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President Donald Trump’s executive order against paper straws that was signed in February is already beginning to ‘use all levers available’ to cut back on them.

Fox News Digital exclusively obtained a domestic policy council report outlining that the White House wants the Food and Drug Administration to look into the PFAS risk of paper straws and ‘consider restricting their use.’ It is also pivoting away from using straws in federal government cafeterias, stopping the purchasing of them in federal contracts across a variety of agencies, and having the United States Department of Agriculture ‘not promote the development or manufacturing of paper straws in the future.’

‘Paper straws are a laughable supposition. They are bad for the environment, they are unhygienic, they are expensive, they contain dangerous forever chemicals, and—as with most things advanced by the previous Administration—they do not work,’ the president wrote in a letter included in the report.

‘This is not rocket science—water and other drinks dissolve paper, rendering these straws useless for their sole purpose. A product of a fictitious yet frequently cited statistic, they are inefficient and wasteful. It is ludicrous that anyone saw fit to enforce their use and that these useless implements have infiltrated our marketplaces as much as they have. Among the many things that my Administration is having to roll back, this is among the most absurd,’ Trump continued.

The Executive Order came just months after the Biden administration announced plans in July to phase out single-use plastic in the federal government.

‘The Trump Administration has undone this weaponization of government and will use all available levers to bring back common sense, end the use of paper straws, and restore functional utensils for the American people,’ the report’s conclusion states, arguing not only that research does not back up the widespread use of paper straws, but also that it may ‘pose safety risks to children and people with disabilities.’

Blue states such as California and New York currently have laws in place limiting the use of single-use plastic straws in full-service restaurants, unless customers request them.

Democratic states have also touted the use of paper straws as a more environmentally friendly alternative. Trump has criticized them for years, writing in a 2019 social media post that ‘liberal paper straws don’t work.’

Fox News’ Aubrie Spady contributed to this report.

Denmark on Friday found itself in President Donald Trump’s crosshairs. Trump appears to be honing in on what his administration is now arguing is a failure by Copenhagen to protect Greenland from Russian and Chinese aggression.   

Speaking to American soldiers from the U.S.’s Pituffik Space Base in northwest Greenland, Vice President Vance said, ‘Denmark hasn’t done a good job at keeping Greenland safe.’

‘What we think is going to happen is that the Greenlanders are going to choose, through self-determination, to become independent of Denmark,’ Vance explained in a more toned-down approach from Trump’s previous statements. ‘And then we’re going to have conversations with the people of Greenland from there.’

The vice president’s answer was in response to questions from reporters as to what lengths Trump would go to, to acquire Greenland despite strong resistance within the arctic nation to become a part of the U.S. as the president has previously signaled is his ambition.

‘We do not think that military force is ever going to be necessary,’ Vance continued. ‘And because we think the people of Greenland are rational and good, we think we’re going to be able to cut a deal, Donald Trump-style, to ensure the security of this territory, but also the United States of America.’

Vance said that Russia and China have been largely running unchecked in the area and ‘encroaching’ on Greenland without proper protection from Denmark. 

Though Greenland is an autonomous nation, it is still a territory of Denmark, which means Copenhagen oversees its security needs. 

Greenland does not currently have its own military and would no longer be protected by NATO if it left Denmark, as it would need to formally apply for NATO membership as an independent nation. 

‘There has been an expansion of the security footprint in the security interests of Russia and China. They’re doing what they believe is in their interest,’ Vance said. ‘The United States must do what I know is in our interest — which is to make sure that Greenland is safe. 

‘If Greenland doesn’t have self-determination, if the people of Greenland have their future controlled by the Chinese Communist Party, it’s not going to make their lives better off, and most importantly, it’s going to make American and world…security much, much weaker,’ he added.

Vance said he wants Greenland to have American weapons, not Chinese weapons, and that he believes a partnership could be secured once the arctic nation votes for independence from Denmark.

While some in Greenland have said they would be interested in securing a partnership with Washington that could include access to fishing lanes in exchange for defense guarantees, Trump has signaled that he may be more interested in the nation’s rare earth minerals and energy opportunities. 

However, Greenland, which is environmentally conscious, has previously blocked the EU from making deals to access those coveted resources. 

‘When the President says we’ve got to have Greenland, he’s saying this island is not safe,’ Vance said. ‘A lot of people are interested in it. A lot of people are making a play. 

‘Our message is very simple: Yes, the people of Greenland are going to have self-determination,’ he continued. ‘We hope that they choose to partner with the United States.

‘We’re the only nation on earth that will respect their sovereignty and respect their security, because their security is very much our security,’ Vance said. 

Federal law enforcement’s hands are tied now that the statute of limitations for prosecuting fraud in COVID-era unemployment programs has expired.

While Congress extended the statute of limitations for pandemic-era business relief fraud in 2022, the window to prosecute fraud in individual relief programs closed Thursday.

‘There’s huge amounts of fraud that law enforcement officials are still trying to track down,’ said Andrew Moylan, a public finance policy expert at the for-profit philanthropy group Arnold Ventures. 

‘Every day that goes by from today, we lose the ability to prosecute fraud day by day. That’s a huge problem, and this should be something that’s an easy fix for Congress.’

Despite opposition from 127 House Democrats, including Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, the House passed a bipartisan bill earlier this month to extend the statute of limitations for pandemic unemployment fraud from five to 10 years. The move mirrored what lawmakers did for the Paycheck Protection Program and the Economic Injury and Disaster Loans program in 2022.

However, the Senate has yet to take up a companion bill needed to cement the extension, leading House lawmakers to call on their colleagues on Capitol Hill to make it a priority. 

‘We can’t afford to let these fraudsters get away with the largest heist of tax dollars in American history,’ Rep. Jason Smith, R-Mo., chairman of the House Ways & Means Committee, said Wednesday. ‘Not only do we have an obligation to taxpayers to recover as much of this money as possible — up to $135 billion — we also need to send a message that we will never falter in going after criminals who take advantage of our support for those in need. … There is no time to waste.’

According to estimates from the Government Accountability Office, as much as $135 billion in pandemic unemployment insurance programs was lost to fraud during the pandemic. So far, only $5 billion, or less than 4%, has been recovered. 

Between the Department of Justice and the Department of Labor, there are more than 2,500 uncharged criminal matters or ongoing field investigations related to COVID-era criminal unemployment fraud, according to a fact sheet released by Smith.

Unless the statute of limitations is extended by Congress, federal law enforcement will be unable to prosecute these cases.

Moylan noted the majority of unemployment fraud during COVID stemmed from ‘loopholes’ so big ‘you could drive a truck through’ them in the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program. 

‘They didn’t have strict enough paperwork requirements, and, so, basically anybody could apply for it and just attest that they were engaged in self-employed activity … and claim significant amounts of unemployment benefits in the process,’ Moylan said. He also pointed out how people were applying for financial assistance under the names of dead people or prison inmates.

‘In California, about a billion dollars worth of fraud was facilitated by making claims on behalf of prisoners in prisons in California,’ he said.

This month, GOP lawmakers, including Smith, called on their Senate colleagues to take up the House’s legislation to extend the statute of limitations related to pandemic unemployment fraud.

When asked why he thought the Senate had not yet taken up a bill to extend the statute of limitations for pandemic unemployment fraud, Moylan posited that it was ‘an attention span thing.’

‘This hasn’t been top of mind the way that nominations have been in the first part of the year for the Senate, or budget resolution, or now tax conversations, or, you know, whatever the scandal of the day may be,’ Moylan said.

‘Those are the things that seem to dominate proceedings in the Senate. We now are in a situation where, if they don’t act soon, we’re going to lose the ability to prosecute more fraud in this program.’

President Donald Trump promised that ‘bad things’ would happen to Iran if the regime does not come to the table for nuclear negotiations. 

‘My big preference is that we work it out with Iran, but if we don’t work it out, bad things are gonna happen to Iran,’ the president said Friday. 

Iran is enriching uranium to 60%, just shy of the 90% weapons-grade. Experts say it could have a nuclear weapon within weeks if it were to take the final steps to building one. 

In response to U.S. sanctions threats, Iran showed off a sprawling underground tunnel system replete with missiles, launchers, engines and other advanced weapons. 

A video released this week by state media shows two Iranian military leaders, Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces Major General Mohammad Hossein Bagheri and IRGC Aerospace Force Commander Amir Ali Hajizadeh, riding in a vehicle through long, weapons-packed tunnels that Tehran has dubbed ‘Missile City.’ 

The 85-second clip, which has not been independently verified, is set to menacing music and suggests that the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps stands ready to respond to threats of an attack from the U.S. and Israel. 

‘Iran’s ballistic missile force remains the largest in the Middle East,’ said Behnam Taleblu, fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. ‘This is all part of the regime’s deterrent strategy to cement the idea of any conflict with Tehran being a costly and protracted one.’ 

The move comes as U.S. is bolstering its forces in the Middle East. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth recently sent a second aircraft carrier, the U.S. Navy’s USS Carl Vinson, to join the USS Harry S. Truman‘s carrier strike group, whose deployment was also extended. 

The U.S. also recently deployed two B-2 stealth bombers to the Diego Garcia base in the Indian Ocean, a warning to Iran and Yemen’s Houthi militia. The planes are capable of carrying 30,000-pound ‘bunker buster’ bombs and are now situated within range of Iran. 

Weeks ago, Trump wrote a letter to Iran urging the regime to engage in talks on its nuclear program. 

Kamal Kharazi, the top foreign policy adviser to Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said on Thursday that the regime would engage in ‘indirect’ talks, according to local news reports.

‘The Islamic Republic has not closed all the doors and is willing to begin indirect negotiations with the United States.’ 

‘Our policy is to not negotiate directly while there is maximum pressure policy and threats of military strikes,’ foreign minister Abbas Aragchi explained. ‘But indirect negotiations can take place as they have in the past.’

If talks falter, the U.S. and Israel have floated the possibility of targeted strikes on underground nuclear facilities. 

In recent weeks, the Trump administration launched a series of offensive attacks on the Houthis in Yemen to send a message to Tehran, which supports them. 

‘Let nobody be fooled! The hundreds of attacks being made by Houthi, the sinister mobsters and thugs based in Yemen, who are hated by the Yemeni people, all emanate from, and are created by, IRAN,’ Trump wrote on Truth Social at the time. 

‘Iran has played ‘the innocent victim’ of rogue terrorists from which they’ve lost control, but they haven’t lost control,’ he continued. ‘They’re dictating every move, giving them the weapons, supplying them with money and highly sophisticated Military equipment, and even, so-called, ‘Intelligence.” 

A federal appeals court on Friday granted the Trump administration’s motion to extend a stay allowing the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to continue operating at the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

Last week, a federal judge in Maryland ruled efforts to halt USAID functions were likely unconstitutional, ordering its reinstatement.

A federal appeals court in Richmond, Virginia, on Tuesday issued a stay, temporarily blocking the judge’s order that prohibited DOGE from working with USAID. It also barred biopharmaceutical executive Jeremy Levin from leading the agency.

Friday’s decision extends the stay until the appeal is resolved.

A group of 26 unidentified current and former USAID employees or contractors alleged the Trump administration unlawfully canceled government contracts, placed USAID personnel on administrative leave, reduced the force of employees and contractors, closed the headquarters and took down the website, violating the U.S. Constitution’s appointments clause because Elon Musk acted as DOGE administrator without being properly appointed. 

They also claimed dismantling USAID infringed on Congress’ responsibilities, according to court documents.

The Trump administration fought the claims, alleging Musk acts as a senior advisor to the president, and actions at USAID were carried out by Secretary of State Marco Rubio as USAID’s acting administrator, who then designated Peter Marocco as deputy administrator. 

USAID subsequently, and in accordance with President Donald Trump’s executive order, established an internal DOGE team led by Lewin, according to court documents.

Actions the employees and contractors alleged were unconstitutional were within both agency discretion and the president’s authority to direct foreign policy, the administration argued.

The district court granted the employees and contractors’ requested preliminary injunction, blocking DOGE from operating at USAID, finding the administration ‘likely’ violated the Constitution, and the pause was in the public interest. 

It later clarified Lewin, who led the USAID DOGE team prior to the injunction, could no longer do his job as chief operating officer at USAID and declined to grant any modifications. 

The Trump administration appealed the district court’s preliminary injunction and the denial of its motion for clarification or modification. It also filed an emergency motion to stay the injunction pending the appeal.

U.S. Court of Appeals Circuit judges Arthur Marvin Quattlebaum Jr. and Judge Paul V. Niemeyer found Friday that Musk and DOGE ‘made a strong showing that they are likely to succeed on the merits of the appeal, that they will be irreparably injured absent the stay,’ according to court documents.

Further, Quattlebaum and Niemeyer found the stay ‘favors the public interest.’

The ruling marked the third temporary win Friday for the Trump administration at the federal appeals court level.