NationalWatch

President Donald Trump said Sunday that Iran is “starting to” cross U.S. red lines, citing reports of civilian deaths and warning that any attack on American interests would be met with overwhelming force as his administration weighs what he called “very strong options.”

Trump spoke to reporters aboard Air Force One while traveling from Palm Beach, Florida, back to Washington, D.C., after being asked whether Iran had crossed a threshold that would trigger a response.

“They’re starting to, it looks like, and there seem to be some people killed that aren’t supposed to be killed,” the president said. “These are violent — if you call them leaders, I don’t know if their leaders or just if they rule through violence. And, we’re looking at some very strong options. We’ll make a determination.”

Some protesters were killed in a stampede while others were shot, Trump later said, adding that he receives hourly briefings and will decide based on ongoing reports.

EXILED IRANIAN CROWN PRINCE URGES TRUMP TO HELP AS PROTESTS AGAINST ISLAMIC REGIME INTENSIFY: ‘MAN OF PEACE’

The comments came just days after Trump warned the U.S. would respond forcefully if the Iranian regime escalates its crackdown.

“Iran’s in big trouble,” he said. “It looks to me that the people are taking over certain cities that nobody thought were really possible just a few weeks ago. We’re watching the situation very carefully.”

EXILED IRANIAN PRINCE SAYS REGIME ‘VERY CLOSE TO COLLAPSING’ AMID NATIONWIDE UNREST

Trump added, “We’ll be hitting them very hard where it hurts. And that doesn’t mean boots on the ground, but it means hitting them very, very hard where it hurts.”

Protests had spread to at least 190 cities across Iran by Saturday, according to the National Council of Resistance in Iran.

ARMED IRANIAN PROTESTERS BATTLE POLICE IN TEHRAN STREETS AS TRUMP WARNS OF FORCEFUL US RESPONSE

The Associated Press reported Sunday that activists claimed at least 544 people have been killed, with more feared dead. Tehran also warned that the U.S. military and Israel would be considered “legitimate targets” if the U.S. intervenes to protect demonstrators.

More than 10,600 people have been detained during the more than two weeks of protests, according to the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, which the AP noted has been accurate during previous unrest. The group said 496 of those killed were protesters and 48 were members of security forces.

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Authorities also imposed a sweeping internet blackout this week, largely cutting Iran off from the outside world as anti-regime protests spread and officials escalated threats of harsh punishment.

Fox News’ Efrat Lachter and Brie Stimson, as well as The Associated Press, contributed to this report.

President Donald Trump said the U.S. must acquire Greenland — not lease it — arguing the Arctic territory lacks defenses and warning that Russia or China would move in if Washington does not act, a move he said is critical to U.S. and NATO security.

While speaking with reporters on Air Force One on Sunday night, Trump was asked about Greenland and whether the U.S. had made an offer to acquire the territory from Denmark.

“I haven’t done that. Greenland should make the deal because Greenland does not want to see Russia or China take over,” he said. “Basically, their defense is two dog sleds. You know that? You know what their defense is? Two dog sleds.

“In the meantime, you have Russian destroyers and submarines, and China destroyers and submarines all over the place,” Trump continued. “We’re not going to let that happen, and if it affects NATO, then it affects NATO. But, you know, they need us more than we need them, I will tell you that right now.”

DENMARK SUMMONS US ENVOY OVER ALLEGED COVERT GREENLAND INTERFERENCE OPERATIONS

The president was also clear that his administration is not talking about leasing Greenland short term, but only about acquiring the Danish territory.

“If we don’t do it, Russia or China will, and that’s not going to happen when I’m president,” Trump said.

The remarks followed renewed pushback from Greenland’s leadership, which rejected calls from Trump and members of his administration for the U.S. to take control of the island.

TOP CANADIAN OFFICIALS TO VISIT GREENLAND AMID INTERNATIONAL FEARS AS TRUMP EYES NATO-LINKED TERRITORY

Several Trump administration officials have echoed the president’s position, arguing that Greenland’s strategic location makes U.S. control a national security imperative.

Greenland Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen and four party leaders said Friday night that the island has no interest in becoming part of the U.S. or Denmark, according to The Associated Press.

Greenland, a self-governing Danish territory and longtime U.S. ally, has repeatedly dismissed Trump’s suggestions that the U.S. should acquire the island.

NEW TRUMP ADMIN ENVOY SAYS US WON’T ‘CONQUER’ GREENLAND, EMPHASIZES TALKS WITH LOCALS AS DENMARK BALKS AT MOVE

“We don’t want to be Americans, we don’t want to be Danes, we want to be Greenlanders,” the leaders said, adding that Greenland’s “future must be decided by the Greenlandic people.”

The statement also criticized Washington’s rhetoric toward the island. “As Greenlandic party leaders, we would like to emphasize once again our wish that the United States’ contempt for our country ends,” it said.

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen warned last week that Trump’s annexation comments could threaten NATO itself, saying any U.S. military action against a NATO ally would effectively end the alliance and the security framework that has existed since World War II.

“If the U.S. chooses to attack another NATO country militarily, then everything stops,” Frederiksen told Danish broadcaster TV2.

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Nielsen underscored that position the same day, writing in a Facebook post that Greenland is “not an object of superpower rhetoric.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

A suspicious object discovered during a security sweep at Palm Beach International Airport ahead of President Donald Trump’s departure from Mar-a-Lago in Florida on Sunday prompted the U.S. Secret Service to adjust the presidential motorcade route, the White House said.

The discovery did not disrupt Trump’s travel schedule, officials said, as agents evaluated the item and made security adjustments out of an abundance of caution.

“During advance sweeps of PBI Airport, a suspicious object was discovered by USSS,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said. “A further investigation was warranted and the presidential motorcade route was adjusted accordingly.”

PROSECUTORS PRESENT FINAL WITNESS TYING RYAN ROUTH TO TRUMP’S GOLF CLUB AND GUN PURCHASE

The latest security concern follows a separate incident months earlier, when the U.S. Secret Service discovered a suspicious hunting stand positioned with a direct line of sight to where Trump exits Air Force One at Palm Beach International Airport.

That find was made in October, when agents located the elevated stand but did not find anyone in the surrounding area.

TONY HAWK, TAIWAN AND A FLASHLIGHT: TRUMP ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT SUSPECT’S BIZARRE DEFENSE

“Prior to the President’s return to West Palm Beach, USSS discovered what appeared to be an elevated hunting stand within sight line of the Air Force One landing zone,” FBI Director Kash Patel told Fox News Digital at the time. “No individuals were located at the scene. The FBI has since taken the investigatory lead, flying in resources to collect all evidence from the scene, and deploying our cell phone analytics capabilities.”

A law enforcement source later told Fox News Digital the stand appeared to have been in place for “months” before it was discovered.

PROSECUTORS TO WRAP TRUMP ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT CASE AS DEFENSE READIES WITNESSES

The hunting stand incident came just weeks after Ryan Routh was found guilty of attempting to assassinate Trump on his Palm Beach golf course, where prosecutors said he had established a sniper’s nest hidden in bushes along a fence line.

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That case followed an earlier assassination attempt in which Trump was shot in the ear during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.

Fox News Digital’s Anders Hagstrom contributed to this report.

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey on Sunday defended the profanity-laced remarks he made last week after an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent fatally shot a driver during an enforcement operation.

Last Wednesday, Frey told ICE officials to “get the f— out of Minneapolis,” sharply criticizing federal authorities for operating in a city that did not welcome the Trump administration’s aggressive immigration agenda. His comments drew widespread criticism, with some authorities asserting that the driver aggravated the situation and prompted an officer to open fire in self-defense.  

“To those that are offended, I’m sorry I offended their delicate ears,” Frey said during NBC News’ “Meet the Press.”

Frey added that while he has a responsibility as mayor to help defuse heated situations, he argued that his explicit comments do not outweigh the fact that someone was killed.

DHS DEPLOYING HUNDREDS MORE FEDERAL AGENTS TO MINNEAPOLIS, NOEM ANNOUNCES

“Of course, I bear responsibility to bring down the temperature,” he added. “That’s part of my role as mayor. And by the way, protests here in Minneapolis are peaceful. We had, I don’t know, 10,000 or so people that were protesting and marching yesterday. And virtually all of it was a very peaceful expression of First Amendment rights.”

“But as far as who inflamed the situation, you know, I dropped an f-bomb,” Frey said. “And they killed somebody. I think the killing somebody is the inflammatory element here, not the f-bomb, which I’m sure we’ve all heard before.”

MAYOR JACOB FREY TELLS ICE TO ‘GET THE F‑– OUT OF MINNEAPOLIS,’ REJECTS DHS SELF‑DEFENSE STATEMENT

Earlier Sunday morning, Frey again reaffirmed his earlier remarks in a post on X – this time omitting the expletives – writing, “Today is a good day for ICE to get out of Minnesota.”

A federal ICE agent in Minneapolis shot and killed 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good on Wednesday after her vehicle was stopped on a residential street, partially blocking the roadway during a federal enforcement operation. 

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The shooting has prompted widespread backlash and protests, with federal officials calling Good’s actions an attempt to run down officers in an act of “domestic terrorism,” while witnesses and local leaders claimed that Good was attempting to leave the area as ICE agents surrounded her.  

EXCLUSIVE — If he eventually goes ahead with a likely 2028 White House run, Vice President JD Vance will have the backing of Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin of Virginia.

“I think Vice President Vance would be a great nominee,” Youngkin said in an exclusive interview on “Fox News Sunday,” as he looked to the race to succeed term-limited President Donald Trump.

Youngkin told Fox News’ Jacqui Heinrich that “as people speculate on what’s going to happen down the road in 2028, I agree with President Trump and [Secretary of State] Marco Rubio. I think JD Vance would make a great, great presidential nominee.”

The answer by Youngkin, who’s been viewed the past two years by political pundits as a potential contender for the 2028 GOP presidential nomination, was the first time he’s publicly weighed in the next White House race.

WHITE HOUSE RACE UNDERWAY: WITH 2026 LOOMING, BOTH PARTIES ARE ALREADY PLAYING FOR 2028

Youngkin’s “Fox News Sunday” interview came just days before completing his single term as governor of Virginia, which by law prevents governors from running for re-election and serving consecutive terms.

While Vance has yet to say anything publicly on whether he’ll launch a 2028 campaign to succeed Trump, he is considered by many on the right to be the president’s heir apparent to eventually take over the MAGA and America First mantles.

VANCE LANDS BACKING OF INFLUENTIAL CONSERVATIVE GROUP

Vance was endorsed last month by Erika Kirk at an annual summit hosted by Turning Point USA, the increasingly influential and politically powerful conservative group.

The backing of the vice president by Turning Point, which is particularly influential among younger conservatives and whose political arm has built up a powerful grassroot outreach operation, could give Vance a major boost if he does launch a White House bid next year.

DAVID MARCUS: WHAT JD VANCE TOLD ME ABOUT 2028, RUBIO AND THE FUTURE OF MAGA

Youngkin energized Republicans nationwide in 2021, as the first-time candidate who hailed from the party’s business wing edged out former Democratic Gov. Terry McAuliffe to become the first GOP candidate in a dozen years to win a gubernatorial election in the one-time swing state that had trended toward the Democrats over the previous decade.

The governor instantly became a Republican rock star and speculation stirred about a possible future White House run.

But the governor always demurred when asked about a possible presidential bid, saying countless times over the past few years that his political focus was solely on Virginia and that he intended to “finish strong.”

Youngkin is likely to campaign for fellow Republicans in this year’s midterm elections, when the GOP aims to hold its House and Senate majorities, and 36 states hold contests for governor.

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“I think the most important thing we can do, just like Vice President Vance said recently, is stay focused on the here and now. We have to deliver. We have to deliver for Americans and Virginians. We have huge elections in 2026 to keep and expand our majorities in the House and the Senate,” Youngkin said as he pointed to the midterms.

And he reiterated, “I just deeply respect the vice president’s reminder that we have to stay focused on today. And if we stay focused on today and deliver results, then Americans will continue to extend our license to lead.”

A Somali man elected city councilor in Maine has resigned days after taking office following his indictment on a felony charge and an investigation over his residency in the district he served, according to local reports.

Iman Osman, who served as a city councilor in Lewiston, wrote in a resignation letter sent to Lewiston Mayor Carl Sheline and City Council President David Chittim that he did not come to the decision lightly, WMTW-TV reported.

“For the betterment of our community and in the best interest of our city, I believe it is time for me to step aside,” Osman wrote in the letter. “I hope my resignation serves as a call to action for those who remain — an opportunity to reflect on the values of respect, inclusivity and kindness that should guide our public service.”

Osman’s resignation comes after a grand jury indicted him on Dec. 1 on charges stemming from the alleged theft of two firearms between Nov. 15, 2023, and Oct. 11, 2024, according to the outlet.

SOMALI UN AMBASSADOR LINKED TO QUESTIONABLE CINCINNATI HEALTH SERVICE AGENCY, RFK JR. DEPUTY SAYS

Osman pleaded not guilty at his arraignment in Lewiston District Court on Tuesday, Maine Public reported.

Osman also faced scrutiny over his residence, which was listed in the indictment as an address that has been condemned since October 2024, according to the reports.

On Monday, the Lewiston City Council voted 6-1 for Osman to be investigated over his residency. Osman was the sole vote against the investigation.

BESSENT BLAMES WALZ AS TREASURY PROBES WHETHER MINNESOTA FRAUD FUNDS REACHED TERROR GROUP AL-SHABAB

Osman claimed in his letter that he faced “racist opposition” during his city council campaign and was bombarded with “vicious personal attacks” while serving in office.

Osman’s attorney, Kiernan Majerus-Collins, told WMTW that he believes the national rhetoric about the Somali community sparked an increase in the backlash against Osman.

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“The fact that the Trump administration is targeting Somali and Somali Americans across the country, absolutely played a role in ginning up the kind of hatred and threats of violence that ultimately forced him to conclude that he could no longer serve in public office at this time,” he said.

The Illinois Republican Party has blasted as “divisive” the hiring language the Obama Foundation is using for the Obama Presidential Center, arguing it shows the privately run project is using public land to advance a political agenda.

The Obama Foundation, which is developing the hotly debated center on Chicago’s South Side, recently advertised roughly 150 jobs at the facility, stating that successful applicants are expected to align with the foundation’s “anti-racism” goals.

“It’s an Illinois Democrat tradition to insert divisive, far-left policies into the lives of everyday Americans and to balk at the rule of law,” Illinois Republican Party Chair Kathy Salvi told Fox News Digital.

OBAMA PRESIDENTIAL CENTER DEPOSITS JUST $1M INTO $470M RESERVE FUND AIMED TO PROTECT TAXPAYERS

“The Obama Center is no different. It is a recipient of taxpayer funds built on public lands and flouts ‘anti-racism’ hiring goals,” Salvi said. “But such employment practices sound discriminatory and unmoored from any assessment of merit.”

The Obama Foundation secured control of a 19.3-acre section of Jackson Park — often described as Chicago’s equivalent of Central Park — under a 99-year agreement for just $10, after city officials approved the project under the premise that the center would function as a civic institution serving the public interest.

Opponents argued the land transfer violated the public trust doctrine, a legal principle requiring public land to serve a public purpose, and filed multiple lawsuits seeking to halt construction. The courts ultimately allowed the project to proceed without adjudicating the merits of those claims.

While commonly referred to as a presidential “library,” the Obama Presidential Center is not operated by the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) and does not function as a traditional presidential library.

Instead, it is run entirely by the Obama Foundation, the former president’s private nonprofit organization, which also oversees leadership and civic programs reflecting the values and priorities of former President Barack Obama.

The foundation will operate from the center and oversee a 225-foot-tall museum, conference facilities, a gymnasium and a regulation-sized NBA court. There will also be a digital library, although it will not house original presidential records in the same manner as NARA-run libraries.

Construction costs for the site have ballooned from an original estimate of $330 million to at least $850 million, and the project has also relied on publicly funded infrastructure work surrounding the site.

OBAMA LIBRARY, BEGUN WITH LOFTY DEI GOALS, NOW PLAGUED BY $40M RACIALLY CHARGED SUIT, BALLOONING COSTS

The foundation committed to creating a $470 million endowment — a reserve fund commonly used by nonprofits and universities to help cover long-term operating costs by generating investment income — but its latest tax filings show that only $1 million has ever been deposited.

Salvi said the hiring language reinforces concerns that the Obama Presidential Center is operating as an ideological institution despite being built on public land under a civic justification.

For instance, job postings state that the foundation is “deeply committed to creating an actively anti-racist organization, leveraging our global reach to combat systemic racism and inequity wherever it exists.”

“Anti-racism” is the belief that people must not simply eschew racism, but must actively fight any perception of it. The term came into widespread use amid the rise of Black Lives Matter, and was touted by author Ibram X. Kendi in his 2019 book, “How to Be an Antiracist.” Critics say anti-racism stresses outcomes over opportunity and assigns collective guilt to people who may be unfairly viewed as “oppressors” based on their own skin color.

The Obama Center’s postings link to the foundation’s anti-racism and equity statement, which describes a commitment to embedding anti-racism into hiring, leadership programs and organizational practices. It also shows two people of color marching and holding hands with their fists raised in the air.

“In the United States, we are still grappling — in ways large and small — with the legacy of slavery and Jim Crow and the scourge of racism,” the statement reads.

“That’s why our goal is to make sure every member of the Foundation team is committed to anti-racism, sets expectations for how we will engage, and makes space for the work,” the statement continues. “We’re focused on making sure our actions match our intent — removing barriers for diverse vendors, building anti-racism and equity into our hiring practices, and recruiting diverse cohorts for our leadership programs.”

OBAMA LIBRARY, BEGUN WITH LOFTY DEI GOALS, NOW PLAGUED BY $40M RACIALLY CHARGED SUIT, BALLOONING COSTS

Critics like Salvi have also pointed to the project’s long-standing emphasis on diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives as evidence that ideological priorities were embedded into the center from its inception.

Those initiatives have already given rise to real-world legal and financial disputes.

As Fox News Digital previously reported, a Black-owned construction subcontractor filed a $40 million discrimination lawsuit tied to the project, alleging racially discriminatory treatment by an engineering firm involved in construction. The engineering firm has argued that diversity-driven contracting decisions resulted in less qualified subcontractors being selected, contributing to inferior workmanship, delays and cost overruns.

WATCH: The Brian Kilmeade Show: Obama Presidential Center rocked by $40M racial bias lawsuit

“The Illinois Republican Party stands with President Trump and the Justice Department to end the tyranny of DEI and woke, performative politics plaguing the federal government, our military and the private sector,” Salvi said.

“As the Trump Administration investigates such employment practices at-large, we will continue to demand accountability and fairness from civic and educational sites like the Obama Center claims to be.”

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The Obama Foundation responded to criticism of its hiring language by pointing to its stated values.

“Our values remain the same as the day we began; we will continue to actively work to combat racism as we strive to build a more perfect union,” Emily Bittner, the foundation’s vice president of communications, said in a statement to Fox News Digital.

Supporters of the project have said the Obama Presidential Center will serve as a cultural and educational anchor on Chicago’s South Side and reflect the values and legacy of former President Obama.

Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem said Sunday the government is sending additional federal agents to Minnesota to protect immigration officers and continue enforcement operations amid rising tensions following the fatal shooting of a U.S. citizen.

Noem told “Sunday Morning Futures” host Maria Bartiromo that DHS will be sending hundreds more agents on Sunday and Monday to Minneapolis to allow Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Border Patrol agents to do their work “safely.”

“If they conduct violent activities against law enforcement, if they impede our operations, that’s a crime, and we will hold them accountable to those consequences,” she said, referring to clashes between some protesters and federal agents outside an ICE facility and the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building over the weekend.

The protests, which have spread to other cities, including Los Angeles, Portland and New York, come after an ICE officer fatally shot 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good, who DHS alleges “weaponized her vehicle” and “attempted to run a law enforcement officer over.”

EXPERT WARNS PAINTING SLAIN ANTI-ICE ACTIVIST AS ‘GEORGE FLOYD 2.0’ WILL FAIL

Video of the shooting has become a political flashpoint, with some saying it supports the government’s position that the agent acted in self-defense and others saying the footage calls into question DHS’ explanation and raises broader concerns about the use of force by ICE officers.

The shooting remains under federal investigation.

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey wrote in an op-ed in The New York Times that the Trump administration pushed a “false narrative” about the shooting and demonized Good.

NEW VIDEO SHOWS MINUTES LEADING UP TO DEADLY MINNEAPOLIS ICE SHOOTING

“The chaos that ICE and the Trump administration have brought to Minneapolis made this tragedy sadly predictable,” he wrote.

“I’ve watched multiple videos, from multiple perspectives — it seems clear that Ms. Good, a mother of three, was trying to leave the scene, not attack an agent,” he added.

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DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told Fox News Digital on Thursday that since Operation Metro Surge began, DHS law enforcement has arrested more than 1,500 individuals, including alleged murderers, pedophiles, rapists, and gang members across Minnesota. 

“Every single day our law enforcement officers put their lives on the line to arrest the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens from American communities,” McLaughlin said. “We will not let rioters slow us down from making Minnesota safe again—something Governor Walz and Mayor Frey REFUSED to do.”

A federal judge in Washington state on Friday blocked the Trump administration from enforcing key parts of an executive order that sought to change how states administer federal elections, ruling the president lacked authority to apply those provisions to Washington and Oregon.

U.S. District Judge John Chun held that several provisions of Executive Order 14248 violated the separation of powers and exceeded the president’s authority.

“As stated by the Supreme Court, although the Constitution vests the executive power in the President, ‘[i]n the framework of our Constitution, the President’s power to see that the laws are faithfully executed refutes the idea that he is to be a lawmaker,’” Chun wrote in his 75-page ruling.

FEDERAL APPEALS COURT RULES AGAINST TRUMP’S BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP EXECUTIVE ORDER

White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson told Fox News Digital in a statement: “President Trump cares deeply about the integrity of our elections and his executive order takes lawful actions to ensure election security. This is not the final say on the matter and the Administration expects ultimate victory on the issue.”

Washington and Oregon filed a lawsuit in April contending the executive order signed by President Donald Trump in March violated the Constitution by attempting to set rules for how states conduct elections, including ballot counting, voter registration and voting equipment.

DOJ TARGETS NONCITIZENS ON VOTER ROLLS AS PART OF TRUMP ELECTION INTEGRITY PUSH

“Today’s ruling is a huge victory for voters in Washington and Oregon, and for the rule of law,” Washington Attorney General Nick Brown said in response to the Jan. 9 ruling, according to The Associated Press. “The court enforced the long-standing constitutional rule that only States and Congress can regulate elections, not the Election Denier-in-Chief.”

Executive Order 14248 directed federal agencies to require documentary proof of citizenship on federal voter registration forms and sought to require that absentee and mail-in ballots be received by Election Day in order to be counted.

The order also instructed the attorney general to take enforcement action against states that include such ballots in their final vote tallies if they arrive after that deadline.

“We oppose requirements that suppress eligible voters and will continue to advocate for inclusive and equitable access to registration while protecting the integrity of the process. The U.S. Constitution guarantees that all qualified voters have a constitutionally protected right to vote and to have their votes counted,” said Washington Secretary of State Steve Hobbs in a statement issued when the lawsuit was filed last year.

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“We will work with the Washington Attorney General’s Office to defend our constitutional authority and ensure Washington’s elections remain secure, fair, and accessible,” Hobbs added.

Chun noted in his ruling that Washington and Oregon do not certify election results on Election Day, a practice shared by every U.S. state and territory, which allows them to count mail-in ballots received after Election Day as long as the ballots were postmarked on or before that day and arrived before certification under state law.

Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., says she and other Minnesota lawmakers were kicked out of an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in Minneapolis on Saturday.

Omar visited ICE’s Whipple Building alongside fellow Minnesota Democrat Rep. Angie Craig, saying they were fulfilling their congressional oversight role. They were asked to leave the facility after being informed about a new Trump administration rule governing lawmaker visits.

“We were initially invited in to do our Congressional oversight and to exercise our Article I duties,” Omar told reporters after the incident. “When we made it in, it was with the authorization of someone who’s been here for a really long time, who understood that we had a Congressional duty to enter the building and see the facility.”

“Shortly after we were let in, two officials came in and said they received a message that we were no longer allowed to be in the building and that they were rescinding our invitation and denying any further access to the building,” she continued.

JEFFRIES CALLS NOEM ‘STONE-COLD LIAR’ OVER MINNEAPOLIS SHOOTING RESPONSE, DEMAND INVESTIGATIONS

President Donald Trump‘s administration imposed a new rule on Saturday requiring lawmakers to give at least one week’s notice before entering an ICE facility.

The move is the administration’s second attempt at such an order. A federal judge previously struck down a similar requirement from Homeland Security Sec. Kristi Noem, finding that federal spending laws require that members of Congress receive unrestricted access to recipient facilities.

LAWMAKERS PROBE SBA LOANS LINKED TO MINNESOTA’S $9B FRAUD SCANDAL: ‘RECKLESS DECISION MAKING’

Omar said her group was able to briefly question officials inside the facility regarding hygiene for detainees and other topics. She described the answers she received as “insane,” and argued officials were downplaying how long detainees remain at the facility.

Federal officials say the new order complies with federal law because the funding for the facility is sourced from the Big Beautiful Bill rather than congressional appropriations.

DHS spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin elaborated on Omar’s removal in a statement to reporters, arguing that the lawmakers entered the facility “with the explicit goal of ‘hunting down’ ICE officers who they believed may have been staying there.”

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“For the safety of detainees and staff, and in compliance with the agency’s mandate, the Members of Congress were notified that their visit was improper and out of compliance with existing court orders and policies which mandate that members of Congress must notify ICE at least seven days in advance of Congressional visits,” she said.

President Donald Trump signaled a hardline stance toward Cuba on Sunday, vowing to halt all oil and financial support and urging the island nation to “make a deal” before it is “too late.”

“THERE WILL BE NO MORE OIL OR MONEY GOING TO CUBA – ZERO! I strongly suggest they make a deal, BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post.

‘WE BUILT VENEZUELA’S OIL INDUSTRY:’ TRUMP VOWS US ENERGY RETURN AFTER MADURO CAPTURE

Venezuela has long been Cuba’s largest oil supplier, though Trump has successfully secured oil shipments to the U.S. on the heels of former Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro‘s capture by U.S. forces.

“Cuba lived, for many years, on large amounts of OIL and MONEY from Venezuela,” Trump added.

The warning comes as the Trump administration intensifies its efforts to isolate regional allies of Venezuela following Maduro’s capture.

Venezuela’s massive oil reserves, the largest in the world, have historically underpinned its influence across the region, particularly through subsidized shipments to allies like Cuba.

VENEZUELA STILL OWES US ENERGY COMPANIES BILLIONS AS TRUMP CALLS FOR NEW INVESTMENT

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That leverage is now at the center of Trump’s push to reshape regional energy flows following the collapse of Venezuela’s former government.

On Friday, Trump hosted a lineup of U.S. and international oil executives representing key sectors of Venezuela’s energy supply chain, including producers, refiners and traders.

Trump pledged to bring U.S. companies back to the forefront of Venezuelan oil production and exports, according to people familiar with the discussions.

President Donald Trump reacted to a social media post joking about Secretary of State Marco Rubio becoming the president of Cuba, replying, “Sounds good to me.”

Trump posted the response Sunday on his Truth Social account after a user wrote, “Marco Rubio will be president of Cuba.”

Rubio’s broad portfolio in the Trump administration has fueled online jokes portraying him as being placed in charge of an ever-expanding list of roles.

MADURO’S ARREST IS GOOD NEWS FOR ALL AMERICANS AND LEAVES DEMOCRATS LOOKING FOOLISH

Officially, he serves as secretary of state, national security advisor, and acting archivist of the United States.

He also previously served as acting administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development, before the agency’s remaining functions were discontinued or absorbed into the State Department as part of a reorganization finalized in July.

RUBIO SPEARHEADS MASSIVE STATE DEPT REORGANIZATION SET TO ELIMINATE, MERGE MORE THAN 300 OFFICES

Social media users on X have turned a photo of Rubio from a White House meeting into a viral “realizing” meme, joking that his growing responsibilities make him the administration’s go-to official for a widening range of positions.

Users have posted AI-generated photos of Rubio that depict him in a range of imagined roles, from the Shah of Iran and the president of Venezuela to the manager of Manchester United.

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Rubio has leaned into the humor himself, writing on X last week that he wouldn’t be a candidate for the vacant head coach or general manager positions with the Miami Dolphins.

“While you never know what the future may bring right now my focus must remain on global events and also the precious archives of the United States of America,” he wrote.

A Massachusetts federal judge on Saturday temporarily blocked the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) planned termination of Family Reunification Parole (FRP) programs for migrants from seven countries, ruling the agency likely failed to give individuals proper notice before stripping their legal status.

U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani said in a five-page order that an emergency stay was warranted and granted a 14-day temporary restraining order blocking the termination of multiple country-specific FRP programs.

FRP allows certain relatives of U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents to enter the United States temporarily while they wait for an immigrant visa, a process that can take years.

DHS said in December that it was terminating all FRP programs for migrants from Colombia, Cuba, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti and Honduras, and their immediate family members.

LEFT-WING COURT HANDS KRISTI NOEM BIG WIN IN ‘UNVETTED IMMIGRATION’ CASE

“This administration is ending the abuse of humanitarian parole which allowed poorly vetted aliens to circumvent the traditional parole process. Parole was never intended to be used in this way, and DHS is returning parole to a case-by-case basis as intended by Congress. Ending the FRP programs is a necessary return to common-sense policies and a return to America First,” read a press release from the agency.

DHS said it would provide individual notice to parole recipients, informing them that their parole and related work authorization were being terminated.

It noted that the terminations, set to take effect Jan. 14, would not apply to parole recipients who had filed a Form I-485, an application for permanent residency, by Dec. 15, 2025, and whose applications remain pending.

JUDGE ORDERS RFK JR’S HHS TO STOP SHARING MEDICAID DATA WITH IMMIGRATION OFFICIALS

Talwani wrote that DHS likely failed to provide the individualized written notice required before ending recipients’ status, finding little evidence that people were actually notified through U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) online accounts or by mail.

“The Federal Register Notice opined that ‘all FRP parolees under the modernized programs should have a USCIS online account’ and that ‘DHS will . . . provide individual notice to each parolee through their USCIS online account,’” the federal judge explained.

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“But nothing in the record before the court suggests that most, let alone all, parolees do in fact have such accounts or when notice via such accounts was provided to the parolees.”

Talwani ordered DHS to produce records explaining its decision by Jan. 13. She then set an expedited schedule for the government to file its legal response by Jan. 15, with plaintiffs given until Jan. 20 to reply.

Tens of thousands of anti-ICE protesters took to the streets of major cities across the country this weekend in a raft of demonstrations largely organized by a coalition of left-wing groups.

The ICE Out for Good coalition called for a “weekend of action” starting Saturday, organizing more than 1,000 events nationwide. The coalition was largely organized by Indivisible, the same left-wing group that pushed “No Kings” protests against President Donald Trump in 2025.

Protests focus on the death of Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis last week. She was killed in a confrontation with ICE agents after federal authorities say she attempted to run over one of the officers.

“Renee Nicole Good was a wife, a mother of three, and a member of her community. She, and the dozens of other sons, daughters, friends, siblings, parents, and community members who have been killed by ICE, should be alive today,” said Indivisible co-executive director Leah Greenberg.

MINNEAPOLIS MAYOR DEMANDS STATE BE INCLUDED IN ICE-INVOLVED SHOOTING PROBE, SLAMS PAM BONDI’S DOJ

“This weekend, people across the country are coming together to grieve, honor those we’ve lost, and demand accountability from a system that has operated with impunity for far too long. ICE’s violence is not a statistic, it has names, families, and futures attached to it, and we refuse to look away or stay silent,” she added.

Protests led to scuffles with police and arrests in several states on Saturday. Austin Police detained at least three anti-ICE agitators as protests escalated there.

Footage also shows Los Angeles police facing down protesters outside an ICE detention center.

PORTLAND AGITATORS CLASH WITH POLICE AFTER 2 SHOT BY FEDERAL IMMIGRATION AGENT

Multiple arrests were made after a dispersal order was issued and protesters refused to leave the area as instructed, according to LAPD. Multiple agitators were seen on video being detained just before 7 p.m. local time.

“You must leave the area,” police wrote in a statement on X.

Members of the Trump administration have reiterated that the ICE operations are targeting criminal illegal aliens. Vice President JD Vance highlighted a list of individuals arrested in Minnesota that includes convicted child rapists and murderers.

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“Arresting and deporting these people is absolutely critical to national security. National democrats are going to get our law enforcement killed if they don’t stop lying about this issue and the people working to keep us safe,” Vance wrote on X.

President Donald Trump said Saturday that Venezuela has begun releasing political prisoners “in a BIG WAY,” crediting U.S. intervention for the move following last week’s American military operation in the country.

“Venezuela has started the process, in a BIG WAY, of releasing their political prisoners,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “Thank you! I hope those prisoners will remember how lucky they got that the USA came along and did what had to be done.”

He added a warning directed at those being released: “I HOPE THEY NEVER FORGET! If they do, it will not be good for them.”

The president’s comments come one week after the United States launched Operation Absolute Resolve, a strike on Venezuela and capture of dictator Nicolás Maduro as well as his wife Cilia Flores, transporting them to the United States to face federal drug trafficking charges.

US WARNS AMERICANS TO LEAVE VENEZUELA IMMEDIATELY AS ARMED MILITIAS SET UP ROADBLOCKS

Following the military operation, Trump said the U.S. intends to temporarily oversee Venezuela’s transition of power, asserting American involvement “until such time as a safe, proper and judicious transition” can take place and warning that U.S. forces stand ready to escalate if necessary.

At least 18 political prisoners were reported freed as of Saturday and there is no comprehensive public list of all expected releases, Reuters reported.

Maduro and Flores were transported to New York after their capture to face charges in U.S. federal court. The Pentagon has said that Operation Absolute Resolve involved more than 150 aircraft and months of planning.

TRUMP ADMIN SAYS MADURO CAPTURE REINFORCES ALIEN ENEMIES ACT REMOVALS

Trump has said the U.S. intends to remain actively involved in Venezuela’s security, political transition and reconstruction of its oil infrastructure.

The White House did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

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Fox News Digital’s Morgan Phillips and Greg Norman-Diamond contributed to this reporting.

HEDGESVILLE, W.V. – EXCLUSIVE: As governor of West Virginia, Jim Justice in 2021 signed the Save Women’s Sports Act – prohibiting transgender girls from competing in women’s sports. Now that he represennts the state in the U.S. Senate, his law faces Supreme Court scrutiny next week with national implications.

Justice spoke Saturday to Fox News Digital – after he coached the Greenbrier East High School girls’ basketball team to a win over Hedgesville — about the high stakes of the case, and why banning states from keeping biological males out of female scholastic sports would unfairly disadvantage young women.

A transgender girl from the Bridgeport area named in court documents as “B. P. J.” sued to overturn it and be able to play on girls’ sports teams, and the case has made its way up the chain to the nation’s highest court.

A trial court upheld the law in 2023, but it was overturned on appeal in April 2024 and the Supreme Court agreed in July to hear the case, scheduling arguments for Tuesday.

STATE ATTORNEY GENERAL INVOLVED IN SCOTUS TRANS ATHLETE CASE RESPONDS AS 130 DEMS BACK MALES IN WOMEN’S SPORTS

“Why in the world don’t we step up and stand behind all the young girls and all the women who are trying to participate in athletics?” Justice told Fox News Digital courtside at the Spartans’ match near Berkeley Springs.

“It is unbelievable what they’ve done, and I am so proud of them — And to absolutely just walk away, turn our back and say, ‘Oh, well, it’s OK for us to [let] boys participate against their girls” —  I am off-the-chart absolutely standing with our women.”

Citing his own experience coaching girls from Greenbrier East in Lewisburg, Justice said he sees every day how hard they work and maintained “they absolutely don’t deserve to be disadvantaged.”

SUPREME COURT TO REVIEW STATE BANS ON TRANSGENDER ATHLETES’ PARTICIPATION IN SCHOOL SPORTS

“This court case is hugely important,” he said, accompanied by his celebrity canine companion Babydog. “At the end of the day, if we can’t stand up for our girls; stand up for our women; I don’t know what in the world is wrong with us.”

Justice was one of several lawmakers who filed an amicus brief in support of West Virginia and Attorney General JB McCuskey as he and Justice’s successor, Gov. Patrick Morrisey, bring the case before the bench.

The brief signaled Justice’s assertion that Congress must be the one to offer any expansion of Title IX – the 1972 civil rights law prohibiting sex-based discrimination – beyond biological sex to include gender identity.

TRANS ATHLETE’S FAMILY FILES RESPONSE IN SUPREME COURT WOMEN’S SPORTS CASE

“I think absolutely that Congress should be the one to expand it, but beyond that, I don’t know why we’d even consider it,” Justice said.

“You should see how hard our girls work all the time to perfect what they’re doing, to absolutely have a dream of going to college and playing ball. My daughter played college basketball. I’ve been there,” Justice said.

“We’ve seen a situation where a man basically is competing against our girls or our women and absolutely prevails. And then we see the tragedy of how… tough that is on our girls and women,” he said.

Always quick to tout the virtues of his home state, Justice also spoke about how important it is to see Mountaineers leading the charge on the transgender sports issue.

ATTORNEY GENERAL LEADING THE SUPREME COURT TRANS ATHLETE CASE DEFENSE SPEAKS OUT

“West Virginia is so good in so many ways,” the famed Greenbrier proprietor said, adding that the arguments McCuskey’s team is preparing to make on Tuesday fit right into the state’s modus operandi:

“I’ve said it over and over, we are bound with logic, common sense, goodness, good neighbors, people that are appreciative and loving — It is absolutely unbelievable how we stepped up during COVID, all the different things we did, we led the nation over and over.”

“Now the nation is awakening, the world is awakening just how great West Virginia truly is. But our people are the real deal. That’s all there is to it,” he said.

130 DEMOCRAT CONGRESSIONAL REPRESENTATIVES URGE SCOTUS TO SIDE WITH TRANS ATHLETE IN TITLE IX LEGAL BATTLE

On the other side of the case, B.P.J. is seeking to play on her high school sports teams with girls.

This past year, B.P.J. qualified for the West Virginia girls high school state track meet, finishing third in the discus-throw and eighth in the shot-put in the Class AAA division.

She has identified as female since third grade and has been taking puberty-blocking medication. The plaintiffs have complained of harassment and intimidation over their lawsuit.

The Supreme Court will formally decide on both West Virginia’s law and an Idaho policy. The Justice Department supports the laws and will be allotted time during oral arguments.

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The Save Women’s Sports Act was spearheaded in the West Virginia legislature by GOP Dels. Evan Worrell of Barboursville, Wayne Clark of Charles Town and Jonathan Pinson of Ravenswood.

Fox News Digital’s Olivia Palombo and Fox News’ Shannon Bream and Bill Mears contributed to this report.

The State Department declared Saturday that the U.S. is “rejecting the outdated model of multilateralism,” saying the system turned American taxpayers into “the world’s underwriter for a sprawling architecture of global governance.” 

Additionally, it said that President Donald Trump‘s recent order withdrawing the U.S. from 66 international organizations showed that “the era of writing blank check to international bureaucracies is over.”

The move marks the latest in Trump’s broader “America First” agenda aimed at cutting spending that the administration deems wasteful, ineffective or contrary to U.S. interests.

“What we term the ‘international system’ is now overrun with hundreds of opaque international organizations, many with overlapping mandates, duplicative actions, ineffective outputs, and poor financial and ethical governance,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio wrote in a memo posted on the State Department’s Substack.

TRUMP ORDERS US WITHDRAWAL FROM 66 ‘WASTEFUL’ GLOBAL ORGANIZATIONS IN SWEEPING ‘AMERICA FIRST’ CRACKDOWN

“Even those that once performed useful functions have increasingly become inefficient bureaucracies, platforms for politicized activism or instruments contrary to our nation’s best interests. Not only do these institutions not deliver results, they obstruct action by those who wish to address these problems,” Rubio added.

Rubio did not hold back in his criticism of the organizations, saying that the U.S.’s continued participation “would be an abandonment of our national duty.” Additionally, the secretary emphasized that this did not mean that the U.S. was retreating from global leadership, rather that it was rejecting what the administration sees as an outdated model of multilateralism.

On Wednesday, Trump signed a presidential memorandum directing the U.S. to withdraw from 66 international organizations, ordering executive departments and agencies to cease participation in and funding of entities the administration says no longer serve U.S. interests.

The memo came just under a year after a Feb. 4, 2025, order that directed Rubio, along with the U.S. representative to the United Nations, to conduct a review of “all international intergovernmental organizations of which the United States is a member and provides any type of funding or other support, and all conventions and treaties to which the United States is a party, to determine which organizations, conventions, and treaties are contrary to the interests of the United States,” according to the White House.

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The findings were presented to the president, who deliberated with his Cabinet before moving forward with the withdrawals.

In the January 2026 memorandum, Trump said Rubio’s findings showed it was “contrary to the interests of the U.S. to remain a member of, participate in, or otherwise provide support” to the listed groups. 

The U.N.-affiliated organizations included U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change, U.N. Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women and the U.N. Democracy Fund, among others. The non-U.N. groups included the International Solar Alliance and the Global Forum on Migration and Development as well as others.

Fox News Digital’s Jasmine Baehr contributed to this report.

Four tankers that left Venezuela in early January with their transponders off, also known as “dark mode,” have reportedly returned to the country’s waters. The news comes after several U.S. tanker seizures and amid the Trump administration’s push to acquire Venezuelan oil following the arrest of dictator Nicolás Maduro.

Most of the four tankers were loaded, according to Reuters, which noted that Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA), a state-owned company, and monitoring service TankerTrackers.com had reported the vessels’ return.

A flotilla of approximately one dozen loaded vessels as well as at least three empty ships left Venezuelan waters last month, despite a U.S. blockade that has been imposed since mid-December, according to Reuters.

PRESIDENT TRUMP REDRAWS THE GLOBAL OIL MAP

One of the vessels, the supertanker M Sophia, which had the Panamanian flag, was intercepted by the U.S. earlier this week, as was the Olina, which had the flag of Sao Tome And Principe, according to Reuters. The outlet reported, citing PDVSA, that the Olina was released to Venezuela on Friday.

The Olina had been seized by U.S. forces in a pre-dawn mission on Friday. The U.S. Southern Command said that Marines and sailors from Joint Task Force Southern Spear worked on the mission in coordination with the Department of Homeland Security.

“Apprehensions like this are backed by the full power of the U.S. Navy’s Amphibious Ready Group, including the ready and lethal platforms of the USS Iwo Jima, USS San Antonio, and USS Fort Lauderdale,” the U.S. Southern Command wrote in a post on X. “The Department of War’s Operation Southern Spear is unwavering in its mission to defend our homeland by ending illicit activity and restoring security in the Western Hemisphere.”

The Olina, previously named the Minerva M, was sanctioned by the United States for its role in transporting Russian oil, according to The Wall Street Journal.

FROM SANCTIONS TO SEIZURE: WHAT MADURO’S CAPTURE MEANS FOR VENEZUELA’S ECONOMY

Three other vessels that departed Venzuela in the flotilla, Panama-flagged Merope, Cook Islands-flagged Min Hang and Panama-flagged Thalia III, were spotted late Friday in Venezuelan waters by TankerTrackers.com, Reuters reported.

On Friday, Trump hosted nearly two dozen oil executives at the White House to discuss investment in Venezuela after the U.S. military’s successful capture of Maduro. The executives represented several major companies, including Chevron, Exxon, ConocoPhillips, Continental, Halliburton, HKN, Valero, Marathon, Shell, Trafigura, Vitol Americas, Repsol, Eni, Aspect Holdings, Tallgrass, Raisa Energy and Hilcorp.

“You have total safety, total security. One of the reasons you couldn’t go in is you had no guarantees, you had no security, but now you have total security,” Trump said during the meeting. 

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“It’s a whole different Venezuela and Venezuela is going to be very successful, and the people of the United States are going to be big beneficiaries because we’re going to be extracting, you know, numbers of in terms of oil, like, you know, few people have ever seen actually. So, you’re dealing with us directly. You’re not dealing with Venezuela at all. We don’t want you to deal with Venezuela,” the president added.

The president also predicted that the acquisition of Venezuelan oil would lead to massive wealth, lower taxes and “lots of jobs for Americans and for Venezuelans.”

Days before the meeting with oil executives, Trump said that Venezuela would be turning over between 30 million and 50 million barrels of “high-quality,” sanctioned oil to the U.S. He made the announcement on Truth Social and said that the oil would be sold at market price and that he would “control the proceeds to ensure it is “used to benefit the people of Venezuela and the United States!”

Fox News Digital’s Emma Colton and Sophia Compton contributed to this report.

President Donald Trump has signed an executive order blocking U.S. courts from seizing Venezuelan oil revenues held in American Treasury accounts.

The order states that court action against the funds would undermine U.S. national security and foreign policy objectives.

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This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

EXCLUSIVE: As protests erupted in Iran and a dramatic U.S. operation unfolded in Venezuela, the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM) moved quickly to push information into some of the world’s most tightly controlled media environments, the agency’s head, Kari Lake, told Fox News Digital in an interview.

In the early morning hours of Jan. 3, reports began to trickle out about a law enforcement operation carried out by the U.S. military to remove Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro, prompting USAGM, the agency responsible for broadcasting U.S. news in areas where press freedom is restricted, to take immediate action. 

“I found out about the situation in Venezuela, the incredible bravery of our service members who extracted Maduro,” Lake said. “And the minute I heard about it, I had the team down in Miami that operates our office of Cuba broadcasting on the phone.”

Lake described a rapid expansion of coverage, with the agency ramping up broadcasts, expanding language services and surging personnel within hours to reach audiences via Radio Martí and Martí Noticias out of Miami, broadcasting directly into Cuba, Venezuela, and across Latin America.

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“They were immediately deployed into the newsroom and they started coverage right away, bringing out exactly what was happening,” Lake explained. “They were covering it in Spanish to the folks in Cuba, and then we also have affiliates all around the Caribbean. We’re taking our broadcast and pushing it in and pumping it in so that more people in Cuba were able to hear it.”

“When people in Cuba hear that Maduro has been taken down, it gives them hope that they too can one day have that freedom. What we want to see is the people rising up and saying, we want freedom, we want conditions that are improved. We don’t want to live this way any longer. So we’ve been doing incredible nonstop coverage.”

USAGM’s Voice of America carried Trump’s major addresses on Venezuela live while covering the latest developments, congressional reaction, and responses within Venezuela, reaching more than 6.6 million global audience impressions.

IRAN REGIME CUTS NATIONWIDE INTERNET ACCESS AS PROTESTS CLAIM 44 LIVES ACROSS MAJOR CITIES

Roughly a week before explosions rocked Venezuela during the Maduro extraction, USAGM sprung into action in another global crisis when protests erupted on the streets of Iran as citizens mobilized against the Khomeini regime in one of the world’s most media-restricted regions.

Lake spoke to Fox News Digital about how her team took action in that instance as well and immediately began trying to reach as many Iranians as possible with U.S.-backed coverage.

“Think about the people on the ground in Iran,” Lake said. “Iranian people have been subjected to such horrible conditions with a dictator and a regime that has been just cruel for 47 years. They don’t get fair media. They don’t get honest coverage over there. We’ve been able to provide them with honest coverage.”

“We’re working to get more of it in. We’re hiring contractors to up our coverage and add more additional hours to coverage. What we’re watching on the streets in the country of Iran is historic. The people are rising up saying we don’t care anymore. We have to get our freedom back and we’re there to do that coverage.”

After protests erupted in Iran, the USAGM moved quickly to expand coverage through Voice of America’s Persian-language service, significantly increasing satellite television programming aimed at Iranian audiences. Over the first 12 days of unrest, the service added seven additional hours of live broadcasts, including two hour-long primetime breaking newscasts on Jan. 3 and Jan. 4, while extending its regular evening newscasts from one hour to two as demonstrations spread.

IRANIAN MILITARY LEADER THREATENS PREEMPTIVE ATTACK AFTER TRUMP COMMENTS

As the unrest continued, VOA’s Persian-language service also ramped up its digital and social media footprint, publishing 52 web stories focused on the protests by Jan. 7. During that same period, the service pushed more than 1,700 pieces of content across six social media platforms, including over 170 user-generated videos sent from inside Iran that showed demonstrations and documented the regime’s crackdown.

The surge in coverage, according to the agency, resulted in a surge in audience engagement in the form of VOA’s Persian website recording a record 1.69 million daily visits on Dec. 28. Over the first 12 days of protests, video views jumped more than 160 percent and article views rose nearly 80 percent, driving a total of roughly 13 million visits to the site during that period representing a 15% increase.

Lake told Fox News Digital that there is overlap between their Iran and Cuba coverage, explaining that they are pumping information about what’s happening in Venezuela to the people of Iran.

“People in Iran are very interested in what happened in Venezuela, and so we’re using both our Office of Cuba broadcasting with our Persian Farsi language services, and we’re kind of combining forces and making sure that everyone realizes, everybody living under these regimes realizes that the people are rising up all over the world right now.”

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“This is such a historic moment and the people in Cuba know what’s happening in Venezuela. The people in Cuba now know what is happening in Iran and vice versa. Iran realizes what happened in Venezuela and what’s happened in Cuba as well. It’s amazing. We’re at the precipice, I believe, of not only just a peaceful world, but one where the people are free in places where they haven’t experienced that lovely feeling of freedom for a long time. I’m happy with the work that we’re doing. We’re doing it with a smaller staff and it shows that the federal government doesn’t have to be bloated, slow-moving dinosaur anymore.”

Lake’s reference to the agency no longer being a “dinosaur” stems from her efforts to streamline an agency she says was wasting taxpayer dollars and not delivering a message across the world that was defending America’s interests.

“We came into the agency and I had a very tough job to go in and right-size the agency,” Lake explained, telling Fox News Digital that the previous administration’s USAGM was inefficient and at times put out messaging that was not “aligned” with the best interests of American foreign policy.

“It was bloated. The president put out an executive order saying, ‘bring this agency down to its statutory minimum,’ which means, go back to what is statutorily required and not more than that. Get rid of the bloat and just do what’s statutorily required and we were able to do that, and our detractors sued us and said, oh, you’ll never be able to cover the news. What happens if a big story breaks?”

“Well, I worked in the media for 30 years,” Lake said. “I know that when a big story breaks, you ramp up coverage and that’s exactly what we’ve done.”