United States Ambassador to the United Nations Michael Waltz recently returned from a Middle East swing, touting the ‘amazing progress’ in the implementation of President Donald Trump’s Israel–Gaza peace deal, and telling Fox News Digital that the situation abroad is ‘night and day to where we were a year ago.’

Fox News Digital spoke exclusively with Waltz Thursday evening, just hours after he returned to the United States from the Middle East.

Waltz traveled from the Lebanese border to the Syrian border, the Egyptian border, Jordan to Israel and beyond.

‘The purpose of the trip was to get on the ground and see the implementation,’ Waltz said. ‘We met with the Jordanians, the king, the prime minister and president of Israel — we met with our troops.’ 

Waltz explained that there is a ‘small contingent’ of approximately 100 U.S. troops in Israel — not in Gaza — to help to pull together humanitarian aid and military coordination.

‘We have had air defense assets in Israel for quite some time to deal with attacks from Iran,’ Waltz said. ‘This is now a small headquarters element to provide a coordination — no one was talking to each other, and the U.S. military is doing what it does best.’

Waltz said the U.S. troops in Israel are working with the United Nations, non-governmental organizations, the Israelis, Egyptians and Arab countries, while having contact with Palestinians and ensuring that humanitarian aid is being delivered.

‘From an ‘America First’ standpoint, the United States shouldn’t be doing this alone,’ Waltz said. ‘Burden-sharing is a key component and dozens are helping under President Trump’s leadership.’

Waltz led the charge at the United Nations, implementing the now-adopted resolution that endorses the Board of Peace, sets parameters for Gaza’s transitional governance and launches the International Stabilization Force outlined in Trump’s 20-point Gaza peace plan.

Trump’s plan to end the Gaza conflict calls for Gaza to be a de-radicalized, terror-free zone that does not pose a threat to its neighbors. It also calls for Gaza to be redeveloped for the benefit of the people of Gaza and more.

Under the peace plan, Israeli forces would withdraw from the region, and a temporary transitional governance of a technocratic, apolitical Palestinian committee, responsible for delivering the day-to-day running of public services and municipalities for the people of Gaza will be created.

That government will be under the oversight of a new international transitional body called the Board of Peace, chaired by Trump and other members and heads of state.

The resolution makes the plan international law.

‘At the end of the day, Hamas has to go,’ Walz explained. ‘What we cannot let happen is Hamas survives, and the international community pours billions of dollars into the situation — Hamas attacks Israel again, as they previously pledged to do, and Israel responds, and we are in the same situation — we cannot let that happen again. That’s why we are doing things differently this time.’

Waltz pointed to the Board of Peace led by Trump, as well as the newly formed stabilization force, with troops from countries like Indonesia and Azerbaijan — as well as the technocratic committee responsible for turning government services back on.

‘This has never been done before,’ Waltz said. ‘My job was to get the United Nations and the international community to bless that, and we did.’ 

‘The bottom line is this: this was not a big symbolic thing or deal for the president,’ Waltz continued. ‘He is serious about bringing Middle East peace once and for all.’ 

Waltz explained that the ‘next strategic step will be an extension of the Abraham Accords,’ which he described as the president’s ‘true objective.’

Waltz explained that the implementation of the peace deal ‘unlocks the next round of the Abraham Accords.’

‘There are a number of great conversations ongoing,’ he said.

‘We have to remember where we were a year ago, and see everything in perspective,’ he explained. ‘You had Iran marching towards a nuke; Hezbollah launching rockets on Israel; hostages in tunnels, and now you have hostages out; Lebanon has the best chance in a generation; and Iran had its nuclear capabilities obliterated in Operation Midnight Hammer—all in ten months.’

Waltz added: ‘It is truly incredible. It is night and day to where we were a year ago.’

President Donald Trump is being sued by a historic preservation group seeking to stop construction of his new White House ballroom.

The National Trust for Historic Preservation filed a lawsuit Friday against the Trump administration, arguing that it skipped mandatory reviews and failed to seek congressional approval before demolishing the East Wing of the White House.

‘No president is legally allowed to tear down portions of the White House without any review whatsoever — not President Trump, not President Biden, and not anyone else,’ the lawsuit stated. ‘And no president is legally allowed to construct a ballroom on public property without giving the public the opportunity to weigh in.’

Attorneys for the nonprofit argued Trump’s project ‘should be immediately halted’ and work on the 90,000-square-foot ballroom project should be paused until the reviews are completed.

When reached for comment, White House spokesperson Davis Ingle told Fox News Digital, ‘President Trump has full legal authority to modernize, renovate and beautify the White House – just like all of his predecessors did.’ 

Construction on the ballroom started in October, leading to the demolition of the White House’s historic East Wing. The project is being privately funded at an estimated cost of $300 million, up from a $200 million estimate in July when the project was unveiled.

The lawsuit claims the Trump administration failed to submit its demolition plans to the National Capital Planning Commission, the Commission of Fine Arts and Congress before construction began, arguing it is ‘depriving the public of its right to be informed.’

Additionally, the National Trust said the project violates numerous federal statutes, including the Administrative Procedure Act and the National Environmental Policy Act, and claimed Trump circumvented the Constitution. 

‘The President, acting unilaterally, is wholly without constitutional authority to build or demolish anything on federal Grounds,’ the lawsuit stated.

The National Trust is requesting that a federal judge prevent the Trump administration from continuing work on the Ballroom project until the necessary federal commissions have reviewed and approved the project’s plans, an adequate environmental review has been conducted and Congress has authorized the ballroom’s construction.

The White House is expected to submit plans for Trump’s new ballroom to a federal planning commission before the end of the year.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

House Republicans have released a 111-page plan for reforming healthcare that they hope to vote on next week.

House GOP leadership aides also told reporters on Friday afternoon that they expected a vote on extending enhanced Obamacare subsidies to also happen next week as part of the amendment process to the final bill, called the ‘Lower Health Care Premiums for All Americans Act.’ The subsidies have been the subject of fierce inter-party debate for Republicans.

‘We expect that there will be an amendment that I believe is being worked on, so the process will allow for that amendment,’ aides said.

The plan as-is includes provisions to codify association health plans, which allow small businesses and people who are self-employed to band together to purchase healthcare coverage plans, giving them access to greater bargaining power.

Republicans also plan to appropriate funding for cost-sharing reductions beginning in 2027, which are designed to lower out-of-pocket medical costs in the individual healthcare market. House GOP leadership aides said it would bring down the cost of premiums by 12%.

New transparency requirements for pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) are also in the legislation, aimed at forcing PBMs to be more upfront about costs to employers.

PBMs are third parties that act as intermediaries between pharmaceutical companies and those responsible for insurance coverage, often responsible for administrative tasks and negotiating drug prices.

PBMs have also been the subject of bipartisan ire in Congress, with both Republicans and Democrats accusing them of being part of a broken system to inflate health costs.

But the most divisive measure for Republicans is likely not yet fleshed out. 

A majority of House Republicans are against extending the enhanced Obamacare subsidies, which were designed to get affordable health insurance for more Americans during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Democrats voted to pass the enhanced subsidies in 2021 and extended them through 2022 when they controlled Congress.

A group of moderate House Republicans has joined Democrats now in vehemently pushing for those subsidies to be extended again, as millions of Americans face near-certain healthcare price hikes beginning in January.

Two separate bipartisan efforts have been launched to force a vote on extending the subsidies in some form. But any such push would require support from virtually all House Democrats to succeed, and their leaders have not given their blessing to either plan.

‘We’re going to evaluate every single good faith proposal. But it has to meaningfully provide certainty to the American people who are at risk of having their health care ripped away from them,’ House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., told reporters on Friday.

But conservatives have warned they would not support any such extension unless paired with significant reforms to what they view as a long-broken system that fuels healthcare price inflation.

‘I think that would be a disastrous plan. I mean, we’ve clearly seen that Obamacare is the Titanic. It’s going down. I think throwing money after it is just going to be wasteful,’ House Freedom Caucus member Rep. Eric Burlison, R-Mo., told Fox News’ Chad Pergram on Friday.

A top Senate Republican argued that if allegations against ‘Squad’ member Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., that she married her brother to enter the U.S. were true, she’d be breaking several laws.

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, joined the long-standing scrutiny against Omar Friday after President Donald Trump revived the allegations during a rally pushing his affordability agenda in Pennsylvania earlier this week.

In a post on X responding to a White House social media account that charged, ‘Yes, [Omar] married her brother,’ Cruz listed a trio of federal and state laws the progressive lawmaker may have violated.

‘If this is true, then Omar faces criminal liability under three different statutes,’ Cruz said.

Cruz argued that Omar could have committed federal marriage fraud, which stipulates that it is a felony to knowingly enter into a marriage to evade immigration laws, and could lead to up to five years in prison, a $250,000 fine and deportation.

Omar was born in Somalia and came to the U.S. in 1995 after her family was granted asylum. She became a citizen in 2000. Omar, who is Muslim, has been married legally three times, first in a religious marriage to Ahmed Abdisalan Hirsi in 2002, then to Ahmed Nur Said Elmi in 2009 before later divorcing and legally marrying Hirsi. In 2020, she married political aide Tim Mynett. 

Cruz noted that Omar could also be breaking Minnesota’s state incest law, a felony in the state punishable by jail time up to 10 years. He also contended that she could be liable for tax fraud, specifically if joint tax returns were filed while she was not legally married.

That violation would levy up to a $100,000 fine and up to three years in prison.

The Senate Republican’s legal analysis of the situation comes after Trump resurrected the unsubstantiated claims that Omar had married her brother for immigration purposes that have dogged the lawmaker since she entered politics nearly a decade ago. She has denied the allegations.

Still, Trump charged, ‘She married her brother to get in, right?’

‘If I married my sister to get my citizenship, do you think I’d last for about two hours or something less than that? She married her brother to get in,’ he said. ‘Therefore, she’s here illegally. She should get the hell out.’

Fox News Digital did not immediately hear back for comment from Omar’s office.

GOP House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer said he plans to commence contempt of Congress proceedings against Bill and Hillary Clinton for ignoring the committee’s subpoenas related to its ongoing probe into the Jeffrey Epstein scandal. 

In July, a bipartisan House Oversight Subcommittee approved motions to subpoena Bill and Hillary Clinton and a slew of other high-profile political figures to aid its investigation looking into how the federal government handled Epstein’s sex trafficking case. 

The subpoenas were then sent out in early August, and the Clinton’s were scheduled to testify Dec. 17-18. 

‘It has been more than four months since Bill and Hillary Clinton were subpoenaed to sit for depositions related to our investigation into Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell’s horrific crimes. Throughout that time, the former president and former secretary of state have delayed, obstructed, and largely ignored the committee staff’s efforts to schedule their testimony,’ Comer said in a press release issued Friday evening.

‘If the Clintons fail to appear for their depositions next week or schedule a date for early January, the Oversight Committee will begin contempt of Congress proceedings to hold them accountable.’

Comer’s threats come as Democrats from the House Oversight Committee released a new batch of photos obtained from Epstein’s estate, which included further images of the disgraced financier with powerful figures like President Donald Trump and former President Bill Clinton. Thousands of images were reportedly released, with potentially more to come.

Other high-profile figures subpoenaed by the Oversight Committee include James Comey, Loretta Lynch, Eric Holder, Merrick Garland, Robert Mueller, William Barr, Jeff Sessions and Alberto Gonzales.

In addition to testimony from these individuals, Comer and the Oversight Committee issued subpoenas to the Department of Justice (DOJ) for all documents and communications pertaining to the case against Epstein.

In September, the committee released tens of thousands of pages of Epstein-related records in compliance with the subpoena, and the Oversight Committee indicated the DOJ would continue producing even more records as it works through needed redactions and other measures that must occur before they are released.