President Donald Trump on Thursday hired a new architect to lead the next phase of the White House ballroom project.

Trump tapped Shalom Baranes Associates, a Washington, D.C.-based architectural firm to oversee the ballroom design effort.

“As we begin to transition into the next stage of development on the White House Ballroom, the Administration is excited to share that the highly talented Shalom Baranes has joined the team of experts to carry out President Trump’s vision on building what will be the greatest addition to the White House since the Oval Office — the White House Ballroom,” White House Spokesperson Davis Ingle said in a statement.

Ingle added, “Shalom is an accomplished architect whose work has shaped the architectural identity of our nation’s capital for decades and his experience will be a great asset to the completion of this project.”

WHITE HOUSE RESPONDS TO REPORTS TRUMP NAMED NEW BALLROOM AFTER HIMSELF

Trump initially chose McCrery Architects to design the ballroom. McCrery will remain a valuable consultant on the project, a White House official told Fox News.

Construction started on the ballroom 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.

FIRST LADY DOLLEY MADISON WOULD HAVE HAD A BALL WITH TRUMP’S WHITE HOUSE RENOVATIONS

Trump provided an update on construction during a cabinet meeting Tuesday, saying, “I wouldn’t say my wife is thrilled.”

“She hears pile drivers in the background all day, all night,” he said.

The president said the overhaul has been needed for 150 years, adding, “I think it’s going to be the finest ballroom ever built.”

The White House previously said the long-envisioned addition will be designed to host large gatherings and state visits, and will be completed before the end of Trump’s term.

President Donald Trump on Thursday hired a new architect to lead the next phase of the White House ballroom project.

Trump tapped Shalom Baranes Associates, a Washington, D.C.-based architectural firm to oversee the ballroom design effort.

“As we begin to transition into the next stage of development on the White House Ballroom, the Administration is excited to share that the highly talented Shalom Baranes has joined the team of experts to carry out President Trump’s vision on building what will be the greatest addition to the White House since the Oval Office — the White House Ballroom,” White House Spokesperson Davis Ingle said in a statement.

Ingle added, “Shalom is an accomplished architect whose work has shaped the architectural identity of our nation’s capital for decades and his experience will be a great asset to the completion of this project.”

WHITE HOUSE RESPONDS TO REPORTS TRUMP NAMED NEW BALLROOM AFTER HIMSELF

Trump initially chose McCrery Architects to design the ballroom. McCrery will remain a valuable consultant on the project, a White House official told Fox News.

Construction started on the ballroom 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.

FIRST LADY DOLLEY MADISON WOULD HAVE HAD A BALL WITH TRUMP’S WHITE HOUSE RENOVATIONS

Trump provided an update on construction during a cabinet meeting Tuesday, saying, “I wouldn’t say my wife is thrilled.”

“She hears pile drivers in the background all day, all night,” he said.

The president said the overhaul has been needed for 150 years, adding, “I think it’s going to be the finest ballroom ever built.”

The White House previously said the long-envisioned addition will be designed to host large gatherings and state visits, and will be completed before the end of Trump’s term.

New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani said Thursday he would stop clearing homeless encampments when he takes office in January, ending a longstanding practice by Mayor Eric Adams’ administration.

While answering questions at “Hot Chocolate, Frozen Rent” in Manhattan, Mamdani confirmed he would halt sweeps of homeless encampment sites across the city, marking one of his clearest breaks yet from an Adams policy launched in 2022.

“If you are not connecting homeless New Yorkers to the housing that they so desperately need, then you cannot deem anything you’re doing to be a success,” Mamdani said.

The mayor-elect said his administration’s focus would be securing long-term housing solutions, “whether it’s supportive housing, whether it’s rental housing, whatever kind of housing it is.”

MAMDANI PLEDGES NYC TO REMAIN SANCTUARY CITY AFTER CHUMMY TRUMP MEETING

Mamdani added that homelessness is too often treated “as if it is a natural part of living in the city,” when he believes it reflects “a political choice being made time and time again.”

New York City Comptroller Brad Lander released an audit in 2023 of NYC Department of Homeless Services‘ role in the Adams administration’s sweeps of homeless encampment sites between March and November 2022, finding the initiative “completely failed” to connect homeless New Yorkers with services.

“The evidence is clear: by every measure, the homeless sweeps failed,” New York City Comptroller Brad Lander stated in the audit report.

MAMDANI TAPS PARTY INSIDERS TO STEER TRANSITION DESPITE VOWING TO ‘TURN THE PAGE’ ON OLD-GUARD NYC DEMS

The audit noted that 2,308 individuals were present during city cleanups and only 119 accepted temporary shelter. A follow-up review found that nearly one-third of cleared encampments saw homeless activity return.

In August, the Adams administration said it had placed more than 3,500 formerly unsheltered New Yorkers in permanent housing.

City officials received more than 45,000 complaints about encampments in 2025, according to data reviewed by the New York Post.

Mamdani’s comments were the latest split with the outgoing mayor, who signed two executive orders Wednesday aimed at countering antisemitism and preventing city funds from supporting the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement that Mamdani supports.

Fox News Digital has reached out to Mayor Adams’ office for comment.

New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani said Thursday he would stop clearing homeless encampments when he takes office in January, ending a longstanding practice by Mayor Eric Adams’ administration.

While answering questions at “Hot Chocolate, Frozen Rent” in Manhattan, Mamdani confirmed he would halt sweeps of homeless encampment sites across the city, marking one of his clearest breaks yet from an Adams policy launched in 2022.

“If you are not connecting homeless New Yorkers to the housing that they so desperately need, then you cannot deem anything you’re doing to be a success,” Mamdani said.

The mayor-elect said his administration’s focus would be securing long-term housing solutions, “whether it’s supportive housing, whether it’s rental housing, whatever kind of housing it is.”

MAMDANI PLEDGES NYC TO REMAIN SANCTUARY CITY AFTER CHUMMY TRUMP MEETING

Mamdani added that homelessness is too often treated “as if it is a natural part of living in the city,” when he believes it reflects “a political choice being made time and time again.”

New York City Comptroller Brad Lander released an audit in 2023 of NYC Department of Homeless Services‘ role in the Adams administration’s sweeps of homeless encampment sites between March and November 2022, finding the initiative “completely failed” to connect homeless New Yorkers with services.

“The evidence is clear: by every measure, the homeless sweeps failed,” New York City Comptroller Brad Lander stated in the audit report.

MAMDANI TAPS PARTY INSIDERS TO STEER TRANSITION DESPITE VOWING TO ‘TURN THE PAGE’ ON OLD-GUARD NYC DEMS

The audit noted that 2,308 individuals were present during city cleanups and only 119 accepted temporary shelter. A follow-up review found that nearly one-third of cleared encampments saw homeless activity return.

In August, the Adams administration said it had placed more than 3,500 formerly unsheltered New Yorkers in permanent housing.

City officials received more than 45,000 complaints about encampments in 2025, according to data reviewed by the New York Post.

Mamdani’s comments were the latest split with the outgoing mayor, who signed two executive orders Wednesday aimed at countering antisemitism and preventing city funds from supporting the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement that Mamdani supports.

Fox News Digital has reached out to Mayor Adams’ office for comment.

New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani said Thursday he would stop clearing homeless encampments when he takes office in January, ending a longstanding practice by Mayor Eric Adams’ administration.

While answering questions at “Hot Chocolate, Frozen Rent” in Manhattan, Mamdani confirmed he would halt sweeps of homeless encampment sites across the city, marking one of his clearest breaks yet from an Adams policy launched in 2022.

“If you are not connecting homeless New Yorkers to the housing that they so desperately need, then you cannot deem anything you’re doing to be a success,” Mamdani said.

The mayor-elect said his administration’s focus would be securing long-term housing solutions, “whether it’s supportive housing, whether it’s rental housing, whatever kind of housing it is.”

MAMDANI PLEDGES NYC TO REMAIN SANCTUARY CITY AFTER CHUMMY TRUMP MEETING

Mamdani added that homelessness is too often treated “as if it is a natural part of living in the city,” when he believes it reflects “a political choice being made time and time again.”

New York City Comptroller Brad Lander released an audit in 2023 of NYC Department of Homeless Services‘ role in the Adams administration’s sweeps of homeless encampment sites between March and November 2022, finding the initiative “completely failed” to connect homeless New Yorkers with services.

“The evidence is clear: by every measure, the homeless sweeps failed,” New York City Comptroller Brad Lander stated in the audit report.

MAMDANI TAPS PARTY INSIDERS TO STEER TRANSITION DESPITE VOWING TO ‘TURN THE PAGE’ ON OLD-GUARD NYC DEMS

The audit noted that 2,308 individuals were present during city cleanups and only 119 accepted temporary shelter. A follow-up review found that nearly one-third of cleared encampments saw homeless activity return.

In August, the Adams administration said it had placed more than 3,500 formerly unsheltered New Yorkers in permanent housing.

City officials received more than 45,000 complaints about encampments in 2025, according to data reviewed by the New York Post.

Mamdani’s comments were the latest split with the outgoing mayor, who signed two executive orders Wednesday aimed at countering antisemitism and preventing city funds from supporting the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement that Mamdani supports.

Fox News Digital has reached out to Mayor Adams’ office for comment.

New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani said Thursday that NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch personally apologized to his team after her brother described him as an “enemy” of the Jewish people during a high-profile charity dinner in Manhattan on Wednesday night.

Speaking at his Cocoa Chat community meeting, Mamdani stressed that the apology was received and that he intends to govern for all New Yorkers.

“The commissioner apologized to my team for those remarks, and I look forward to being a mayor for each and every New Yorker, including Jewish New Yorkers,” Mamdani said.

He emphasized that the incident will not interfere with his working relationship with Tisch, whom he has chosen to keep on as police commissioner despite policy disagreements.

ADL LAUNCHES ‘MAMDANI MONITOR’ TO TRACK NYC MAYOR-ELECT ZOHRAN MAMDANI OVER ANTISEMITISM CONCERNS

“My focus in my conversations with Commissioner Tisch is on delivering public safety and doing so in tandem with justice for New Yorkers across the five boroughs,” he said. “The apology was one that she conveyed to the team. I appreciated it, and my focus is back on delivering.”

In a statement to Fox News Digital, NYPD spokesperson Brad Weekes shared the commissioner’s message:

“I understand the fear in the Jewish community. My sincere belief is that the mayor-elect will live up to the commitment he’s made to be a mayor for all New Yorkers, including the Jewish community.”

ADAMS ISSUES ORDERS BLOCKING NYC FROM BOYCOTTING ISRAEL AS CLASH WITH MAMDANI GROWS

The apology came after Tisch’s brother, Benjamin Tisch, the billionaire CEO of Loews Corporation, used his remarks at the Met Council’s annual gala to label Mamdani an “enemy” of the Jewish people, according to two attendees who spoke with the New York Daily News.

Witnesses from the gala – which was hosted at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Manhattan – described the moment as jarring, particularly because Commissioner Tisch recently agreed to remain at the helm of the NYPD under Mamdani’s incoming administration.

One attendee told the Daily News the room reacted in stunned silence: “It was just like, ‘wow, he’s actually going to go there.’” Benjamin Tisch has not yet commented publicly on the incident.

Mamdani, a democratic socialist and a vocal critic of Israel, has repeatedly rejected allegations that his views on Israel are antisemitic.

Members of the wider Tisch family donated more than $1 million to super PACs opposing Mamdani during the 2025 mayoral race and backing former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, according to the NY Daily News. Commissioner Tisch did not donate.

Last month, Mamdani told the NY Daily News: “The two of us will not shy away from the fact that we hold disagreements on certain issues… but I also believe that these disagreements are not only reconcilable, but they are the sign of a healthy partnership to come.”

The flare-up comes just weeks before Mamdani’s Jan. 1 inauguration.

Mayor-elect Mamdani and a representative for Benjamin Tisch did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani said Thursday that NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch personally apologized to his team after her brother described him as an “enemy” of the Jewish people during a high-profile charity dinner in Manhattan on Wednesday night.

Speaking at his Cocoa Chat community meeting, Mamdani stressed that the apology was received and that he intends to govern for all New Yorkers.

“The commissioner apologized to my team for those remarks, and I look forward to being a mayor for each and every New Yorker, including Jewish New Yorkers,” Mamdani said.

He emphasized that the incident will not interfere with his working relationship with Tisch, whom he has chosen to keep on as police commissioner despite policy disagreements.

ADL LAUNCHES ‘MAMDANI MONITOR’ TO TRACK NYC MAYOR-ELECT ZOHRAN MAMDANI OVER ANTISEMITISM CONCERNS

“My focus in my conversations with Commissioner Tisch is on delivering public safety and doing so in tandem with justice for New Yorkers across the five boroughs,” he said. “The apology was one that she conveyed to the team. I appreciated it, and my focus is back on delivering.”

In a statement to Fox News Digital, NYPD spokesperson Brad Weekes shared the commissioner’s message:

“I understand the fear in the Jewish community. My sincere belief is that the mayor-elect will live up to the commitment he’s made to be a mayor for all New Yorkers, including the Jewish community.”

ADAMS ISSUES ORDERS BLOCKING NYC FROM BOYCOTTING ISRAEL AS CLASH WITH MAMDANI GROWS

The apology came after Tisch’s brother, Benjamin Tisch, the billionaire CEO of Loews Corporation, used his remarks at the Met Council’s annual gala to label Mamdani an “enemy” of the Jewish people, according to two attendees who spoke with the New York Daily News.

Witnesses from the gala – which was hosted at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Manhattan – described the moment as jarring, particularly because Commissioner Tisch recently agreed to remain at the helm of the NYPD under Mamdani’s incoming administration.

One attendee told the Daily News the room reacted in stunned silence: “It was just like, ‘wow, he’s actually going to go there.’” Benjamin Tisch has not yet commented publicly on the incident.

Mamdani, a democratic socialist and a vocal critic of Israel, has repeatedly rejected allegations that his views on Israel are antisemitic.

Members of the wider Tisch family donated more than $1 million to super PACs opposing Mamdani during the 2025 mayoral race and backing former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, according to the NY Daily News. Commissioner Tisch did not donate.

Last month, Mamdani told the NY Daily News: “The two of us will not shy away from the fact that we hold disagreements on certain issues… but I also believe that these disagreements are not only reconcilable, but they are the sign of a healthy partnership to come.”

The flare-up comes just weeks before Mamdani’s Jan. 1 inauguration.

Mayor-elect Mamdani and a representative for Benjamin Tisch did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

America’s emotional divide over the federal government has never been wider, according to a new Pew Research Center survey showing record-high anger among Democrats, rising Republican contentment, and near-collapse levels of public trust – all captured days before the government plunged into a 43-day shutdown.

The probability-based, nationally representative poll, conducted Sept. 22-28, 2025, finds nearly half of Americans (49%) say they feel frustrated with the federal government, 26% say angry and only 23% say they are basically content.

Pew reports that 44% of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents now say they feel “angry” toward the federal government, or “highest share expressed by members of either party in surveys dating back to 1997.”

The number has jumped 10 points from 34% among Democrats during President Trump’s first term.

Just 8% of Democrats say they are content. 

IT WON’T GET ANY BETTER: WASHINGTON FACES ANOTHER LOOMING GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN

Republicans and GOP leaners show a dramatically different mood with 40% reporting contentment, half as frustrated and 9% angry. GOP anger, by comparison, peaked during the then-Obama and then-Biden administrations.

Pew says this emotional gap between the parties is now the largest ever measured.

Only about one-in-five Americans say they trust the federal government to do what’s right “just about always” or “most of the time,” a level Pew notes is “one of the lowest in the nearly seven decades since the question was first asked.”

YOUNG AMERICANS GIVE BIG THUMBS DOWN TO DEMOCRATS, REPUBLICANS, TRUMP: POLL

Democratic trust in the federal government sits in single digits in this wave. Republican trust, while still limited, is higher than it was a year ago before Trump was re-elected to hold the presidency.

Pew’s long-running trend shows frustration has been the nation’s default mood for nearly three decades, but this survey captures a rare structural shift: frustration dipping slightly, while both anger and contentment rise almost entirely along party lines.

That movement, Pew says, signals deepening emotional and political distance between Americans who are reacting to the same Trump administration in completely different ways.

Fox News Digital has requested comment from the White House on the survey’s findings.

Pew researchers say they will continue tracking these attitudes into the 2026 midterms, noting that large swings in anger and trust have historically preceded shifts in political engagement and voter behavior.

For now, Pew’s new survey offers one conclusion that is hard to ignore: Americans aren’t just divided by politics, but by how they emotionally experience Trump 2.0. 

America’s emotional divide over the federal government has never been wider, according to a new Pew Research Center survey showing record-high anger among Democrats, rising Republican contentment, and near-collapse levels of public trust – all captured days before the government plunged into a 43-day shutdown.

The probability-based, nationally representative poll, conducted Sept. 22-28, 2025, finds nearly half of Americans (49%) say they feel frustrated with the federal government, 26% say angry and only 23% say they are basically content.

Pew reports that 44% of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents now say they feel “angry” toward the federal government, or “highest share expressed by members of either party in surveys dating back to 1997.”

The number has jumped 10 points from 34% among Democrats during President Trump’s first term.

Just 8% of Democrats say they are content. 

IT WON’T GET ANY BETTER: WASHINGTON FACES ANOTHER LOOMING GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN

Republicans and GOP leaners show a dramatically different mood with 40% reporting contentment, half as frustrated and 9% angry. GOP anger, by comparison, peaked during the then-Obama and then-Biden administrations.

Pew says this emotional gap between the parties is now the largest ever measured.

Only about one-in-five Americans say they trust the federal government to do what’s right “just about always” or “most of the time,” a level Pew notes is “one of the lowest in the nearly seven decades since the question was first asked.”

YOUNG AMERICANS GIVE BIG THUMBS DOWN TO DEMOCRATS, REPUBLICANS, TRUMP: POLL

Democratic trust in the federal government sits in single digits in this wave. Republican trust, while still limited, is higher than it was a year ago before Trump was re-elected to hold the presidency.

Pew’s long-running trend shows frustration has been the nation’s default mood for nearly three decades, but this survey captures a rare structural shift: frustration dipping slightly, while both anger and contentment rise almost entirely along party lines.

That movement, Pew says, signals deepening emotional and political distance between Americans who are reacting to the same Trump administration in completely different ways.

Fox News Digital has requested comment from the White House on the survey’s findings.

Pew researchers say they will continue tracking these attitudes into the 2026 midterms, noting that large swings in anger and trust have historically preceded shifts in political engagement and voter behavior.

For now, Pew’s new survey offers one conclusion that is hard to ignore: Americans aren’t just divided by politics, but by how they emotionally experience Trump 2.0. 

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on Thursday announced the arrests of multiple Afghan nationals, released into the U.S. by the Biden administration during Operation Allies Refuge and Operation Allies Welcome, with convictions for crimes including kidnapping and child fondling.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said the Biden administration created “one of the worst and most complex national security crises in American history,” which the Trump administration has been working to remedy.

The announcement comes after it was uncovered the suspect accused of killing one National Guard member and wounding another in a Nov. 26 Washington, D.C. ambush, was an Afghan national vetted by the CIA in Afghanistan.

The Department of State has paused all visas for individuals traveling on Afghan passports.

PATEL BLASTS BIDEN’S ‘EMBLEMATIC FAILURE’ AFTER AFGHAN NATIONAL CHARGED IN GUARD SHOOTING

“Under Secretary [Kristi] Noem, DHS has been going full throttle on identifying and arresting known or suspected terrorists and criminal illegal aliens that came in through Biden’s fraudulent parole programs,” DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin wrote in a statement. 

“When Joe Biden let 190,000 Afghan nationals in, they didn’t do criminal background checks or vet social media, someone just vouched for them and they took the words as truth,” she continued. “We have been saying we are getting the worst of the worst out—and we are. We are working around the clock to get these public safety threats out of our country.”

According to DHS, some of the Afghan nationals arrested by ICE include:

On Aug. 29, ICE arrested Qesmat Din Zafran, a criminal illegal immigrant who entered the U.S. under Operation Allies Refuge in September 2021. 

His criminal history includes a conviction for lewd or lascivious acts with a minor under 16.

THIRD AFGHAN NATIONAL FROM BIDEN-ERA PROGRAM ARRESTED IN A WEEK BY ICE AGENTS IN VIRGINIA: DHS

On Oct. 2, ICE arrested Mansour Walizada, a criminal illegal immigrant who entered the U.S. under Operation Allies Refuge in 2021. 

His criminal history includes two convictions for sexual battery and an arrest for child fondling.

On June 8, ICE arrested Mohammad Tabesh Rasoli, a criminal illegal immigrant who entered the U.S. under Operation Allies Refuge in September 2021. 

His criminal history includes a conviction for hit-and-run with serious bodily harm. 

Per the arrest report, Rasoli hit a pedestrian going about 50 mph.

On May 8, ICE took custody of Javid Ghamgeen from the Iowa Department of Corrections.

Ghamgeen, a criminal illegal immigrant, entered the U.S. under Operation Allies Welcome in 2021. 

His criminal history includes convictions for two counts of possession of methamphetamine, burglary and aggravated assault against a public officer.

On Oct. 9, ICE arrested Asirullah Khalid-Khan, a criminal illegal immigrant who entered the U.S. under Operation Allies Welcome in 2021. 

His criminal history includes a conviction for kidnapping and an arrest for rape.

On July 21, ICE arrested Said Mohammad Tanai, a criminal illegal immigrant who entered the U.S. under Operation Allies Refuge in 2021. 

His criminal history includes a conviction for assault with intent to commit sex abuse.