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HOUSTON — Kevin Durant’s first Houston Rockets season did not go as intended.

On Friday night at Toyota Center, while his teammates attempted to force a decisive Game 7 against the Los Angeles Lakers, Durant sat on the bench in street clothes with a sprained left ankle. He could only watch as the Lakers shifted into cruise control and the Rockets staggered toward the end of their season.

When the final buzzer sounded on the Lakers’ 98-78 win, the Rockets were right back where they were at the end of last season: exiting the playoffs in the first round.

In Houston’s locker room after the game, players exchanged hugs and gifted each other jerseys, relics of a season that failed to meet the raised expectations set when the Rockets traded last summer for Durant, who was injured for all but one playoff game against the Lakers.

The Rockets have suffered first-round playoff exits in back-to-back seasons, both in series where coach Ime Udoka said it felt like his team “got behind the eight ball.”

Against the Lakers, who were missing Luka Doncic, the Rockets lost the first three games – two without Durant – but avoided elimination by winning the next two games to force the series back to Houston for Game 6. Friday’s blowout 20-point loss was the Rockets’ lowest-scoring game of the season and among the lowest-scoring playoff games in franchise history.

Udoka highlighted the growth of Houston’s young core, including the group that started the last three games of the series against the Lakers – Alperen Şengün, Amen Thompson, Reed Sheppard, Jabari Smith Jr. and Tari Eason – and said he was proud of his team’s resilience to battle back in the series. But he also acknowledged that change is necessary going forward.

“We do need to address some needs,” Udoka said. “The lack of shooting at times, whether it’s a backup point guard or our young guys did enough this year to kind of run that with Fred (VanVleet) back. And so we’ll take a look at all those things, I think, and have some very interesting conversations on having a little bit of more of a mix instead of some duplicates out there.”

The Rockets’ fate this season was accompanied by plenty of hypotheticals. What if Durant had been healthy in the playoffs? What if the Rockets had not lost VanVleet, their starting point guard, and center Steven Adams to injuries earlier in the season?

Şengün said none of those questions crossed his mind in the dying moments of Houston’s season.

“We cannot think about (that) stuff. Whoever is in the court, we fight with them,” Şengün said. “Losing them, it wasn’t good, but you stay with it. The goal is always same: just fight, go to the end. We did it with the young guys, including myself in the young guys, too.”

In the end, the Rockets’ main issues boiled down to offense. In the playoff series against the Lakers, Houston shot 46.2% from the field in its two wins and 38.6% in its four losses. The Game 3 loss was particularly excruciating, a last-minute meltdown that felt achingly familiar to anyone who watched the Rockets struggle throughout the season to execute at the end of games.

In Game 6, the Rockets didn’t grab offensive rebounds at their typical rate and reverted to bad habits that plagued them earlier in the season. When the Lakers switched, the Rockets failed to create advantages and became stagnant. The ball stuck. Isolation play prevailed.

“It’s a team thing. It’s not any blame to them (players) or myself,” Udoka said. “It’s a little combination of both, no doubt, understanding what works for us, what’s worked well, and then not deviating from that. So on me to get them into the sets, on them to run them and do the things we worked on leading into the series.”

Udoka reportedly signed a six-year contract extension last summer. Udoka said he and Rockets general manager Rafael Stone will sit down “ASAP” to discuss the roster.

The Rockets have eight players under contract for next season, including Durant, but the team has plenty of decisions to make this summer. Thompson is extension-eligible ahead of his fourth NBA season while Eason, who was drafted by the Rockets with the 17th overall pick in 2022, will become a restricted free agent this offseason.

“I was drafted here, I’ve grown up here, my family’s here,” Eason said. “I love Houston. As far as everything else, God knows.”

When the Rockets were eliminated by the Golden State Warriors in last season’s playoffs, it was clear that Houston lacked a go-to scorer to catalyze the offense. Durant was brought in to solve that problem. This season, it’s not as easy to identify one main area of need, Smith said.

“I ain’t gonna say we need to make a trade or go out and get somebody, you know what I’m saying? I just think everything we need is in house,” Smith said. “Everything that we need is on the bench, coaching us. Everything we need is on the bench behind us, coaching. I think we got it all, but it’s just on us to not have those mental lapses where we lose leads in the fourth quarter early in the season, where you have random three-game losses and stuff like that.”

He continued, “I think maturity’s a big part of it but I think if everybody’s going into the offseason and do what they’ve been doing – that’s improving every year, get better, come back a little smarter, come back a little stronger, a little older – I think everything we need is in house right in front of us.”

Whether the Rockets decide to run it back or go for a major change, the sting of how the season ended is sure to linger.

“Back-to-back first-round exits, it’s just – it’s rough,” Thompson said. “It’s motivation, for sure. I feel like I’m going to be thinking about this all summer.”

Sports

Who will win Kentucky Derby? Winner predictions and picks from handicappers

You’re going to pick the Kentucky Derby winner this year.

We all are.

All we need to do is find the right clue, or the right system, or the right expert.

Will the winner be determined, or divined, by the horse’s name, silk colors or jockey? (You could do worse than “Big Money” Mike Smith, the Hall-of-Famer who will be riding So Happy.)

Or will the winner emerge from the Beyer Speed Figures, a rating system devised by journalist and handicapper Andrew Beyer. (If so, your horse is Further Ado, whose 106 Beyer Speed Figure from the Blue Grass Stakes last month is the highest in the field.)

Or maybe you got a connection to Bill Benter, the former physicist whose computer algorithm has reportedly earned him $1 billion in horse betting.

But with time running out, our focus is on four handicappers.

The importance of horse psychology

Kerry M. Thomas, an equine behavior specialist, studies racehorses in search of something most bettors probably overlook.

The horse’s psychological profile. Preferably one that can help withstand the rigors of racing.

“I really don’t look at anything physical before I look at anything psychological because the physical data can trick you,” Thomas told USA TODAY Sports. “Just look at how it is with human athletes. If you can’t handle the stress, I don’t care how talented you are.”

Stress is Inevitable during the Kentucky Derby, with up to 20 horses racing, often in close quarters. Then what kicks in his bachelor herd mentality, when those 20 horses break into several miniature herds, according to Thomas.

“The field (of horses) breaks into pieces mentally,” he said. “It looks like a big massive chaos, but psychologically that doesn’t matter at all, because when they get to moving, they’re going to pick out one or two dudes that they’re going to go with or fight with.”

The dynamics test a horse’s psychology, and an understanding the psychological profile of the horses can lead Thomas to his pick for the Kentucky Derby winner: So Happy.

“He’s on this really good emerging psychological growth pattern,” Thomas explained, “seasoning in the right direction at the right time.”

Data-driven handicapping

About a decade ago, Alexa Zepp said she attended her first horse betting contest as a guest. Soon she was hooked.

“I got pretty good at it and started traveling all over the country, competing in these tournaments,” Zepp, 30, told USA TODAY Sports. “And yeah, I did pretty good. I was able to put a down payment on my house and get a hot tub from gambling winnings.”

Her full-time gig is with America’s Best Racing with a focus on sponsorships and broadcast. But she’s still committed to handicapping

“I’m a data-driven person,” she said. “I have a (computer) program that I use, my own algorithm program for racing that takes all kinds of factors into consideration, thousands of factors about all the horses.”

She said she also reads the Daily Racing Form.

“I know a lot of people bet jockeys, but I undervalue who’s riding,” Zepp said. “I look more at pedigree and distance in my program.”

Like Thomas, Zepp also takes herd mentality into consideration as she settles on her Kentucky Derby pick: So Happy.

“So Happy is going to be fairly forwardly placed and has tactical speed and deal with whatever comes,” Zepp said.

The telltale stride

Maggie Wolfendale said there’s a unique challenge to handicapping horse races.

“Horses can’t speak to us, so we have to try to read them,” she told USA TODAY Sports.

The daughter of a trainer, Wolfendale, 39, is a paddock analyst and host for the New York Racing Association. That means much of her work takes place in the paddock, where the horses are stabled and paraded before heading to the starting gate.

“A lot can be read by what their coat looks like,” Wolfendale said. “I often talk about dapples, which are like the round things on horses that just indicate good internal health, how rich and hydrated they look. Obviously they’re athletes, you want them to be hydrated. And you also look for fitness levels, how defined they look, how strong they look.”

When handicapping the Kentucky Derby and classic distance races, Wolfendale said, she pays close attention to something else, too.

“Usually it’s about horses that have long strides,” she said. “I would say is what it all boils down to.”

And that leads her to Further Ado, Wolfendale’s pick to win the Kentucky Derby.

“Just has a massive stride,” she said.

The Haiku Handicapper

Joe Nevills, the Haiku Handicapper, has picked his Kentucky Derby winner: Danon Bourbon, a Kentucky-bred horse stabled in Japan.

But it’s too early to get to the poetry, with Nevills, 39, confessing, “I don’t feel great about” the pick.

What Nevills likes: Danon Bourbon is bred for classic distance, with American bloodlines “leaning toward distance acumen.” Also, in Japan horses run in very deep sand. “So running 1 ¼ miles on the firmer dirt course at Churchill Downs should be like running on an Olympic track after training on the beach,” Nevills said.

What Nevills likes less: The underwhelming level of competition Danon Bourbon has faced. Using a college sports analogy, Nevills suggested the horse from Japan could be a MAC champion ready for a Big Ten beatdown.

“Do you see why I have to do these in haiku?” said Nevills, bloodstock editor for the Paulick Report.

For each Kentucky Derby entrant, Nevills writes a haiku poems – a Japanese poem consisting of 17 syllables in lines of five, seven, and five syllables.

Japanese horse. Japanese poem.

Gets stronger in stretchAmerican classic bloodThis could be the year

And dear reader, this could be your year.

Sports

Will Golden Tempo race in Preakness? Triple Crown dates after Kentucky Derby win

Golden Tempo crossed the finish line Saturday at Churchill Downs, winning the 152nd Kentucky Derby and immediately turning attention to a question that has gone unanswered for eight years: Can he win the Triple Crown?

That starts in two weeks with The Preakness Stakes.

The last horse to win the Triple Crown – the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness Stakes and Belmont Stakes – was Justify in 2018. Since then, seven consecutive Kentucky Derby winners have failed to complete the sweep. Four of those horses never even tried, skipping the Preakness Stakes entirely.

Last year’s winner, Sovereignty, trained by Bill Mott, bypassed the Preakness just days after winning the Derby, citing the horse’s long-term interests. Since 2019, four Kentucky Derby winners have not raced in the Preakness, a shift driven by modern training strategies that prioritize spacing races further apart. Sovereignty went on to win the Belmont Stakes and earned Horse of the Year honors, validating Mott’s decision, but also deepening the debate about whether the Triple Crown format needs to change.

The question now is whether Golden Tempo’s connections will take the shot.

When is the Preakness? Triple Crown race schedule

If they do, the Preakness is May 16, just two weeks after the Derby. For the first time in the race’s history, it will be held at Laurel Park in Laurel, Maryland, while its traditional home at Pimlico Race Course undergoes a $400 million renovation. Post positions will be drawn May 11.

If Golden Tempo can win that, the Belmont Stakes awaits on June 6 at Saratoga Racecourse in Saratoga Springs, New York. The 158th Belmont Stakes will again be run at 1 ¼ miles rather than its traditional 1 ½ miles due to Saratoga’s track configuration. There is a $2 million purse on the line in the third and final Belmont Stakes to be held in Saratoga. The newly rebuilt Belmont Park is set to reopen in September of 2026.

The Triple Crown is one of the hardest achievements in American sports. Only 13 horses have won it in all of racing history. Sir Barton became the first Triple Crown winner in 1919, though the term itself did not come into common usage until 1930. Sportswriter Charles Hatton coined the phrase after Gallant Fox swept all three races. The most recent winners are American Pharoah in 2015 and Justify in 2018. The three-year gap was a surprise, considering the 37-year drought between Affirmed in 1978 and American Pharoah.

There have been voices in the sport calling for a new schedule, which would make it easier for horses to compete in the Triple Crown. After Sovereignty won the Preakness in 2025, owner Mike Repole proposed moving the Belmont to second in the Triple Crown order to keep more top horses in the series.

Sports

Reds pitchers make ugly MLB history with seven consecutive walks

The Cincinnati Reds pitching staff accomplished something Saturday that hadn’t been done in more than 40 years.

Two Reds pitchers walked seven consecutive Pittsburgh Pirates hitters in the second inning of a May 2 game at PNC Park, tying an MLB record and turning what was already a rough afternoon into a historically bad day.

Starter Rhett Lowder and reliever Connor Phillips combined to walk seven consecutive Pirates with one out in the second inning. That included issuing the final four walks with the bases loaded. Between them, they threw 42 pitches and only 11 for strikes, according to MLB.com.

Lowder struck out leadoff hitter Oneil Cruz and then it went off the rails from there.

Lowder issued the first three walks before being pulled for Phillips. He came in with the bases loaded and walked four in a row, each one forcing in a run. Reliever Sam Moll finally stopped the bleeding. Entering the game with the bases loaded, he got both catcher Henry Davis and Cruz, batting for the second time that inning, to ground out.

After that inning, the Pirates led 10-3.

The MLB record for consecutive walks had last been set on May 25, 1983, when the Pirates walked seven consecutive Atlanta Braves batters. One of the pitchers that day happened to be named Bob Walk. On April 27, 1994, the Seattle Mariners walked six in a row, hit a batter and then walked the next batter in a 12-2 loss to the Yankees.

The Reds entered play Saturday having walked 11.6% of batters they faced this season, which was the fifth highest in baseball. Saturday, they showed just how much they struggle with the strike zone.

Lowder, 24, came in 3-1 with a 3.18 ERA, which ballooned to 5.09 after that inning. Phillips had been one of the more reliable arms in Cincinnati’s bullpen before Saturday’s outing. He had walked just 15 in 17 appearances before Saturday.

Politics

DHS scorches Pritzker’s ‘sanctuary’ state after child rapist on ICE detainer released

EXCLUSIVE: The Department of Homeland Security lambasted Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and the state’s refusal to cooperate with ICE after an illegal immigrant convicted of child sexual abuse was released from jail despite calls for state officials to turn him over to federal authorities.

Both Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson have repeatedly criticized the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement posture, with the mayor comparing President Donald Trump’s America to Jefferson Davis’ Confederacy.

Johnson has accused Trump of “declar[ing] war on Chicago” and using DHS as a “private, militarized, occupying force,” while pledging to fight them in the streets, the legislature and the judiciary. The state operates under the Illinois TRUST Act, a law championed by Springfield Democrats and signed by former Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner that prohibits the use of state and local resources for most civil immigration enforcement purposes.

“Governor Pritzker continues to refuse to do his job to protect his citizens from illegal alien crime and instead chooses to smear our law enforcement,” Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis told Fox News Digital.

NOEM, IN ILLINOIS, CALLS OUT GOV. PRITZKER, CHICAGO’S MAYOR OVER THEIR HANDLING OF CRIMINAL ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS

“Where is the investigation into his own policies that allowed this pedophile to be released from jail and be loose in Illinois communities?” she added of the Hyatt Hotels heir and potential 2028 Democratic presidential candidate.

Bis called on Pritzker to “end this insanity and stop releasing pedophiles into our communities.”

DHS told Fox News Digital exclusively that ICE officers went to Chicago and arrested Guatemalan national Erik Giovanni-Quiroa, who had been released from jail after his ICE detainer was ignored following a conviction for aggravated sexual abuse of a five-year-old child.

DUFFY GIVES ILLINOIS 30-DAY ULTIMATUM AFTER AUDIT FINDS 1 IN 5 NONCITIZEN TRUCK LICENSES ISSUED ILLEGALLY

Giovanni-Quiroa, who also had a 2011 firearm-battery conviction, was given a three-year sentence on the pedophilia charge but ICE instead encountered him on the streets.

Last week, ICE conducted a targeted vehicle stop and arrested Giovanni-Quiroa after his detainer was denied, forcing agents to locate him themselves.

Officials said Giovanni-Quiroa refused to stop and briefly fled before being placed in federal custody.

Bis said “sanctuary” politicians in Illinois and elsewhere continue to wrongly protect criminal illegal immigrants and allow them to reoffend and perpetrate additional crimes against Americans.

ICE previously called on Illinois law enforcement to begin honoring ICE detainers, as Director Todd Lyons wrote to Attorney General Kwame Raoul noting that DHS says more than 4,000 illegal immigrants are in state custody.

Giovanni-Quiroa illegally entered the U.S. under the second Bush administration and has been essentially a beneficiary of the aforementioned TRUST Act.

In the heat of “Operation: Midway Blitz” in June, Raoul published a memo reiterating key provisions of the law as a “refresher for Illinois law enforcement agencies.”

“It is important to note, however, that although the Illinois TRUST Act prevents the use of state and local resources for civil immigration enforcement purposes, it does not prevent law enforcement officers from taking action to maintain peace and ensure public safety within their jurisdiction,” Raoul wrote.

“Although some provisions of federal immigration statutes are criminal, deportation and removability are matters of civil law, not criminal law [and] whether an individual is lawfully present in the United States is a question of federal civil immigration law.”

Fox News Digital reached out to Raoul for comment on the current case, as well as Pritzker and Johnson.

When Rauner signed the TRUST Act in 2017, he said it would “continue Illinois’ history of welcoming immigrants and help law enforcement focus on stopping violent crime and protecting Illinois residents.”

In that statement, Rauner also cited a federal court decision from the Chicago-based Northern District of Illinois in which an Obama-appointed judge whom President Joe Biden later promoted to an appeals court found flaws in ICE’s detainer process.

Judge John Z. Lee said in his 2019 order in Jimenez-Moreno v. Napolitano that immigration detainer orders exceeded DHS’ statutory authority but he also acknowledged a Philadelphia federal court ruling that ICE detainer requests do not violate the Tenth Amendment as alleged.

Politics

DC police captain cites bodycam footage of officers not making arrests, sparking backlash

A political firestorm erupted this week after a Washington, D.C., internal police email appeared to reprimand rank-and-file officers for body camera footage allegedly showing them “finess[ing]” their way out of making arrests on reasonable grounds.

The news comes as the Trump administration cracks down on crime in the District of Columbia at the federal level. While crime rates have steadily declined from a peak in 2023, the nation’s capital continues to suffer per-capita violent crime at higher rates than the national average, according to FBI data.

The Metropolitan Police Department confirmed to Fox News Digital that its brass had rescinded an email sent by the captain for Sector 2 of the Sixth Police District, which covers areas north of Marion Barry Avenue and east of the John Philip Sousa Bridge.

“We are seeing more and more BWCs [body-worn cameras] where officers are not making arrests where probable cause or RAS [reasonable amount of suspicion] is apparent. This is leading to complaints to IAD (internal affairs division) and OPC, and it is also leaving victims and complainants unprotected by the police,” wrote Capt. Jerome Merrill.

CRIME-RIDDEN BLUE CITIES STRUGGLE TO COMBAT SHRINKING POLICE FORCES AS FEDS STEP IN TO CLEAN UP CHAOS

Merrill’s letter, first obtained by Washington’s CBS affiliate, said the situation is getting many police officials in trouble for failing to recognize or correct classifications of interactions with the public.

“Please do not try and finesse your way out of an arrest it is not worth the consequences I assure you,” the memo said, urging police to make arrests or apply for warrants before detectives need to follow up on them.

The department told Fox News Digital the information in the email was “incorrect” and that MPD is investigating.

Asked about the situation and whether arrests can be made on reasonable suspicion in any context, former Supreme Court Chief of Police Ross Swope told Fox News Digital that the distinction is “not only typical of most departments, it is the law.”

Swope, who served for decades with the MPD and later wrote texts on police ethics and internal operations, said probable cause requires more than reasonable suspicion.

“It requires a higher degree of certainty,” he said. “[Probable cause] is when the facts and circumstances within an officer’s knowledge would lead a reasonable person to believe that a crime has been committed for which a summary arrest may be permitted.”

DC MAYOR REPORTS ‘GREAT MEETING’ WITH TRUMP AFTER PAST PUBLIC FEUDS, TOUTS ‘COMMON GROUND’ ON NATION’S CAPITAL

He said Merrill may have viewed body cams and believed in his own view that arrests should have been made, but that he was wrong to instruct officers to make arrests based solely on reasonable suspicion.

Fox News Digital also reached out to the D.C. Police Union for comment but did not receive a response.

But Union President Gregg Pemberton told the CBS affiliate after the fact that he essentially, independently, agreed with Swope.

“The Union has reviewed Captain Merrill’s email and determined that the reason that our members are not making arrests based on reasonable articulable suspicion is because that’s illegal,” Pemberton told the outlet.

“We would expect a captain of a police patrol district to know that, but unfortunately, this command staff official has proven himself uninformed and incapable of managing police operations in the District of Columbia,” he added.

Politics

Socialist mayor’s blunt 1-word message to fleeing millionaires sparks outrage: ‘We’re doomed’

Katie Wilson, Seattle’s new self-proclaimed socialist mayor, sparked a social media firestorm after she gave her take on reports that millionaires are fleeing Washington state due to taxes and various far-left policies.

While speaking at a forum at Seattle University earlier this month, the new Democratic mayor said, “I think the claims that millionaires are going to leave our state are like super overblown.”

“And the ones that leave, like, bye,” she continued, waving her hand and laughing. Though the line drew laughs and applause from those in the auditorium, it did not go over as well online, as conservatives quickly blasted the new Seattle mayor.

“Seattle’s Socialist Mayor responds to exodus of wealth from Washington State by saying “BYE” … then laughing. We’re doomed,” wrote Brandi Kruse.

MAMDANI’S RACIAL EQUITY PLAN A HIDDEN ‘MOVING THE GOALPOSTS’ PLOY TO JUSTIFY MASSIVE GOV EXPANSION: EXPERT

Kruse’s post has been seen over 4 million times on social media as of Friday morning.

Popular conservative account “End Wokeness” also posted on X, writing, “Mayor Wilson seems to welcome the idea of a wealth exodus from Seattle. This is the FA part. FO coming soon.”

“Enjoy, Seattle,” Fox News contributor Guy Benson posted on X.

SOCIALIST MAYOR-ELECT REVEALS WHY SHE EMBRACED HER PARENTS GIVING HER MONEY AS A 43-YEAR-OLD

“What do socialists think happens when the most productive, highest revenue driving members of their tax base leave their jurisdictions?” Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts posted on X.

“Socialists are driven by hate for the rich, not concern for the poor,” Manhattan Institute scholar Daniel Di Martino posted on X.

“This is the reaction of a spoiled child whose parents paid her bills up until the point that she became mayor… She has no grasp of reality or economics,” comedian Tim Young posted on X. “Seattle is extra cooked.”

Discovery Institute Senior Journalism Fellow Jonathan Choe posted on X, “Seattle, you voted for this.”

“This clip will live in infamy,” the Washington State Republican Party posted on X. “@MayorofSeattle Katie Wilson is not only unfit to be mayor, she lacks grace and gratitude. Perhaps, she’s the one who should leave #Seattle.”

Fox News Digital reached out to Wilson’s office for comment.

Wilson shocked many political observers when she was elected Seattle’s mayor last year, and many chalked up her victory to her ability to tap into a similar voting bloc that socialist Zohran Mamdani used on his way to becoming New York City’s next mayor.

Earlier this month, Fox News Digital reported on city advocates who say they are struggling to find solutions as homelessness and open-air drug use spread across Seattle’s streets, amid growing concerns about the direction of Wilson’s new administration.

“You can just see the foil is like blowing down the sidewalks like autumn leaves,” Andrea Suarez, founder and executive director of We Heart Seattle, told Fox News Digital in an interview.

“Very common to see property damage of our parks and shared spaces. You can see Narcan is used to reverse an overdose, so you’ll see cartridges. But at least we’re remodeling the bathroom to be gender-neutral. I’m not [kidding] you, that’s where our priorities are.”

Fox News Digital’s Nikolas Lanum and Rachel Del Guidice contributed to this report.

Politics

MN governor race to replace Walz sees major shakeup as GOP contender ends campaign: ‘Don’t see a path’

FIRST ON FOX: Minnesota Republican lawmaker Kristin Robbins, chair of the House Fraud Prevention and State Agency Oversight Committee, announced on Friday she is ending her gubernatorial campaign to replace embattled Gov. Tim Walz.

“It was not a tough decision to get into the race 10 months ago,” Robbins exclusively told Fox News Digital. “We could not allow Tim Walz to have a third term in Minnesota. He’s destroyed our state, and we had to stop him, and so, I think I made a great case for that, and because of all my work on the fraud committee he got out nine months ahead of schedule, which is great.”

Robbins continued, “Once Senator Klobuchar became sort of the anointed candidate to replace him, I just think the establishment kind of circled the wagons and, you know, it became a challenging endeavor, and I’m a realist, and I am a numbers person, and when I look at the math, I don’t see a path for me to win.”

Weeks after Walz dropped his re-election bid in January amid a massive fraud scandal that unfolded during his watch, Sen. Amy Klobuchar jumped into the race, bringing her deep political backing and name recognition with her as the presumptive nominee for the Democrats.

MINNESOTA LAWMAKERS UNLOAD ON WALZ’S ‘LEGACY’ AFTER HE TOUTS FRAUD RECORD IN FINAL ADDRESS: ‘RIDICULOUS’

Robbins told Fox News Digital she determined it was better to “bow out” and find a “new way to contribute” due to love of her state and the realization that there are “many ways to serve.”

In terms of what’s next, Robbins says she hasn’t had the time to give that much thought but said she is focused on closing out the current legislative session and said “there’s a lot of big things going on in the front committee.”

“I know where the bodies are buried,” Robbins said about the fraud situation, pointing out that there is much more work to be done to get answers on how the billions of dollars in fraud was allowed to go unchecked for so long.

MN LAWMAKER TAKES ACTION TO GET ANSWERS ON OMAR’S ALLEGED FRAUD TIES AFTER SHE SKIPS KEY HEARING: ‘GHOSTED US’

With Robbins exiting the race, the Republicans vying to win the gubernatorial primary include Minnesota House Speaker Lisa Demuth, healthcare executive Kendall Qualls, MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell and several other lesser known candidates.

Robbins told Fox News Digital she will “not be endorsing anyone.”

“That will be up to the voters to decide, and I wish all the other candidates well,” Robbins said.

Ultimately, Robbins says her “overwhelming thought” is “gratitude” when she looks back on her campaign.

“I am so grateful for the last ten months of going all over the state meeting Minnesotans from every walk of life and to have had the privilege to run for governor and meet all these amazing people and hear their stories, be inspired by what they want for Minnesota,” Robbins said. “I am just so grateful and so privileged.”

Robbins says that going forward, the “answers” are not going to come from the capitol in St. Paul, but rather “from the communities and from the people” and she “looks forward to plugging into that.”

Politics

Amazon explores ‘The Apprentice’ reboot with Trump Jr set for promotion: report

With President Donald Trump “hired” by the American people for a second term, Amazon — which now owns production rights to NBC’s “The Apprentice” — is looking for a new host to potentially reboot the once No. 1-rated television program, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Trump leveraged decades of media coverage as a New York mogul amid the ups and downs of the 1980s and 1990s into a smash-hit program that premiered in 2004, following several wannabe business executives through a several-week “job interview” to work for the Trump Organization.

Fifteen seasons and a presidency-compelled hiatus later, Amazon is reportedly considering Trump Organization Executive Vice President Donald Trump Jr. for the role, as the eldest son has served as a frequent stand-in “boardroom adviser” for Trump executives Carolyn Kepcher and George Ross.

Trump addressed rumors of a reboot on Thursday, telling Fox News’ Peter Doocy that his son is a “good guy” and would “probably be good” in the role.

JIMMY KIMMEL JOKES TRUMP SHOULD LET HIM HOST WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENTS’ DINNER TO ‘THINK OF THE RATINGS’

“He’s got a little charisma going. You need a little charisma for that sucker. So, we’ll see what happens,” Trump said.

Several people familiar with the discussions told The Wall Street Journal that Amazon executives have internally discussed casting Trump Jr. as a host for an “Apprentice” reboot if they do indeed launch the project.

The Journal reported Amazon has not yet approached Trump Sr., Trump Jr. or any Trump family members, but that, instead of NBC, it would air the show on Amazon Prime.

A source close to Trump Jr. told Fox News Digital on Thursday that the Journal report was indeed the first time the 48-year-old father of five had heard his name was in the pot.

Fox News Digital also reached out to the Trump Organization for comment, as well as Amazon and Amazon’s production company.

An Amazon spokesperson told the Journal that the Jeff Bezos-led company previously acquired MGM, which itself bought a majority stake in reality-show impresario Mark Burnett’s company several years earlier.

TRUMP’S KENNEDY CENTER HONORS OVERHAUL DELIVERS STAR-STUDDED LINEUP, NEW MEDALLION AND HISTORIC HOSTING ROLE

Burnett has launched several reality shows, including “The Apprentice” and CBS-aired contests “The Amazing Race” and “Survivor,” with the latter now in its 50th season. The credits for “The Apprentice” list Trump Sr. as executive producer.

A reboot would be Amazon’s second foray into Trumpworld in recent months, as it recently debuted a $40 million biopic of first lady Melania Trump that drew praise from supporters and mockery from critics like ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel.

“Melania” was directed by Brett Ratner of “Rush Hour” fame, as Trump reportedly pressed Paramount Pictures to revive the Jackie Chan-Chris Tucker series and put Ratner back at the helm, according to CNBC, which further reported the original New Line Cinema films are now subject to a distribution pact between Paramount and New Line parent Warner Bros.

Trump Sr. regularly touted his “Apprentice” success throughout his political tenure, once telling the National Prayer Breakfast that attendees should “pray” for former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger after the “Terminator” took over the show and oversaw what the president called a ratings collapse.

KIMMEL FIRES BACK AT TRUMP’S DEMAND TO TAKE HIM OFF THE AIR, SAYS ‘I’LL GO WHEN YOU GO’

Schwarzenegger, the most recent Republican to serve as governor in Sacramento, occasionally spars with Trump, as he is seen as less bombastic and more politically moderate than the president.

“Hey Donald, I have a great idea,” Schwarzenegger shot back at Trump in an X video at the time.

“Why don’t we switch jobs — you take over TV — since you’re such an expert in ratings, and I take over your job so that people can finally sleep comfortable again — hmm?” the Austria native, who voted for then-Ohio Gov. John Kasich in 2016, quipped.

Fox News Digital reached out to NBCUniversal for additional comment on the potential resurrection of their onetime series. Neither Amazon nor the Trump Organization responded by publication time.

Fox News Digital’s Janelle Ash contributed to this report.

World News

The practical and moral difficulties of deporting millions draw closer

November 24, 2025

It’s not clear exactly how many immigrants are living in the United States without authorization, for a number of reasons.

The most obvious is that some people cross the border from Mexico and evade capture. It is definitionally hard to know how many people do so, but the government has gotten better at estimating the number in part because there are fewer places where immigrants can enter the country unobserved. It’s likely that about 2 million immigrants have entered this way since federal fiscal 2021, but it’s not clear how many of them might remain in the country. There are unquestionably many thousands more who entered the country legally (such as on a tourist visa) but didn’t leave.

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