The United States military struck ISIS terrorists on Friday after two U.S. service members were killed along with an interpreter, according to Department of War Secretary Pete Hegseth.

Fox News reported that over 70 targets were struck in the operation that included “ISIS infrastructure and weapons storage sites,” according to a top U.S. official.

‘This is not the beginning of a war — it is a declaration of vengeance.’

“Earlier today, U.S. forces commenced OPERATION HAWKEYE STRIKE in Syria to eliminate ISIS fighters, infrastructure, and weapons sites in direct response to the attack on U.S. forces that occurred on December 13th in Palmyra, Syria,” Hegseth wrote on social media.

A lone Islamic State gunman ambushed the U.S. forces in Palmyra, which also left three other U.S. soldiers wounded. President Donald Trump vowed “very serious retaliation” at the time.

There are about 900 U.S. troops currently in Syria.

“This is not the beginning of a war — it is a declaration of vengeance,” Hegseth added. “The United States of America, under President Trump’s leadership, will never hesitate and never relent to defend our people.”

The attack had been the first to cause U.S. fatalities since the end of the Assad regime in 2014. Bashar al-Assad and his family fled to Russia after Turkish-backed Islamic militants successfully seized control of the government.

RELATED: ‘Major’ Halloween terror plot thwarted by FBI involved links to ISIS, ‘LGBTQ+ community’

“As we said directly following the savage attack, if you target Americans — anywhere in the world — you will spend the rest of your brief, anxious life knowing the United States will hunt you, find you, and ruthlessly kill you,” Hegseth continued.

“Today, we hunted and we killed our enemies,” he added. “Lots of them. And we will continue.”

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Rapper Cardi B criticized “ghetto” America and praised Saudi Arabia for being cleaner and stricter in a streaming video from her overseas tour.

She complained that the U.S. vice president had criticized her, and she told her fans to convince her to move back to the U.S. She also said that Saudi Arabia was very wealthy and clean.

‘America makes me pay taxes. The vice president is talking s**t about me on Twitter. I don’t feel real appreciated in America.’

The rapper made the comments on an Instagram live video.

“I’m in Saudi Arabia and, so far, let me tell y’all about my experience. It’s very strict out here, yeah. They will put you under the jail,” she said in the video. “They ain’t playing around. You will go to prison. Mess around and you’ll find out. Absolutely. However, it’s very easy to follow the rules here.”

She said that the rules were very simple to follow and admonished her followers to stop drinking alcohol and to abstain from sex.

“They treat me like I’m their queen!” she added, saying that everyone was kind and polite, in contrast to Americans.

“I’m starting not to like America,” she continued. “America makes me pay taxes. The vice president is talking s**t about me on Twitter. I don’t feel real appreciated in America. Y’all need to convince me to come back.”

She was referring to a post from Vice President JD Vance where he posted support for Nikki Minaj in her longtime feud with Cardi B.

“It’s ghetto over there!” she said of America.

She went on to say that she had previously avoided touring in Saudi Arabia over their restrictions on gays and women. She said it only punished her fans to avoid the country.

RELATED: Cardi B weighs in on inflation, says ‘everything is high’

She also said the food and the shopping in Saudi Arabia were great.

The rapper recently celebrated having a child with Stefon Diggs, the wide receiver on the New England Patriots football team.

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Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York suspended her gubernatorial campaign on Friday just weeks after joining the race in November.

Stefanik becomes one of many prospective Republican retirees, clarifying that she will not seek to return to Congress either. Stefanik maintained that she would have won the Republican gubernatorial primary but that her candidacy would draw away crucial resources in an electorally “challenging” state like New York.

This is not the first time Stefanik’s career has taken an abrupt turn.

“I am truly humbled and grateful for the historic and overwhelming support from Republicans, Conservatives, Independents, and Democrats all across the state for our campaign to Save New York,” Stefanik said in a Friday post on X.

“However, as we have seen in past elections, while we would have overwhelmingly won this primary, it is not an effective use of our time or your generous resources to spend the first half of next year in an unnecessary and protracted Republican primary, especially in a challenging state like New York,” Stefanik added.

RELATED: ‘Do I have to stay until I’m assassinated?’ Marjorie Taylor Greene lashes out over calls to finish her term

Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images

Stefanik said her family was a big part of her political calculus, saying she would regret taking more time away from being with her young son.

“And while many know me as Congresswoman, my most important title is Mom,” Stefanik said. “I believe that being a parent is life’s greatest gift and greatest responsibility. I have thought deeply about this and I know that as a mother, I will feel profound regret if I don’t further focus on my young son’s safety, growth, and happiness — particularly at his tender age.”

This is not the first time Stefanik’s career has taken an abrupt turn.

RELATED: GOP feud breaks out after Elise Stefanik accuses Speaker Johnson of protecting the deep state

Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

Stefanik was President Donald Trump’s first pick to serve as ambassador to the United Nations, even forfeiting her leadership position in the House and going through the early stages of Senate confirmation at the beginning of the year. Her nomination was later pulled, with Republican leadership citing the historically narrow House margins. Mike Waltz was instead confirmed to the position.

Stefanik returned to the House and later announced her gubernatorial run in November, before announcing on Friday she would step back from public service altogether.

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BlazeTV host Jason Whitlock believes that football stars like Deion Sanders and his son Shedeur are spreading the worst of black culture to not only NFL fans but players — but former NFL quarterback Shaun King doesn’t share his sentiment.

“If we’re being honest, the black rap hip-hop culture has permeated every part of America. I mean, go on TikTok. It’s white moms with young white daughters doing the dances. You know, I don’t even know if athletes are who this generation of young Americans idolize,” King argues.

“All they did was looked at what the algorithm says works, and we’re going to use this to build a post-Deion playing career brand, and it’s focused on that energy. But they didn’t create it. They just took what was working and said, ‘We’re gonna use it to bring some more money into the Sanders’ family,’” he continues.

“So that’s why I try not to target them. It’s like they’re the reason that Jaxson Dart is wearing diamond necklaces or that J.J. McCarthy is doing the dance as he runs. … It’s rap, hip-hop took over,” he says, adding, “They had like a 10-15 year stretch where they kind of raised a whole decade of Americans.”

“On that we agree,” Whitlock says.

“Hip-hop has had incredible influence over athletes and young people in general, and for black athletes, my argument is like, ‘Hey man, football, particularly at the quarterback position, but football in general, because of its military-like structure, it’s about submission,’” he explains.

“It’s about submitting to the head coach and the team as greater than yourself. And hip-hop is about individuality and being rebellious to authority,” he adds.

Whitlock also points out that point-wise, white quarterbacks are dominating black quarterbacks in the NFL — and he believes it has a lot to do with this culture.

“White guys are free to submit,” Whitlock explains. “Black guys have all this pressure to be rebellious, mimic hip-hop culture, and that’s why there’s a bit of a struggle, and that’s what I’m saying is going to be a part of Shedeur’s struggle.”

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Republican Sen. Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming becomes the latest GOP lawmaker to take a step away from politics.

The freshman senator announced her retirement Friday after several “exhausting session weeks” this Congress. Lummis was first elected to the Senate in 2020 but previously represented Wyoming in the House from 2009 to 2017 as well as in state government prior to her career in Washington, D.C.

‘I feel like a sprinter in a marathon.’

“What a blessing to serve with Senators John Barrasso and Mike Enzi when I was in the U.S. House, and with John and Rep. Harriet Hageman while I’ve been in the Senate,” Lummis said in a statement Friday.

“We all put Wyoming first, which has cemented our cohesive working relationship.”

RELATED: ‘Unnecessary and protracted’: Elise Stefanik drops out of New York governor’s race

Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images

Lummis reiterated her commitment to the state and her constituents but noted that she no longer has the “energy required” for the job.

“Deciding not to run for reelection does represent a change of heart for me, but in the difficult, exhausting session weeks this fall I’ve come to accept that I do not have six more years in me,” Lummis said. “I am a devout legislator, but I feel like a sprinter in a marathon. The energy required doesn’t match up.”

RELATED: Senate confirms more Trump nominees, surpassing Biden-era confirmation pace after deploying nuclear option

Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images

“I am honored to have earned the support of President Trump and to have the opportunity to work side by side with him to fight for the people of Wyoming. I look forward to continuing this partnership and throwing all my energy into bringing important legislation to his desk in 2026 and into retaining commonsense Republican control of the U.S. Senate. Thank you, Wyoming!”

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An Arizona sheriff derided protesters who interrupted a drug bust because they had mistaken regular cops for Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.

Pinal County Sheriff Ross Teeple said the small group of protesters yelled obscenities and insults at his deputies on Dec. 11 after the police investigation ended up in Phoenix.

‘While they’re there throwing tantrums, we’re throwing handcuffs on bad guys.’

“PCSO deputies out there doing an amazing job, arresting bad guys, getting dangerous drugs off the street, and you have idiots showing up, protesting and thinking they’re ICE,” he added.

Teeple said in the video posted to Facebook that despite the protesters accosting his officers, they were able to seize a firearm as well as two kilograms of cocaine.

“Two people that were arrested? Both U.S. citizens. How ironic is that?” he added.

“This is ridiculous, guys. You have full uniformed deputies on scene, marked vehicles, and you still want to protest the police doing their job,” Teeple said.

The video included some of the footage showing protesters calling the officers “sellouts” and “motherf**kers” while the police laughed at them.

“While they’re there throwing tantrums, we’re throwing handcuffs on bad guys,” Teeple added. “Deputies did an amazing job putting up with their BS.”

RELATED: Video shows leotarded liberals protest ICE facility with ’80s-themed aerobics class

This was not the first time anti-ICE protesters interrupted a police operation in Pinal County. In June, Teeple said that protesters got in the way of a police action that ended in the seizure of four firearms, five million fentanyl pills, 32 pounds of cocaine, and 22 pounds of meth.

“You can do better,” Teeple concluded. “It’s an honor to serve.”

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