, reposted an MSNBC headline claiming Sweeney’s ad promoted racial superiority in the form of genetic ‘whiteness’ – and wrecked it in a caption.

‘Cancel culture run amok,’ Cheung said.

‘This warped, moronic, and dense liberal thinking is a big reason why Americans voted the way they did in 2024. They’re tired of this bulls—.’

While some TikTokers simply noted the ad’s multiple similarities to a 1980 Calvin Klein ad featuring then-child-model Brooke Shields – others lambasted Sweeney’s version as a sinister nod to eugenics; citing how ‘great genes’ and ‘great jeans’ are homophones.

TikTokkers, compiled by the New York Post, lambasted the ad as ‘Nazi propaganda’ and ‘fascist-weird.’

Activist Zellie Imani, whose X profile includes the phrase ‘All Black Everything,’ called the ad a ‘love letter to White nationalism and eugenic fantasies, and Sydney Sweeney knew it.’

Those types of responses drew their own incredulous comment from Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas:

‘Wow. Now the crazy Left has come out against beautiful women — I’m sure that will poll well,’ Cruz said on X.

First son Donald Trump Jr. took to Instagram to troll critics as well.

Trump Jr. posted an artificially-generated image of his father in the ad instead of Sweeney and paraphrased Owen Wilson’s fashion-designer-character catchphrase from the Ben Stiller film ‘Zoolander.’

‘Hanse – Um, Donald is so hot right now,’ Trump Jr. quipped.

Such signaling from the first family and the White House has also led to feelings that the cultural tide is turning in favor of the right for the first time in decades.

Proponents of that view also point to the cancellation of Stephen Colbert and the entire CBS ‘Late Show’ franchise.

American Eagle will reportedly be donating proceeds from such jeans to the national Crisis Text Line to support victims of domestic violence.

The company defended the ad in a statement last week:

‘This fall season, American Eagle is celebrating what makes our brand iconic – trendsetting denim that leads, never follows,’ American Eagle & Aerie president and creative director Jennifer Foyle said.

‘Innovative fits and endless versatility reflect how our community wears their denim: mixed, matched, layered and lived in. With Sydney Sweeney front and center, she brings the allure, and we add the flawless wardrobe for the winning combo of ease, attitude and a little mischief.’

American Eagle CEO Jay Schottenstein and family also have friendly ties with the Trumps, as the Wall Street Journal reported they have been Mar-a-Lago members for years and Schottenstein’s son held his wedding at the Palm Beach compound.

Longtime Democratic operative Steve Ricchetti is appearing before House investigators on Wednesday, the seventh former White House aide to be summoned for Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer’s probe.

Ricchetti most recently served as counselor to President Joe Biden during the vast majority of the Biden White House’s four-year term.

He’s now expected to sit down with House Oversight Committee staff for a closed-door transcribed interview that could last several hours.

Ricchetti said little to reporters on his way inside the room. His lawyer told Fox News Digital to expect a statement after his interview.

‘I’m not gonna say anything on the way in. I’m just gonna go in and- just go in and give an interview,’ Ricchetti told Fox News Channel’s Chad Pergram.

Asked if Biden was ‘up for the job’ of president, Ricchetti said, ‘Of course he was.’

Comer, R-Ky., is investigating whether Biden’s top White House aides concealed signs of mental decline in the president, and if that meant executive actions were signed via autopen without his knowledge.

Ricchetti first began working for Biden in 2012, when he was appointed as counselor to the vice president during the Obama administration. He was soon promoted to Biden’s chief of staff in late 2013.

Ricchetti, who made a living as both a lobbyist and a Democratic insider, chaired Biden’s 2020 presidential campaign as well.

The committee’s interest in him, however, lies in his alleged key role in managing the White House while aides reportedly worked to obscure signs of the president’s mental decline.

‘As Counselor to former President Biden, you served as one of his closest advisors. According to a report, you were part of a group of insiders who implemented a strategy to minimize ‘the president’s age-related struggles,’’ Comer wrote to Ricchetti in June, referencing a Wall Street Journal report.

‘The scope and details of that strategy cannot go without investigation. If White House staff carried out a strategy lasting months or even years to hide the chief executive’s condition—or to perform his duties—Congress may need to consider a legislative response.’

Axios reporter Alex Thompson, who co-wrote ‘Original Sin’ with CNN host Jake Tapper about Biden’s cognitive decline and his aides’ alleged attempts to cover it up, told PBS program Washington Week earlier this year that Ricchetti was part of a small group of insiders that some dubbed Biden’s ‘Politburo.’

He also played a key role in Biden’s legislative agenda, most notably as one of the Democratic negotiators working with then-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., to avoid a full-blown fiscal crisis over the U.S. national debt in early 2023.

It comes after another close former aide, former White House Chief of Staff Ronald Klain, appeared before investigators for his own transcribed interview last week.

Like Klain, Ricchetti is appearing on voluntary terms—the fourth former Biden aide to do so.

Three of the previous six Biden administration officials who appeared before the House Oversight Committee did so under subpoena. Former White House physician Kevin O’Connor, as well as former advisers Annie Tomasini and Anthony Bernal, all pleaded the Fifth Amendment during their compulsory sit-downs.

But the three voluntary transcribed interviews that have occurred so far have lasted more than five hours, as staff for both Democrats and Republicans take turns in rounds of questioning.