WASHINGTON — Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin is hitting the brakes on $2.3 billion left in spending from the Biden administration’s electric school bus program — following backlash over New York Gov. Kathy Hochul’s mandate and as the vehicles have been breaking down in the cold and failing to be produced in a timely manner to districts.

Zeldin made the decision to review the taxpayer-funded program after $2.7 billion was already “frivolously wasted” under former President Joe Biden on thousands of electric buses, according to an agency spokesperson, working out to a price tag of roughly $318,452.45 per vehicle to produce.

In New York City, for example, more than $61 million in EPA grant funding went toward just two entities making 180 of the “green” buses for five school districts, with a cost range of $295,000 to nearly $395,000 for each one — but it’s unclear how many are even in use.

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A top Iranian official on Friday declared that American troops and assets in the Middle East are now "legitimate targets" for military strikes after President Trump posted to Truth Social that the US was ready to support peaceful protesters in Tehran.

"The dishonorable president of American should know that with this official confession all American centres and forces throughout the region will be our legitimate targets in response to any possible adventurism," Speaker of the Iranian Parliament Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said in a statement.

It came hours after Trump issued a vague promise of support of peaceful protests erupting in Iran.

"If Iran shoots and violently kills peaceful protesters, which is their custom, the United States of American will come to their rescue," he wrote. "We are locked and ready to go."

The exchange less than a week after Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian told Iranian state media that he believed Tehran was "at total war with the United States, Israel and Europe."

"They want to bring our country to its knees," Pezeshkian said.

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A federal judge ordered Brian Cole Jr. to be kept behind bars Friday as he awaits trial in connection with allegedly planting pipe bombs outside the Republican National Committee and Democratic National Committee headquarters on Jan. 5, 2021.

In a 19-page order, US Magistrate Judge Matthew J. Sharbaugh concluded that "there are no conditions of release the Court could impose to reasonably assure the safety of the community."

Cole's defense attorneys had argued that their client posed no threat, citing his diagnoses of autism and obsessive compulsive disorder, as well as his lack of a known criminal history in the five years since allegedly planting the pipe bombs.

The defense also asked the judge to consider the fact that the devices never went off to be a mitigating factor, an argument Sharbaugh found "unpersuasive."

The magistrate also noted that evidence showed Cole "purchased more of the same kinds of parts he allegedly used to construct the explosive devices recovered outside the DNC and RNC buildings, including a metal pipe, steel wool, alligator clips, and a timer. And he seemingly remained in possession of those types of items throughout the last five years, until as recently as last month, including in his home and in his car."

Cole is charged with transporting explosives across state lines with intent to kill, injure and cause damage, as well as attempted malicious destruction by means of explosive materials.

He faces up to 30 years in prison if convicted of both counts.

Venezuela President Nicolás Maduro claimed in a new interview that the Caracas government is “ready” to discuss an agreement with the US to prevent drug trafficking following a CIA drone strike last week on a docking area believed to be used by cartels.

“The US government knows, because we’ve told many of their spokespeople, that if they want to seriously discuss an agreement to combat drug trafficking, we’re ready,” the left-wing authoritarian told Spanish journalist Ignacio Ramonet in a sitdown recorded on New Year’s Eve and broadcast on state TV Thursday.

“If they want oil, Venezuela is ready for US investment, like with Chevron, whenever they want it, wherever they want it and however they want it,” Maduro added.

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On his way to pick out stonework, President Trump issued a Truth Social post defending his use of emergency powers to impose reciprocal tariffs on dozens of countries.

"Tariffs are an overwhelming benefit to our Nation, as they have been incredible for our National Security and Prosperity (like nobody has ever seen before!). Losing our ability to Tariff other countries who treat us unfairly would be a terrible blow to the United States of America," he wrote.

The Supreme Court could rule as soon as this month on whether the sweeping duties imposed by Trump early in his second term are unconstitutional.

President Trump doesn't have any public events on his official schedule, but he's started his Friday with a trip to Lake Worth, Fla., for some stone shopping.

"President Trump is purchasing marble and onyx, at his own expense, for the White House Ballroom," a White House official told a pool reporter accompanying the motorcade.

An 18-year-old from suburban Charlotte has been arrested and charged with plotting a New Year’s Eve terror attack, officials announced Friday.

Christian Sturdivant, of Mint Hill, NC, is accused of planning to assault a grocery store and fast food restaurant using knives and hammers, according to WSOC-TV.

The FBI’s Charlotte office said Sturdivant was “directly inspired to act” by ISIS.

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President Trump took to Truth Social at the start of 2026 to set the record straight.

He posted about his health on his social media Friday morning, insisting he's in "PERFECT HEALTH" and received a perfect score on his cognitive exam.

"P.S., I strongly believe that anyone running for President, or Vice President, should be mandatorily forced to take a strong, meaningful, and proven Cognitive Examination," Trump went on. "Our great Country cannot be run by 'STUPID' or INCOMPETENT PEOPLE!"

He was also posting earlier Friday about Iran. He warned Iran the US is "locked and loaded and ready" to help the peaceful protesters there.

“If Iran shots [sic] and violently kills peaceful protesters, which is their custom, the United States of America will come to their rescue,” Trump wrote on Truth Social shortly before 3 a.m. ET.

“We are locked and loaded and ready to go,” the president added, without elaborating.

So far, at least seven people have been killed as protests spread across Iran. They are protesting the economic crisis in the country brought in part by US sanctions.

Melania Trump rang in the new year alongside husband Donald at a glitzy Mar-a-Lago party Wednesday night, dressed in a silver sequined gown ($1,450) by The New Arrivals.

Along with the shimmering metallic maxi, which she cinched at the waist with a matching belt, the first lady selected a pair of glittering Christian Louboutin heels.

She wore her highlighted hair parted in the center and arranged in soft, flowing waves for the NYE soirée, where a tuxedoed President Trump — asked by reporters about his 2026 resolution — called for “peace on Earth.”

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File this under “life imitates art.”

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem got her groove on to Vanilla Ice’s “Ice Ice Baby” during Wednesday night’s New Year’s Eve bash at President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort.

In a video posted by Katie Miller, wife of White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller, the cabinet official — mocked by her critics as “ICE Barbie” — clapped her hands and danced to the Miami-based rapper’s signature 1990 hit.

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A Minnesota mother who spoke out Wednesday against the Trump administration’s freezing of child care funding abruptly cut her remarks short after admitting that “fraud is bad.”

Deko Nor, a medical student whose four-year-old attends a daycare center outside Minneapolis, told reporters at a New Year’s Eve press conference that her child would be one of more than 20,000 losing access to the facilities without federal help.

“I rely on child care. I work. If child care is cut, I am unable to work or go to school,” she said, before beginning her next sentence by declaring: “I understand fraud is bad—”

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President Trump explained his aversion to exercise — aside from golfing — in a new interview, saying: "I just don’t like it. It's boring."

"To walk on a treadmill or run on a treadmill for hours and hours like some people do, that’s not for me,” the president told the Wall Street Journal.

Trump, who turns 80 in June, also revealed that he has stopped using compression socks to treat a blood-flow issue, chronic venous insufficiency, that caused his legs and ankles to swell last year.

“I didn’t like them,” Trump said of his decision not to wear the socks, which experts say can prevent potentially serious complications such as blood clots.

Trump said in the interview he is sitting behind the Resolute Desk for shorter periods of time so that his leg muscles will pump the blood back to his heart, which experts also recommend.

The president told the Journal that he has refused to lower his 325 milligrams aspirin regimen to prevent heart issues to 81 milligrams because “I’m a little superstitious" — despite doctors saying a low dose could reduce noticeable bruising on his hands.