The NATO Chiefs of Defense reaffirmed support for Ukraine in a virtual meeting Wednesday in Brussels that included all 32 allied military leaders and featured the first briefing in this format led by U.S. Gen. Alexus Grynkewich, the new Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR).

U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Dan Caine attended the meeting virtually, along with Grynkewich, who also leads U.S. European Command, U.S. officials confirmed to Fox News on Tuesday.

NATO officials said in a statement that the ‘candid discussion’ centered on what security guarantees the alliance might provide Ukraine as part of a potential peace agreement to end Russia’s three-year war.

Col. Martin O’Donnell, spokesperson for Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe, wrote on X that ‘the Supreme Allied Commander was honored to brief the Chiefs of Defense, his first in such a format. As he has said before, ‘these are consequential times.”

‘NATO has faced important times before — and these have only made our Alliance stronger. As we work through these important issues, we will all stay informed, engaged, and united in the defense of the Euro-Atlantic region and with NATO’s ongoing support to Ukraine as progress towards peace continues,’ he added.

The Chair of NATO’s Military Committee also praised the discussions, writing on X that it was a ‘great, candid discussion among NATO Chiefs of Defence’ and an ‘excellent update on the security environment from our new SACEUR, his first with us.’

The chair added that the meeting confirmed support for Ukraine, emphasizing the alliance’s focus on a ‘just, credible and durable peace’ and praising the ‘relentless courage’ of Ukrainian forces.

According to the Associated Press, assurances that Ukraine won’t face another invasion are seen as central to any settlement, with Kyiv pressing for Western-backed military commitments, including weapons and training. European allies are working on options for a multinational security force that could backstop a peace deal.

Wednesday’s virtual session unfolded against the backdrop of President Donald Trump’s push to steer Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy toward a settlement. Trump met with Putin last Friday in Alaska and hosted Zelenskyy and European leaders at the White House on Monday. 

The reaffirmations come a day after Caine convened a smaller meeting in Washington with defense chiefs from Germany, the U.K., France, Finland and Italy to prepare for Wednesday’s broader NATO discussions.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov criticized NATO discussions on Ukraine’s security conducted without Moscow’s involvement, warning that ‘this will not work’ and vowing Russia would ‘ensure its legitimate interests firmly and harshly,’ RIA Novosti reported, according to AP.

The White House did not immediately return Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

A Russian drone may have crashed in a field in Poland, a move the country’s deputy prime minister called a ‘provocation’ as the United States and European leaders continue to push Moscow to end its war in Ukraine. 

The drone hit a cornfield in the village of Osiny in the eastern Lublin province, about 62 miles from Poland’s border with Ukraine, Reuters reported. 

Deputy Prime Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz, who also serves as defense minister, said Wednesday’s incident was similar to cases in which Russian drones flew into Lithuania and Romania and could be linked to efforts to end the war in Ukraine, according to the outlet. 

‘Once again, we are dealing with a provocation by the Russian Federation, with a Russian drone. We are dealing with it in a crucial moment, when discussions about peace (in Ukraine) are underway,’ Kosiniak-Kamysz told journalists.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Pawel Wronski told Reuters some experts have suggested a Russian version of the Shahed drone developed by Iran was involved in the latest incident.

Polish Gen. Dariusz Malinowski said the drone had a Chinese engine and appeared to be a decoy that was designed to self-destruct.

The blast shattered windows in several homes, but nobody was injured, the Polish PAP news agency reported.

Police recovered burnt metal and plastic debris at the site.

‘I was sitting in my room at night, around midnight, maybe, and I heard something just bang,’ local resident Pawel Sudowski told local news website Lukow.tv. ‘It exploded so loudly that the whole house simply shook.’

On X, Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said his ministry would issue a protest against the airspace violation without naming the perpetrator. 

‘Another violation of our airspace from the East confirms that Poland’s most important mission towards NATO is the defence (sic) of our own territory,’ he wrote. 

The incident came as the Trump administration continues to broker talks between Russia and Ukraine to end the bloody three-year conflict. On Monday, Trump hosted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and a group of European leaders at the White House.

On Friday, he met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska. 

A Russian drone may have crashed in a field in Poland, a move the country’s deputy prime minister called a ‘provocation,’ as the United States and European leaders continue to push Moscow to end its war in Ukraine. 

The drone hit a cornfield in the village of Osiny in the eastern Lublin province, about 62 miles from Poland’s border with Ukraine, Reuters reported. 

Deputy Prime Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz, who also serves as defense minister, said Wednesday’s incident was similar to cases in which Russian drones flew into Lithuania and Romania, and could be linked to efforts to end the war in Ukraine, according to the outlet. 

‘Once again, we are dealing with a provocation by the Russian Federation, with a Russian drone. We are dealing with it in a crucial moment, when discussions about peace (in Ukraine) are underway,’ Kosiniak-Kamysz told journalists.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Pawel Wronski told Reuters that some experts have suggested a Russian version of the Shahed drone developed by Iran was involved in the latest incident.

Polish Gen. Dariusz Malinowski said the drone had a Chinese engine and appeared to be a decoy that was designed to self-destruct.

The blast shattered windows in several homes, but nobody was injured, the Polish PAP news agency reported.

Police recovered burnt metal and plastic debris at the site.

‘I was sitting in my room at night, around midnight, maybe, and I heard something just bang,’ local resident Pawel Sudowski told local news website Lukow.tv. ‘It exploded so loudly that the whole house simply shook.’

On X, Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said his ministry would issue a protest against the airspace violation, without naming the perpetrator. 

‘Another violation of our airspace from the East confirms that Poland’s most important mission towards NATO is the defence (sic) of our own territory,’ he wrote. 

The incident came as the Trump administration continues to broker talks between Russia and Ukraine to end the bloody three-year conflict. On Monday, Trump hosted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and a group of European leaders at the White House.

On Friday he met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska. 

Andrew Roth, president of the State Freedom Caucus Network, helms an organization fighting to help conservatives win and wield control of state governments across the nation.

‘There is a swamp in all 50 states. There are 50 swamps,’ Roth told Fox News Digital during a Tuesday interview, noting that ‘liberal Republicans’ join with Democrats to expand government.

This ‘uniparty’ phenomenon exists in the U.S. Congress and in every state, Roth indicated, asserting that in red states many Democrats cannot win elections unless they don the Republican label.

‘They say they’re good on guns, and babies, and a few other things, but then they get in there, and they vote like liberals, growing government[.] ‘ Roth noted. 

He said that while the goal of state freedom caucuses is to slash taxes and government, the first step is exposing ‘deceitful lawmakers for who they are. And then once you can do that, then you can hopefully start getting good people elected and then cut the budget, cut taxes, cut spending,’ he explained.

So far, the organization boasts freedom caucuses in 13 of the 50 states, including Pennsylvania, Maryland, South Carolina, Georgia, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Illinois, Missouri, South Dakota, Wyoming, Montana, Arizona and Idaho – but deep red states like Texas and Florida are conspicuously absent from the list. 

Asked whether this is because there are not enough conservative legislators in those states to form a freedom caucus, Roth replied, ‘That’s absolutely correct,’ explaining, ‘In Texas I could probably say there’s only one or two House members, and in Florida I’m not even sure I can say two.’

There are ‘zero’ conservative state lawmakers in the Alabama, Tennessee and Mississippi state legislatures, he said.

‘This is a big, big problem’ he noted, ‘and I don’t think enough people realize how bad it is.’

Roth indicated that the organization provides a state director in each freedom caucus state – those directors help read legislation, offer vote recommendations, work with other groups, and help with organizing and strategizing, he explained.

Roth noted that Louisiana state Sen. Blake Miguez, a Republican who belongs to that state’s freedom caucus, is challenging incumbent GOP U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy. 

A Trump-aligned legal group founded by White House aide Stephen Miller filed Freedom of Information Act requests Thursday targeting a Biden organ transplant program that critics warn could be open to abuse.

The requests from America First Legal went to the Department of Health and Human Services, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, and the Health Resources and Services Administration. At issue is the Increasing Organ Transplant Access Model, a six-year mandatory program finalized in December 2024 and set to take effect in July 2025, which aims to expand access to kidney transplants but has drawn criticism from Trump officials who warn it may be vulnerable to outside influence.

The model builds on earlier payment experiments, testing whether financial rewards and penalties can improve care and expand access for Medicare and Medicaid patients.

Trump officials and allies, including America First Legal, argue the system risks distortion by outside interests — a charge that prompted AFL’s FOIA requests as part of a broader investigation.

They cited in part recent findings from an HRSA-led probe published earlier this year. That investigation suggested third-party groups or for-profit organizations ‘may have unduly influenced the IOTA Model’— though their exact role or the extent they may have done so is unclear.

HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. also cited concerns from the study, which the department said in a statement ‘revealed clear negligence and disturbing practices’ by a large organ procurement organization in the U.S., prompting him to launch a new reform initiative.

In previewing the FOIA requests to Fox News Digital, AFL cited related concerns about patient safety, ethical misconduct, and discrimination in organ allocation, among other things.

The requests ask HHS, CMS and HRSA for a long list of information regarding the program and related correspondence — including emails, letters and memos between agency personnel and third-party representatives about the development or implementation of the IOTA Model. They also seek meeting records, agendas and summaries of discussions involving agency staff and outside officials.

The payment model will affect more than 100 U.S. transplant hospitals over six years, imposing mandatory financial incentives and penalties tied to a final performance score.

IOTA was touted as a way to help increase access to organ donors and transplants in the U.S. and help address the long waiting list of patients awaiting a transplant, which as of last fall stood at roughly 90,000 people.

Participating hospitals are evaluated for their performance in three key areas, according to CMS’s final rule, which took force in July, including the volume of kidney transplants, their matching efficiency, and post-transplant outcomes of their patients. But the role outside groups have played, including during the process of drafting the final rule, has prompted criticism and calls for additional scrutiny from Trump allies, including AFL. 

Self-interested third parties should play no role in shaping America’s organ transplant policy,’ AFL counsel Laura Stell told Fox News Digital in a statement previewing the FOIA requests and broader investigation.

‘Where monetary incentives and penalties come into play, there must be utmost certainty that CMS developed the program without influence from entities with improper motives.’

America First Legal, though not officially part of the Trump administration, was founded by longtime Trump adviser Stephen Miller after Trump’s first presidential term. 

Miller stepped down from AFL before rejoining the White House in 2025 as Trump’s deputy chief of staff. 

‘oMg, diD tHe wHiTE hOuSE reALLy PosT tHis?’

That became one of the most common reactions across the White House’s feeds. The answer was always yes.

Serving as director of digital content for President Donald Trump was the most meaningful and intense chapter of my professional life. From the moment we rebooted the administration’s online presence on Inauguration Day, the mission was clear: speak in a voice that resonated with real Americans and make sure our MAGA message could not be ignored.

We did not build a cautious, government-style account. We built a fast, culturally fluent content machine designed to cut through the noise and win online. And it worked.

In just six months, the administration’s platforms added over 16 million new followers, with the fastest growth among Americans aged 18–34. We generated billions of video views and gained more than half a million new YouTube subscribers – nearly triple the previous administration’s total growth over four years.

But it was never just about numbers. Our success came from echoing the humor, passion and identity of a movement that was already alive. We did not invent the culture. We gave it a megaphone.

This was not entertainment for entertainment’s sake. Our meme-heavy, content-first strategy was aligned with the president’s priorities. Digital was not a sideshow. It was a frontline tool for shaping narratives, building momentum, and applying pressure. 

That was clearest during the push for President Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act. We were not writing legislation. We were making sure Americans understood what was at stake. We turned policy into content people wanted to share – and that shifted the conversation.

That agility was only possible because of President Trump. His decisiveness gave us the freedom to move fast and take risks. Whether it was an ASMR-style video of deportations, a Jedi Trump with a bicep vein battling the deep state, or a surreal ‘Make It Rain’ Gemini AI-generated storm of cash over the White House, every post had intention. Every choice matched the cultural moment.

These were not random stunts. They were designed to draw younger Americans, many of whom had tuned out politics, back into the conversation. And it worked.

We did not wait to react to headlines. We inspired them. From the 100-day mugshot display on the North Lawn to anime-style fentanyl dealers crying on camera, we pushed the boundaries of political communication. 

Major media outlets took notice. Even Democrats are playing catch-up. Gavin Newsom has pretty much stolen podcasts, memes and trolling tactics that came straight from the MAGA playbook. That is not coincidence. That is proof of impact.

Here is the truth. We did not go viral because we were chasing virality. We went viral because we paid attention. We knew our audience. We stayed sharp on the message. And we operated like creators, not bureaucrats.

That kind of approach takes a rare team. The White House digital staff I had the honor to serve with are some of the smartest and most imaginative minds in politics today. They understand what many still miss: politics and culture are inseparable. You move them together or you do not move them at all. 

I have full confidence in the team under White House deputy communications director Kaelan Dorr to continue winning, and as Dorr put it best: ‘The arrests will continue. The memes will continue.’

As I step away from my role at the White House and return to leading my public relations and digital firm, I do so with pride. We did not just manage accounts. We reinvented how people experience the presidency online. Others are only now beginning to understand that reality. We will continue to lead – because we not only understand the tools. We understand the Americans who use them.