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NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! Former NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg signaled clear limits on the alliance’s role in the Iran conflict, saying it should not be pulled into supporting U.S. military operations even as President Donald Trump ramps up pressure on European allies — exposing a growing divide over what NATO is meant to do.”NATO is a defensive alliance,” Stoltenberg, now Norway’s finance minister, told Fox News Digital in an interview Wednesday. “The strikes or the war against Iran were never an attempt to make that into a NATO operation.”Stoltenberg framed the disagreement not over whether Iran poses a threat, but over how to confront it, with European governments favoring sanctions and diplomatic pressure over direct military involvement.”We all agree the Iranian nuclear program is dangerous,” he said. “The question is how we achieve that goal.” NO RETREAT AT HORMUZ — IRAN MUST NOT CONTROL THE WORLD’S ENERGY LIFELINEThe divide reflects a deeper mismatch between Washington and its allies: Trump has treated the conflict as a test of NATO support — urging countries that benefit from the Strait of Hormuz to help secure it militarily — while European governments have largely rejected that approach, arguing the…

A U.S. Army lieutenant colonel pleaded guilty Monday to importing AK-style firearms parts from foreign countries, including Russia, without a license.Frank Ross Talbert, most recently with the Army’s Explosives Ordinance Disposal at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, was indicted on 21 charges in 2024 after federal agents searched his home and found firearms made from illegally imported parts.As part of a plea agreement filed with the U.S. District Court, Talbert pleaded guilty to 17 of the charges, including smuggling, possessing an unregistered machine gun and numerous violations of the Arms Export Control Act.From 2019 to 2023, U.S. Customs and Border Patrol intercepted 16 of the approximately 350 foreign shipments made to Talbert, all of which were suspected to contain firearms or firearm parts, the plea agreement says. In the intercepted packages, CBP agents discovered illegally imported pistol grips, hand guards, buttstocks, sights, muzzle devices, gas tubes and inert rifle grenades, among other parts.Over the years, Talbert used variations of his name and his wife’s name for the shipments, as well as different locations, in an effort to avoid detection by CBP, according to the plea agreement. The shipments were made when Talbert was stationed at Fort Hamilton, New York, where he served…

NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! A man in Minnesota is facing felony charges after being accused of registering to vote and then voting in the 2024 election despite not being a citizen of the United States. Mukeshkumar Somabhai Chaudhari, 39, was charged with perjury and a voting violation on Monday after authorities say they obtained records showing he submitted a ballot in the 2024 election after registering to vote in 2023, Fox 9 Minneapolis reported.Authorities say that Chaudhari denied he voted at first when interviewed but later claimed he “made a mistake” and admitted to voting while also telling investigators he is not a U.S. citizen. FLORIDA, MISSISSIPPI JOIN WAVE OF STATES TIGHTENING VOTER CITIZENSHIP RULES Chaudhari, according to investigators, received a voter registration notice from the state of Minnesota in a move that was likely triggered in the system after he obtained his driver’s license. Chaudhari is said to have told authorities that he didn’t learn he should not have voted until his lawyer informed him during his green card process.”Only U.S. Citizens are eligible to vote in Minnesota,” the Office of the Minnesota Secretary of State told Fox News Digital, adding that ineligible voting is “extremely rare.””When…

The Army on Wednesday named its next-generation assault aircraft “Cheyenne II,” putting a formal name on the focal point of an aviation program that has been readily expedited. The name pays homage to the Northern Cheyenne Tribe and the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribe — Native American tribes whose members attended the 2026 Army Aviation Warfighting Summit where the new name of the Bell MV-75 tiltrotor aircraft was announced, according to an Army statement. The naming comes as the Army accelerates the aircraft’s development timeline, pushing to field the new platform years ahead of earlier projections. Army officials said the name reflects both the aircraft’s intended capabilities and the Cheyenne tribe. “The Cheyenne tribes represent a resilient warrior culture and embodies the key attributes of the MV-75,” said Brent Ingraham, the assistant secretary of the Army for acquisition, logistics and technology, at the Nashville summit. Created for use in the Pacific theater, the new assault aircraft will be the Army’s first conventional tiltrotor aircraft and is designed to fly at speeds over 300 miles per hour. It can carry up to 14 soldiers and support an external load of up to 10,000 pounds, according to the Army. The 101st Combat Aviation…

NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! More than 53 million tax filers used at least one of President Donald Trump’s signature tax breaks this filing season, as the average refund climbed above $3,400, according to Treasury Department data released on Tax Day.The figures mark the first filing season since the Republican-backed “Working Families Tax Cuts” were passed in July 2025 and implemented by the IRS, with Trump administration officials touting broad uptake and increased tax relief.Wednesday is the deadline to file taxes for the 2025 earning year, and the president promised the “largest tax refund season in U.S. history” thanks to his One Big Beautiful Bill Act.TAX EXTENSION FILERS BEWARE: PAYMENTS ARE STILL DUE TO THE IRS BY APRIL 15 As of April 14, the average refund rose 11% compared to the previous filing season, Trump’s Treasury Department claims. Filers who used at least one of the new provisions saw an average tax cut of about $800, the new report found.The data points to widespread use of several provisions in the new law.About 25 million filers claimed a deduction for overtime pay, while roughly 6 million claimed a tax break on tips. An estimated 30 million seniors took…

United States President Donald Trump claimed that the war between the U.S. and Iran is “very close to being over.” Peace talks are expected to resume in the aftermath of the U.S. blockade of the Strait of Hormuz. Trump called for a naval blockade of the vital waterway on Monday, which led to a new intensification of the war. But he claims that the war is close to being over, as the ceasefire seems to be holding in spite of Iran saying the U.S. and Israel have violated it. Iran Accused Israel and The U.S. Of Violating The Ceasefire “I think it’s close to over, yeah. I view it as very close to being over,” Trump told FOX Business anchor Maria Bartiromo in an interview that will air on “Mornings with Maria” on Wednesday. Peace talks between U.S. officials and Iranian negotiators are reportedly expected to restart Thursday following stalled weekend talks in Pakistan. Vance Fails In Iran: No Peace Deal While Vance says that the war could be over anytime because the U.S. has accomplished its objectives, the nuclear issue still appears to be a bone of contention. JD Vance Says “We’ve Accomplished Our Objectives” In Iran In fact,…

NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! GREAT ABACO ISLAND, Bahamas — Bahamian authorities intend to wrap up their search for missing American woman Lynette Hooker in the near future, while the U.S. Coast Guard confirmed that its criminal investigation into her disappearance continues. The island nation’s military says the search could be suspended as early as Thursday, according to an NBC report. After analyzing “tide, drift and wind,” authorities say they are running out of locations to search, the report said. The U.S. Coast Guard confirmed to Fox News Digital on Wednesday that its criminal investigation into Lynette Hooker’s husband, Brian Hooker, remains ongoing.  Meanwhile, Hooker’s attorney, Terrel Butler, told Fox News Digital on Wednesday morning that Brian is waiting for Bahamian police to return the keys to his boat before he resumes his own search for Lynette. LYNETTE HOOKER MISSING IN BAHAMAS: TIMELINE OF MICHIGAN WOMAN’S DISAPPEARANCE, HUSBAND’S ARRESTA local boat captain told Fox News Digital during a recreation of Brian and Lynette Hooker’s doomed dinghy ride that he was shocked Lynette’s body hadn’t been found. Mo Monestime has spent 15 years chartering boats in the Great Abaco Island area. “Not being found, that’s the mystery,” he said. “It is very hard…

NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., is facing a brewing conservative revolt ahead of a high-profile vote on reauthorizing the government’s warrantless surveillance powers. House GOP leadership is up against an April 20 deadline to renew Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). President Donald Trump and House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., support a clean 18-month extension of the government’s spying powers, but key conservative lawmakers want guardrails added to the program.Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., said Tuesday that she would oppose a test vote scheduled to occur Wednesday afternoon that would advance the renewal measure to a vote on final passage. House Freedom Caucus Chair Andy Harris, R-Md., also predicted Tuesday in an interview with Punchbowl News that the test vote would fail if leadership did not tack on additional reforms demanded by GOP privacy hawks.Section 702 permits the federal government to conduct warrantless surveillance of foreign nationals abroad, even when those individuals are communicating with American citizens. REPORTER’S NOTEBOOK: GOP PUSHES ELECTION SECURITY BILL DESPITE SLIM ODDS, AS TRUMP PRESSURE LOOMSConservative lawmakers — and many in the Democratic caucus — are pushing for an amendment to prohibit the warrantless surveillance of…

This article was originally published by Ryan McMaken at The Mises Institute.  The US Treasury Department last week released its monthly report on federal spending and revenue. March spending for the US federal government was up by more than $20 billion, or by nearly four percent, from March of last year. In spite of the administration’s claims last year that Trump would implement hundreds of billions in spending cuts, the US federal government is now spending at higher levels than anything seen since 2021, when COVID-related spending surged above all previous historical peacetime levels. Meanwhile, the US is on track to spend more than a trillion dollars on interest on the debt this year, and this number will only go up as interest rates on federal Treasurys look poised to rise further. Moreover, recent numbers reflect only a small amount of the true war costs coming out of the war with Iran. The full brunt of the runaway spending that will come out of this war has yet to be felt. Indeed, the war with Iran, with no end in sight, is now estimated to be on track to cost more than a trillion dollars above and beyond the current $900…