REUTERS–The FBI said on Monday that an attack on the largest Jewish temple in Michigan earlier this month was an “act of terrorism” inspired by Hezbollah.  Ayman Ghazali, a 41-year-old man who was born in Lebanon and became a U.S. citizen in 2016, killed himself during the March 12 attack, when he crashed his truck into the Temple of Israel synagogue before opening fire on security guards and causing an explosion using fireworks, said Jennifer Runyan, the special agent in charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Detroit field office. No one else died during the attack on the synagogue where children were attending preschool.  Ghazali consumed pro-Hezbollah ideology prior to the attack, said Runyan, but the FBI has not been able to verify if he was a member of Hezbollah. There is no evidence that he had co-conspirators, Runyan said.  Lebanese armed group Hezbollah was founded by Iran’s elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in 1982. Both Hezbollah and the IRGC are designated as foreign terrorist organizations by the United States. The U.S. and Israel launched a war against Iran on Feb. 28. “Had this man lived, I am convinced that my office would prove beyond a reasonable doubt that he committed the federal crime of providing material support to Hezbollah,” said Jerome Borgen, the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan. Runyan said the day before the synagogue attack Ghazali started sharing photos on social media of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in U.S.-Israeli strikes last month. Then, on the day of the attack, while sitting in the parking lot of the Temple of Israel, Ghazali told his sister in a message that he planned “to commit a mass terrorist attack.” Antisemitic incidents have spiked in recent years in the U.S., with anti-Jewish incidents accounting for nearly two-thirds of 5,300-plus religiously motivated hate crimes since February 2024, according to FBI data. Originally published by Reuters. The post Attack on Michigan Synagogue Was Hezbollah-Inspired ‘Act of Terrorism,’ FBI Says appeared first on The Daily Signal.

“Look at your cost at the pump the last few days: That was an act of the Trump administration,” Gov. Gavin Newsom said unconvincingly just a few days after the U.S. began strikes on Iran. Newsom (who is totally not running for president) has made it one of his messaging themes to pin the blame for California’s absurdly high gas prices—the average at nearly $6 a gallon as I write this—on the Trump administration. Certainly, what’s going on in Iran and in the Hormuz Strait has caused global oil disruptions and increased prices. You can pin that on the decisions of the Trump administration and those of the Iranian regime whether you agree with the strikes or not. But blaming California’s long-term, I’d say intentional, high gas prices on the president is as convincing as saying that the reason the state’s infrastructure boondoggles are so wildly expensive and years behind schedule (in one case more than half a decade) is because of Trump’s tariffs or something. The fault for Newsom is not in Trump or in his stars but in the Democrat Party’s governing philosophy. The first obvious and direct cause of California’s sky-high gas prices is the nation’s highest gas taxes. The Daily Signal reported earlier in March that “California now has a 70.9-cent per-gallon state excise tax.” This is in part because they’ve intentionally tried to keep gas-powered vehicles off the road, and because the idea of lowering government spending is quite unthinkable. “California has one of the highest percentages of non-gas-powered vehicles on the road,” Adam Hoffer, director of excise tax policy at the Tax Foundation told The Daily Signal in that report. “So, they need to try to get more and more money out of the vehicles that still are paying the gas tax.”  Voters had a chance to lower and further limit the state’s gas taxes, but the ballot proposition failed to pass in 2017. Then gubernatorial candidate Newsom was against the law. There were more, arguably even worse decisions made by California lawmakers that led to astronomical prices at the pump. You see, California is both addicted to gas taxes but also committed to destroying the fossil fuel industry in the name of stopping climate change. It’s done this with onerous taxes and regulations that have done a good job of chasing away industry but have done a poor job of creating affordable alternatives. Oil refineries throughout the state have been closing down. “California has had, I think, very poor energy policy,” Andy Walz, president of downstream, midstream, and chemicals for Chevron said in an interview with The New York Times. “They’ve put a climate agenda ahead of reliable and affordable energy, and the consequences of that are that energy in California—any form of it—is unaffordable.” The Times noted that many other refineries are closing in the state and said that according to “analysts,” this is “because demand for gasoline in the state has been slowly declining for years.” Yeah, when gas is over 50 cents more than the next priciest state it’s easy to see why that demand is dropping. Chevron further warned Newsom and California lawmakers that additional regulation of the oil industry proposed by the California Air Resources Board, “will cripple the survivability of the state’s remaining refineries, which will result in California losing the entire industry to this misguided [Cap-and-Invest] program.” The Cap-and-Invest program is essentially a tax on carbon dioxide emissions. To put it simply, companies must buy their yearly emission allowance, and the state makes it a lower amount every year. The tax money is then funneled into various green projects. It’s a great money-making scheme but continues to suck the life out of the Golden State’s energy industry. Chevron moved its headquarters from California to Texas in 2024. It’s now threatening to leave the state entirely by closing its remaining refineries. The Trump administration has tried to alleviate the price pressure on oil by drilling off the California shoreline. No surprise, Newsom has done his best to cut off this lifeline by blocking the move. Think about that. The guy bleating that Trump is the reason for high gas prices is literally fighting him in court to stop future drilling. In doing so, Newsom is ensuring that not only will gas prices be higher, but his state will be more reliant on foreign supplies to meet its needs. “California once supplied nearly 40% of U.S. oil production, but decades of radical state policies targeting reliable energy sources have driven a decline in domestic output while fuel demand remains among the highest in the nation,” a Department of Energy press release noted in March. “Today, more than 60 percent of the oil refined in California comes from overseas, with a significant share traveling through the Strait of Hormuz—presenting serious national security threats.” Do Newsom or his Democrat Party friends in Sacramento have any plans to deal with this crisis? No. All they are willing to do is shift the blame and whine about it. The post Newsom Blames Trump for High Gas Prices. But California Created Its Own Energy Nightmare. appeared first on The Daily Signal.

WASHINGTON, March 30 (Reuters) — The U.S. military is upgrading White House facilities for the new East Wing, the administration said on Monday, after President Donald Trump said the ballroom would be built atop a “massive” fortified complex. “The military is making some upgrades to their facilities here at the White House, and I’m not privy to provide any more details on that,” White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said at a press briefing. Leavitt’s comments followed Trump’s own update on the $400 million White House ballroom to replace the demolished East Wing. On Sunday, Trump showed a large rendering of the new building to reporters aboard Air Force One, touting security features including “bulletproof glass” and a “drone-proof roof.” “Now the military is building a big complex under the ballroom, which has come out recently because of a stupid lawsuit that was filed. But the military is building a massive complex under the ballroom, and that’s under construction,” Trump said. “The ballroom essentially becomes a shed for what’s being built under … including from drones and including from any other thing.” The 90,000-square-foot ballroom will replace the East Wing, which Trump ordered demolished in October. Underneath that building was the Presidential Emergency Operations Center, an emergency bunker for the president. The demolition drew criticism from lawmakers, historians and preservation advocates, as well as an ongoing lawsuit. Critics objected to the decision to demolish the old structure without federal reviews or public comment, and they have critiqued the massive new facility on aesthetic and historical grounds. The National Capital Planning Commission, one of two federal bodies required to sign off on the project, has a vote on the changes scheduled for Thursday. Trump has said the ballroom, which will accommodate 1,000 people, is a necessary upgrade to the cramped and dated reception facilities at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest. (Reporting by Bo Erickson and Trevor Hunnicutt; Editing by Michelle Nichols, Colleen Jenkins and David Gregorio) The post White House Ballroom Project To Include ‘Massive’ Military Complex appeared first on The Daily Signal.

Four House Republicans signed a petition to force a vote on a resolution to oppose President Donald Trump’s efforts to end Temporary Protected Status for Haitian migrants. The discharge petition introduced by Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., passed the 218 signature threshold needed to bring it to the House floor on Friday thanks to Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, D-Wash. Four Republicans joined on to Pressley’s effort: Reps. Maria Elvira Salazar, R-Fla., Don Bacon, R-Neb., Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., and Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Penn. BREAKING: After weeks of organizing, we have reached the majority necessary to force a vote to extend Haiti TPS.Thank you to our coalition and everyone fighting for this critical lifeline for the 350,000 Haitian nationals.Our neighbors are so deserving. pic.twitter.com/0otZPtB2BL— Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (@RepPressley) March 28, 2026 “I’m just elated,” Pressley said in a Saturday video statement. “This is just such a reminder of the power of organizing.” “I’m just so proud of the broad coalition that made this possible,” Pressley continued. “The 350,000 Haitian nationals that call this country home are so deserving.” Pressley introduced the resolution in response to the Trump administration‘s move to end Haitian’s TPS status by executive order. A federal court, however, has prevented the executive order from taking effect. The petition will force a vote on her resolution directing the Department of Homeland Security to allow Haitian immigrants to qualify for TPS in the coming weeks. Salazar’s Amnesty Salazar, one of the four Republicans who signed Pressley’s petition, has historically been an advocate of a new legal immigration system. The Florida congresswoman currently has a bill in the House that would offer amnesty to illegal immigrants who have been in the U.S. for more than five years. Salazar’s legislation, called the Dignity Act, would also give permanent legal status to Dreamers and DACA recipients. “Individuals will remain protected from deportation and will have access to full work authorization, the ability to live in the U.S., and travel authorization outside the U.S.,” the representative wrote in a press release. Pressley’s petition is not the first immigration-related discharge petition that Salazar has signed on to. In February, she signed a discharge petition introduced by Rep. Darren Soto, D-Fla., which would force a vote on his legislation, called the Venezuela TPS Act of 2025, to designate Venezuela as a country eligible for asylum seeking. Salazar is also a co-sponsor of the legislation Soto wants to bring to the floor using a discharge petition. Soto introduced the petition following the U.S. military’s capture of former Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. Salazar signed the petition in February and claimed in a press release published by Soto that “until conditions meaningfully improve, we must uphold our commitment to those we granted Temporary Protected Status while ensuring strong criminal vetting measures remain in place.” “This discharge petition is about doing the right thing, pushing Congress to act and stand on the side of those who fled repression and instability,” Salazar added. Fitzpatrick’s Advocacy for Pathway to Legal Status In addition to cosponsoring Salazar’s Dignity Act, Fitzpatrick has sought to captivate the president’s attention on ways to “reform our broken immigration system.” In July of 2025, Fitzpatrick and Rep. Tom Suozzi, D-N.Y., wrote a letter to Trump to formally request a meeting where the three could discuss ways to proceed with the “modernization of our legal immigration system.” “We are writing to request a meeting with you to discuss three issues where we see both the opportunity and the need for comprehensive bipartisan solutions: immigration, permitting reform, and the national debt,” the letter reads. In January, the two representatives sent another letter to the president asking him to renew their request for “an immediate meeting,” where they could share their bipartisan approach to “fix the broken asylum system” and “provide legal protection to millions of immigrants.” A press release from Fitzpatrick’s 2020 re-election campaign states that “we [the United States] must find the compromise that both secures our borders and protects our Dreamers.” “To support one without the other is to support neither,” the press release added. Lawler’s Legal Immigration Push Lawler has also signed on to Republican amnesty efforts. Lawler cited employment, family reunification, and “America’s legacy of being a nation of immigrants” when he joined Salazar in introducing the Dignity Act in June 2025. “In conversations across NY-17, I’ve heard a lot of frustration, both from employers struggling to fill jobs and families looking to reunite with their loved ones,” Lawler’s press release read. “We must do this by fixing our broken legal immigration system, securing our borders, and creating a fair, earned process for those who are already here and contributing.” Lawler advocated for the Dignity Act in an opinion piece for The New York Times. “After tensions have calmed, Congress can then piece together the rest of an immigration plan that settles the issue.” Lawler wrote in the wake of immigration enforcement operations in Minnesota. Lawler also suggested that Congress could build on Trump’s border policies and create “a realistic plan” to “provide a path to legal status — not citizenship — for long-term illegal immigrants without criminal records.” “This path would be rigorous and fair, and it would aim to keep families together. Fair means those who benefit would face mandatory work requirements, forgo public assistance, and pay fines and any back taxes they might owe,” Lawler added. Bacon’s Opposition to Trump Bacon, one of the other four Republicans to sign onto Pressley’s petition this month, has repeatedly opposed Trump’s immigration and foreign policy moves. In January, after Trump hinted at taking control of Greenland, Bacon told the press that some Republicans would consider impeaching him if he followed through with his plan. “I’ll be candid with you: There are so many Republicans mad about this,” Bacon told the Omaha World-Herald. “If he went through with the threats, I think it would be the end of his presidency. And he needs to know: The off-ramp is realizing Republicans aren’t going to tolerate this, and he’s going to have to back off. He hates being told no, but in this case, I think Republicans need to be firm.” Bacon has also expressed his strong opposition to Trump’s musings about withdrawing from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. “If he broke up NATO on his own, it would be a civil war in the Republican caucus, or the conference,” Bacon told CNN’s Kaitlan Collins. “Most of us would find that totally unacceptable, and I’m not alone. The post The 4 Republicans Helping a Squad Member Extend Haitian Migrants’ Protected Status appeared first on The Daily Signal.

Vice President JD Vance alleges that Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., committed immigration fraud. “Ilhan Omar definitely committed immigration fraud against the United States of America,” he said when asked if Omar committed fraud by conservative activist and podcast host Benny Johnson on “The Benny Johnson Show.” Omar is a founding member of “The Squad,” a far-left progressive faction of the Democratic party. She immigrated to the United States from Somalia in 1995 and was naturalized in 2000. Vance announced that the White House is now looking into what can be done to “get justice for the American people.” Omar has been accused of fraud, on multiple accounts, since her first run for Minnesota House of Representatives in 2016. At the time, she called the claims “absurd and offensive,” in a statement to a Minnesota Fox affiliate. If Omar were to be found guilty of immigration fraud, she could face removal from congress and denaturalization, according to U.S. Citizen and Immigration Services. ? BREAKING: Vice President JD Vance Officially CONFIRMS that Rep. Ilhan Omar Committed Immigration Fraud:“Ilhan Omar definitely committed immigration fraud against the United States of America”The VP says the White House is going to “go after” Omar for these crimes.“What… pic.twitter.com/01Kwd3kKMR— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) March 27, 2026 Vance and Stephen Miller, White House deputy chief of staff, are investigating the Somali-born congresswoman, according to the vice president. Vance told Johnson the investigation is asking questions like, “what are the legal remedies now that we know she’s committed immigration fraud? How do you go after her? How do you investigate her? How do you actually build the case to actually get some justice for the American people?” Fox News has previously reported that Republicans and Trump administration officials were looking into whether or not Omar lied about her last name on immigration documents. Yes, @IlhanMN Married Her Brotherhttps://t.co/CfZkBhUfzC— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) December 12, 2025 The president recently tapped Vance as to lead the White House’s new Task Force. “This is not just the theft of the American people’s money,” Vance said at the first anti-fraud task force meeting on Friday. “It is also the theft of critical services that the American people rely on.” The congresswoman has not yet responded to the new claims from Vance but did appear at the No Kings protest in Minnesota this weekend. “To me America was a beacon of hope, a place where freedom wasn’t just a word but was a promise,” Omar said on stage Saturday at the largest no Kings Protest in the country. “I arrived here when I was 12 years old, I could have never imagined the day would come when we were staring down this kind of creeping authoritarianism in The United States of America.” Somaliland Shows Ilhan Omar May Have Committed Severe Immigration Fraud | @TheTonus Did Ilhan Omar and her brother, Ahmed Nur Said Elmi, change their names to conceal their father’s alleged war crimes and identity when migrating to the West?Somaliland, a partially recognized… pic.twitter.com/8MZHIVRaw9— The Daily Signal (@DailySignal) March 21, 2026 Omar did not respond to The Daily Signal’s request for comment. The post Vance Claims Ilhan Omar ‘Definitely Committed Immigration Fraud’ appeared first on The Daily Signal.