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GREENLAND

Trump Says ‘You’ll Find Out’ on How Far He’ll Go to Acquire Greenland

U.S. President Donald Trump warned there is "no going back" on Greenland after a "very good" call with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte. Trump, who said he will meet with allies at the World Economic Forum's annual event in Davos this week, added in his Truth Social post: "As I expressed to everyone, very plainly, Greenland is imperative for National and World Security. There can be no going back — On that, everyone agrees!"

During a press briefing on Tuesday, Trump declined to spell out the extent of his ambitions toward Greenland. Asked by a reporter how far he was willing to go to acquire the Arctic territory, Trump replied simply: “You’ll find out.”

What To Know

• Trump swiped at the U.K. for its moves to hand Mauritius sovereignty over the Chagos Islands in the Indian Ocean, including Diego Garcia, which hosts a U.S. military base: Trump called it an "act of GREAT STUPIDITY" and said it showed why the U.S. must have Greenland: "There is no doubt that China and Russia have noticed this act of total weakness."
  
• The U.S. president also shared a screenshot of a text from French President Emmanuel Macron, who said they were "totally in line" on Syria and Iran, but that "I do not understand what you are doing in Greenland". Macron invited Trump to meet with the G7 and others at Davos, and also to dinner in Paris before he returns to the U.S.
  
• Speaking at a press conference in Nuuk, Nielsen said Trump’s repeated threats to seize control of the Arctic territory have forced both authorities and residents to consider contingency plans. “It’s not likely there will be a military conflict, but it can’t be ruled out,” he said.
  
• Denmark has deployed yet more troops to Greenland as European NATO allies conduct military exercises on the Arctic island in a show of unity against Trump's aggressive push to secure the territory for the U.S., but also to demonstrate that they take his concerns about regional security seriously and want to address them.
  
• Right-wing populists in Europe who have championed Trump’s nationalist agenda are now breaking ranks, condemning his threat to slap tariffs on nations that oppose his push to obtain Greenland. And in the U.S., Republicans overwhelmingly oppose Trump using military force to take control of Greenland, according to new polling.
  
• The European Union (EU) is considering a 93 billion euro ($107 billion) package of retaliatory tariffs against the U.S. over Trump's threat of Greenland tariffs. It is also mulling its Anti-Coercion Instrument, sometimes dubbed the bloc's trade "bazooka", in response to Trump.
  

Denmark Would Go To War With US Over Greenland: MP

American soldiers would end up fighting Danish troops if President Donald Trump orders the U.S. military to seize Greenland by force, a Danish politician has said.

"If there is an invasion by American troops, it would be a war, and we would be fighting against each other," Rasmus Jarlov, a member of Copenhagen's parliament with the opposition conservative party and the chair of the defense committee, told CNN.
...
What To Know

"We will, of course, defend Greenland," Jarlov said. He added that the territory's 57,000 residents had been clear that they did not want to be a part of the U.S. Many Greenlanders are in favor of the island eventually cutting ties with Denmark, but opinion polls show the overwhelming majority do not want Greenland to become part of the U.S.

Greenlandic leader, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, said in an unambiguously worded statement last week: "Greenland is not for sale. Greenland does not want to be owned by the United States."

"We have an obligation to fight for those people, and our forces will do that," Jarlov said. "But it would be a disaster—also for the United States."

A U.S. armed attack on Greenland would be a serious violation of international law, but Washington is by far the most powerful and influential nation in NATO. Its military might has for decades formed the spine of the alliance, and observers wince to weigh up Europe's chances of militarily defending Greenland against a U.S. military operation, despite recent pledges to surge defense spending across the continent.

"For soldiers who trained and lived together for decades, fought alongside each other in places like Afghanistan and Iraq, its horrific to hear politicians talking about the comrade as an enemy," a European military source told Newsweek earlier this month. "It's against the DNA of NATO soldiers to even think about that."

"It is unlikely that military force will be used, but it cannot be ruled out either," Nielsen said on Tuesday. "The other party has made this clear. Therefore, we must be prepared for all possibilities."

The Trump administration has berated Denmark, which is in charge of Greenland's foreign and defense policy, for failing to invest in Arctic defenses on the island. Danish officials acknowledge Copenhagen has not "sufficiently" funded defense in Greenland, but say the country has surged military spending for the Arctic.

U.S. officials have kept the option of cutting a deal to acquire Greenland in play, although Nielsen has forcefully said the island is not for sale.

European countries had broadly united against the U.S. to oppose American designs on Greenland—to which Trump responded by hitting Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and the United Kingdom with a fresh 10 percent tariff from the start of February.

He then threatened the same countries with a hike to a 25 per cent duty on June 1 and said the measures would apply "until such time as a Deal is reached for the Complete and Total purchase of Greenland." The affected nations criticized the administration for risking a "dangerous downward spiral."

The European Union is weighing up how it could respond, including considering an economic lever colloquially known as the trade "bazooka."

Using this would cut American companies out of European procurement races, but would likely do significant damage to European economies, too. Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the E.U.'s executive arm, the European Commission, said on Tuesday the bloc's response would be "unflinching" if Trump's tariffs enter force.

Trump published private texts from French President Emmanuel Macron and NATO chief Mark Rutte to social media in a late-night run of posts, which officials confirmed to Newsweek were authentic messages. Macron told Trump he didn't understand the U.S.'s position on Greenland while Rutte struck a more conciliatory tone by writing: "I am committed to finding a way forward on Greenland."

Trump separately told reporters on Monday he would place a 200 percent tariff on French "wines and Champagnes" if Macron snubs a White House invite to join the U.S.'s so-called Board of Peace initiative featuring many world leaders.

A source close to Macron told Newsweek the Élysée Palace had taken note of Trump's remarks and reiterated that tariff threats designed to change Paris' foreign policy were "unacceptable and ineffective."

Danish lawmaker cut off, scolded after telling President Trump to ‘f—k off’ during meeting

A Danish lawmaker was reprimanded after startlingly telling President Trump to “f–k off” during a recent meeting to discuss the US’s campaign to buy Greenland.

“Dear President Trump, listen very carefully. Greenland has been part of the Danish kingdom for 800 years. It is an integrated country. It is not for sale,” European Parliament Member Anders Vistisen said while addressing Trump during a speech to the European Union’s legislative body on Jan. 13.

“Let me put this in words you might understand: Mr. President, f—k off,” he raged.

Vistisen, 38, finished his speech in Danish before leaving the podium, sparking Parliament Vice President Nicolae Ștefănuță to chime in on the profane insult – and threaten consequences for the lawmaker.

“If the translation was correct, the term you used is not allowed in this house and there will be consequences to the message you have used. It is not okay in this house of democracy,” Ștefănuță said, according to a clip of the scene.

“Regardless of what we think about Mr. Trump, it is not possible to use such language,” he continued, to which he received a round of applause.

Vistisen, a Denmark national who belongs to the right-wing Danish People’s Party, sits on the Parliament’s Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality as well as the Delegation for Relations with Iran.

He is currently serving his third parliamentary term.

Vistisen’s outburst came as Trump has recently ramped up efforts to seize control over the autonomous Danish territory, a NATO ally – a plan which he said there’s “no going back” on this week.

Trump teases how far he’ll go to acquire Greenland: ‘You’ll find out’

President Trump gave reporters a cryptic answer Tuesday when asked how far he’s willing to go to acquire Greenland during a White House press briefing.

“You’ll find out,” Trump responded tersely.

The president has been adamant in recent weeks that US ownership of Greenland is critical for national security, particularly for identifying and fending off threats from Russia and China.

Trump’s desire to annex the autonomous Danish territory has sparked fears of a potential military conflict over the island, which some critics argue could destroy the NATO alliance.

“We have a lot of meeting scheduled on Greenland,” Trump said of his upcoming trip to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, “and I think things are going to work out pretty well.”

“I think something’s going to happen that’s going to be very good for everybody,” the president continued, downplaying internal concerns. “Nobody’s done more for NATO than I have.”

“We’ll work something out where NATO is going to be very happy and we’re going to be very happy,” he added, “but we need it for security purposes.”

“We need it for national security and even world security. It’s very important.”

Tensions over Greenland have escalated in recent days as Trump has threatened tariffs on European allies opposing his plan to take over the Arctic island.

Trump also warned Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre via text message, “I no longer feel an obligation to think purely of Peace, although it will always be predominant,” in response to missing out on last year’s Nobel Peace Prize.

In response to Trump’s threats, Denmark requested that NATO organize military exercises in Greenland.

More than 100 Danish combat troops arrived on the frigid island Monday.

Last week, Greenland’s prime minister demanded that NATO ensure its defense from a possible US invasion and noted the territory “cannot accept under any circumstances” a US takeover.

Trump has also taunted Europeans by sharing an AI-generated picture of himself planting a US flag on Greenland, as well as a separate AI-generated picture of European leaders — including British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni — gathered around a map in the Oval Office that shows Greenland, Canada, and Venezuela absorbed into the US.

The posts came as Trump declared Tuesday that there was “no going back” on his goal to acquire Greenland — and he refused to rule out using military force.

Screenshots

How NATO’s poorly executed military ‘scoping mission’ in Greenland outraged Trump, led to tariff threat: report

President Trump was reportedly outraged over the deployment of European troops to Greenland over the weekend for military exercises that some government officials believe may have escalated tensions between the US and Europe.

The sudden flurry of European military activity in Greenland — ostensibly part of a “reconnaissance” mission ahead of future NATO exercises — “baffled” Washington and provoked Trump to threaten tariffs on the nations putting boots on the ground of the Arctic island, the Times of London reported on Tuesday.

“I couldn’t understand the PR part of the deployment,” one government adviser in a European country told the Times. “That does not at all excuse Trump. But I think it enabled some in his vicinity to escalate the issue.”

Trump may have interpreted the troop deployments as a “gesture of hostility,” according to the outlet, and it doesn’t appear the nations involved considered whether the president might take it as provocation.

The hastily arranged “scoping mission” started coming together last Wednesday when Denmark, which administers Greenland as an autonomous territory, ominously announced that it would expand its troop presence on the island because “geopolitical tensions have spread to the Arctic.”

Danish Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen noted Denmark’s armed forces, in coordination with “Arctic and European allies,” would “explore in the coming weeks how an increased presence and exercise activity in the Arctic can be implemented.”

France, Germany, Sweden, Norway, Finland, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom all pledged small numbers of troops to join Danish forces in Greenland.
“The ask was to send someone as part of a wider European effort to conduct [reconnaissance], not as a show of force,” one source told the outlet.

UK Defense Minister John Healey claimed the deployment was “part of NATO’s planned exercise program.”

“And that’s exactly what this reconnaissance mission is designed to do. To lay the groundwork for an exercise, a multinational exercise within NATO later this year,” he added, in an interview on British television.

In contrast to Healey’s claim about the mission, one diplomatic source described doing “something together” in Greenland as Europe’s “solution” to the dispute with Trump.

What a coincidence!

Trump says he ‘won’t use force’ to acquire Greenland

President Trump said Wednesday he would not use military force to invade and acquire Greenland, in a bid to ease nerves in Europe after he previously said he would not exclude the option.

“That’s probably the biggest statement I made, because people thought I would use force,” he told the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, of his earlier comments that he wouldn’t “rule out” the use of force.

“I don’t have to use force. I don’t want to use force. I won’t use force.”

“All the United States is asking for is a place called Greenland,” he added.

The president and administration officials had previously signaled that all options — both diplomatic and military — were on the table for the acquisition of the world’s largest island, currently under the control of Denmark.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and other experts had made the case that Greenland would be a critical component of Trump’s planned Golden Dome missile shield — in order to halt incoming Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBM) from Russia or China.

“That’s possibly the most strategic piece of real estate in the entire planet,” Rep. Derrick Van Orden (R-Wis.) told The Post on Tuesday. “You know why? Because Russia can attack us right over.”

“I just got a letter from General [Gregory] Guillot today. He’s the NORTHCOM commander, expressing how incredibly important it is that we integrate Greenland into NORAD that protects us from being attacked by Russia and China with these hypersonic missiles,” Van Orden continued.

However, the GOP lawmaker added: “I have a hard time envisioning a world where we invade an ally. Work with them, fine.”
Greenlandic Premier Jens Frederik Nielsen and Mette Frederiksen, the prime minister of Denmark, have maintained that the island is “not for sale.”

Trump’s rhetoric — and threat of additional tariffs — initially spooked Europeans, who threatened to pull out of a trade agreement worth hundreds of billions of dollars in possible investments that had been negotiated last year with the US.

“President Trump is ‘America First’ — that doesn’t mean ‘America Alone,'” Rep. Dan Meuser (R-Pa.) added when asked about the current state of US-EU relations.

“He’s letting them know where he thinks they need to be,” Meuser said. “And for them to — without discussing, without trying to work with the president, without trying to get it — come out and state that they’re opposing this, that he’s wrong, ‘not for sale’ … Guess what? Let’s see how you like this.”

Trump announces ‘framework’ for Greenland deal — won’t say if US ownership still needed

President Trump abruptly announced a “framework of a future deal with respect to Greenland” Wednesday — calling off tariffs on European allies and declining to say if he still is demanding US ownership of the world’s largest island.

“We have formed the framework of a future deal with respect to Greenland and, in fact, the entire Arctic Region,” Trump wrote on Truth Social after meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte in Davos, Switzerland.

“This solution, if consummated, will be a great one for the United States of America, and all NATO Nations. Based upon this understanding, I will not be imposing the Tariffs that were scheduled to go into effect on February 1st.”

The Nasdaq, S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average indices all reacted positively to the news with modest gains as of mid-afternoon.

Trump had spent months developing a crescendo of pressure on Denmark to hand over control of Greenland, insisting that nothing short of US “ownership” would be acceptable, and he was coy about the precise outcome he foresees.

Asked if he still intends to acquire the vast Arctic territory through the framework deal, Trump paused, then deflected.

“It’s a long-term deal. It’s the ultimate long-term deal, and I think it puts everybody in a really good position, especially as it pertains to security and minerals and everything else,” he told reporters.

White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly said that “if this deal goes through, and President Trump is very hopeful it will, the United States will be achieving all of its strategic goals with respect to Greenland, at very little cost, forever.”

“As details are finalized by all parties involved, they will be released accordingly,” she said.
In an interview with CNBC, Trump said he and Rutte established a “concept of a deal” — without specifying whether his yearning for US expansion would be granted.

A White House official told The Post that Trump’s conciliatory public posture hadn’t altered his preferred endgame, however, and that “the goal is to acquire Greenland.”

A European official told The Post that Rutte has floated Denmark transferring to the US sovereignty over Pituffik Space Base in northern Greenland.

The strategically important installation has been under US control since a 1951 defense agreement with Denmark, but the land legally belongs to the Danes. It’s possible other pockets of land also would be included in a deal, the New York Times reported.

Dow surges nearly 600 points after Trump announces Greenland framework, drops tariff threat

The stock market bounced back from its worst day since October on Wednesday after President Trump said he reached the framework of a deal about Greenland, an island he’s long coveted, and won’t impose tariffs he had threatened on several European countries.

The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed nearly 600 points, or 1.2% to close at 49,077.23. The S&P 500 gained 1.2%, and the Nasdaq advanced 1.2%, or 270 points. All three indexes had their best day of the year.

Trump said the deal, “if consummated, will be a great one for the United States of America” and its allies in the North Atlantic region. His announcement triggered an immediate move higher in the stock market, which had found some solace earlier in the day after Trump ratcheted down his rhetoric and told business and government leaders in Europe that he would not use force to take “the piece of ice.”

The de-escalation in tensions, which had ramped up earlier with talk of tariffs crossing the Atlantic, helped the S&P 500 recover much of its 2.1% drop from the day before and pull closer to its all-time high set earlier this month.

Treasury yields also eased in the bond market, a day after jumping in a potential signal of worries about higher inflation in the long term. They got help from a calming of bond yields in Japan, which surged earlier on concerns about the size of its government’s debt. The value of the U.S. dollar also clawed back some of its declines against other currencies after sliding the day before.

Trump has a history of making big threats that send financial markets sliding, only to pull back later and reach deals that are seen as less bad for the economy or for inflation than his initial suggestion.

On one hand, the pattern has given rise to the “TACO” acronym suggesting “Trump Always Chickens Out” if financial markets react strongly enough. On the other, Trump has ultimately struck deals that outsiders may have earlier considered unlikely, ones that he’s crowed about later.

The most obvious example is Trump’s announcement of high tariffs on “Liberation Day,” which eventually led to trade deals with many of the world’s major economies.

USA

How Mamdani’s Democratic Socialists Sought Ties With Chinese Officials

Members of New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s Democratic Socialists of America have been cultivating ties with officials of the Chinese Communist Party and agreeing to take pro-China positions, according to extensive minutes of internal meetings seen by Newsweek.

The minutes of the DSA meetings show participants discussing contacts with officials from China’s ruling party in the name of "anti-imperialism," with some members saying the organization should avoid topics that are sensitive for Beijing, such as China's threats to invade Taiwan, its security crackdown in Hong Kong and abuses of the Uyghur Muslim minority. They also discuss visits to China. Chinese officials did not take part in the meetings themselves but met with members in China and encouraged the DSA to set up exchanges, according to the minutes.

"China wants to interface with the DSA," one New York-based political activist told a meeting on October 8 last year of the China Working Group of the DSA's International Committee, which helps set policy and advises leaders. "If we develop a killer two-week itinerary, hire locals, and develop further connections with the CPC [Communist Party of China], then we're golden," says the person, whose name is redacted.

The DSA International Committee and Mamdani’s New York City Hall did not respond to requests for comment. Mamdani was not recorded as being present at any of the meetings minuted. Although Mamdani has been a longstanding member of the Democratic Socialists, he has distanced himself from elements of the group’s national platform. He has also not made extensive public comments on China.

Mamdani’s victory in the mayoral election last year highlighted the rise of the Democratic Socialists as a political force and particularly in New York, where China has long sought to influence the leadership of a city with one of the largest Chinese populations outside China. It has used lobbying and campaign donations from dozens of local groups linked to the Chinese Communist Party, on which Newsweek has reported extensively.

While the minutes of the DSA meetings do not indicate any wrongdoing, they do raise new questions over the extent of Chinese influence within the group and more broadly in the United States. They are also an indicator of how China’s Communist Party seeks to build ties with influential political groupings in the United States. The DSA’s website describes the group’s New York chapter as “Zohran’s political home” and says his victory would not have been possible without it.

The DSA member who gave Newsweek access to the materials on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situation said they were uncomfortable with the Communist Party links and what they said were efforts to avoid discussing controversial issues. 

"The materials document a sustained pattern of ideological alignment, narrative filtering, and network overlap consistent with influence conducted at the discursive and organizational level," said the person, who is a member of the International Committee. “We value democracy and openness, and this directly contradicts that.”

Asked about contacts between the DSA, Mamdani's administration and the Chinese Communist Party, Liu Pengyu, spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in Washington, D.C., told Newsweek: "Local exchanges and cooperation are the important component of China-U.S. relations, serving as the foundation, vitality, and source of strength for the relations between the two countries." 

Zohran Mamdani pushes NYC tax hike on the rich — in blow to fellow Democrat Kathy Hochul’s budget plan

It’s not enough for Mam.

Mayor Zohran Mamdani brushed off Gov. Kathy Hochul’s state budget proposal that came with a pledge not to hike income taxes — saying Wednesday he’s going to push for an increase anyway.

It’s the latest move by Mamdani to pull Hochul to the left to align with him and his liberal supporters’ goal of soaking wealthy New Yorkers to raise billions to pay for a freebie-filled agenda that includes free bus fares.

“Our administration is preparing to make the case that it is the time for New York’s most profitable corporations and wealthiest residents to pay their fair share,” Mamdani told reporters at an unrelated press conference at the Whitney Museum in Manhattan.

The comments came just one day after Hochul unveiled a mammoth $260 billion budget for the Empire State as the Democrat governor faces pressure both from the left and right in an election year.

She unveiled a universal pre-k plan in her budget alongside the push from Mamdani and supporters.

But that wasn’t enough for the mayor, who said the city makes up 54.5% of the state’s tax revenue but only received 40.5% back — and he’ll need Albany to OK any hikes for the Big Apple.

“What we are looking to do is to tackle long standing fiscal issues that both have to do with the need for more revenue from the highest earners, but also the relationship between City Hall and Albany,” he said.

Mamdani, who took office just three weeks ago, is already facing a $12.6 billion budget deficit expected to hit the city in the next two fiscal years. He condemned his predecessor, former Mayor Eric Adams, for Gotham’s fiscal woes but said the state was on steady ground.

“I think that it’s actually the governor’s fiscal stewardship, I think it’s also the strength of our city’s tax base, that the state is on firm financial footing,” he said.

“The issue, however, is that the city is not, and that is a result, a direct result of Eric Adams’s gross fiscal mismanagement,” he added.

The mayor’s comments are the latest blow to Hochul as she tries to balance appeasing the left of the party while trying to appeal to moderates and independents in the suburbs. The governor is already facing a party primary challenge from Lt. Gov. Antonio Delgado who is running to her left.

Republican Bruce Blakeman, who is the Nassau County executive, has pounced in the early days of the campaign and portrayed the governor as beholden to the liberal wing of her party.

Hochul had endorsed Mamdani in a shock move during his 2025 campaign, then faced supporters chanting at her to “Tax the Rich” at a large rally of his supporters.

Mamdani spews word salad to avoid question on ‘The View’ about aides who disparaged white women

Mayor Zohran Mamdani unloaded some verbal acrobatics Tuesday to avoid criticizing two close aides who disparaged liberal white women and called home ownership a tool of white supremacy on social media.

Mamdani’s latest word salad was broadcast live on ABC’s “The View” as he dodged answering a direct question from co-host Alyssa Farah Griffin about the unsettling posts from his chief equity officer and tenant advocate.

Griffin asked the socialist mayor about now-deleted comments from Chief Equity Officer Afua Atta-Mensah — whose radical statements included “there’s NO moderate way to black liberation” — and Office to Protect Tenants Cea Weaver who called to “seize private property.”

“Your new chief equity officer made several now deleted comments, disparaging liberal white women,” said Griffin, a former Trump administration staffer. “Your tenant advocate said that home ownership was a weapon of white supremacy and called to elect more communists, among other posts.”

“What message do you think this conveys to New Yorkers, and how would you push back on this?” she asked.

But Mamdani answered about himself instead.

“If you want to know my views or my opinions, you’ll find them in my words,” Mamdani replied. “As the mayor of New York City, and I’m someone who’s looking to make a city that every New Yorker can afford.”

He went on to praise Weaver but without mentioning her by name or directly responding to the question he was asked.

“And I think, frankly, what New Yorkers are also looking for are the outcomes, and that’s what I care about, the outcomes and the excellence we deliver,” he said.

He claimed in 20 days since Weaver’s hiring the city has “taken on a landlord that had more violations than I can count, and we have secured $30 million in guaranteed repairs for thousands of those violations.”

Mamdani also attempted to reassure homeowners in his rambling response adding that his goal for a city that everyone can afford “includes tenants, homeowners, and those who aspire to be homeowners.”
During his appearance on the long-running daytime talk show, Mamdani also said he was in favor of abolishing ICE.

Donald Trump Gives Kristi Noem New Demands for Minnesota ICE Operations

President Donald Trump urged the Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement to escalate demands on federal authorities in Minnesota, calling on DHS and ICE to publicly release information about violent offenders arrested in recent immigration operations.

In a Truth Social post, Trump said agents, who are under the direction of DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, are “saving many innocent lives” and pressed the agencies to show the “numbers, names and faces” of those taken into custody to bolster support for ICE amid growing criticism.

Trump wrote, "The Department of Homeland Security and ICE must start talking about the murderers and other criminals that they are capturing and taking out of the system. They are saving many innocent lives! There are thousands of vicious animals in Minnesota alone, which is why the crime stats are, Nationwide, the BEST EVER RECORDED! Show the Numbers, Names, and Faces of the violent criminals, and show them NOW. The people will start supporting the Patriots of ICE, instead of the highly paid troublemakers, anarchists, and agitators! MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN."

Could Kristi Noem Get Impeached?

Last week, Democratic Representative Robin Kelly of Illinois formally introduced three articles of impeachment against Noem.

Currently, 97 Democrats in the House of Representatives have signed onto the articles, and though the measure is unlikely to move forward given the GOP's congressional majority, the process has sparked media chatter and speculation.

Speaking to Newsweek, William F. Hall, an adjunct professor of political science and business at Webster University in St. Louis, said that "recent events gathering momentum directed toward attempting to impeach Noem appear to be somewhat different and significantly more forceful than earlier efforts directed at attempting to impeach and remove President Trump."

A DHS spokesperson previously dismissed the effort to impeach Noem as "silly" in a statement to Newsweek.

DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin also told Newsweek in another statement: "DHS is a law enforcement agency—enforcing the rule of law passed by Congress. If members don't like the law, it is quite literally their job to change it.

"As ICE officers are facing a 1,300 percent increase in assaults against them, politicians are more focused on showmanship and fundraising clicks than actually removing criminals from our streets.

"We hope these members get serious about doing their job to protect American people, which is what this department is doing under Secretary Noem."

The articles of impeachment against Noem accuse her of obstruction of Congress, violation of public trust and self-dealing. They said she tried to enter a DHS facility used to detain undocumented immigrants unlawfully and directed ICE to make "widespread warrantless arrests, forgo due process, and use violence against United States citizens, lawful residents and other individuals."

The articles also accused Noem of misusing her position for "personal gain while inappropriately using $200 million taxpayer dollars to fund an ad campaign for ICE recruitment," Kelly's office said in a news release.

Trump touts ‘worst of the worst’ criminal migrants captured in Minnesota thanks to ‘patriot’ ICE agents

He’s making America safe again.

President Trump lauded the work of his “patriot” ICE agents as he flashed mugshots of some of the most heinous illegal immigrant criminals the administration has rounded up in Minnesota for deportation — the “worst of the worst” among the thousands arrested in the last year.

“These are all from one state — out of many,” Trump marveled at a White House press briefing marking the first full year of his second term in the White House.

“Many of them murderers … do you want to live with these people?” the president asked as he held up the pictures one by one, their crimes spelled out beneath their faces in big white letters including murder, lewd acts with a minor, strong-arm rape, affiliation with Hezbollah and many more, some convicted dozens of times.

The monsters he displayed represented just a sliver of the 10,000 arrests ICE has made in Minnesota alone since Inauguration Day, with Trump saying he could easily show a similar stack of photos “30 times” more.

He held up a photo of Abdirashid Adosh Elmi, a Somali national convicted of homicide, and Aldrin Guerrero-Munoz, an illegal immigrant charged with intentionally murdering his three-month-old son.

“This is what they’re trying to protect,” the commander in chief said of the growing throngs of radical protesters who have been fighting immigration agents in Minneapolis for weeks.

“All ICE wants to do is get them out of our country. Bring them to prisons and jails and mental institutions from where they came, that’s all they want to do. They’re patriots.”

The president stressed that bringing these thugs to justice has required a “tremendous amount of work” by immigration agencies and ripped the Biden administration for allowing those illegal immigrants into the US.

One year into the second Trump administration, DHS has arrested 7,000 illegal immigrant gang members, making up some of the most despicable offenders nabbed so far.

“When we say we are targeting the worst of the worst, this is what exactly we mean,” said DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin.

“Many of these were let in by Joe Biden and should have never been in this country. These vicious criminals murdered, assaulted, robbed, and terrorized innocent Americans for sport. But under President Trump’s and Secretary [Kristi] Noem’s leadership, ICE is turbocharged to arrest even more gang members and make America safe again.”

ICE has busted criminal thugs from more than a dozen murderous gangs, including the Crips, the Bloods, Norentos, MS-13, Tren de Aragua, Asian Boys, Trinitarios, the Latin Kings and many more.

Minneapolis businesses hammered as anti-ICE protests rage on: ‘the pandemic all over again’

A swath of businesses and restaurants in Minneapolis is taking a significant financial hit as clashes between anti-ICE agitators and federal agents continue, with some saying the situation feels like the COVID-19 pandemic all over again, according to a city official.

The protests have driven away customers hoping to avoid the unrest, leading to reduced foot traffic, temporary closures and shortened business hours.

They’ve also kept many employees from showing up to work, further hamstringing employers, according to Adam Duininck, CEO of the Minneapolis Downtown Council.

Duininck estimated that business activity in South Minneapolis, where 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good was shot and killed by an ICE agent earlier this month and where most of the protests had occurred, is down 80% to 100%, while downtown businesses are down around 50%.

“January is already a slow time in the restaurant world, but we’re seeing even bigger slowdowns than normal,” Duininck said.

“It’s been reported that a number of restaurants are seeing half of the revenue they normally would see in a January weekday or weeknight.”

Reservations for fine dining have also slowed, he said, adding that manufacturers are struggling to get employees to come to work, creating challenges for both workers trying to earn a paycheck and employers facing broader operational impacts.

“We’re definitely seeing that slow down the impact to the city and its economy,” he said.

“People are saying this is like the pandemic all over again for some of these businesses.”

Duininck warned that things wouldn’t change soon either, as another protest has been planned for this weekend.

Ringleader of $250M Minnesota welfare fraud scandal moans that she’s ‘lost everything’

The convicted mastermind of the staggering $250 million welfare fraud scam in Minnesota has moaned in a jailhouse interview about having “lost everything” as she faces up to 33 years in prison.

As the head of the infamous nonprofit Feeding Our Future, Aimee Bock, 45, splurged millions of federal dollars intended to support hungry children during the COVID-19 pandemic on luxury cars, designer handbags, and properties worldwide.

Bock oversaw a network of fraudsters — almost all Somali and East African — that took advantage of a bill co-signed by Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) waiving some requirements for school meal programs during the pandemic.

In her first interview about the scandal, Bock told CBS News that it was “heartbreaking” to be convicted of wire fraud and bribery — and blamed her woes on local officials.

“We relied on the state. We told the state, this [meal] site is going to operate at this address, this time, and this number of children. The state would then tell us that’s approved,” Bock said, adding that Omar was among the officials who would often visit the meal sites.

“I wish I could go back and do things differently, stop things, catch things,” Bock said from her jail cell.

“I’ve lost everything,” the convicted fraudster moaned, after describing her conviction on all counts on March 19, 2025, as “heartbreaking.”

Bock used frivolous lawsuits and intimidation to stop state officials from looking into the scheme, which spurred President Trump’s administration to crack down on fraud in Minnesota.

But she rejected the Department of Justice’s description of her as the mastermind behind the operation, despite the release of text messages submitted as evidence in which Bock compared Feeding Our Future to the mob.

“I believe in accountability. If I had done this, I would’ve pled guilty. I wouldn’t have gone to trial. I wouldn’t have put my children and my family through what we’ve been through,” Bock said.

Bock also downplayed the value of her ill-gotten gains, despite a judge last month ordering her to forfeit more than $5 million in proceeds from the scam.

“They found minimal jewelry,” she said of an FBI raid on her home in 2022. “I believe it was like two pairs of earrings, a bracelet, a watch. There was some cash there.”

YouTuber Nick Shirley exposes Minnesota child care fraud ‘red flags’ in congressional hearing

WASHINGTON — Conservative journalist Nick Shirley testified before a congressional panel Wednesday that the “red flags” he witnessed while reporting on the welfare scandal in Minnesota were in plain sight.

Shirley, whose viral reporting on the flagrant welfare fraud in Minnesota gained national attention late last year, argued that taxpayers are getting screwed over by the rampant theft and warned that other states, such as California, are likely worse.

“I’m here today to speak on behalf of all hardworking, law-abiding, taxpaying citizens here inside of the United States,” Shirley said during his opening remarks. “We the people have had enough of our hard-earned money going towards fraudsters, as if it’s no big deal.”

“Gov. [Tim] Walz has said that he’s been fighting fraud in Minnesota since 2019 and said the buck stops with him,” he later added. “How long would it take for you to notice $1 million leaving your bank account and not knowing where it was going?”

GOP lawmakers have been investigating the scope of the welfare fraud issue in Minnesota and are trying to figure out what went wrong. Earlier this month, the House Oversight Committee heard from multiple state lawmakers, and the panel is seeking testimony from Gov. Tim Walz (D) next month.

Estimates on how much taxpayer dollars were stolen vary, but it is generally thought to be over $1 billion, with former assistant US Attorney Joseph Thompson estimating last month that it was over $9 billion.

Walz, who dropped his reelection bid amid the growing scandal, has publicly cast doubt on Thompson’s eye-bulging estimate.

“Fraud in California might be worse than the fraud in Minnesota,” Shirley stressed during the Wednesday hearing during an exchange with Rep.

Kevin Kiley (R-Calif.) “$24 billion went missing for homelessness. They’ve been trying to build this train for years, yet there’s hardly anything to prove for that. Fires.”

That’s a reference to an audit that found California didn’t have a consistent method for tracking the outcomes of the $24 billion it spent on combating homelessness. Shirley also alluded to the roughly $15 billion spent on a controversial high-speed rail project, which was at one point expected to be completed by 2020 and initially estimated to cost $36.7 billion but later ballooned to $77 billion.

NYPD cops ‘disrespected’ at Big Apple hospital after being mistaken for ICE agents: sources

A crew of NYPD cops were “disrespected” at a Big Apple hospital after being mistaken for federal ICE agents – and police brass is furious over it, The Post has learned.

The flap unfolded Friday night, when three plainclothes detectives showed up at NYU Langone/Cobble Hill hospital after a scuffle with a drug suspect – and things quickly got tense between the cops and hospital staff.

The three cops arrived at the hospital after the suspect scuffled and spat on them during a narcotics investigation by cops in Brooklyn North on Friday, the NYPD said Wednesday.

When they arrived at the Cobble Hill emergency room, the detectives were told they could not go into the ER with their service weapons, so one of the cops agreed to hold the gun while his partner was treated, the department said.

However, hospital staff approached the second detective in the waiting room and told him he had to leave because he was armed — causing enough of a stir that the cop being treated intervened.

“And then at that point the two detectives heard members of the hospital staff say something to the effect of believing they were ICE and that they should care elsewhere,” the department said.

“[Hospital staff] were nasty to the officers in the waiting room, accused them of being ICE and suggested they go elsewhere,” one ticked off source familiar with the incident said.

“They properly identified themselves,” another source added. “Despicable to attempt to deny care or suggest they go elsewhere.”

The NYPD Detectives Endowment Association fired back at the hospital in a statement on Wednesday.

“No individual – especially NYPD detectives injured in the line of duty – should ever be subjected to such treatment,” the statement said. “The DEA is actively investigating this matter and will pursue all available remedies to ensure our members are treated with the dignity, respect, and professionalism they have unequivocally earned.”

Sources said hospital officials later apologized to NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch.

A spokesman for the hospital confirmed the two sides had talked.

Migrant Iowa superintendent to change not guilty plea after being charged with claiming US citizenship

The former superintendent of Iowa’s largest school district, whose arrest by federal immigration agents drew national attention, is expected to change his plea on Thursday in federal court to charges that he falsely claimed to be a U.S. citizen and illegally possessed firearms.

Ian Roberts, a native of Guyana in South America, initially pleaded not guilty to the two charges, which together carry a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. Subject to a 2024 final removal order, Roberts could also face deportation.

The change-of-plea hearing was scheduled after Roberts’ lawyers said in a court filing that they had been negotiating with federal prosecutors to reach a resolution ahead of a Jan. 28 deadline.

Roberts was superintendent of Des Moines Public Schools, a district of about 30,000 students, when he was arrested on Sept. 26 in a targeted Immigration and Customs Enforcement operation. He allegedly fled from federal agents before they detained him in a nearby wooded area with the help of state troopers.

Authorities say they found a loaded handgun wrapped in a towel under the seat and $3,000 in cash in the district-issued Jeep Cherokee he was driving.
Roberts, an educator and administrator for two decades in districts across the U.S., was beloved for his charismatic and exuberant leadership style. His arrest stunned the Des Moines community.

A federal grand jury in October returned a two-count indictment. According to the indictment, Roberts made a “false attestation” on his U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Employment Eligibility Verification form, known as an I-9, claiming he was a U.S. citizen even though authorities say he knew he lacked authorization. That carries a punishment of up to five years in prison and a fine.

For his position in Des Moines, Roberts completed an I-9 form when he was hired in 2023 and submitted a Social Security card and a driver’s license as verifying documents, according to the district. He also stated he was a U.S. citizen in his application to the state board of educational examiners, which issued Roberts a professional administrator license in 2023.

Federal officials said Roberts first entered the U.S. in 1994 on a nonimmigrant visa. They said he returned in 1999 on an F-1 student visa, which was set to expire in March 2004. He was denied a green card application in 2003, according to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

California Republicans ask SCOTUS to halt Prop. 50 maps in emergency appeal

California Republicans asked the US Supreme Court on Tuesday to stop Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom’s bid to redraw the state’s congressional map.

The California Republican Party filed an emergency appeal to the nation’s highest court in a last-ditch bid to halt the alleged gerrymandering triggered by Newsom’s Proposition 50.

The redistricting effort could turn up to five GOP-held districts blue.

The court battle has big implications for the midterm elections, with Democrats favored to win back the House of Representatives due to frustration with the Trump administration and Republicans in Congress.

Prediction markets and pollsters show Dems in a good position to capture the House, but an adverse decision in the Prop. 50 case could stymie those plans.

The ballot proposal was spun up in response to a similar redrawing effort in Texas, where the state’s Republican majority moved to rejigger its maps to give their party an edge in congressional races.

Prop. 50 was championed by Newsom as a plan to cancel out Texas’s attempted gerrymandering. It passed handily in the November election last year.

The GOP filing asks Justice Elena Kagan, who is assigned to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal, to issue an injunction to temporarily reinstate the current congressional map, according to the Sacramento Bee.

Republicans contested the maps drawn by Prop 50, arguing the new congressional lines would unfairly benefit Latino voters over other racial groups.

Kagan will either deny the emergency appeal, likely within days, or refer the matter to the full Supreme Court.

If referred to the Supreme Court, justices would likely issue a ruling on the GOP’s emergency motion well before California’s candidate filing deadline on March 6.

Rudy Giuliani’s lawyer tells ‘Pod Force One’ FBI didn’t want to touch Hunter Biden’s laptop during home raid: ‘Radioactive’

FBI agents who raided Rudy Giuliani’s apartment and office in 2021 didn’t want to touch Hunter Biden’s laptop hard drives — despite the first son being under investigation at the time for potential tax fraud, the former New York City mayor’s lawyer told “Pod Force One.”

Robert Costello, who represented Giuliani for legal challenges related to 2020 election interference, told The Post’s Miranda Devine on the latest episode, out Wednesday, that agents executing the search warrant on the former mayor’s Upper East Side building saw the Biden scion’s hard drives as “radioactive.”

“They knew that Rudy Giuliani had them,” he explained.

“They knew that Rudy Giuliani was giving them to the New York Post, and they knew that their plot to keep all of this stuff secret was falling apart fast.”

The hard drives led to The Post’s bombshell October 2020 reports on Hunter Biden’s efforts to leverage his father’s position as vice president for lucrative business deals with Ukrainian and Chinese energy companies.

Costello also said the FBI raid and the bureau’s other actions to downplay the damning details in The Post’s report was “the best proof of election interference in the 2020 campaign,” after having described agents wanting to ditch the hard drives at Giuliani’s Manhattan apartment.

“I pick up the phone, and it’s Rudy on the phone with an FBI agent next to him. They’re in his apartment, and they’re going through things,” recalled Costello, who previously served as deputy chief of the Criminal Division for the US Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of New York.

“So, he puts me on the phone with the lead FBI agent, and I explained to him, I said, ‘Listen, this is a legitimate question. I’m not trying to insult you. Do you know what a hard drive looks like?’” And he said, ‘Yes,'” the lawyer continued.

“He described it accurately, and I said, ‘Okay, now go into Rudy’s office, and you’ll see on his desk either two or three hard drives.’ So, he’s on the phone with me. He says, ‘Yes, I see those.’ I said, ‘Those are Hunter Biden hard drives,’” Costello said.

The lead FBI agent responded immediately, “Oh, we’re not going to touch those,” according to Giuliani’s attorney, contradicting the order on the warrant “to seize every electronic device in his home.”

“I said to the FBI agent, ‘Well, those are electronic devices. Your warrant requires you to take those,’” Costello added. “He said, ‘I’m not touching those at all. They’re staying here.’”

“Now ask yourself this question. Why would they treat those hard drives as radioactive?” he asked Devine. “Because they knew that they were legitimate.”

Subsequent federal and congressional investigations confirmed that the Biden family received tens of millions of dollars from foreign patrons — but The Post’s initial reporting on emails laying bare the influence-peddling scheme resulted in its Twitter, now X, account being locked.

The FBI had “verified” the authenticity of Hunter’s laptop as far back as November 2019 after taking custody of the device, and agents for the bureau had even told content moderators at Twitter that the emails on its hard drive were real when the first Post report was published on Oct. 14, 2020.

Another earthquake rocks Southern California, reigniting fears of the ‘Big One’

Another earthquake and a series of aftershocks rocked Southern California overnight Wednesday.

The 4.2-magnitude quake struck only 6 miles northeast of Indio shortly after midnight, the same area jolted by a 4.9 temblor on Monday.
Just half an hour after Wednesday’s quake, the USGS detected a 2.5 aftershock in Coachella Valley.

On Tuesday, aftershocks ranging from 2.8 to 3.6 magnitudes rattled the region, part of a relentless wave of 16 quakes that struck Southern California in less than 24 hours, reigniting fears that the “Big One” could soon rip through the area.

The dramatic burst of ground motion, part of an ongoing swarm of quakes, occurred near the infamous San Andreas Fault, which runs past Indio.

Though the aftershocks measured only ‘weak’ to ‘light’ on the Modified Mercalli Intensity scale, they were strong enough to keep the desert community uneasy, a dark reminder that the ground beneath the Golden State is always restless.

Officials have warned that aftershocks may continue for the next week, with a 6% chance that one will exceed magnitude 5.

The USGC has forecasted a “99% chance of magnitude 3 and above aftershocks” through Jan. 27, and “it is most likely that 1 to 14 of these will occur.”

There have been no reports of injuries or damage.

MIDDLE EAST

Trump reveals ‘firm instructions’ he left on how to respond if Iran attempts to assassinate him: ‘Wipe them off the face of this earth’

President Trump revealed Tuesday that he’s left “very firm instructions” for Iran to be “blown up” if the US adversary makes good on threats to assassinate him.

“Well, they shouldn’t be doing it,” Trump said of the disturbing death threats issued by Tehran, in an interview with NewsNation’s “Katie Pavlich Tonight.”

“But I’ve left notification,” the president continued, “[if] anything ever happens, we’re going to blow the – the whole country is going to get blown up.”
Iran has been threatening to assassinate Trump since 2020, in response to the killing of Iranian Gen. Qasem Soleimani.

Trump argued that former President Joe Biden “should have said something” to the regime to tamp down the threats.

“We always said, ‘Why isn’t Biden saying anything?’ Because he didn’t,” Trump fumed. “But a president has to defend a president like, if I were here and they were making that threat to somebody even, not even a president, but somebody, like they did with me, I would absolutely hit them so hard.

“But I have very firm instructions – anything happens, they’re going to wipe them off the face of this earth.”

The latest threat from Iran came just last week, when state-run TV aired an image of Trump from the 2024 Butler rally assassination attempt with the words “This time it will not miss the target.”

The threat followed Trump’s repeated warnings that the US will strike Iran if the regime continues its brutal crackdown on anti-government protesters.

The same year as the Butler assassination attempt, the Justice Department said an Iranian-led plot to kill Trump was thwarted when a man allegedly tasked by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps to murder the president was arrested.

In 2022, the Iranian regime posted a video depicting an assassination attempt against the president at his Mar-a-Lago golf course.

Iran’s top diplomat vows to ‘fire back with everything we have’ if US attacks over protest crackdown

Iran’s top diplomat issued his most direct threat to the US yet on Wednesday, warning that the Islamic Republic will fire “back with everything we have if we come under renewed attack.”

Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi ramped up his anti-US rhetoric in a new opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal, warning America to stay out of Iran’s politics despite the brutal crackdown on anti-regime protesters.

In the article, Araghchi claimed that a US attack on Iran would not end as it did during the 12-day war last year, where Tehran launched a small-scale attack on a US air base in Qatar that resulted in zero casualties.

“Unlike the restraint Iran showed in June 2025, our powerful armed forces have no qualms about firing back with everything we have if we come under renewed attack,” Araghchi wrote.

“This isn’t a threat, but a reality I feel I need to convey explicitly, because as a diplomat and a veteran, I abhor war,” he claimed.

“An all-out confrontation will certainly be ferocious and drag on far, far longer than the fantasy timelines that Israel and its proxies are trying to peddle to the White House,” Araghchi added.

“It will certainly engulf the wider region and have an impact on ordinary people around the globe.”

The foreign minister’s comment comes as tensions remain high between Washington and Tehran over the deaths that erupted during the anti-government protests in Iran.

While the exact figure has yet to be verified, the death toll is estimated to have reached at least 4,519 people, according to the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency.
The mass deaths triggered international backlash against Iran, with President Trump warning of direct military intervention if the killing continued.

Trump, who has called for leadership change in Iran, also said Tuesday that if Tehran were to ever act on its threats to assassinate him, he has left instructions for the US to “blow up” Iran.

Trump did not directly mention Iran in his speech on Wednesday at the World Economic Forum in Davos, which rescinded its invitation to Araghchi over the killing of protesters. 

After tensions flared last week, with an attack on Iran appearing imminent, the US has begun mobilizing some of its forces around the Middle East region.

Tehran streets hit with heavy machine gun fire from militias in deadly night attacks

Gunfire echoed through Tehran on Tuesday as heavily armed militias were deployed across the Iranian capital, transforming some districts into fortified zones under intense security.

Video footage showed bursts of automatic weapons after dark as government buildings, state media sites, and major intersections were reportedly placed under guard, with armored pickups and masked fighters patrolling the streets in Toyotas.

The trucks were mounted with heavy machine guns and were moving in convoys with weapons firing into the darkness as armed men shouted commands.

In the video, large-caliber guns can be heard rattling as vehicles maneuver through urban streets.

“There has been a deployment of dozens of Toyotas mounted with heavy machine guns and other heavy weapons in Tehran,” Ali Safavi, a senior official with the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), told Fox News Digital.

“They are reportedly being used by elements linked to Lebanese Hezbollah and Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces,” he said.

“Their commander speaks in Farsi, and these fighters are Iraqi Hashd al-Sha’bi, Popular Mobilization Force, and Hezbollah fighters who have joined the IRGC. The IRGC are their commanders, and you can hear them shouting in Farsi.”

According to Safavi, the Iranian regime has increasingly relied on foreign proxy forces to maintain control of the capital.

“The regime has brought in at least 5,000 foreign elements now from Iraq and Hezbollah to control Tehran,” he explained.

“They are guarding the government buildings and the state radio and TV and are using heavy machine guns, which are Russian-made and .50-caliber.”

Safavi added that “at night, there are fierce clashes that are ongoing as well as running street battles between the protesters and the special unit forces.”

The footage emerged as the Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) reported what it described as Day 24 of nationwide protests marked by a continued communications blackout.

“The number of confirmed deaths has reached 4,519, while the number of deaths still under investigation stands at 9,049,” the agency said, adding that at least 5,811 people have been seriously injured and 26,314 arrested.

HRANA reports also described an overwhelming security presence, particularly with law enforcement, the IRGC, Basij units, and plainclothes agents after nightfall, creating what the group called an atmosphere of deterrence and fear.

The first protests began Dec. 28 and rapidly spread nationwide, driven by economic grievances and opposition to clerical rule.

Demonstrations have persisted despite mass arrests, lethal force, and internet shutdowns.

“Sometimes the protesters hold their ground to the gunfire, ammunition, and volleys of tear gas,” Safavi said.

He alleged that IRGC units attacked a hospital in Gorgan, killing wounded patients, stationing snipers on rooftops, and firing into surrounding areas.

“They then took around 76 bodies to a warehouse and are refusing to hand them over to families because the forces want to bury them in secret,” he claimed.

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has repeatedly blamed foreign enemies for unrest while backing the IRGC’s response.

President Trump on Tuesday warned Iran that continued assassination threats from leaders in Tehran would trigger overwhelming retaliation.

Iran security forces killed innocent bystanders during protests, witnesses say

Iran’s security forces fired their guns indiscriminately into the streets to suppress anti-regime protesters, killing innocent bystanders in the process, witnesses said.

Despite the nationwide internet blackout in Iran, reports have emerged of the regime’s brutality during the weeks-long protests that erupted on Dec. 28, with one mother telling Reuters that security forces shot her 16-year-old daughter in the heart as they watched a protest in Tehran.

“I was there that night. The security forces opened fire on people. They killed my child,” the grieving mother said.

The woman, who only identified herself as Manijeh, said she was out with her teenage daughter on Jan. 8 when they were watching protesters calling for change in Tehran.

The protesters were quickly met by security forces on motorcycles, with witnesses likening the following events to a war zone where officers fired their weapons at the rallygoers.
Manijeh said she ran with her daughter and hid behind a car as gunfire roared, with the mother and child eventually separated in the chaos.

“I searched street after street, screaming her name,” Manijeh recounted, sobbing during the call with Reuters. “She was gone.”

Two days later, Manijeh and her family found the 16-year-old in a black body bag at the Kahrizak Forensic Medical Centre, in south Tehran, with officials claiming that “terrorists” had killed the girl.

While Iranian officials have claimed that the mounting deaths during the protests were the fault of “rioters,” “terrorists,” and foreign influence, the accounts from witnesses tell a different story.

One Tehran resident said he was walking with his friend, who he identified as 22-year-old art student Arash, when they were caught up in a protest crackdown at Vanak Square.

In the chaos, the friend said he watched as security officials blasted Arash with a shotgun shell, instantly killing the college student.

Another man who identified himself only as Masoud, 38, said his 43-year-old brother was killed while trying to shelter teenage protesters running away from security forces.

One family in the northern city of Rasht alleged that security forces stormed the apartment of their 33-year-old daughter who was watching a protest from her window.

Iranian foreign minister claims Israeli spies incited ‘maximum bloodshed’ during protests to get US involved

Iran’s foreign minister blamed supposed Israeli spies for inciting “maximum bloodshed” during the deadly anti-regime protests, claiming it was all part of an elaborate plot to spark US military action.

Abbas Araghchi, Iran’s top diplomat, echoed conspiracy theories that foreign actors were behind the violence that erupted on Jan. 8 during protests that resulted in the brutal crackdowns and mass deaths, which ultimately triggered President Trump to make threats of military strikes on Iran.

“The purpose was clear: to drag the US into fighting another war on behalf of Israel,” Araghchi claimed Tuesday in a Wall Street Journal opinion piece.

The foreign minister said it was no coincidence that the violence began after Trump directly threatened to attack Iran if its security forces killed protesters, with Araghchi suggesting Israel seized the opportunity to push the US into action.

The foreign minister, however, provided no evidence for his claim, sharing only a social media post from former Trump CIA director Mike Pompeo, who was celebrating the protests and suggested Mossad agents were in the streets of Tehran.

There is no evidence that Israel, which supports the anti-regime protests, had its intelligence officers operating during the rallies.

Along with spreading the conspiracy theory, Araghchi claimed that the violence during the protests lasted “less than 72 hours” — despite reports indicating that the chaos went on for nearly an entire week.

The foreign minister also said that the violence was a direct response to armed groups who allegedly attacked Iran’s security forces during the protests.

“Gunfire targeted police and civilians alike. Officers were shot, burned and even beheaded,” he added.

He went on to claim that the majority of those killed were police officers and civilians at the hands of violent “rioters.” Araghchi also asserted that only “hundreds” were killed in the violence.

Araghchi’s estimates are far off from the numbers being verified by human rights groups, with the current death toll at 4,519 people, according to the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency.

The HRANA’s count includes 4,251 protesters, 197 security personnel, 35 people aged under 18 and 38 bystanders.

The exact death toll has remained hard to independently verify due to the nationwide communications blackout in Iran.

Araghchi justified the blackout as a means to stop “foreign and domestic terrorist actors” from meddling in the country.