President Donald Trump signed an executive order Tuesday requesting the Domestic Policy Council examine ways to make in vitro fertilization, known as IVF, more affordable and accessible for Americans – despite the fact Democrats cautioned that Trump would seek to ban the procedure. 

‘Americans need reliable access to IVF and more affordable treatment options, as the cost per cycle can range from $12,000 to $25,000,’ the executive order said. ‘Providing support, awareness, and access to affordable fertility treatments can help these families navigate their path to parenthood with hope and confidence.’

Specifically, the order requires the assistant to the president for domestic policy to provide a list of policy recommendations aimed at ‘protecting IVF access and aggressively reducing out-of-pocket and health plan costs for IVF treatment’ within 90 days, according to the order. 

The directive comes months after former Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate in the 2024 election against Trump, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, accused the Trump administration of being ‘anti-IVF.’ 

Specifically, Walz singled out Trump’s running mate, then-Sen. JD Vance, a practicing Catholic who voted in June against the Right to IVF Act. The Catholic Church opposes IVF, saying unused embryos pose a moral dilemma. 

But Vance said in August 2024 he doesn’t believe all his religious views should translate to public policy since the U.S. is a ‘democratic society,’ he told the New York Post. 

‘Catholic social teaching is obviously very robust,’ he told the Post. ‘I think that no person who, or at least no one I know who’s Catholic, doesn’t accept that just because the Catholic Church teaches something, doesn’t mean you necessarily as a legislator need to affect that to public policy.’ 

The Right to IVF measure would establish a nationwide right to IVF and other assisted reproductive technology, but it failed to pass in the Senate. 

‘JD Vance opposing the miracle of IVF is a direct attack on my family and so many others,’ Walz said in a social media post on X in July 2024. 

Walz previously claimed that he and his wife, Gwen, struggled to conceive and shared details during the 2024 campaign about the couple’s experience using IVF to become pregnant with their two children. 

But Gwen Walz later clarified in August 2024 in an interview with Glamour magazinethat the couple actually used intrauterine insemination, known as IUI, to conceive. The process involves using a catheter to place the sperm directly into the uterus to increase odds of conception. 

In contrast, IVF requires the removal of a woman’s eggs and injecting them with sperm to create embryos, which then are placed back into the woman’s uterus. 

More than 85,000 babies born in 2021 were from IVF, according to the Department of Health and Human Services. 

Costly IVF treatments are rarely fully covered by health insurance, and only 25% of employers report providing coverage to their employees, according to the White House.

Trump unveiled plans in August 2024 that he’d seek to require insurance companies to cover the cost of IVF, stating he was pushing the policy ‘because we want more babies, to put it nicely.’

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

Fox News’ Julia Johnson contributed to this report.

On my first day as secretary of Transportation, we witnessed the midair collision in Washington, D.C., that took 67 lives. 

While the investigation is ongoing, the tragedy highlighted the urgent need to modernize our air traffic systems — and to move past the broken promises and political inertia of the past. 

The Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) unsustainable software systems that we’ve inherited are symptomatic of the endemic problems that plagued the Biden administration: a bloated bureaucracy that pushed overregulation instead of innovation, and radical DEI instead of merit. As a result, innovation stagnated and safety was sacrificed. 

Unlike my predecessors, I won’t run from difficult problems; I will fix them. 

This week, I’ve invited software engineers from SpaceX to visit the FAA as part of a fact-finding mission to better understand the issues afflicting our air traffic systems. SpaceX is America’s leading space launch company tracking thousands of satellites, and we thank these patriotic engineers for volunteering their time and expertise. 

This is just the start. Over the coming weeks and months, I will arrange similar meetings with America’s leading high-tech companies to identify our most urgent needs in air safety. Put simply, if you can help, my door is open.  

These candid conversations with the private sector are crucial because the old methods have failed. In 2012, President Barack Obama signed the ‘FAA Modernization and Reform Act’ into law, which provided $63.4 billion in FAA funding over four years, $11 billion of which was directed toward air traffic management. 

Flash forward to December 2024, when an alarming report from the Government Accountability Office stated that among the FAA’s 138 systems, 51 are unsustainable and the agency doesn’t plan to complete modernization projects for some of these systems for at least 10 years. Additionally, the FAA doesn’t yet have plans to modernize other systems in need — three of which are at least 30 years old. 

This status quo is unacceptable. It’s dangerous. And it must change immediately. 

The Biden administration was asleep at the switch and handed us a mess. An investigation by the New York Times in August 2023 revealed a pattern of near-collisions between commercial airlines — with near-misses happening multiple times a week, and occurring at all major airports in the U.S. This included 503 air traffic control lapses that the F.A.A. preliminarily categorized as ‘significant’ — 65% more than in the prior year. 

The FAA is also facing critical disruptions with its Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) system, which is vital for sharing safety-critical flight information between air traffic controllers and pilots. In 2023, a complete failure of the NOTAM system caused a nationwide ground stop, causing significant flight delays. 

The systemic problems are not limited to software. Aging networks at thousands of FAA sites must be upgraded in order to avoid severe service disruptions. In the meantime, the FAA is spending millions of taxpayer dollars per month just to maintain the legacy copper wire and connections. 

That level of dysfunction might be expected in a developing nation, but in the United States, it’s intolerable. President Donald Trump has already started implementing his bold vision to rebuild our nation, and modernizing our air traffic systems will be a crucial part of that legacy.  

Despite the obvious need for reform, partisans are certain to criticize this upcoming SpaceX visit, manufacturing illusory controversy rather than welcoming progress. That cynical approach exemplifies why the situation has deteriorated year after year; assigning blame is easy, but solutions take hard work. Americans will understand the facts: upgrading our nation’s air traffic systems will mean safer skies, fewer delays and less wasted time sitting in airports or stuck on tarmacs.  

We also won’t be derailed by misleading media coverage. As part of a larger government-wide restructuring that affected every federal agency, 0.8% of the FAA’s 45,000 employees were recently laid off — and we worked to ensure that all air traffic controllers and those in the most safety-critical positions were retained. 

Nevertheless, CNN blared its clickbait headline: ‘Hundreds of FAA probationary workers fired by Trump administration, union says.’ Only in paragraph 8 did CNN admit the truth: ‘The firings did not include air traffic controllers.’ 

In fact, we’ve begun boosting our recruitment of air traffic controllers. And thanks to Trump’s strong leadership, we are hiring on the basis of competence instead of ideology. As a result, we will see an immediate increase in talent, morale and retention, which will enable the most important result: safety. 

When I took the oath of office, I swore a commitment to defend our nation, and that means ensuring that our country’s skies are the safest in the world. Since the tragic events of January 30, I’ve met with grieving families and sincerely believe the best way to honor their loved ones is to urgently overhaul and upgrade our air traffic systems immediately. 

We can no longer rely on outdated code that hasn’t changed since the Clinton Administration. We must move past the bureaucratic delays and stale excuses that defined the last administration. Thankfully, Americans elected the world’s greatest problem solver, President Trump. 

This visit with SpaceX marks the beginning of a new era. Our nation needs an urgent upgrade to first-class. And it’s coming. 

Sean Duffy is the 20th U.S. Secretary of Transportation.

A top European Union official is warning President Donald Trump against letting Russian President Vladimir Putin succeed in dividing a decades-old alliance between the U.S. and Europe as Trump seeks to bring an end to the war in Ukraine. 

‘It is clear that any deal on Ukraine that doesn’t involve Europe will fail,’ EU policy chief Kaja Kallas told Fox News Digital from South Africa. ‘Europe and the U.S. are stronger together, this is exactly why Putin is trying to divide us. 

‘Let’s not do him the favor,’ she added. 

Kallas’ comments came after she held a call with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the foreign ministers of France, the U.K., Italy and Germany on Tuesday night to discuss the U.S. talks with Russian in Saudi Arabia, in which Washington agreed to re-establish diplomatic ties with Moscow through reopening embassies and re-engaging geopolitically and economically.  

Concern in Europe has been mounting over the Trump administration’s push to find a solution to end the war in Ukraine, as neither Kyiv nor any European official has yet been present for the discussions. 

‘When they say ‘these are our plans for the end of the war,’ it raises questions for us,’ Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told reporters from Turkey on Wednesday following a meeting with Turkish President Recep Erdoğan. ‘Where are we at this negotiating table? This war is taking place inside Ukraine. Putin is killing Ukrainians, not Americans.’

‘We want a just peace, a lasting peace, a sustainable peace,’ he added.

While Rubio looked to set the record straight following the talks on Tuesday by agreeing that Ukraine, Europe and Russia will need to be involved in any ceasefire terms, some comments by Trump have prompted frustration in Kyiv and concern across Europe.

‘We need American strength not concessions to end this war on Ukraine’s terms,’ Kallas told Fox News Digital. ‘Handing Ukrainian territory to Putin on a plate is a losing strategy.’

Kallas, along with other European leaders, took issue this week when Trump said Ukraine needs to hold presidential elections – something that Ukraine constitutionally cannot do during a state of war.

‘Elections in Ukraine are impossible amid Russia’s daily attacks, which have displaced millions of Ukrainians,’ Kallas said. ‘Let’s not forget Russia hasn’t held a free election in 25 years.’

Kallas, who told Fox News Digital that she has submitted a proposal that would see EU nations ramp up military aid to Ukraine this year, argued, ‘Kyiv must be able to negotiate from a place of strength.’

Reports indicated that European leaders were set to hold a second emergency summit on Ukraine in Paris on Wednesday after a smaller group of leaders from France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Poland, Denmark and the U.K. reportedly convened on Monday following the Munich Security Conference.

Despite concerns that Putin could be dividing the West, one former DIA intelligence officer and author of ‘Putin’s Playbook,’ Rebekah Koffler, argued the Trump administration’s strategy on ending the war is not an indication the U.S. is abandoning its allies.

‘The U.S. is not turning against Europe,’ she said. ‘NATO had 10 years, a decade to prepare for and deter this war.’

‘In the course of several years, my colleagues and I briefed senior military and intelligence officials of top European nations on the Russian threat. In vain,’ Koffler said, noting that she and her American intelligence colleagues warned European nations in 2013 ahead of Russia’s invasion of Crimea in 2014. ‘NATO ignored the threat for a decade and did not bother to develop a counter-strategy to Putin’s Playbook.

‘Trump is handing over the responsibility for Europe’s protection to the Europeans,’ she added, noting the West was already divided given some NATO nations’ failures to meet defense spending agreements. 

President Donald Trump’s second term in office presents a historic chance to reverse the Biden administration’s failed Iran policies and prevent Tehran from developing nuclear weapons, a new report from the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies (FDD) argues.

The report, titled ‘Detecting and Halting an Iranian Weaponization Effort,’ argues that the president should immediately muster the full weight of the U.S. national security establishment to confront this urgent threat.

‘The president made the right call in re-imposing maximum pressure. Now, he needs to ensure Iran can’t dash to nuclear weapons, drawing on the short timeline and technical know-how it possesses,’ Andrea Stricker, author of the FDD report, told Fox News Digital.

‘A nuclear-armed Iran would fundamentally upend security in the region and hinder the ability of the United States, Israel, and their partners to counter Tehran’s aggression out of fear of nuclear escalation,’ she said.

Srickler believes President Trump absolutely cannot tolerate a nuclear-armed Iran and must use all instruments of American power to stop this.

The FDD report recommends that the administration and allies should re-establish the threat of credible military force to deter Iran from breaking the nuclear threshold and, along with Israel, be prepared to target Iranian nuclear sites.

‘The United States or Israel should demonstrate their ability to eliminate any detected Iranian weaponization facilities and activities.’

U.S. intelligence learned recently that a secret team of Iranian scientists are working on a short-cut to the country’s path to develop a nuclear weapon. The revelations come as Iran’s position in the region has significantly weakened as Tehran became embroiled in conflict with Israel after Oct. 7. 

Then-President Joe Biden allowed Tehran’s nuclear program to progress largely unimpeded, the report said, and Iran now likely has the capability and know-how to produce nuclear weapons. Although Iran may lack confidence in the functionality of certain components, it may be able to detonate a crude nuclear device within six months from starting. 

‘An advancing Iranian weaponization capability, matched with Tehran’s enrichment of uranium to near-weapons-grade, limits the window of time in which the United States and its allies could intervene to stop an Iranian dash to nuclear weapons, known as a breakout,’ the report notes.

In a sign of the administration’s toughening position on Iran, Trump signed a memorandum reimposing the ‘maximum pressure’ policy, a hallmark of his first term administration’s crippling sanctions on Tehran.

It is ‘in the national interest to impose maximum pressure on the Iranian regime to end its nuclear threat, curtail its ballistic missile program, and stop its support for terrorist groups,’ the president’s executive order read.

Trump withdrew from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, also known as the Iran nuclear deal, during his first term in 2018 and reapplied harsh economic sanctions. The Biden administration had initially looked at re-engaging with Iran on the nuclear issue upon taking office, but on-again-off-again talks went nowhere, complicated by Iran’s domestic politics and Iran’s role in supporting its terror groups in the region. 

Stricker says the clerical regime has an additional incentive to seek nuclear weapons to secure its hold on power with a more confrontational administration in Washington. It could also sprint for the bomb to bolster its offensive and defensive capabilities to deter further Israeli strikes against the regime itself, she warned.

In addition to the military threat, the report recommends the U.S. and Israel should cooperate on intelligence-related operations to detect and disrupt Iranian weaponization. It also suggests that the U.S. and Israel should work toward identifying key Iranian officials and nuclear scientists and to cultivate them as human intelligence sources. 

It additionally encourages the U.S. and other nations to urgently mobilize the International Atomic Energy Agency to strengthen inspections of weaponization activities in Iran.

A November 2024 report from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence said that Iran has enough fissile material to produce over a dozen nuclear weapons if it continues to enrich uranium.