President Donald Trump is worried the Potomac River will still stink when America250 celebrations kick off this summer following a sewage leak that dumped millions of gallons of raw filth into the water outlining the nation's capital, according to the White House. 

"There are a lot of events coming up for America 250," Fox News' Peter Doocy said to White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt Wednesday during a White House press conference. "The president wants people from all over to come to the nation's capital. Is he worried that by the summer, the Potomac River will still smell like poop?"

Leavitt confirmed the president's concern, after chuckling. 

"Yeah, he is worried about that," Leavitt said. "Which is why the federal government wants to fix it. And we hope that the local authorities will cooperate with us in doing so."

TRUMP WON’T LET DEM SEWAGE FAILURES SLIDE AS MOORE FACES HEAT OVER INFRASTRUCTURE GRADE

A sewage pipe interceptor ruptured in January, releasing upward of 240 million gallons of raw sewage into the Potomac River. The president has directed his ire toward Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, and other local leaders in Virginia and Washington, D.C., on the issue, claiming alleged incompetence led to the disaster. 

Leavitt called on leaders in the two states and D.C. to "step forward and to ask the federal government for help and to ask for the Stafford Act to be implemented here so that the federal government can go and take control of this local infrastructure that has been abandoned and neglected by Governor Moore in Maryland for far too long."

"It's no secret that Maryland's water and infrastructure have been in dire need of repair," Leavitt said. "Their infrastructure has received a nearly failing grade in the 2025 report card from the American Society of Civil Engineers. This is the same grade they've received, five years earlier. There has been no improvement under the leadership of Governor Moore. He's clearly shown he's incapable of fixing this problem, which is why President Trump and the federal government are standing by to step in."

Moore's office has pushed back on the administration's rhetoric surrounding the leak, claiming the federal government has oversight over DC Water, the District’s water and sewer utility. 

TRUMP SLAMS MARYLAND GOVERNOR, LAUNCHES FEDERAL EFFORT TO PROTECT POTOMAC AFTER HISTORIC SEWAGE SPILL

"Since the last century, the federal government has been responsible for the Potomac Interceptor, which is the origin of the sewage leak. For the last four weeks, the Trump Administration has failed to act, shirking its responsibility and putting people's health at risk," a representative from Moore's office said on Monday. "Notably, the president’s own EPA explicitly refused to participate in the major legislative hearing about the cleanup last Friday."

Leavitt continued Wednesday that environmentalists should "pray" that local jurisdictions call on Trump to step in and shore up infrastructure and carry out clean up. 

WHITE HOUSE FIRES BACK AT CRITICS CALLING TRUMP’S MASSIVE ARCH ‘TOO BIG’

"For all of the environmentalists in the room and across the District of Columbia, let's all hope and pray that this governor does the right thing and ask President Trump to get involved, because it will be an ecological and environmental disaster if the federal government does not step in to help," she said. "But of course, we need the state and local jurisdictions to make that formal request." 

DC Water is currently leading clean-up efforts, while the state of Maryland was providing "regulatory oversight related to water quality standard exceedances in the Potomac related to unauthorized discharges of wastewater," according to Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lee Zeldin Tuesday. 

He added that local leaders had not yet called on the EPA for assistance. 

"This mess must be completely addressed as fast as humanly possible, and the Trump EPA stands ready, motivated, and highly capable to assist in any way possible to fulfill President Trump’s strong desire to END this disaster," Zeldin posted to X. 

Only around 7 out of 10 Democrats (70%) hold a favorable view of their political party, according to new polling from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

Democrats’ favorability of their party stood at 85% in September 2024 but plummeted after President Donald Trump won the presidential election. By October 2025, just 67% of Democrats had a favorable view of their party, according to the poll.

Republicans are aiming to cling to their House and Senate majorities during the midterms later this year.

FOX NEWS POLL: BEYOND RED VS. BLUE, FINDING ME + YOU ACROSS THE POLITICAL DIVIDE

Around a quarter of Americans harbor a negative attitude about both the Democratic Party and the Republican Party, according to the AP-NORC poll.

About half of U.S. adults only view one party positively, and only about 1 in 10 feel good about both parties.

FOX NEWS POLL: TOO FAST, TOO UNCHECKED? VOTERS SOUND OFF ON RAPID AI USE & GOVERNMENT REGULATION

The poll found that 30% of U.S. adults have a very unfavorable view of the Democratic Party, 24% have a somewhat unfavorable view, 8% have a very favorable view and 27% have a somewhat favorable view.

The GOP fared similarly: 35% of U.S. adults have a very favorable view, 18% have a somewhat favorable view, 15% have a very favorable view and 21% have a somewhat favorable view.

FOX NEWS POLL: DONALD TRUMP STARTS 2026 WITH 44% APPROVAL

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"Interviews for this survey were conducted between February 5 through February 8, 2026, with adults aged 18 and over representing the 50 states and the District of Columbia," the poll notes. 

"The overall margin of sampling error is +/-3.9 percentage points at the 95 percent confidence level," and the margin of sampling error for "Democrats, including leaners" is plus or minus 6 percentage points, the poll says.

The Associated Press contributed to this report 

New York City finds itself, once again, at a political and fiscal crossroads. Mayor Zohran Mamdani has unveiled a $127 billion preliminary budget for fiscal year 2027, warning of a $5.4 billion shortfall and asserting that, absent new revenue tools from Albany, the city may have to raise property taxes — possibly by as much as 9.5 percent — on millions of residential and commercial properties. 

This is a grave mistake — not merely for its economic consequences, but for what it signals about governing philosophy in the nation’s largest city.

Property taxes are the most regressive form of taxation in local government. Unlike a tax on incomes or profits, property levies are indiscriminate: they hit long-time homeowners on fixed incomes, working-class families striving to build equity and small business owners who are the backbone of local communities. These levies are not tied to one’s ability to pay, but to a valuation often disconnected from cash flow. For a city already straining under affordability pressures and an elevated cost of living, this is a recipe for further exodus and economic stagnation. 

FREE BUSES, REAL COSTS. INSIDE MAMDANI’S SOCIALIST DREAM TO SHAKEUP TRANSIT FOR NEW YORKERS

To be sure, Mayor Mamdani frames this as a "last resort" or even a strategic lever to pressure Albany to raise taxes on the wealthy and on profitable corporations. But calling it a "last resort" does not mitigate its harm. Mayors and governors negotiate hard — that’s politics. But the collateral damage from a property tax hike would be felt in neighborhoods across all five boroughs: rents edged upward as landlords pass costs through to tenants, small business margins hollowed out and families forced to choose between property ownership and financial survival.

It’s worth recalling that New York City has not raised property taxes in any significant way since the Bloomberg era in the early 2000s, a moment of crisis that demanded extraordinary action. This current proposal comes not in response to an unprecedented calamity, but a political impasse. It is precisely the kind of fiscal brinkmanship that punishes ordinary citizens for elected officials’ inability to craft more responsible solutions.

Proponents of the hike will suggest that property taxes are the only lever left, since the city cannot unilaterally raise income or corporate taxes without Albany’s blessing. But that is an abdication of responsible budgeting, not a defense of it. A mayor who claims to inherit a "historic" budget gap that was sharply reduced — with assistance and careful revenue calibration — undermines the crisis narrative. Indeed, Governor Kathy Hochul has already committed substantial state aid to the city, cutting the gap and undermining the argument that dramatic, city-wide tax increases are imperative. 

Rather than squeezing more out of homeowners and Main Street merchants, City Hall should be scrutinizing wasteful and non-essential spending, streamlining operations, and finding efficiencies within the $127 billion bureaucratic behemoth. The budget reflects priorities — and if spending choices fail to reflect prudence in lean times, that is a political decision, not a fiscal necessity.

'ZOHRANOMICS': NYC MAYOR ZOHRAN MAMDANI’S SOCIALIST MATH DOESN’T ADD UP

Another troubling dimension is the broader economic signal this tax hike would send. New York City already competes fiercely with other global cities for business investment, talent and jobs. Other states with far more competitive tax regimes — including zero income tax states — have lured residents and corporations away from New York for decades. A new, steep property tax increase only reinforces the narrative that economic prosperity in New York comes with a punitive price tag, accelerating demographic and business departures in a state that can least afford it. 

More fundamentally, this episode highlights a deep misunderstanding of what good governance requires: balance, creativity and fairness. True leadership doesn’t simply balance books on paper; it balances the economic health of a city with the vitality of its workforce and the sustainability of its middle class. That means resisting the impulse to raise taxes as the first line of defense and instead engaging in genuine spending reform and economic growth strategies that don’t crush taxpayers.

Yes, cities must sometimes make tough choices. But pitting property owners and small businesses against the perceived wealthy is a false dichotomy. A thriving New York — one with robust job creation, resilient communities and inclusive opportunity — is not built by relentless tax increases. It is built by unleashing economic potential, encouraging investment and ensuring that governance is efficient and fiscally disciplined.

New Yorkers know this instinctively. They are hardworking people who have endured years of rising costs and economic pressures. They simply want the city to spend wisely, and leadership must respect that.

Mayor Mamdani should go back to the drawing board and work with the City Council, stakeholders and the state to find pro-growth solutions. Raising property taxes — not to mention wealth taxes — should not be on the table — least of all as a bargaining chip in political negotiations. Let us pursue growth, reform and opportunity — not tax hikes that risk sending New York backward.

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The Trump administration is appealing a federal judge’s order that voided Donald Trump’s day one memorandum pausing offshore wind energy projects, setting up a high-stakes court fight over green energy initiatives the president has long derided.

The Department of Justice gave notice of the appeal on Wednesday after Judge Patti Saris sided with 17 blue states and a slew of environmental groups in finding that Trump’s memorandum was unlawful. 

Trump has been skeptical of offshore wind energy because of concerns about how it jibes with affordability and about its supply chains and effects on wildlife. But Saris, a Clinton appointee, said delaying wind energy projects improperly affected states’ tax revenue.

EXCLUSIVE: TRUMP ADMIN NIXES GIANT WIND FARM APPROVED 'LAST-MINUTE' BY BIDEN TEAM

"The Commonwealth of Massachusetts alone invested millions of dollars into the wind industry in 2024; it is a ‘rational economic assumption that returns on those investments are imperiled by an indefinite suspension of wind permitting," Saris wrote in December.

The appeal comes as Trump has routinely bashed wind farms, calling them the "SCAM OF THE CENTURY" in a Truth Social post last year and repeatedly raising worries about windmills’ effects on birds and other marine life.

"You want to see a bird graveyard? … Go under a windmill someday. You’ll see more birds than you’ve ever seen ever in your life," Trump said at a rally in 2019.

Trump has also alleged that states relying more heavily on wind and solar power are seeing electricity and energy costs go up.

On the first day of his second term in office, Trump signed a presidential memorandum temporarily blocking all coastal areas from taking on any new offshore wind energy leases. The memorandum ordered a government-wide review of federal wind leasing and permitting practices and instructed federal agencies to indefinitely stop issuing new or renewed permits or loans for wind projects pending an assessment by the Department of the Interior.

HOUSE GOP MOVES TO CEMENT TRUMP ENERGY AGENDA BY TAKING SLEDGEHAMMER TO BIDEN-ERA REGULATIONS

The blue states and climate groups who sued argued that Trump’s memorandum flew in the face of his vows to prioritize domestic energy development.

"The Wind Directive has stopped most wind-energy development in its tracks, despite the fact that wind energy is a homegrown source of reliable, affordable energy that supports hundreds of thousands of jobs, creates billions of dollars in economic activity and tax payments, and supplies more than 10% of the country’s electricity," the plaintiffs’ lawyers wrote.

DOJ lawyers argued in response that the states and climate groups made claims that amounted to "nothing more than a policy disagreement over preferences for wind versus fossil fuel energy development" and that the court did not have jurisdiction over the matter.

The DOJ lawyers said with the emergence of artificial intelligence and "geopolitical uncertainty" in the energy sector, domestic energy production was crucial and that Trump had valid concerns with wind energy, in particular.

"To ensure federally permitted wind energy production may continue in a reliable, affordable, and environmentally responsible manner, President Trump directed federal agencies to temporarily refrain from issuing wind energy permitting authorizations while the Department of the Interior leads a review of federal wind energy permitting and development practices," the lawyers said.

The appeal was filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit. The next step in the process is for the appellate court to set deadlines for the administration and plaintiffs' to submit arguments before deciding how to proceed.

FIRST ON FOX: President Donald Trump is stepping in to fix the sewage leak rocking the Potomac River, with the White House vowing the president will not allow local lawmakers' infrastructure "failures" to slide on his watch. 

"President Trump will not allow the failures of local and state Democrats to diminish the quality of life for millions of Americans," White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers told Fox News Digital Tuesday. 

"In line with the President’s promise to make Washington, D.C. safe and beautiful, President Trump is fixing the disaster exacerbated by Maryland Governor Wes Moore, whose gross mismanagement has allowed millions of gallons of raw sewage to be dumped into the Potomac River," Rogers said. "Just like Governor Moore has failed to address the crime crisis in his state, he has also failed to make long-overdue repairs to Maryland’s water and wastewater infrastructure."

Trump is on a tear, calling on the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and other federal government agencies to protect the Washington, D.C., water supply after a sewage pipe interceptor rupture in January that released an estimated 240 million gallons of raw sewage into the Potomac. The president has directed his ire toward Maryland Gov. Wes Moore on the issue, claiming alleged incompetence led to the disaster. 

TRUMP SLAMS MARYLAND GOVERNOR, LAUNCHES FEDERAL EFFORT TO PROTECT POTOMAC AFTER HISTORIC SEWAGE SPILL

Trump reiterated Tuesday that Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C., leaders are "responsible for the massive sewage spill in the Potomac River" and that if they can't handle the clean-up and prevention, "they have to call me and ask, politely, to get it fixed."

"The Federal Government is not at all involved with what has taken place, but we can fix it," Trump posted to Truth Social Tuesday. "But remember, even in that case, with the Democrat Shutdown, we’ll have to bring in true Patriots to do the work because many are not working right now. These Democrat caused Disasters, both River and Shutdown, will only get worse." 

"The two Governors and the Mayor of D.C. must act, IMMEDIATELY. This is a Radical Left caused Environmental Hazard," the president continued. "With all of their talk about carbon footprints and everything else, they’re allowing hundreds of tons of sewage to pour into the Mighty Potomac, making it much less mighty. ACT FAST. I am awaiting your call. Thank you for your attention to this matter!" 

The administration argued to Fox News Digital that Maryland has state regulatory enforcement authority over Potomac River waters, including rules requiring sewage operators to report, monitor and mitigate unauthorized discharges that threaten public health.

Officials faulted the state for an alleged slow response and lack of prompt coordination with federal entities despite the ruptured D.C. Water line running adjacent to — and over — federal lands. They also said Maryland failed to ensure infrastructure installed in the 1970s remained serviceable as demand changed over the past 50 years, and accused the state of offering little substantive public communication since last month even as other jurisdictions issued updated advisories.

The administration pointed Fox News Digital to a series of infrastructure grades the state of Maryland received from the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), which found the state had a C+ grade for its wastewater infrastructure, and the same grade for its stormwater infrastructure in 2025. The administration described the grades as "nearly failing." 

TRUMP TELLS MEXICO TO FIX CROSS-BORDER SEWAGE PROBLEM FLOWING INTO US COMMUNITIES 'IMMEDIATELY'

All in, the state earned a C grade for its infrastructure, with its transit and energy infrastructure receiving the lowest grades, at D+ marks for both, while its ports and solid waste infrastructure receiving the highest marks at B scores, according to the American Society of Civil Engineers' 2025 report. 

TRUMP, MOORE SPAR AS CORDIAL ARMY-NAVY CLIP RESURFACES

ASCE State report cards are released every four years. Maryland's infrastructure grades from 2025 were largely unchanged from its marks in 2020, when the state also received an overall C grade. 

Moore spokesperson Ammar Moussa blasted Trump over pinning blame for the leak on Maryland in a previous statement, saying on Monday that Trump got his "facts wrong — again."

"Since the last century, the federal government has been responsible for the Potomac Interceptor, which is the origin of the sewage leak. For the last four weeks, the Trump Administration has failed to act, shirking its responsibility and putting people's health at risk," Moussa said. "Notably, the president’s own EPA explicitly refused to participate in the major legislative hearing about the cleanup last Friday."

"Apparently the Trump administration hadn’t gotten the memo that they’re actually supposed to be in charge here," Moussa said. 

Moore's office argued the White House's latest statement and claim that Maryland is to blame for the leak is "factually incorrect," while underscoring the origin of the leak falls under federal review. 

"Mr. President, this spill is basically contained," Moore posted to X Tuesday. "So could you approve the @FEMA funding to help Western Maryland rebuild after the historic floods last year? @Sec_Noem, tagging you here too for good measure. Thank you for your attention to this matter!"

The Potomac Interceptor was identified as the source of the leak, and is operated by DC Water, the District’s water and sewer utility. 

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lee Zeldin said on X later Tuesday that Maryland and Washington, D.C., officials had yet to request assistance from the EPA over the matter. He said that DC Water was leading clean-up efforts, and that the state of Maryland was providing "regulatory oversight related to water quality standard exceedances in the Potomac related to unauthorized discharges of wastewater."

"This mess must be completely addressed as fast as humanly possible, and the Trump EPA stands ready, motivated, and highly capable to assist in any way possible to fulfill President Trump’s strong desire to END this disaster," Zeldin posted to X. 

"At no point in the lead up to today had DC Water or the state of Maryland requested EPA to take over their responsibilities, and EPA has continued to offer its full support to state and local leaders from the onset. We are ALWAYS ready to lead and assist with our exceptional agency team!!" he continued. 

The sewage issue has attracted demands cutting across the political spectrum to clean up the issue and prevent it from happening again, including environmentalists focused on ending pollution in the Potomac. 

"I want them to fix the problem, come up with a real, meaningful spill prevention plan or something like this could never happen again," Dean Naujoks with Potomac Riverkeeper Network told DC News Now in February of the spill. 

BRIDGE COLLAPSE AID BECOMES ECONOMIC WEAPON IN ESCALATING TRUMP-MOORE FEUD

Trump took a direct shot at Moore for the sewage leak Monday, calling it a "gross mismanagement of local Democrat leaders," while directing federal officials to "immediately provide all necessary Management, Direction, and Coordination to protect the Potomac, the Water Supply in the Capital Region, and our treasured National Resources in our Nation’s Capital City."

"This is the same Governor who cannot rebuild a bridge. It is clear local authorities cannot adequately handle this calamity," Trump said of Moore, referring to a dragged out timeline to rebuild the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge on the Baltimore Beltway.

Fox News Digital's Charles Creitz contributed to this report. 

Florida police arrested an agitator outside President Donald Trump's West Palm Beach golf course this weekend.

Police say the man, identified as Paul Messer, was engaging with anti-Trump protesters across from the golf club on Sunday when he got into a verbal dispute with another protester and struck her multiple times in the upper chest and neck with a metal flagpole, according to the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office.

The woman stumbled backward and had visible redness on the right side of her neck. Messer was taken into custody and transported to the Palm Beach County Jail on a battery charge.

The White House press pool following Trump witnessed the altercation, saying Messer was holding a pro-Trump flag during the incident.

ATTEMPTED TRUMP ASSASSIN TO LEARN SENTENCE, WITH PROSECUTORS SEEKING LIFE

"As we continue to hold across from the golf club, a small group of protesters gathered by a barricade. Some had signs that read 'F--- ICE,’ while another couple displayed pro-Trump flags. A man with a Trump flag was then arrested by a sheriff’s deputy. A small group continues to stand by the barricade with their signs," a pool report said.

The altercation came just weeks after Trump played golf with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis at the Trump International Golf Club. Rounding out their foursome were college football coaching legends Urban Meyer and Nick Saban.

SMILING ANTI-ICE AGITATOR ACCUSED OF PUNCHING FLORIDA TROOPER AS DESANTIS ASSERTS 'THIS IS NOT MINNEAPOLIS'

Trump signaled warmer relations with the Florida governor last summer, and Florida has in turn increasingly aligned itself with key Trump administration priorities.

Among those priorities is the "Make America Healthy Again" initiative launched by Trump’s Department of Health and Human Services, which DeSantis has moved to embrace. As a result, DeSantis’ state kicked off its "Healthy Florida First" initiative in January, an effort across the state to test for contaminants in food products that DeSantis said is in lockstep with the administration’s priorities.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., vowed Sunday that Senate Democrats will block the latest GOP-backed effort to require proof of citizenship to vote.

"We will not let it pass in the Senate," Schumer told CNN’s Jake Tapper. "We are fighting it tooth and nail. It's an outrageous proposal that is, you know, that shows the sort of political bias of the MAGA right. They don't want poor people to vote. They don't want people of color to vote because they often don't vote for them."

Schumer’s comments came after Tapper pressed him on his opposition, noting that polling shows roughly 83% of Americans support some form of voter identification. That figure comes from a Pew Research poll published last year that found 71% of Democratic voters surveyed supported presenting an ID to vote.

COLLINS BOOSTS REPUBLICAN VOTER ID EFFORT, BUT WON’T SCRAP FILIBUSTER

Still, Schumer and most Senate Democrats have criticized the Safeguarding American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) America Act, which passed the House last week and is expected to face a vote in the Senate.

The bill would require proof of citizenship to register to vote and would establish a system for state election officials to share information with federal authorities to verify voter rolls. It would also allow the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to pursue immigration cases if noncitizens are found listed as eligible voters.

Schumer and his caucus have panned the bill as voter suppression targeting poorer Americans and minority groups.

FETTERMAN SLAMS DEMOCRATS' 'JIM CROW 2.0' VOTER ID RHETORIC AS PARTY UNITY FRACTURES

"What they are proposing in this so-called SAVE Act is like Jim Crow 2.0," Schumer said. "They make it so hard to get any kind of voter ID that more than 20 million legitimate people, mainly poorer people and people of color, will not be able to vote under this law."

Without support from Senate Democrats — save for a possible defection from Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa. — the bill is likely to fail.

The only way around that would be eliminating the Senate’s 60-vote filibuster threshold — a move Republicans oppose — or forcing a so-called talking filibuster that could require hours of debate and stall other Senate business.

HARDLINE CONSERVATIVES DOUBLE DOWN TO SAVE THE SAVE ACT

Schumer also pushed back on comments from DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, who earlier this week said elections "may be one of the most important things that we need to make sure we trust, is reliable, and that when it gets to Election Day that we've been proactive to make sure that we have the right people voting, electing the right leaders to lead this country."

The comments come as Senate Democrats and the White House negotiate funding for DHS, which has been shut down since midnight Friday.

Part of those negotiations includes Democrats’ demand that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents be kept away from several areas, including schools and polling places.

"That's a load of bull," Schumer said. "They show no evidence of voter fraud. They show there's so little in the country. And to have ICE agents, these thugs, be by the polling places, that just flies in the face of how democracy works, of how we've had elections for hundreds of years, very successfully."