President Donald Trump’s push to expand U.S. mining and loosen China’s global grip on critical minerals is colliding with his administration’s defense in court of a Biden-era veto blocking Alaska’s copper-rich Pebble Mine, reviving scrutiny of Donald Trump Jr.’s past opposition to the project.

The fight over Pebble Mine has spanned multiple administrations. Including in 2014, when the Obama Environmental Protection Agency concluded mining in Bristol Bay’s headwaters could damage the world’s largest sockeye salmon fishery. Biden’s EPA vetoed the project in January 2023, prompting a lawsuit from Pebble and the state of Alaska. The Trump Department of Justice is now defending that veto in court. 

The clash under the Trump administration has given Pebble supporters new ammunition to argue the White House is undercutting its own agenda as Trump races to secure domestic supplies of copper and other minerals critical to defense systems and advanced technology.

It also puts Trump Jr.’s stance on Pebble Mine back in focus. In 2020, Trump Jr. publicly opposed the mine, joining GOP operative Nick Ayers, who served as chief of staff to former Vice President Mike Pence, in citing concerns about the local bay’s ecosystem. 

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“As a sportsman who has spent plenty of time in the area I agree 100% [with Ayers],” Trump Jr. wrote on X in August 2020. “The headwaters of Bristol Bay and the surrounding fishery are too unique and fragile to take any chances with. #PebbleMine.”

Policy paradox

John Shively, CEO of Pebble Limited Partnership, the company hoping to develop the mine, contended that the Trump DOJ defending the Biden-era veto undermines the president’s agenda and would force the United States to cede copper and rare earth minerals to Beijing. Shively called the veto a “textbook example of D.C. bureaucrats imposing their will on Alaska.”

“It sort of conflicts a little bit with what President Trump is doing,” Shively told Fox News Digital in an interview. “I’ll give him credit. One of the things I like to say in life is, ‘If you don’t recognize a problem, you’re never going to solve it.’ Well, they have recognized we’re in serious trouble in getting minerals in this country and metals, and so it’s a little surprising they continued the EPA lawsuit.”

The White House and EPA did not respond to multiple requests for comment for this story. The DOJ, which is representing EPA in court as it fights to keep the Biden-era veto in place, declined to comment and deferred to the EPA.

Since Trump took office, his administration has moved quickly to dismantle the environmental policies of his liberal predecessors and strengthen the United States’ mineral supply. Trump signed executive orders that declared a national emergency on critical minerals, directed federal agencies to fast-track permitting processes and expanded the government’s list of critical minerals by adding copper and nine others to the list.

Trump Jr., an avid outdoorsman, has not spoken to the president or anyone in the administration during this term about Pebble Mine, but he did weigh in on the matter with his father in the first term, a source close to Trump Jr. told Fox News Digital. 

One industry source who spoke to Fox News Digital pointed to Trump Jr. and Ayers, attributing the Trump administration’s position on Pebble Mine in part to them. Ayers, like Trump Jr., openly opposed the mine in an X post in 2020.

“Like millions of conservationists and sportsmen, I am hoping @realDonaldTrump will direct @EPA to block the Pebble mine in Bristol Bay,” Ayers wrote on X. “A Canadian company will unnecessarily mine the USA’s greatest fishery at a severe cost. This should be stopped.” Pebble, which is spearheading the mine project, is a U.S. offshoot of Canadian company Northern Dynasty Minerals.

Ayers did not provide comment for this story.

The source close to Trump Jr. said that in the first administration, the president’s son told associates he was concerned, having been to Bristol Bay to fish on multiple occasions, about the mine’s potential effect on the ecosystem there.

The industry source balked at the Trump administration’s Pebble Mine contradiction, saying it was rooted in profit motives. The source told Fox News Digital that “these guys are cheap dates. … Like you sold your soul for a fishing trip on a boat for a week.” 

“How can you open at the one hand this reserve of rare earths to stop the Chinese from cornering the market, but then say, ‘We’re not going to have our own mining industry’?” the source said.

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When asked about potential outside influences affecting the administration’s position, Shively said: “Instead of focusing on comments from the past, we hope the administration is worried about the next president using this EPA veto to shut down signature Trump energy and critical mineral projects.”

A ‘kill switch’ to save the salmon

The veto, also known as a “kill switch,” is a rarely-used mechanism of the Clean Water Act. The law allows a company to seek a mining permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, but the EPA can use the kill switch to block the permit.

Pebble’s permit request was rejected in the first Trump term, but Pebble won a reversal of that decision through an internal appeals process. That internal process was still playing out when the Biden administration issued the veto.

Pebble is asking the court to scrap the veto and allow the company to continue with the permitting process.

Pebble lawyers have argued that the company “spent decades and a billion dollars planning the safest and least impactful mine possible” and that studies adequately addressed the salmon concerns.

Copper and other critical minerals

China is the world’s leading import source for more than two dozen critical minerals, including most rare earth minerals. The Trump administration has said that domestic access to critical minerals, including rare earths, is fundamental to national security and AI infrastructure.

The United States has, in recent decades, gone from dominating the production of the world’s rare earths to relying on China, which now controls roughly 70% of mining and nearly 90% of refining, Fox News Digital previously reported. 

China dominates the refining of many critical minerals and more than half of global copper refining, while the U.S. imports roughly 45% of its copper supply. Pebble says the mine could supply about 15% of U.S. copper demand.

“We’ve already committed to building a lot more defense capacity,” Shively said, noting that copper would be used for nuclear submarines, large aircraft carriers, jets and more crucial defense supplies.

In addition to copper, the Pebble mineral deposit is also rich in rare earths, Shively said, noting Pebble could mine rhenium and molydbdenum, which is used to strengthen steel. 

Shively said the veto, if the court approves it, would set a dangerous precedent that allows future administrations and activists to level broader Clean Water Act vetoes. The current veto targets an expansive 220,000-acre area of Alaska containing an estimated 80 billion pounds of copper, according to court papers. 

“If they can use this tool against us, they can use it anywhere in the country,” Shively said. “And when you get rabid environmentalists in government, they tend to use these kinds of tools.”

Briefing in the lawsuit is set to be completed by mid-April, and the court could issue a decision anytime after that or call for oral arguments to continue examining the fight.

FIRST ON FOX: A parental rights advocacy organization is sounding the alarm over the American Academy of Pediatrics’ (AAP) support for transgender medical procedures for minors and encouragement of healthcare providers to withhold the sexual health and history of underage patients from parents.

The American Parents’ Coalition compiled a “lookout” showcasing videos and public statements by AAP asserting that “science” supports “gender-affirming care,” which can range from puberty blockers to cross-sex hormones to surgeries for minors. The launch of the online parental notification system comes weeks before AAP is scheduled to hold its advocacy conference in Virginia from April 12 to April 14.

American Parents Coalition Executive Director Alleigh Marré accused AAP of acting like “a political advocacy group, putting ideology ahead of evidence and children’s wellbeing.” The “lookout” states that during AAP’s 2025 Leadership Conference, 98% of its members voted to make protecting sex change treatments its top resolution. 

“Even as health systems abroad rethink experimental gender interventions, the AAP has doubled down on aggressive and irreversible procedures rather than exercise basic caution,” Marre said. “By prioritizing resolutions that elevate transgender interventions and partnering with activist groups, the AAP is acting to protect a political project.”

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In addition to advocating for sex change treatments for minors, AAP advocates for other political agendas, including banning so-called “assault weapons” and red flag laws, which allow courts to temporarily remove firearms from individuals deemed a risk to themselves or others.

A 2023 blog post on AAP’s website titled “Supporting Our Transgender and Gender-diverse Youth” stresses that doctors must provide “unconditional support” to underage patients, including asking their pronouns, using their preferred name and prioritizing their desires to change their gender over the concerns of parents.

“We have heard from parents, “I just don’t understand” in many of our conversations,” the blog post stated. “When patients and parents disagree about next steps for affirmation, acknowledge parents’ concerns, but always support your patient. When youth are not affirmed, there is a significant increase in depression, anxiety, risky behaviors, and suicide.”

However, at least two research reviews conducted by the United Kingdom and the United States governments indicate that performing transgender medical procedures on minors may not carry significant benefits.

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A 2025 report from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) concluded there is a lack of proven benefit that medical and surgical sex-reassignment procedures alleviate a patient’s gender dysphoria. Additionally, a report by the National Health Service England found that a medical pathway may not be the best way to address gender-related stress and advised “extreme caution” for hormonal therapy for minors.

In June 2025, AAP President Susan Kressly criticized the Supreme Court’s ruling upholding Tennessee’s ban on providing minors with puberty blockers and hormones, accusing the decision of robbing children of “basic human dignity.”

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“Gender-affirming care is medically necessary for treating gender dysphoria and is backed by decades of peer-reviewed research, clinical experience, and scientific consensus,” Kressly said in a statement at the time.

Do No Harm Chief Medical Officer Kurt Miceli argued that AAP is misrepresenting “the low quality of evidence” supporting “gender-affirming care,” which “can cause lasting harm” to children.

“They are among the staunchest supporters of sex-rejecting procedures for minors, vehemently criticizing HHS’s comprehensive evidence review yet refusing to submit a peer review when invited,” Miceli said. “It is now time for the AAP to re-evaluate their policy statement and follow the American Society of Plastic Surgeons in opposing these harmful, unscientific, and dangerous practices on American kids.”

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AAP also created an Adolescent Health Care Toolkit geared toward teaching pediatricians how to engage in sensitive conversations surrounding an underage patient’s sexual activity, their gender identity, and even connecting the patient with emergency contraception based on understanding that this information will not be relayed back to the patient’s parents.

In one of the videos, Kelsey, a 17-year-old “patient,” talked about having sex with her “girlfriend” named Mary, who had a penis. At the beginning of the video, the doctor ensured with Kelsey that their discussion “stayed between the two of us” unless there was a concern for her safety or another person. The doctor discussed plans for birth control and ways to prevent a sexually transmitted infection. 

In another training video, a 15-year-old girl told her doctor that she was a “gender-queer-demi-boy.” The girl said she had not shared this information with her parents, and the doctor assured her he would keep it between the two of them.

In 2025, AAP received roughly $19 million in grants from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The Trump administration terminated $12 million in grants, with HHS Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. accusing AAP’s recommendations of being “just a pay-to-play scheme to promote commercial ambitions.” AAP sued, and a federal judge restored the grants as the litigation plays out in court.

Fox News Digital reached out to AAP for comment.

Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger faced dueling controversies this week as her Republican predecessor publicly rebuked her over support for Democrats’ redistricting amendment, and an Angel Mom challenged her on immigration enforcement.

Virginia has been ground zero for Democrats’ left-wing agenda since the former Henrico County congresswoman took office in January, from reversing Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s cooperation pact with DHS to supporting legislative Democrats’ alleged “power grab” to draw out every Republican congressman in the Commonwealth except Rep. Morgan Griffith in the far southwest.

During a visit to Culpeper, a largely but increasingly less rural population center between Front Royal and Richmond, Spanberger was pressed on her relative silence on the case of Stephanie Minter, a Fredericksburg mother allegedly murdered by an illegal immigrant convict at a Fairfax County bus stop last month.

As she was escorted to her car by security after an affordable housing event, local ABC reporter Nick Minock shouted a question about what her message would be to Minter’s family and others harmed by illegal immigrant felons.

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“My question would be why when there was a [unintelligible word] deportation order, ICE did not deport,” she said as she was hastened into the car.

“ICE had him in custody for 700 days governor and an immigration judge would not allow him be deported to Sierra Leone,” Minock attempted to respond as the car door shut.

Minock said Minter’s mother, Cheryl, who headlined a vigil for her daughter in front of Spanberger’s office at the Capitol earlier this week, told him that ICE had been doing what they were supposed to under current law and that “Spanberger needs to check her story because it’s inaccurate and misleading.”

That exchange came as Culpeper became the center of another case involving an illegal immigrant accused of heinous crimes, this time soliciting sexual imagery from children.

Angel David Rubio Marin was charged on March 16 with soliciting sexual content from children amid two previous charges of public masturbation, according to a statement from DHS obtained by Fox News Digital.

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Culpeper police arrested Rubio Marin, who, according to local authorities, was soliciting sexually explicit videos in exchange for “Roblox,” a popular gaming currency, from at least three children under the age of 10. He was previously arrested in Prince William County in 2024 for allegedly exposing himself in public but was released.

Meanwhile, Spanberger took more incoming from the typically mild-mannered Youngkin – who was term limited when he left office in January.

After releasing a short video calling on Virginia voters to “vote yes” on State Senate President L. Louise Lucas’ new map that draws about half of Virginia’s districts into the densely Democratic D.C. suburbs, Youngkin responded on X, calling her posturing a “blatant lie.”

“This is a lie. A blatant lie. Not to mention a complete reversal of your campaign promises,” Youngkin said, as Spanberger speaks out in the video to say the new map is “temporary” and is “directly in response to what other states decide to do and to a president who said he’s quote entitled to more republican seats before this year’s midterms.”

Spanberger previously publicly criticized the idea of mid-decennial redistricting while in Congress, which Youngkin was referring to.

“This unconstitutional power grab will permanently rig Virginia’s congressional maps and disenfranchise millions of Virginians. Virginia, vote no,” he said.

Rep. Jennifer Kiggans, R-Va., whose Eastern Shore and Virginia Beach district is expected to be drawn partially into the liberal cities of Hampton Roads, similarly blasted Spanberger’s flip-flop highlighted by Youngkin.

“I have no plans to redistrict Virginia,” Kiggans quoted Spanberger, citing a report dated August 25.

“I am tired of the blatant lies to our face. The lack of truthfulness from this administration and the Democrat Party needs to wake up Virginians,” Kiggans said. “Don’t tell us one thing and then do another.”

“Whatever happened to affordability,” she said on Instagram.

Youngkin’s interjection was also met by supportive surprise from other recent Virginia Republican leaders, including former Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli.

“Wow. Unusually strong language from Glenn Youngkin and of course, he’s correct on all points,” Cuccinelli said in a statement on social media.

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The Virginia Republican Party, currently chaired by James City County GOP Committeeman Jeff Ryer, added that “some things never change.”

“Abigail Spanberger shamefully deflects blame for Democrat sanctuary and soft-on-crime policies that keep dangerous criminals like Abdul Jalloh on Virginia streets,” Ryer said, in reference to the illegal immigrant accused of murdering Minter.

“No sympathy for the victims. No accountability for how her own party allowed this tragedy to occur. Virginians deserve better.”

Fox News Digital reached out to Spanberger for comment.

House conservatives are ripping into a Senate-passed deal that would end the 42-day Department of Homeland Security (DHS) shutdown, citing concerns that the bill fails to fund President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown.

The House Freedom Caucus said Friday it will withhold its support for the DHS funding measure until Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) are given full-year appropriations. The conservative group also wants voter ID requirements added to the bill.

“We can’t believe that the Senate abdicated its responsibility this morning of not funding the child sex trafficking investigation division of ICE, that they didn’t fund the Border Patrol,” HFC chairman Rep. Andy Harris, R-Md., told reporters. “The only thing we’re going to support is adding that funding into the bill, adding voter ID, sending it back to the Senate, make them come back in and do their work.”

“The bottom line is … this deal is bad for America,” Harris continued.

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The Senate-passed product provided funding for all of DHS minus ICE and parts of the Border Patrol, enraging some conservatives who viewed the agreement as a capitulation to Democrats. 

“Republicans must also make sure this never happens again,” Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., told Fox News Digital, adding that he opposed the funding deal.

The measure, however, did not include a bevy of immigration reforms demanded by Democrats — a notable win for Republicans. Scott and other Senate Republicans have teased a forthcoming budget package that would give an infusion to Trump’s immigration agenda.

The conservative opposition to the Senate’s spending agreement comes as House GOP leadership has also not committed to passing the funding measure.

“We just have the number one main objective to see that we can get the entire Department of Homeland Security properly funded,” House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., told Fox News on Friday. “There’s a lot of threats out there.”

House Democrats, however, are indicating they will support the Senate’s DHS legislation.

“We support reopening the parts of the Department of Homeland Security that Donald Trump and Republicans recklessly shut down,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., said Friday. “We support paying TSA agents, and we support ending the chaos at airports.”

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House conservatives’ opposition complicates House GOP leadership’s path to steering the measure through the chamber.

A traditionally partisan “rule” vote teeing up the legislation for a vote on final passage would almost certainly fail if Democrats withhold their support. Meanwhile, House rules prohibit Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., from advancing the measure through a suspension vote — requiring a two-thirds majority — between Thursday and Sunday.

House conservatives are also voicing frustration that the SAVE America Act has stalled in the Senate due to bipartisan opposition from all Senate Democrats and a handful of moderate Republicans.

The Senate left Washington on Friday for the Easter recess rather than continue to debate the Trump-backed election integrity bill.

“We the House should AMEND the Senate bill, ADD VOTER ID AND FORCE A VOTE in the SENATE,” Rep. Andy Ogles, R-Tenn., wrote on social media Friday morning. 

Senate Democrats notably filibustered a voter ID measure sponsored by Sen. Jon Husted, R-Ohio, on Thursday.

Conservative GOP lawmakers have also argued that because Trump took executive action to fund beleaguered Transportation Security Administration (TSA) agents on Thursday, delaying the passage of a DHS funding measure would not worsen air travel disruptions.

“The president has already said he’s going to fund TSA out of funds he has,” Harris said Friday. “It’s not going to affect the airports if we don’t do this today.

A bipartisan panel of House lawmakers voted to kickstart a process that could lead to the expulsion of a congressional Democrat accused of laundering millions of disaster relief funds into her campaign account.

A House Ethics investigative subcommittee approved a motion for summary judgment, effectively finding Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, D-Fla., guilty of nearly all alleged violations outlined by the committee earlier this year. 

The verdict came after a rare public ethics hearing on Thursday — the first since 2010 — that lasted more than six hours as lawmakers from both parties grilled Cherfilus-McCormick’s counsel. The eight-member adjudicatory subcommittee, helmed by Rep. Michael Guest, R-Miss., announced its decision in a written statement Friday morning. 

“After careful deliberation that lasted until well past midnight, the adjudicatory subcommittee found that Counts 1-15 and 17-26 of the SAV [statement of alleged violations] had been proven,” committee leaders said in a statement.

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The panel’s myriad charges against Cherfilus-McCormick, who is facing a separate federal criminal indictment, ranged from using ineligible funds to finance her campaign to repeatedly filing false financial disclosure forms and seeking “special favors” with recipients of earmark funding requests.

The panel will meet after the Easter recess to determine its recommended punishment, which could be as severe as expulsion. Rep. Greg Steube, R-Fla., has vowed to move forward with his resolution that would expel Cherfilus-McCormick regardless of the outcome. 

Under House rules, two-thirds of lawmakers have to agree to expel a member, meaning Steube’s resolution would need the support of some Democrats. 

House Democratic leadership has largely stood by Cherfilus-McCormick so far, though some congressional Democrats are signaling their discomfort with the allegations against their indicted colleague.

“The allegations before us are extremely serious,” Rep. Mark Desaulnier, D-Calif., said at the start of the hearing Thursday. “They not only concern an individual member’s conduct, they also implicate the public’s confidence in the House’s integrity as an institution.”

Cherfilus-McCormick, who first won election to Congress in 2021, is accused of stealing more than $5 million in disaster relief funds that were improperly paid to her family’s healthcare company, among other criminal allegations. She and her siblings allegedly used the illicit funds to jumpstart her congressional campaign and for personal use, including the purchase of a large diamond ring that Cherfilus-McCormick appeared to have worn in her official congressional portrait. 

Cherfilus-McCormick has pleaded not guilty to the stunning federal charges brought in 2025. If convicted in federal court, Cherfilus-McCormick, 47, faces up to 53 years in prison.

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The House ethics panel’s investigation into Cherfilus-McCormick preceded the 2025 federal criminal indictment by more than two years. During that time, Cherfilus-McCormick shifted between four different attorneys while largely refusing to cooperate with the bipartisan panel.

On Thursday, Cherfilus-McCormick sought to use the fact of her new legal representation to further delay the committee’s proceedings until June — a request the eight-member panel promptly denied in a closed-door session. Her new attorney, William Barzee, repeatedly claimed a violation of Cherfilus-McCormick’s due process rights while maintaining her innocence.

“For you to sit here and make the claim that we, the committee, is trying to trample upon the rights of your client. I take offense to that,” Guest told Barzee in a combative exchange. “For two years we’ve tried to get documents from your client. Not only have we requested documents, but we have subpoenaed those documents. Those documents were not provided for two years.”

“I’m personally offended because I know the work that this committee goes to protect all members and to make sure that we go above and beyond,” Guest continued.

Members of both parties appeared unconvinced by Barzee’s argument, attempting to claim that Cherfilus-McCormick was entitled to the millions of dollars she accepted from her family’s company that stemmed from the FEMA overpayments.

When he claimed that an undated chart was evidence of a “profit-sharing agreement” showing her legal title to the money, the bipartisan panel appeared visibly perturbed. 

“I did a lot of business transaction law for a number of years before I came to Congress. I drafted a lot of profit-sharing agreements. Never saw one that was just a chart that was unsigned,” Rep. Nathaniel Moran, R-Texas, told Barzee.

Later in the hearing, Barzee argued that because Cherfilus-McCormick is of Haitian descent, it was not atypical to have a “handshake agreement” to divvy up millions of dollars between her and her family instead of a formal legal document.

Cherfilus-McCormick faces an upcoming federal criminal trial this summer.