Actor George Clooney said "it's a scary time to be a news person" under President Donald Trump's administration during an interview on Wednesday.Clooney told CNN's Anderson Cooper that "most news organizations are under fire" by the Trump administration and that Cooper and CBS' "60 Minutes" have been specifically "picked out."While the actor expressed concerns about the current state of the country, he did push back on Cooper's assertion that America is currently at its worst.SETH MEYERS SKIPS ASKING GEORGE CLOONEY ABOUT BIDEN'S MENTAL DECLINE, NOT RECOGNIZING HIM AT FUNDRAISER"I can make an argument that were not. I can make an argument that weve had much worse times in our history. You know, 1968, every city in the United States was burning and there was National Guard was surrounding the White House and the Capitol, and wed lost Martin Luther King and Bobby Kennedy and Tet Offensive," he said.Clooney continued, vocalizing his concerns about the Trump administration's alleged "attack" on news organizations."But it's a frustrating time, and I think a scary time for many people. It's a scary time to be a news person, to be in your profession. You've been picked out, you know, 60 Minutes has been picked out. Most news organizations are under fire," he said. "That usually happens with demagogues in a way. It usually is a way of the first places you attack are the news, because thats how we inform ourselves."Cooper followed up by asking the actor if he believes that "Trumpism" will last following the current president's term."I dont think so," Clooney replied. "I think itd be very hard to do it. Remember this: Donald Trump is a celebrity. Thats what he is. I mean, he has a star on Hollywood Boulevard. I dont have a star on Hollywood Boulevard. Im not lobbying for one. Im just saying."CLICK HERE FOR THE LATEST MEDIA AND CULTURE NEWSHe continued by noting that while Trump is "charming" and many of the people who support him find him "funny," another large portion of Americans do not."And so when he is finished, and he will be finished, theyre going to have to go looking for someone who can deliver the message that he delivered with the same kind of charisma. And they don't have that," he said of the Republican Party.Later in the interview, Cooper asked Clooney whether he's worried about Trump personally targeting him."Sure. Everybody worries about it," he responded. "But, you know, if you spend your life worrying about things, then you won't do things. You know, we have, like everybody, a family, and we have a life, and we try to, you know, live and do things as the best example for our kids. And I want to be able to look at my kids in the eye and say where we stood and what we did at certain times in history. And I have no problem with that."

House Republicans in Democrat-controlled states are firing a warning shot at the Senate as it considers President Donald Trump's "one big, beautiful bill."GOP lawmakers in New York and California have been demanding that senators leave the House's increased state and local tax (SALT) deduction cap in the bill, even as members of the upper chamber eye it as low-hanging fruit for saving taxpayer dollars.But those blue state Republicans have made raising the current $10,000 SALT deduction cap an existential issue, arguing it provides much-needed tax relief to people in high-cost-of-living areas. The SALT deduction allows people living in areas with high state and local taxes to deduct those penalties in their federal tax filings, up to a point."When did taxing income thats already been taxed become a Republican ideal? Our party has always stood for lower taxes and a fair, commonsense tax code. We worked in good faith with House leadership to secure a fair deal that provides our constituents with much-needed SALT relief," SALT Caucus co-chairs Reps. Young Kim, R-Calif., and Andrew Garbarino, R-N.Y., said in a statement.MIKE JOHNSON, DONALD TRUMP GET BIG, 'BEAUTIFUL WIN AS BUDGET PASSES HOUSE"Hardworking families we represent are penalized by the SALT cap, and this deal keeps the Presidents commitment to fix this issue and has the support of firefighters, police, small businesses and working Americans who keep our country moving."House Republicans can afford little dissent with their razor-thin majority to still pass the bill again, if the Senate returned a modified version something the SALT caucus pointed out."The Senate would be remiss to forget that the path to 218 and delivering for the American people runs through the SALT Caucus," the statement read.The House-passed budget reconciliation bill aimed at advancing Trump's priorities on tax, energy, defense, immigration, and the national debt raises the SALT deduction cap to $40,000.Republicans are working on the bill as the national debt climbs past $36 trillion.Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, R-N.Y., a SALT Caucus member and one of the House's GOP tax-writers, sent in a statement to Fox News Digital, "The State and Local Tax (SALT) deduction negotiated in the House should NOT be altered by the Senate. Its a Republican principle to allow taxpayers to keep more of their hard-earned money and taxpayers in New York and other SALT states deserve not to be double taxed by their government, especially when we also supported significant savings by rooting out waste, fraud & abuse in our states."Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., who also fought for the increased cap, signaled he would not support the bill if the Senate reinstated the lower number.SCOOP: HOUSE GOP MEMO HIGHLIGHTS REPUBLICAN WINS IN TRUMP'S 'BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL'"NY, NJ, and CA have and continue to subsidize many of the states represented in the Senate Republican conference. Furthermore, SALT has been used as a payfor for other provisions in the bill, including the doubling of the standard deduction, which is to the benefit of all Americans," Lawler wrote on X."Since the last tax bill, 29 states have blown past the 10k cap. This isnt a red vs blue issue, its an issue of double taxation. Since when do Republicans advocate for taxing you on top of taxes already paid? No SALT. No Deal."Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., met with Trump to shore up support for the tax portion of the budget reconciliation bill, and said he recognized SALT was a key issue for blue-state Republicans in the House but it was one that didn't really move the needle for Republican senators."We also start from a position that there really isn't a single Republican senator who cares much about the SALT issue," Thune said. "It's just not an issue that plays. Most of our states, we're states that are low-tax states, and we don't think that low-tax states ought to be subsidizing high-tax states."Indeed, no Senate Republican hails from a blue state, making the issue for many lawmakers in the upper chamber a moot point. And Thune's position echoes that of many in the House GOP who were wary of increasing the SALT cap.Still, Thune and Senate Republican leadership acknowledge that whatever tweaks and changes to the budget bill that they make have to pass muster with their colleagues in the House.Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., told reporters Thursday morning that he is still keeping SALT lawmakers "calm."The speaker added that he had been urging the Senate to keep the House's bill intact."Look, the Senate Republicans are from red states, right? They feel the same way that I do about SALT, but I'm being very deliberate in reminding them that we have, again, this very delicate balance to maintain over here, and you've got to address the issue so that our members can take something home," Johnson said.

Hooters has closed more than 30 of its restaurants in multiple states this week, according to reports.The Atlanta-based Hooters of America locations that closed were corporately owned."Hooters will be well-positioned to continue our iconic legacy under a pure franchise business model," the company told USA Today in a statement.HOOTERS DITCHING BIKINI NIGHTS FOR OVER-60 CROWD AND FAMILIES"We are committed to supporting our impacted team members throughout this process and are incredibly grateful to our valued customers for their loyalty and dedication to the Hooters brand."Hooters of America recently filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy as part of an effort to enable a founder-led buyout and restructuring of the popular restaurant chain.Fox News Digital reached out to Hooters of America for a list of the locations that closed.USA Today reported that restaurants in at least 10 states have shut down, including in Florida and Texas.VARIETY OF FOOD FACTORS DRIVING DINERS TO CLOSE TODAY IN 'SAD' TREND: EXPERTSNeil Kiefer, CEO of Hooters Inc., the Clearwater, Florida-based company that founded the Hooters concept in 1983, told Fox News Digital in April that his group plans to "clean these stores up" and "change the culture."Closing certain underperforming locations was always part of the plan, according to a news release from Hooters Inc.Hooters Inc. owns and operates 22 Hooters restaurants in Florida and Illinois, with two more locations slated to open in Florida later this year.For more Lifestyle articles, visit foxnews.com/lifestyleAlong with another existing franchisee, the Hooters buyer group collectively controls over 30% of the domestic locations, including 14 of the 30 highest-volume restaurants, according to a March 31 news release announcing the restructuring plan.CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR OUR LIFESTYLE NEWSLETTEROnce the restructuring has been approved by a bankruptcy court, the buyer group anticipates operating about 130 Hooters restaurants roughly 65% of the domestic Hooters locations."We are confident that the acquisition will be finalized later this summer and we are excited to move forward into the next chapter of the Hooters brand," Kiefer told Fox News Digital.CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP"Decisions about store closures are never easy to make, but all parties are completely aligned in bringing the necessary resources required to make the remaining 200 domestic Hooters locations as successful as possible."

As criticism mounts from within Biden's world against former White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre and her new book, one ex-aide lambasted the now-Independent ombudswoman as "kinda dumb" a tweet he deleted but later stood by.Timothy Wu, now a Columbia Law professor, was former President Joe Bidens "architect" of antitrust policy whose faculty bio claims he also coined the progressive term "net neutrality" in 2002.In a now-deleted tweet, Wu wrote: "from a [White House] staff perspective, the real problem with Karine Jean-Pierre was that she was kinda dumb.""[She had n]o interest in understanding harder topics. Just gave random incoherent answers on policy," Wu added in the trashed tweet.FORMER BIDEN OFFICIALS RIDICULE KARINE JEAN-PIERRE'S BOOK AS 'BIZARRE CASH GRAB'The X account "I work with my word" replied to the original tweet, calling it "pretty racist," and the tweet was later deleted, but the reply remained.Below the reply, Wu added a new line of commentary, saying the Biden White House was "full of genius-level Black women. [Jean-Pierre] was not one of them."In response to another X user asking Wu whether Trump White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt understands executive policy, the professor said a good ombudsperson will "meet with policy staff and try and understand what the administration is doing and why."BIDEN-ERA WHITE HOUSE REPORTERS EXPRESS DISBELIEF ON KARINE JEAN-PIERRE'S SUDDEN PARTY SWITCHFox News Digital reached out to Wu via his Columbia faculty office, where he has taught since 2006.The former Biden adviser was also a Democratic primary candidate for New Yorks lieutenant governorship in 2014, and also worked in the Obama administration and at the Federal Trade Commission.Jean-Pierre announced Wednesday that she left the Democratic Party and has become an Independent while revealing her upcoming book: "Independent: A Look Inside a Broken White House, Outside the Party Lines."She was mocked and criticized by several people in Biden's orbit besides Wu, including one who said, "I wouldnt ignore what Karine has to say, but its not an account in which much weight will be invested just like her briefings."CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP"At noon on that day [that Biden left office], I became a private citizen who, like all Americans and many of our allies around the world, had to contend with what was to come next for our country. I determined that the danger we face as a country requires freeing ourselves of boxes. We need to be willing to exercise the ability to think creatively and plan strategically," Jean-Pierre said of her new Independent streak.Fox News Digitals Brian Flood and the Associated Press contributed to this report.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz told President Donald Trump he is in a "strong position" to stop Russias war in Ukraine, to which the president suggested maybe the world needs to "let them fight for a little while.""America is again in a very strong position to do something on this war and ending this war," Merz said, while also referencing the U.S.s role in ending World War II on the eve of the anniversary of D-Day, which marked the turn of events that led to the defeat of Nazi Germany. "So let's talk about what we can do jointly, and we are ready to do what we can."Merz called for more pressure to be placed on Russia in coordination with European allies.GERMANY'S MERZ TO 'ADAPT' TO TRUMP DURING HIGH-STAKES MEETING ON TARIFFS, DEFENSETrump responded by providing an analogy of two kids fighting, and suggested perhaps it was "too early" to break up the fight between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy."Sometimes you see two young children fighting like crazy they hate each other, and they're fighting in a park, and you try and pull them apart, they don't want to be pulled," Trump said. "Sometimes you're better off letting them fight for a while and then pulling them apart."Trump said he gave that analogy to Putin in his call with him on Wednesday and said he told the Kremlin chief "maybe you're going to have to keep fighting and suffering a lot."RUSSIA DRONE STRIKE KILLS 5 IN UKRAINE AFTER PUTIN PROMISED RETALIATION IN TRUMP CALLReporters asked Merz, who has been an ardent supporter of Ukraine and recently lifted Germanys existing strike bans, if he agrees with Trump that "fighting it out" was the way to proceed."I think we both agree on this war and how terrible this war is. And we are both looking for ways to stop it very soon," Merz said. "I told the president before we came in that he is the key person in the world who can really do that now by putting pressure on Russia, and we will have this debate later on again, how we can proceed jointly between the Europeans and the Americans."I think we are all having the duty to do something on that now, to stop it after three and a half years, which is really terrible," he added, making it clear without directly contradicting the president that he did not agree with Trump."We are on the side of Ukraine, and we are trying to get them stronger and stronger just to make Putin stop this war. This is our approach," Merz added.

Following news that two Chinese nationals were charged withallegedly smuggling a "dangerous biological pathogen" into the United States to study at a U.S. university, Fox News Digital spoke to an expert on China who said the arrests should be a wake-up call to the country."I was entirely unsurprised, which is a sad commentary, but it speaks to the Chinese Communist Party, the CCP wants to kill Americans,"Michael Sobolik, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute focusing on U.S. and China relations, told Fox News Digital afterFBI Director Kash Patel announced the arrests of the two Chinese nationals."Look at what they've done with smuggling fentanyl precursors into our country to kill Americans, look at the effects of them failing to stop the spread of COVID-19," Sobolik said. "Dead Americans. The fact that they want to target Americans here within the United States with pathogens and with bioweapons. This is the Chinese Communist Party. This is what they do. They're in a cold war with the United States. They want to become the most powerful nation in the world and they wanna make the world safe for their tyranny and unsafe for freedom. And they're coming for us here at home."The couple are accused of smuggling a fungus called Fusarium graminearum, which scientific literature classifies as a "potential agroterrorism weapon," according to the Justice Department. Federal prosecutors note that the noxious fungus causes "head blight," a disease of wheat, barley, maize, and rice, and "is responsible for billions of dollars in economic losses worldwide each year."TRUMP, CHINA'S XI INVITE EACH OTHER ON STATE VISITS AMID TRADE FIGHT, US PRESIDENT SAYSThe Justice Department also says fusarium graminearums toxins cause vomiting, liver damage, and "reproductive defects in humans and livestock."According to the criminal complaint, one of the accused allegedly received Chinese government funding for her work on the pathogen in China.The couple are accused of bringing the pathogen into the U.S. to study at a University of Michigan laboratory, which raises more concerns about Chinese nationals infiltrating American universities.Last month, abombshell report out of Stanford University shed light on the influence of spies from the Chinese Communist Party that the student newspaper says have likely infiltrated the prestigious institution and other universities nationwide to gather intelligence.BLUE STATE GOVERNOR TOUTS MEETING WITH CCP OFFICIAL COZYING UP TO DEMS: 'GRATEFUL FOR THE OPPORTUNITY'"American higher education is addicted to the Chinese Communist Party," Sobolik told Fox News Digital. "It's addicted to easy money that has come from Beijing for decades. It's addicted to international students that pay full tuition, many of which are then coerced and pressured by the Chinese embassy and consulates and other networks to spy for the party and report back.""American universities need to finally open their eyes and stop being willfully blind to the threat of the CCP. They're vectors for intelligence gathering. They are vectors for these threats that target Americans on our own soil. That's unacceptable. If sovereignty means anything, we need to be able to protect Americans within the borders of the United States. And universities cannot continue to be willing accomplices of the Chinese Communist Party."A Chinese embassy official said Wednesday he was unaware of the case involving two Chinese nationals charged with smuggling a "dangerous biological pathogen" into the U.S. for university research."I don't know the specific situation, but I would like to emphasize that the Chinese government has always required overseas Chinese citizens to abide by local laws and regulations and will also resolutely safeguard their legitimate rights and interests," said Liu Pengyu, spokesperson for the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Embassy in the U.S.Fox News Digital's Danielle Wallace and Charles Creitz contributed to this report

Immigration and Customs Enforcement made a record-setting 2,368 arrests of illegal aliens in a single day on Wednesday, a senior ICE official told Fox News.This broke the record from just one day prior, as there were 2,267 ICE arrests on Tuesday. The increase comes after an average of roughly 1,600 arrests last week, as the White House pursues a goal of 3,000 arrests daily."Under President Trumps leadership, we are looking to set a goal of a minimum of 3,000 arrests for ICE every day," White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller told "Hannity" on at the end of May, indicting that the goal could go even higher.TRUMP ADMINISTRATION SETS NEW GOAL OF 3,000 ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT ARRESTS DAILYHoman also previously said "The numbers are good, but Im not satisfied. I havent been satisfied all year long," in an "Americas Newsroom" interview in May.The uptick in arrests can be attributed to a surge in worksite enforcement and immigration court arrests.In addition, ICE is using collateral, like arresting individuals who are not initial targets but are with a target at the time of an arrest.ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT ARRESTS SKYROCKET UNDER TRUMP ICE COMPARED TO BIDEN LEVELS LAST YEAR: 'WORST OF THE WORST'ICE sources tell Fox News if the reconciliation bill passes with funding for 10,000 additional ICE personnel and tens of thousands more ICE beds, numbers will be "supercharged and shoot through the roof."CLICK HERE FOR MORE IMMIGRATION COVERAGEAs a debate about the bill continues in the Senate, the White House reaffirmed the bills border and immigration-related provisions on Thursday."Did you know The Big Beautiful Bill doubles ICE detention capacity, increases ICE personnel by 50%, finishes the border wall, and taxes money illegals send to their home country?" Deputy Assistant to the President and Principal Deputy Communications Director Alex Pfeiffer posted to X.ICE CRACKDOWN SEES 7,400 ILLEGAL MIGRANTS ARRESTED IN 9 DAYS"It's a once-in-a generation opportunity to crack down on illegal immigration," he continued.The ICE arrests come amid widespread policy changes by the Trump administration from the Biden-era. DHS Secretary Kristi Noem approved more waivers for border wall construction in Arizona and New Mexico this week, and the president instituted a travel ban on several countries following the anti-Semitic Boulder terrorist attack, in which the suspect overstayed his visa.

TheNew Orleans Pelicans will not part ways with star forward Zion Williamson after he was accused of rape and other physical abuse by a woman in a lawsuit filed last week, a team executive said in an interview Wednesday.Joe Dumars, a Hall of Fame player who was named the Pelicans executive vice president of basketball operations in April, confirmed the teams decision in an interview withThe New Orleans Times-Picayune Wednesday, adding Williamson will "continue to be a focal point" of the organization."I've had really good conversations with Zion," Dumars told the outlet. "We've had lunch. Dinner. Watched playoff games together. We've done it all. I've had some real honest conversations with him. Some real direct and honest conversations.CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM"We're going to go forward with Zion," he continued. "He's going to continue to be a focal point here as we go forward."Dumars made his comments less than a week after a woman, who claimed to be in a relationship with Williamson while he played at Duke, filed a lawsuit alleging that the two-timeNBA All-Star engaged in a "pattern of abusive, controlling, and threatening behavior," according to reports.The lawsuit accused Williamson of rape on two separate occasions in 2020.According to theNew York Post, in one instance, the woman claimed Williamson "picked her up, threw her down to the ground, and pinned her shoulders down so she could not move," and then he allegedly "violently raped Plaintiff in multiple ways."She also claimed Williamson used abusive language when she refused to be intimate with him.PELICANS STAR ZION WILLIAMSON FACES RAPE, ABUSE ALLEGATIONS IN NEW LAWSUITWilliamson denied the allegations in a statement from his attorneys that called the lawsuit "an attempt to exploit a professional athlete driven by a financial motive rather than any legitimate grievance.""We take these allegations with the utmost seriousness, and we unequivocally deny them. The allegations contained in the complaint are categorically false and reckless," the statement said.Williamsons attorneys said they plan to file counterclaims and "seek significant damages for this defamatory lawsuit."Dumars told The Times-Picayune he had "been advised not to venture into any of his legal issues," but team owner Gayle Benson addressed the matter Tuesday, saying, "Lawsuits are lawsuits.""People can sue you for anything. Theres no, theres no reason," she said,via WWL-TV. "You can be innocent or not, so its just something that people do, unfortunately."Williamson, 24, was the first overall pick in the 2019 NBA Draft. Despite a career marred by a lengthy injury history, Williamson has averaged 24.7 points per game.The Associated Press contributed to this report.Follow Fox News Digitalssports coverage on X, and subscribe tothe Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.

After eclipsing the 2,000-yard rushing mark during the 2024 regular season, Saquon Barkley was named the cover athlete for "Madden NFL 26."Barkley signed with the Philadelphia Eagles last offseason. His historic first year in Philly earned him Pro Bowl and All-Pro honors. By all accounts, the 28-year-old will enter the 2025 season in the prime of his career. However, the star running back recently hinted that when he does eventually step away from the game, it could be sudden.CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COMDuring a recent appearance on former NFL player Chris Long's "Green Light Podcast," Barkley was asked if he would step away while he was still at the peak of his career or if he would stick around."I'll probably [be] one of those guys that it would be out of nowhere," Barkley responded in reference to his eventual retirement. "I'll probably just wake up one day, whether it's next year or two years or four years and just be like, 'Yeah, it's over.' I don't think I will ever lose that passion."Barkley then cited Pro Football Hall of Famer Barry Sanders' shocking decision to walk away from the NFL in 1998.RETURN OF THE BACK: WHY THE DEMISE OF THE RB WAS GREATLY EXAGGERATED"The competitive nature is always going to be there. I like, probably my favorite player of all time is Barry Sanders, so probably similar to that. Maybe one day, like it'll be out of nowhere, I'll probably be ballin', and just be like, Yeah, call it quits."Sanders racked up 15,269 career rushing yards before he abruptly retired. He needed less than 1,500 yards to catch up to Walter Payton's then all-time rushing record. Dallas Cowboys great Emmitt Smith currently sits atop the league's all-time list.The Eagles rewarded Barkley's productive 2024 campaign with a lucrative two-year contract extension. Barkley entered the 2025 campaign with 7,216 career rushing yards and was a key part of the Eagles' run to the Super Bowl LIX title.Barkley is credited with seven NFL seasons, while Sanders played a total of 10 years in the league.Fox News Connor McGahan contributed to this report.Follow Fox News Digitals sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.

In response to the Department of Justice charging two Chinese nationals including a University of Michigan research fellow with allegedly smuggling a potential "agroterrorism" weapon into the U.S., national security experts tell Fox News Digital that the Trump administration must continue to take action to prevent American colleges and companies from "essentially educating and arming our chief adversary in the world.""In some cases, it seems like we learned nothing from COVID," Christian Whiton, a former senior foreign policy advisor in the Bush and Trump administrations, told Fox News Digital. "We allow direct flights now from China to the U.S. mainland. Again, that is crazy. And the whole fact that we are allowing researchers, even in the realm of dealing with pathogens to have access anywhere in the United States, much less the universities, is pretty insane. It seems like a pre-COVID mindset."The two Chinese nationals were charged Tuesday with smuggling Fusarium graminearum fungus, a dangerous biological pathogen and "known agroterrorism agent" responsible for billions of dollars in economic losses worldwide each year, through Detroit's airport. The noxious substance causes "head blight," a disease of wheat, barley, maize, and rice, according to federal prosecutors. In humans and livestock, exposure to its toxins causes vomiting, liver damage, and reproductive defects."It's a new take on Chinese espionage and sabotage of the US economy. But it's not a surprise. I think that China has failed to pull back on any of its aggressive activity. And this is something that the Trump administration probably wants to take into consideration," Whiton said of the case. "I think it's both the government and our universities have let down the American people."PATEL SOUNDS ALARM AS CHINESE NATIONALS CHARGED WITH SMUGGLING 'AGROTERRORISM AGENT' INTO US: 'DIRECT THREAT'Whiton told Fox News Digital that Chinese infiltration of U.S. institutions has been happening since at least the 1990s when Chinese spies stole American nuclear secrets from Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico and since then, "theres been this systemic desire to put Chinese nationals into especially these technical areas, technical universities."Whiton said Beijing does not consider only Chinese citizens as its agents, as "anyone of Chinese ethnicity" have been viewed as "fair game" to be recruited. He categorized the H1-B visa program as essentially a "scam," asserting that about a quarter are awarded to Chinese nationals who "end up at some of our high-tech companies."Traditionally, Whiton explained, Republicans have believed universities should run themselves without political interference, but doing so has allowed such institutions to be taken over by left-wingers."Taxpayers are funding these things and shouldn't be forced to fund things that are anathema to their beliefs and what they know to be true. Things like we shouldn't train our enemies at taxpayer expense," Whiton said. "So, I think it goes along with Republicans being pretty wimpy in the past, but only more recently with the emergence of the new right and the MAGA movement finally taking a tougher stand on some of these left-wing universities."Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has said the United States does not want to de-couple with China, though Beijing has a choice whether to be a reliable partner."The reality is China is kind of doing what it has always done," Whiton said. "So if we're looking for a change of Chinese conduct because of President Trump being in office, it just hasn't happened yet. So I can't say that's a surprise."Last week, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that the Trump administration would "aggressively" revoke the student visas for Chinese nationals, "including those with connections to the Chinese Communist Party or studying in critical fields."After a call with Chinese President Xi Jinping, which the White House said focused mostly on trade, President Donald Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Thursday that Chinese students were still coming and the U.S. would be "honored" to have them. Yet, the president said the students need to be properly "checked" and the administration wants lists of Chinese nationals admitted to schools, such as Harvard and Columbia, so that vetting can occur.TRUMP TOUTS 'VERY POSITIVE' BREAKTHROUGH WITH XI AFTER SLAMMING CHINA FOR TRADE VIOLATION"That's a step in the right direction," Whiton said. "But in reality, we probably need to recognize these are our chief economic and security adversary in the world and take those visa numbers down closer to zero and start sending these people home."Whiton said there is a "faulty assumption" that Chinese students would come to the United States, learn about American culture and bring an appreciation back home to China."In reality, they sort of come over here, they're in a bubble, they pick up technical skills, and then they go back to China and put them to use for either the military directly or for corporations that are either utilized by the Chinese military or that are trying to undermine U.S. technology companies," Whiton said. "We really are essentially educating and arming our chief adversary in the world."Former Rep. Michelle Steel, a California Republican who served on the House foreign and intelligence committees, told Fox News Digital that Chinese students educated in the U.S. essentially return home without an appreciation for America."After they study here, they took all of our brains here, and they took everything back to their country, and they are using to attack United States. And they hate United States after that education. Guess what we are teaching in the universities? Not love United States!" Steel, who was born in Korea and grew up in Japan, told Fox News Digital. "They are studying some very sensitive things in our universities. We really had to vet them well."In her eyes, U.S. universities have prioritized bringing in international students for economic gain."Because of all the money," she said. "They try to build their endowments, and they want to just show how big their research center is."She cited the case against former Chair of Harvard Universitys Chemistry and Chemical Biology Department, Dr. Charles Lieber, who was convicted in 2023 of lying to federal authorities about his affiliation with the People's Republic of Chinas Thousand Talents Program and the Wuhan University of Technology (WUT) in Wuhan, China. Federal prosecutors said Lieber had been paid $1.5 million by the CCP and failed to report additional income of $50,000 payments per month from the WUT."It's not just at University of Michigan, but it's just everywhere," Steel said. "We cannot bring everybody in to these universities and studying together and helping to build CCP's military. That's just totally no-no, because you know what they're doing in the Pacific areas and African countries and South American countries. And they're just expanding everywhere. And we are the only one [who] can stop [it]. And I think President Trump is doing great job."The former congresswoman pointed to how the House Select Committee on the CCP in 2023 uncovered a $220 million payment made by the Chinese government to the University of California at Berkeley to help build a massive, joint institute in China funding which UC Berkeley failed to disclose under Section 117 of the Higher Education Act. She has advocated for legislation that would decrease the reporting requirement from $250,000 to $50,000.Steel also noted that Stanford University located in the heart of Silicon Valley in California has a relationship with Chinas Peking University, which in turn has ties to the Chinese military and "goes straight into the nuclear program." The current chair of the House Select Committee on the CCP, Rep. John Moolenaar, R-Mich., penned a letter to Stanford in March over concerns about U.S. universities "admitting large numbers of Chinese nationals into advanced STEM programs, potentially at the expense of qualified Americans."