The Trump administration took a shot at former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton after she rallied Americans to reject President Donald Trump’s White House ballroom construction project, accusing the former first lady of stealing furniture from 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. in 2001. 

‘Failed presidential candidate and former First Lady Crooked Hillary Clinton stole furniture from the White House on her way out until she was forced to return it,’ White House spokesman Davis Ingle told Fox News Digital Wednesday. ‘Crooked Hillary is shameless and a total disgrace.’ 

‘Meanwhile, President Trump is restoring the White House to its proper glory for Americans to enjoy for generations to come — at no expense to the taxpayer — something we should all celebrate,’ Ingle added. 

Clinton took to social media earlier in October to rally support against Trump’s ballroom construction at the White House — a privately-funded project to install a 90,000-square-foot entertaining space at the iconic residence. 

‘It’s not his house,’ Hillary Clinton wrote on X Tuesday morning. ‘It’s your house. And he’s destroying it.’ 

Clinton’s comment was quickly mocked, as conservatives rehashed a 2001 controversy when former President Bill Clinton and his wife took household items from the White House that were legally designated as White House property, according to The Washington Post at the time. 

The Clintons took, and then returned, an estimated $28,000 in White House furnishings provided by donors, and paid $86,000 to the federal government for other gifts they received in 2001, after Clinton’s tenure in the Oval Office came to a close, The Washington Post reported at the time. The former first couple denied wrongdoing while addressing the ‘catalogoing error.’ 

‘Gifts did not leave the White House without the approval of the White House usher’s and curator’s offices,’ the Clintons said in a 2001 statement. ‘Of course, if the White House now determines that a cataloging error occurred … any item in question will be returned.’

Conservatives, including lawmakers and social media influencers, knocked Clinton over the 2001 controversy in response to her comments against the ballroom construction. 

‘At least he didn’t steal the silverware,’ Texas Sen. Ted Cruz posted to X Tuesday lambasting Clinton.  

‘Hi Hillary, Remind us, wasn’t it you who walked off with $28,000 in White House furniture when you moved out?’ conservative influencer Benny Johnson posted to X. ‘And your husband who defiled the Oval Office during his presidency? President Trump’s funding a beautiful new ballroom out of his own pocket.’ 

‘A Clinton would never defile the White House,’ former White House staffer Alex Pfeiffer shot back in response. 

Fox News Digital reached out to Clinton’s office multiple times for additional comment on her anti-ballroom remarks and subsequent mockery of the 2001 controversy but did not receive replies. 

Trump announced Monday that construction for the ballroom had begun. 

‘I am pleased to announce that ground has been broken on the White House grounds to build the new, big, beautiful White House Ballroom,’ Trump wrote on Truth Social. ‘Completely separate from the White House itself, the East Wing is being fully modernized as part of this process, and will be more beautiful than ever when it is complete!’ 

‘For more than 150 years, every President has dreamt about having a Ballroom at the White House to accommodate people for grand parties, State Visits, etc. I am honored to be the first President to finally get this much-needed project underway — with zero cost to the American Taxpayer!’ he continued. ‘The White House Ballroom is being privately funded by many generous Patriots, Great American Companies, and, yours truly. This Ballroom will be happily used for Generations to come!’

Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who arrived in Israel shortly after Vice President JD Vance left for Washington, railed against the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) amid the U.S.-brokered ceasefire.

‘UNRWA’s not going to play any role in it,’ Rubio said when asked about whether the controversial agency would assist in delivering humanitarian aid to Gaza. ‘The United Nations is here. They’re on the ground. We’re willing to work with them if they can make it work, but not UNRWA. UNRWA became a subsidiary of Hamas.’

UNRWA demanded in a post on X that it be allowed to do work in Gaza.

‘As the largest U.N. agency operating in the Gaza Strip, by far, UNRWA has an unparalleled logistical network, longstanding trust from the community, managing the distribution of supplies based on vulnerability and clear criteria. Our teams are ready, inside and outside Gaza. Let us work,’ the agency wrote.

On Oct. 17, days after world leaders backed a U.S.-brokered ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas, U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) opened a Civil-Military Coordination Center (CMCC), which is where Rubio spoke on Friday.

The CMCC is located in southern Israel and will serve as the main hub for Gaza stabilization efforts. It will also oversee implementation of the ceasefire agreement and has an operations floor designed to track real-time developments in Gaza.

During the U.N. General Assembly (UNGA) last month, U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres spoke at a meeting in support of UNRWA, saying that the agency has ‘made invaluable contributions to development, human rights, humanitarian action, and peace and security, including for Israel.’

‘UNRWA is vital to any prospects for peace and stability in the region,’ Guterres added.

However, the U.S. and Israel have taken hard stances against the agency, particularly in the wake of the Oct. 7, 2023, massacre.

President Donald Trump in February reaffirmed the U.S.’s commitment to not fund UNRWA. 

In the executive order, Trump said that ‘UNRWA has reportedly been infiltrated by members of groups long designated by the Secretary of State as foreign terrorist organizations, and UNRWA employees were involved in the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel.’

In April 2025, when the International Court of Justice (ICJ) demanded Israel work with UNRWA, Washington backed Jerusalem, saying it was under no obligation to work with the agency and had ‘ample grounds to question UNRWA’s impartiality.’

UNRWA announced in August 2024 the end of an investigation by the Office of Internal Oversight Services into whether its staff participated in the attacks, as Israel claimed. Following the probe, which looked into 19 UNRWA staff members, nine staff members were fired over evidence that ‘could indicate’ they were involved in the attacks.

The investigation found one case in which there was no evidence to confirm the staffer’s involvement and nine other cases in which ‘the evidence obtained by OIOS was insufficient’ to prove their participation, according to UNRWA.

Fox News Digital reached out to UNRWA and Israel’s mission to the U.N. for comment.

Fox News Digital’s Alexandra Koch contributed to this report.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., is remaining quiet on the New York City mayoral race, despite his self-imposed deadline of weighing in before early voting fast approaches on Saturday morning.

The top House Democrat was asked multiple times about Democratic socialist candidate Zohran Mamdani, and whether he will endorse him, during a press conference at the U.S. Capitol on Friday.

Jeffries has said multiple times that he would speak about the race before early voting begins in New York City — which is coming at 9 a.m. ET on Saturday.

‘Stay tuned,’ he told one reporter when asked if he was ready to endorse Mamdani.

He was asked about Mamdani again a short while later, when a reporter queried, ‘Why are you refusing to endorse?’

‘I have not refused to endorse. I have refused to articulate my position, and I will momentarily, at some point in advance of early voting,’ Jeffries said.

A third reporter asked Jeffries whether he believed his refusal to endorse was ‘splitting the Democratic Party.’

‘I traveled throughout the country, and the Democratic Party is as unified as I’ve seen us throughout the entirety of this year, and you’re about to experience that in real time. So it won’t be hypothetical. You’re about to see it in real time in Virginia, in New Jersey, and in California as it relates to prop 50,’ Jeffries said, without mentioning his home state of New York.

‘As I’ve said, I will have more to say about the mayor’s race when I have more to say about the mayor’s race in advance of early voting, when I’m back home tomorrow.’

Fox News Digital then asked why Jeffries was waiting until the 11th hour to weigh in on the race, to which he tersely responded, ‘This question has been asked and answered repeatedly.’

Notably, Jeffries would not have been able to make his endorsement at the press conference. Lawmakers are barred from making political statements or solicitations on Capitol grounds.

Mamdani is the current frontrunner in the race between himself, Republican Curtis Sliwa, and former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who is running as an Independent.

While he’s gained support from progressives in Congress, including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., the top two Democrats on Capitol Hill — Jeffries and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. — have been silent.

Politico reported on Friday afternoon that Jeffries would endorse Mamdani later Friday.

The State Department has spent nearly $100 million less on travel this year than last amid a wider effort to trim budgets, according to documents exclusively obtained by Fox News Digital.

From January to September 2024, the Biden administration State Department spent $306 million on foreign and domestic travel. At the same point this year, the department under President Donald Trump spent $212 million, according to documents seen by Fox News Digital.

Some $37 million in cuts was focused on domestic travel, largely driven by a decrease in conference attendance, which made up nearly $7 million of the cuts.

Site visits and consultations within the U.S. also decreased by around $14 million and domestic special mission travel was down around $5.5 million.

Overseas travel decreased from $206 million from January-September 2024 to $149 million.

Site visits and consultations overseas were down around $12.5 million and travel for training was down around $15 million.

‘The Trump Administration has consistently been on the side of the American people and the American taxpayer, and these numbers prove that,’ principal deputy spokesperson Tommy Piggot said.

‘We believe in real diplomacy, not meetings for the sake of meetings.’

This travel-spending decline comes amid a broader effort by the Trump administration to shrink the department’s footprint and reduce overseas commitments. In April 2025, the Office of Management and Budget wrote a memo recommending the combined budget of the State Department and USAID be cut nearly in half in the upcoming fiscal year.

The plan would reduce the budget from about $55 billion to $28.4 billion, slash funding for humanitarian assistance and global health programs by more than 50%, and potentially shut down or significantly scale back dozens of U.S. missions abroad.

And as of July, the department had initiated layoffs of over 1,300 domestic staff.