‘Not something to celebrate’: As it turns 80 and faces dwindling global clout, can the UN survive?

The United Nations, a collaborative global dream built into reality out of the ashes of World War II, marks its 80th anniversary this month. There’s little to celebrate.

Its clout on the world stage is diminished. Facing major funding cuts from the United States and others, it has been forced to shed jobs and start tackling long-delayed reforms. Its longtime credo of “multilateralism" is under siege. Its most powerful body, the Security Council, has been blocked from taking action to end the two major wars in Ukraine and Gaza.

And as the latest conflict between Israel, Iran and the United States flared, it watched from the sidelines.

Four generations after its founding, as it tries to chart a new path for its future, a question hangs over the institution and the nearly 150,000 people it employs and oversees: Can the United Nations remain relevant in an increasingly contentious and fragmented world?

With its dream of collaboration drifting, can it even survive?

An act of optimism created it

When the United Nations was born in San Francisco on June 26, 1945, the overriding goal of the 50 participants who signed the U.N. Charter was stated in its first words: “to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war.”

Earlier this year, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres sounded that same theme: “Eight decades later, one can draw a direct line between the creation of the United Nations and the prevention of a third world war.”

There has been no such war — thus far. But conflicts still rage.

They continue not only in Gaza and Ukraine but Sudan, eastern CongoHaiti and Myanmar – to name a few – and, most recently, Iran and Israel. The needs of tens of millions of people caught up in fighting and trapped in poverty have increased even as rich donor nations, not just the United States, are reducing their aid budgets.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres speaks in Nov. 2024 during a plenary session at the COP29 U.N. Climate Summit in Baku, Azerbaijan.

The U.N. General Assembly is planning a commemoration on the 80th anniversary on June 26. This week an exhibition on the San Francisco meeting opened at U.N. headquarters with a rare centerpiece — the original U.N. Charter, on loan from the U.S. National Archives in Washington.

But the mood in the halls of the U.N. headquarters in New York is grim.

Diplomats are anxious about the immediate future, especially the outcome expected in August of a U.S. review of the United Nations and other multilateral institutions ordered by President Donald Trump. And U.N. staff here and in more than 60 offices, agencies and operations that get money from its regular operating budget are facing 20% job cuts, part of Guterres’ reform effort and reaction to already announced Trump funding cuts.

“It’s not something to celebrate,” Kazakhstan’s U.N. Ambassador Kairat Umarov said of the upcoming anniversary.

“This should be united nations — not disunited,” he said. “Collectively, we can do a lot,” but today “we cannot agree on many things, so we agree to disagree.”

A changing world accommodated a changing UN

In a different world of land-line telephones, radios and propeller planes, the U.N. Charter was signed by just 50 nations — mainly from Latin America and Europe, with half a dozen from the Mideast, and just a few from Asia and Africa.

Over the decades, its membership has nearly quadrupled to 193 member nations, with 54 African countries now the largest bloc followed by the 54 from Asia and the Pacific. And the world has changed dramatically with the advent of computers and satellites, becoming what the late former Secretary-General Kofi Annan called a “global village.”

The U.N. system has also expanded enormously from its origins, which focused on peace and security, economic and social issues, justice and trusteeships for colonies.

Today, the map of the U.N. system looks like a multi-headed octopus with many tentacles — and miniature tentacles sprouting from those. In 2023, its secretariat and numerous funds, agencies and entities dealing with everything from children and refugees to peacekeeping and human rights had over 133,000 staff worldwide.

U.N. peacekeepers patrol on the Lebanese side of the Lebanese-Israeli border in the southern village of Kfar Kila, with the Israeli town of Metula in the background in Oct. 2023.

Kishore Mahbubani, who served twice as Singapore’s U.N. ambassador, credited the United Nations with thus far preventing World War III. While there are still wars, deaths have continued a long-term decline “and the world is still, overall, a much more peaceful place,” he said.

“And many small states still live in peace, not having to worry about the neighbors occupying them,” said Mahbubani, a respected geopolitical analyst.

Mahbubani and others also point to successes in the 71 U.N. peacekeeping operations since 1948, including in Angola, Cambodia, Sierra Leone (which is currently a member of the Security Council) and Liberia (which will join in January).

There is also wide praise for specialized U.N. agencies, especially those dealing with hunger, refugees and children as well as the International Atomic Energy Agency, which is the U.N’s nuclear watchdog, and the International Telecommunications Union. Among numerous responsibilities, it allocates the global radio spectrum and satellite orbits and brings digital connectivity to millions.

As Guterres told the Security Council earlier this year, “The United Nations remains the essential, one-of-a-kind meeting ground to advance peace, sustainable development and human rights.”

What actually gets done at the UN?

Every September, world leaders get a global platform at the General Assembly. And every day their ambassadors and diplomats meet to debate issues from conflicts to climate change to the fight for gender equality and quality education. Sometimes, such talks produce little or no results. At others, achievements get overlooked or ignored by the broader world community, far from the hubs of diplomacy.

And the Security Council is the only place where Russia and Ukraine regularly face off over the ongoing war following Russia’s 2022 invasion — and where the Palestinian and Israeli ambassadors frequently confront each other.

The United Nations Security Council meets in June 2023.

Despite its successes and achievements over past decades, Singapore’s Mahbubani called the U.N. today “a very sad place,” lamenting that Guterres had failed “to inspire humanity” as the late Pope Francis did. “But,” Mahbubani said, “it should celebrate the fact it is alive and not dead.”

John Bolton, a former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations who was national security adviser during Trump’s first term, was also critical of the state of the U.N. in 2025. “It’s probably in the worst shape it’s been in since it was founded,” said Bolton, now an outspoken Trump critic.

He pointed to gridlock in the Security Council on key issues. He blames rising international tensions that divide the council’s five veto-wielding powers – with Russia and China facing off against U.S., Britain and France on many global challenges.

Richard Gowan, U.N. director of the International Crisis Group, a think tank, said the United Nations has bounced from crisis to crisis since the 1990s. With the gloomy geopolitical picture and U.S. funding cuts impacting humanitarian operations, he said this “is not just another blow-up that will blow over."

"Everyone seems to be resigned to the fact that you’re going to have a smaller U.N. in a few years’ time," Gowan said. "And that is partially because virtually every member state has other priorities.”

What happens in the UN's next chapter?

Guterres has launched several major reform efforts, getting approval from U.N. member nations last September for a “Pact for the Future” – a blueprint to bring the world together to tackle 21st-century challenges. Gowan said Guterres’ successor, who will be elected next year and take over in 2027, will have to shrink the organization. But many cuts, consolidations and changes will require approval of the divided U.N. membership. Possible radical reforms include merging U.N. aid and development agencies to avoid duplication.

Don’t forget, says Gowan, that a huge amount of diplomatic business — much of it having nothing to do with the United Nations — gets done because it is in New York, a place to have those conversations.

“If you were to close the U.N., there would also be a lot of intelligence people and spies who would be deeply disappointed. Because it’s a wonderful place to cultivate your contacts,” Gowan said. “Americans may not realize that having the U.N. in New York is a bonanza for us spying on other nations. So we shouldn’t let that go.”

Flagpoles in front of the United Nations building in Geneva, Switzerland.

Ian Bremmer, who heads the Eurasia Group, a political risk and consulting firm, said the Trump administration’s attempts to undermine the United Nations — which the United States conceived in 1945 — will make China more important. With Trump exiting from the World Health Organization, the U.N. agency helping Palestinian refugees known as UNRWA and cutting humanitarian funding, he said, China will become “the most influential and the most deep-pocketed” in those agencies.

Bremmer, who calls himself a close adviser to Guterres, insisted the United Nations remains relevant — “with no caveats.”

“It’s a relatively poorly resourced organization. It has no military capabilities. It has no autonomous foreign policy,” Bremmer said. “But its legitimacy and its credibility in speaking for 8 billion people on this little planet of ours is unique."

He added: "The important thing is that as long as the great powers decide not to leave the United Nations, every day that they stay is a vote of confidence in the U.N."

Expansion of the U.N. Security Council is probably the most fertile area for potential change. Decades of discussions have failed to agree on how to enlarge the 15-member council to reflect the global realities of the 21st century, though there is wide agreement that Africa and Latin America deserve permanent seats.

Singapore’s Mahbubani said he believes the United Nations “will definitely survive.” The “genius” of its founders, he said, was to give the big powers after World War II a veto in the Security Council, preventing the global body from dying as its predecessor, the League of Nations, did. That survival, Mahbubani believes, will continue: “It will," he said, "outlast us all."

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Jeffries gives answer for not yet endorsing Mamdani for NYC mayor

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., acknowledged on Sunday that he has not yet endorsed Zohran Mamdani for mayor of New York City, and faced questioning as to why he has yet to back the progressive candidate in his home city.

Jeffries made his remarks to Jonathan Karl on ABC's "This Week," adding that he did speak with Mamdani on Wednesday to congratulate him on the campaign "that clearly was relentlessly focused on the high cost of living in New York City and the economy."

When asked what is holding him back from endorsing the mayoral candidate, the House minority leader said he and Mamdani "don't really know each other well."

"Our districts don't overlap. I have never had a substantive conversation with him," noting that it is "the next step in terms of this process."

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Jeffries did say that the two of them have agreed to sit down soon "in central Brooklyn."

MAMDANI'S POLITICAL EARTHQUAKE ROCKS DEMOCRATS, DIVIDING PARTY ON PATH FORWARD

Mamdani has faced controversy over a number of his statements and positions. The democratic socilalist's website includes a housing policy document that states that if he were elected, his administration would "shift the tax burden from overtaxed homeowners in the outer boroughs to more expensive homes in richer and Whiter neighborhoods."

He has also faced scrutiny for anti-Israel positions, such as support for the "Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions" movement targeting the Jewish state. He has also stated that, if elected mayor, he would have Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrested if he visits the city.

Despite this, Mamdani came out on top in last week's Democratic mayoral primary, defeating rivals such as former Gov. Andrew Cuomo. In the general election, he is slated to face Republican Curtis Sliwa and incumbent Mayor Eric Adams, who is running as an Independent.

Retired Supreme Court justice gripes about the hot mess he helped create

Retired Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy is very concerned about what is happening with the courts, you guys. No, he didn’t have anything to do with it. Why do you ask?

Kennedy’s remarks came during his Thursday speech at a forum titled “Global Risks to the Justice System—A Warning to America.” He was one of several speakers, including judges from countries where authoritarian crackdowns threatened the independence of the judiciary. 

The bravery of those judges most definitely did not rub off on Kennedy, who was appointed to the Supreme Court by Ronald Reagan. In the face of repeated and ongoing attacks on the judiciary by President Donald Trump and his administration, the best Kennedy could do was praise judicial independence, as if that exists on the nation’s highest court any longer.

In this Oct. 8, 2018, file photo, President Donald Trump watches as retired Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy, right, ceremonially swears-in Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, left, in the East Room of the White House. Kavanaugh's wife Ashley is second from right with daughters Margaret, left, and Liza.

“Judges decide issues which have political consequences, but they don’t decide in a political way,” Kennedy claimed. “We have to honor the fact that judicial independence does not mean judges are put on the bench so they can do as they like—they're put on the bench so they can do as they must.”

Come on, Tony. Your cute little deal with Donald Trump in 2018, where you personally lobbied him to choose your former clerk Brett Kavanaugh to succeed you, was step two in Trump’s transformation of the court into a conservative grievance machine, following on the heels of Justice Neil Gorsuch’s confirmation the previous year.

You were perfectly aware that opposition to abortion was one of Trump’s litmus tests for Supreme Court nominees—he even campaigned on it. You were also perfectly aware that many of his lower court picks during his first term openly held anti-LGBTQ+ views. Trump explicitly chose judges because they would rule “as they like” instead of ruling “as they must.” 

Indeed, when judges do rule as they must, and Donald Trump doesn’t like it, he attacks them personally. He called for Judge James A. Boasberg to be impeached after he blocked the administration from deporting Venezuelan immigrants. 

At least 11 judges have had their families threatened with violence after they ruled against the Trump administration. Many of the threats occurred over at Elon Musk’s Nazi bar, X, where Musk himself amplified some of them. High-profile Trump supporter Laura Loomer shared a photo of Judge Boasberg’s daughter, alleging that she was helping undocumented gang members and calling for Boasberg and his daughter to be arrested and his entire family to be deported. James Boasberg was born in California to U.S. citizens, so the deportation demand is equal parts chilling and weird. 

U.S. District Judge John Coughenour faced both a bomb threat and a swatting incident after he ruled Trump’s birthright citizenship order was unconstitutional. During his speech, Kennedy fretted that “Judges must have protection for themselves and their families. Our families are often included in threats” without ever acknowledging who is whipping up those threats.

Related | Supreme Court justices sure are quiet about attacks on their power

Congressional Republicans have attacked judges on every front. They’ve called for the impeachment of judges who block Trump’s illegal actions. The Senate tried to get a provision in the Big Beautiful Bill restricting lower courts from issuing preliminary injunctions against the government unless the plaintiff posted a bond equal to whatever the government said were its costs and damages from not being able to do illegal things right away. 

Whenever conservatives want to both-sides the threats to the judiciary, they have literally one example: At a 2020 rally outside the Supreme Court, Sen. Chuck Schumer called out Justices Kavanaugh and Gorsuch and said, “You have released the whirlwind, and you will pay the price. You will not know what hit you if you go forward with these awful decisions.” Roberts immediately issued a statement quoting Schumer and saying that “threatening statements of this sort from the highest levels of government are not only inappropriate, they are dangerous.” 

But when Trump relentlessly attacks the judiciary, including routinely defying court orders, and elected officials call for judges to be impeached, the best Roberts could come up with was, “For more than two centuries, it has been established that impeachment is not an appropriate response to disagreement concerning a judicial decision. The normal appellate review process exists for that purpose.”

This is equally as mealy-mouthed as Kennedy’s comments that the judiciary should stand for the rule of law and “we must always say no to tyranny and yes to truth.” Notably absent is any mention of who is attacking the rule of law. Notably absent is any mention that the rule of law went out the window when the conservative majority granted Trump immunity. Notably absent is any mention of who is saying yes to tyranny and no to truth.

Kennedy doesn’t deserve praise or a cookie for these vague statements. If he genuinely cared about attacks on the rule of law, he would need to challenge his former colleagues. He would need to challenge Trump, the man he cut a deal with to get Kavanaugh a lifetime appointment. He would need to say that the threats of violence against judges only occur when they rule against the administration. He would need to call out the ceaseless attempts by GOP elected officials to knee-cap the courts. 

Kennedy is not going to do any of those things, but he’s probably going to continue to make a lot of high-minded speeches. Feel free to ignore him until he tells the truth.

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Chief Justice Roberts sounds alarm on dangerous rhetoric aimed at judges from politicians

U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts warned Saturday of the dangers of politicians using heated rhetoric against judges. 

"It becomes wrapped up in the political dispute that a judge who’s doing his or her job is part of the problem," Roberts said in Charlotte, North Carolina, at the Judicial Conference of the Fourth Circuit, a gathering of judges and lawyers. 

"And the danger, of course, is somebody might pick up on that. And we have had, of course, serious threats of violence and murder of judges just simply for doing their work. So, I think the political people on both sides of the aisle need to keep that in mind."

Roberts didn’t name anyone but appeared to be referencing President Donald Trump and Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer when he said he'd felt compelled to speak out against rhetoric by Democrats and Republicans in the past. 

CHIEF JUSTICE ROBERTS DOUBLES DOWN ON DEFENSE OF COURTS AS SCOTUS GEARS UP TO HEAR KEY TRUMP CASES

Trump has criticized judges many times over the years, including calling for the impeachment of a judge who ruled against a deportation policy earlier this year, referring to him as "radical left" and a "lunatic." 

Roberts responded at the time, saying, "For more than two centuries, it has been established that impeachment is not an appropriate response to disagreement concerning a judicial decision. The normal appellate review process exists for that purpose."

In 2020, Roberts condemned Schumer for saying that Trump-appointed Supreme Court justices Brett Kavanaugh and Neil Gorsuch would "pay the price" regarding an abortion rights case during Trump’s first term. 

EX-SUPREME COURT JUSTICE ANTHONY KENNEDY PLEADS FOR CIVIL POLITICAL DISCOURSE, WARNS, ‘DEMOCRACY IS AT RISK’ 

"You have released the whirlwind, and you will pay the price," Schumer said at a rally outside the Supreme Court at the time. "You will not know what hit you if you go forward with these awful decisions."

Schumer later said he was referring to the political price he believed Senate Republicans would pay, but he said, "I shouldn't have used the words I did, but in no way was I making a threat. I never, never would do such a thing, and Leader McConnell knows that." 

Roberts, at the time, said of Schumer, "Justices know that criticism comes with the territory, but threatening statements of this sort from the highest levels of government are not only inappropriate, they are dangerous. All members of the court will continue to do their job, without fear or favor, from whatever quarter."

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In April, an armed man who was arrested outside of Kavanaugh’s home pleaded guilty to attempting to assassinate the justice. 

Roberts’ remarks came after the Supreme Court issued the final decisions of its term, handing the Trump administration a win Friday by limiting judges’ ability to block his agenda through court orders. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Fox News Politics Newsletter: SCOTUS Reins in District Courts on Injunctions

Welcome to the Fox News Politics newsletter, with the latest updates on the Trump administration, Capitol Hill and more Fox News politics content. Here's what's happening…

-Top moments from the Trump-Biden debate that changed the course of the 2024 election

-Trump celebrates Supreme Court limits on 'colossal abuse of power' by federal judges

-Second Amendment 'setback': Gun tax cuts stripped from Trump's 'big, beautiful bill'

The Supreme Court on Friday delivered a major victory in President Donald Trump's quest to block lower courts from issuing universal injunctions that had upended many of his administration's executive orders and actions.

Justices ruled 6-3 to allow the lower courts to issue injunctions only in limited instances, though the ruling leaves open the question of how the ruling will apply to the birthright citizenship order at the heart of the case.

The Supreme Court agreed this year to take up a trio of consolidated cases involving so-called universal injunctions handed down by federal district judges in Maryland, Massachusetts and Washington state. Judges in those districts had blocked Trump's ban on birthright citizenship from taking force nationwide – which the Trump administration argued in their appeal to the Supreme Court was overly broad…READ MORE

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'LOWER THE TEMP': Nearly 200 House Dems reject resolution condemning violent anti-ICE riots in LA

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Get the latest updates on the Trump administration and Congress, exclusive interviews and more on FoxNews.com.

California judge who blocked Trump National Guard order hit with impeachment resolution

FIRST ON FOX: A Republican lawmaker is filing impeachment articles against a judge who temporarily blocked President Donald Trump’s control of the National Guard in California during this month’s riots in Los Angeles.

Rep. Randy Fine, R-La., is filing a resolution to remove U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer from the bench on Friday.

He told Fox News Digital that he felt the judge’s decision was "political."

"The goal is to get judges to do their jobs. If we’re not going to try to hold accountable the ones that aren’t, then they have no incentive to stop," Fine said. 

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It comes as Republicans continue to push back on Democratic officials trying to block Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigration throughout the country. 

The days-long riots in Los Angeles were spurred by ICE raids in Hispanic and Latino neighborhoods, leading to activists clashing with law enforcement and burning cars as a sign of resistance.

Trump, accusing California’s progressive officials of not doing enough to stop the situation, bypassed Democrat Gov. Gavin Newsom to order the National Guard into Los Angeles to restore order.

Critics of the move said it needlessly escalated an already tense situation, and accused Trump and his allies of exaggerating the violence.

Breyer issued a temporary order blocking Trump’s deployment of federal troops earlier this month, however, in response to a lawsuit brought by California.

"At this early stage of the proceedings, the Court must determine whether the President followed the congressionally mandated procedure for his actions. He did not," the court opinion said.

"His actions were illegal—both exceeding the scope of his statutory authority and violating the Tenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. He must therefore return control of the California National Guard to the Governor of the State of California forthwith."

Breyer’s ruling was quashed last week when a three-judge panel on the San Francisco-based 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that it was within Trump’s authority to federalize the California National Guard.

Breyer is just the latest judge to be brought under House GOP scrutiny after several Trump executive actions got held up in court.

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Trump allies have called for the impeachment of multiple judges, though House GOP leadership has made clear there’s little appetite to follow through on such moves – particularly when removal by the Senate is unlikely.

Fine acknowledged the long odds but insisted the resolution was a potent messaging tool.

"I think it’s worth doing. I don’t know that we can pass it, I don’t know that the Senate would remove him from office, but I think failing to avail ourselves of the remedies that the framers intended was a mistake," Fine said.

Ex-Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy pleads for civil political discourse, warns ‘democracy is at risk’

Former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy warned Thursday that the tone of political discourse and threats to judges are undermining the ability of the U.S. to serve as an example of freedom and democracy around the world.

Kennedy, a Reagan appointee who retired in 2018 during President Donald Trump's first term, was speaking during a virtual forum about threats to the rule of law, as he defended the role of judges in a democracy and advocated for the need to protect them and their families from threats.

"Many in the rest of the world look to the United States to see what democracy is, to see what democracy ought to be," Kennedy said during the "Speak Up for Justice" event, one day before the current Supreme Court justices are set to deliver their final rulings of the current term.

"If they see a hostile, fractious discourse, if they see a discourse that uses identity politics rather than to talk about issues, democracy is at risk. Freedom is at risk," he continued.

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Kennedy did not mention Trump, even as other participants expressed concern about the barrage of threats and attacks against judges for blocking key parts of the president's political agenda during his second term, including his immigration policies, firings of federal workers and his implementation of broad-based tariffs.

But Kennedy's remarks appeared to be sparked, at least in part, by the Trump administration's repeated attacks against judges who have ruled against him, including some whom he appointed during his first term.

In March, Trump criticized U.S. District Court Judge James Boasberg as a "radical left lunatic" and called for his impeachment after he attempted to block the administration from removing alleged Venezuelan gang members from the U.S. under the Alien Enemies Act, a wartime presidential power Trump invoked.

Last month, Trump attacked "USA-hating" judges as "monsters who want our country to go to hell."

Trump's rhetoric has come alongside an uptick in threats against judges, according to POLITICO, although spokespeople for the administration have said the president is against any threats and that they would face prosecution from the Justice Department.

Kennedy said "judges must have protection for themselves and their families" and that "judges are best protected when the public and our nation realize how central they are to our discourse." 

"We should be concerned in this country about, as I've already indicated, the tone of our political discourse," he said. "Identity politics are used so that a person is characterized by his or her partisan affiliation. That's not what democracy and civil discourse is about."

Other participants at the forum, which featured judges from the U.S. and other countries who warned about how attacks on courts can threaten democracies, also took aim at Trump's statement denouncing the courts.

Without mentioning Trump by name, U.S. District Judge Esther Salas, whose son was killed by a disgruntled lawyer who went to her New Jersey home in 2020, said disinformation about judges was spreading "from the top down," with jurists attacked as "rogue" and "corrupt."

CHIEF JUSTICE ROBERTS DOUBLES DOWN ON DEFENSE OF COURTS AS SCOTUS GEARS UP TO HEAR KEY TRUMP CASES

"Judges are rogue. Sound familiar? Judges are corrupt. Sound familiar? Judges are monsters. … Judges hate America," Salas said. "We are seeing the spreading of disinformation coming from the top down."

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Salas warned that the number of threats recorded against judges this year was reaching historic heights in the U.S., noting that the U.S. Marshals Service has tracked more than 400 threats against judges since January, when Trump was inaugurated.

"We're going to break records, people, and not in a good way," she said.

Reuters contributed to this report.

Justice Department sues this state’s federal bench in wild new escalation

In an unprecedented and dangerous move, the Department of Justice has sued all 15 federal judges in Maryland—a sweeping retaliation against a court order that temporarily halts deportations. 

At the center of the legal firestorm is a May 21 order from Chief Judge George L. Russell III, which bans federal officials from deporting immigrants who file habeas corpus petitions in Maryland until at least 4 PM on the second business day after filing. 

The goal, Russell wrote, is to prevent rushed removals that deny immigrants a fair hearing, especially after business hours or on weekends, when proper review becomes logistically impossible.

“The recent influx of habeas petitions concerning alien detainees … filed after normal court hours and on weekends and holidays has created scheduling difficulties and resulted in hurried and frustrating hearings,” the order reads.

Russell cited the All Writs Act and a 1966 Supreme Court precedent that gives courts limited power to preserve jurisdiction while they review urgent matters.

But the Trump administration isn’t backing down. In a broad legal challenge, the DOJ argues that Russell’s standing order illegally grants blanket relief to all immigrants without considering individual cases and unlawfully restricts the president’s authority to enforce immigration laws. 

A cartoon by Clay Bennett.

“A sense of frustration and a desire for greater convenience do not give Defendants license to flout the law. Nor does their status within the judicial branch,” DOJ attorneys wrote.

The DOJ is asking the 4th Circuit Court to assign a judge from outside the Maryland district to hear the case, claiming that all 15 judges have an inherent conflict of interest since they are all named as defendants.

Legal analysts say this move is without recent precedent.

“It’s extraordinary. And it’s escalating DOJ’s effort to challenge federal judges,” Laurie Levenson, a law professor at Loyola, told The Associated Press.

Speaking to The Washington Post, J. Michael Luttig, a retired federal judge, was more blunt. 

“It is reckless and irresponsible and yet another direct frontal assault on the federal courts of this country,” he said.

The legal action appears to be the latest and most extreme salvo in the Trump administration’s ongoing war with the judiciary over immigration. And it didn’t take long for Democrats to sound the alarm. 

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore called the suit an “unprecedented effort to intimidate judges and usurp the power of the courts” and accused the Trump administration of “turning our Constitution on its head.”

Luttig says the administration helped create the chaos initially by rushing to deport immigrants en masse without proper notice or hearings. The Supreme Court recently ruled that one such group had a right to challenge their removal before being deported.

But that hasn’t stopped Trump officials, who have continued to lash out at judges who rule against them and openly question the courts’ authority to intervene.

Attorney General Pam Bondi clarified the Trump administration’s position in a statement on Wednesday.

“President Trump’s executive authority has been undermined since the first hours of his presidency by an endless barrage of injunctions designed to halt his agenda. This pattern of judicial overreach undermines the democratic process and cannot be allowed to stand,” she wrote.

President Donald Trump has criticized adverse rulings before—at one point calling for the impeachment of a federal judge who ordered for deported immigrants to be returned to the United States. While impeachment is unlikely and would require Senate conviction, it was enough to prompt a rare public rebuke from Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts.

“Impeachment is not an appropriate response to disagreement concerning a judicial decision,” he warned.

The Maryland bench, especially, has been a thorn in Trump’s side. Judges like Paula Xinis have forced the administration to reverse wrongful deportations. Others, like James K. Bredar, are overseeing lawsuits filed by Democratic state attorneys general who are challenging mass firings of federal employees. 

And in a year marked by sweeping executive actions, Maryland judges have blocked key Trump policies related to immigration, transgender health care, and civil service rights. Of the 15 judges in the district, 13 were appointed by Democratic Presidents Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, and Joe Biden. 

But legal scholars warn that the lawsuit could break long-standing norms between the executive and judicial branches. 

“The president and his attorney general will continue their ruthless attack on the federal Judiciary and the Rule of Law until the Supreme Court of the United States at least attempts to stop them,” Luttig warned. “Until now, the Supreme Court has acquiesced in the president’s war, while the devastating toll on the Federal Courts and the Rule of Law has mounted by the day.”

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GOP assemblyman calls out AOC’s suburban roots with yearbook proof after Trump spat

A New York state lawmaker called out Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., over her upbringing after she referred to herself as a tough "Bronx girl" during an internet spat in which she traded jabs with President Donald Trump

State Assemblyman Matt Slater, a Republican, called out the progressive firebrand, who represents portions of the Bronx and Queens, and shared an image of her during her freshman year in suburban Yorktown High School, almost an hour north of the Bronx

"If you’re a BX girl then why are you in my Yorktown yearbook? Give it up already," Slater tweeted.

'I'M JUST A SILLY GIRL': AOC FIRES BACK AFTER TRUMP CALLS HER 'STUPID'

Slater's move came after Ocasio-Cortez got into a social media spat with Trump after she called for his impeachment for ordering strikes over the weekend that targeted Iranian nuclear sites. 

In a lengthy post on Truth Social, Trump criticized the congresswoman, calling her "stupid" and "one of the ‘dumbest’ people in Congress."

"When we examine her Test Scores, we will find out that she is NOT qualified for office but, nevertheless, far more qualified than Crockett, who is a seriously Low IQ individual, or Ilhan Omar, who does nothing but complain about our Country, yet the Failed Country that she comes from doesn’t have a Government, is drenched in Crime and Poverty, and is rated one of the WORST in the World, if it’s even rated at all," Trump added.

In response, Ocasio-Cortez, who graduated from Yorktown High School in 2007, posted a series of posts on X criticizing Trump.

AOC’S CONSTITUENTS WEIGH IN ON PRESIDENTIAL RUN, RECALL HER STUNNING 2018 POLITICAL UPSET

"Also, I’m a Bronx girl. You should know that we can eat Queens boys for breakfast. Respectfully," she said, referring to Trump's Queens roots and upbringing.

Slater, who also attended Yorktown High School, called out Ocasio-Cortez with his yearbook, showing an image of her.

"If you’re a BX girl then why are you in my Yorktown yearbook? Give it up already," he wrote on X. 

Fox News Digital has reached out to the offices of Slater and Ocasio-Cortez. 

Ocasio-Cortez often touts her Bronx roots despite living a good chunk of her life further north. She lived in the Parkchester planned community in the Bronx until she was 5 before moving to Yorktown Heights, a suburb in Westchester County, for better schools, the New York Times previously reported.

"It is nice. Growing up, it was a good town for working people," she said in reference to Yorktown in a 2018 tweet questioning her Bronx upbringing. "My mom scrubbed toilets so I could live here & I grew up seeing how the zip code one is born in determines much of their opportunity."

Trump slams Bibi over ceasefire violations, denounces cable channels over skepticism

It was a manic-depressive episode that unfolded in just half a day.

President Trump was in a celebratory mood late Monday when he announced that Israel and Iran had agreed to a ceasefire within 24 hours–a development that, let’s face it, few thought was possible.

"CONGRATULATIONS TO EVERYONE!" he posted. 

This, he proclaimed, would mark "an Official END to THE 12 DAY WAR" and "will be saluted by the World. During each CEASEFIRE, the other side will remain PEACEFUL and RESPECTFUL."

He even closed with this: "God bless Israel, God bless Iran, God bless the Middle East, God bless the United States of America, and GOD BLESS THE WORLD!"

TRUMP’S BIG ACHIEVEMENT IN BOMBING IRAN, STILL SLAMMED BY CRITICS – AS HE SUGGESTS ‘REGIME CHANGE’

Well, that was then. By early yesterday morning, Trump was furious. There were violations of the shaky ceasefire by both sides, with an Iranian missile killing at least four Israelis in an apartment building. But Trump was particularly angry with the bigger barrage by Israel, as if he had been betrayed, demanding that Bibi Netanyahu and his leaders "cool down."

Trump dropped an F-bomb on both countries, saying they "don’t know what the f--- they’re doing." 

They had spoiled his scenario. An achievement that would have put him on the path for a Nobel Prize, given the hostile relations between the terror state and the Jewish state, which has fought several wars against Iranian proxies, Hamas and Hezbollah, since its founding in 1948. Unless the Norwegian academy is too liberal to ever bestow such an honor on a Trump. (A GOP congressman has just nominated him.)

If you’re feeling a little whiplash, you’re not alone. After all, it was just a few days ago that Trump said he’d decide "within two weeks" whether to launch an attack on Iran. That and other deceptions made it seem like nothing was imminent. 

Then there was the strange detour about "regime change" – why not call it that? – and saying the administration knew where Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was hiding.  

TRUMP HINTS AT REGIME CHANGE IN IRAN WHILE DECLARING 'MAKE IRAN GREAT AGAIN' AFTER US STRIKES

But that went against the company line that we were only at war with Iran’s nuclear program, pushed by JD Vance and others.

That in turn was superseded by Trump announcing he had secured a ceasefire with Israel and Iran – which was news to the vice president as he sat down with Fox’s Bret Baier.

The undeniable success of the mission has muted the criticism of many Democrats and liberals, who are constitutionally incapable of praising Trump while accusing him of violating the Constitution. (The issue of congressional consultation is legit, but we can’t have 535 commanders-in-chief – and Joe Biden and Barack Obama took similar unilateral actions.)

AOC, as a leading example, has called for Trump’s impeachment – and the president has unloaded on her. The posting: 

"Stupid AOC, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, one of the ‘dumbest’ people in Congress, is now calling for my Impeachment, despite the fact that the Crooked and Corrupt Democrats have already done that twice before. The reason for her ‘rantings’ is all of the Victories that the U.S.A. has had under the Trump Administration. The Democrats aren’t used to WINNING, and she can’t stand the concept of our Country being successful again. When we examine her Test Scores, we will find out that she is NOT qualified for office."

Test scores? Not qualified? Ocasio-Cortez graduated from Boston University, where she double-majored in international relations and economics. And since when is there an educational standard for the presidency?

There’s more: "What a disaster it was! AOC should be forced to take the Cognitive Test that I just completed at Walter Reed Medical Center…

"Alexandria should go back home to Queens, where I was also brought up, and straighten out her filthy, disgusting, crime ridden streets, in the District she ‘represents,’ and which she never goes to anymore."

AOC responded on X: "Mr. President, don’t take your anger out on me – I’m just a silly girl…

"Take it out on whoever convinced you to betray the American people and our Constitution by illegally bombing Iran and dragging us into war. It only took you 5 months to break almost every promise you made."

'I'M JUST A SILLY GIRL': AOC FIRES BACK AFTER TRUMP CALLS HER 'STUPID'

This is all symbolic, as Ocasio-Cortez well knows, but plays well with her left-wing base. Yesterday, in fact, the House voted to table an impeachment resolution, with 128 Democrats – more than half – joining all Republicans in deep-sixing it.

In the end, POTUS appeared to get the ceasefire back on track. Trump called Netanyahu and said that "our U.S. military did what we needed to do," a senior White House official told the Washington Post. "I wouldn’t say the prime minister enthusiastically agreed, but he understood that President Trump is no longer going to be militarily involved in this conflict."

Bibi soon announced that he would respect the ceasefire as long as the other side does, and Iran’s president made similar comments. 

Trump, before flying off to the NATO summit at The Hague, turned his anger on the press.

He said of the underground nuclear enrichment site called Fordow: "I think it’s been completely demolished. I think the reason we’re here is because those pilots, those B-2 pilots, did an unbelievable job.

"And, you know, the fake news, like CNN in particular, they’re trying to say, ‘Well, I agree that it was destroyed, but maybe not that destroyed.’

"You know what they’re doing? They’re really hurting great pilots that put their lives on the line! CNN is SCUM! And so is MSDNC.

"And frankly, the networks aren’t much better. It’s all fake news, but they should not have done that.

SUBSCRIBE TO HOWIE'S MEDIA BUZZMETER PODCAST, A RIFF ON THE DAY'S HOTTEST STORIES

"Those pilots hit their targets. Those targets were obliterated, and the pilots should be given credit. They’re not after the pilots. They’re after me. They want to try and demean me."

He also dragged in Brian Roberts, head of MSNBC’s parent company, which Trump called "Con"cast.

But his demand that the two networks apologize to the pilots doesn’t hold water. They were brave regardless of the impact of their 30,000-pound payloads. All CNN and MSNBC did was air stories questioning the level of damage, particularly at Fordow.

Trump’s contention was further undermined by this New York Times exclusive:

"A preliminary classified U.S. report says the American bombing of Iran’s nuclear sites sealed off the entrances to two of the facilities but did not collapse their underground buildings, according to officials familiar with the findings.

"The early findings conclude that the strikes over the weekend set back Iran’s nuclear program by only a few months, the officials said.

That, my friends, is the fog of war.