Protests spread across Iran on Tuesday after President Donald Trump and other administration officials voiced support for demonstrators. Speaking Monday, Trump pointed to Iran’s economic collapse and long-standing public discontent while stopping short of calling for regime change.

Inside Iran, demonstrations entered a third consecutive day, expanding beyond the capital’s commercial center. The exiled opposition coalition National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) reported widespread strikes and student protests across Tehran and multiple provincial cities, describing clashes with security forces and anti-government chants. A video obtained by the NCRI appears to show protesters pushing back security forces, forcing them to leave the scene on Tehran’s Jomhouri Street. 

Iran International reported that universities emerged as major protest hubs, with rallies at Tehran University, Sharif University of Technology, Shahid Beheshti University, Elm-o-Sanat University and Khajeh Nasir University. Security forces tightened entry controls at campuses and reinforced offices linked to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

Strikes spread across Tehran’s Shoush and Molavi districts and into Isfahan’s Naqsh-e Jahan Square, while parts of Tehran’s Grand Bazaar and the gold market shut down. Mobile phone traders gathered outside major shopping centers after closing their stores. Protests turned violent in several locations, with tear gas fired in Tehran and Malard and reports of live fire in Hamadan. Nighttime demonstrations were reported from Qeshm Island in the south to Zanjan and Hamadan in the north, with videos showing chants of ‘death to the dictator.’

Speaking at a press conference at Mar-a-Lago on Monday, Trump said he was ‘not going to talk about overthrow of a regime.’ Instead, he focused on Iran’s deteriorating economy and the state’s violent response to protests. ‘They’ve got tremendous inflation. Their economy is busted, the economy is no good,’ Trump said. 

He said that when Iranians gather to protest, the regime responds with lethal force.

‘Every time they have a riot or somebody forms a group, little or big, they start shooting people,’ Trump said. ‘You know, they kill people. All of a sudden people start getting shot and that group disbanded pretty quickly.’

Trump said he has watched the unrest build for years, describing Iran’s leadership as brutal.

‘I’ve watched this for years — there is tremendous discontent,’ he said. ‘I’ve watched it for years, and vicious, vicious people.’ His remarks came as protests intensified following the collapse of Iran’s currency to historic lows. The rial fell to roughly 1.45 million per U.S. dollar on the open market, triggering strikes and demonstrations centered on Tehran’s Grand Bazaar and spreading to other major cities, according to Iran International’s live reporting. Videos and eyewitness accounts described heavy security deployments, clashes with demonstrators and the use of tear gas as unrest widened.

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz issued a direct message of support. ‘The people of Iran want freedom,’ Waltz wrote on X. ‘We stand with Iranians in the streets of Tehran and across the country as they protest a radical regime that has brought them nothing but economic downturn and war.’ 

A parallel statement from the U.S. government’s Persian-language account, @USAbehFarsi, said Washington supports the Iranian people’s efforts ‘to make their voices heard,’ urging the Islamic Republic to respect fundamental rights rather than suppress protests.

Iranian officials acknowledged the unrest but defended the government’s approach. Reuters reported that government spokeswoman Fatemeh Mohajerani said Tehran recognizes protests and that officials would set up a mechanism to engage with protest leaders. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian directed his interior minister to address protesters’ ‘legitimate demands’ and engage in dialogue with their representatives.

Independent analysts warned the unrest reflects deeper structural strains. The OSINT research group SpecialEurasia said in an assessment on Tuesday that Iran’s internal stability has reached a ‘critical threshold,’ citing the convergence of currency collapse, renewed international sanctions and chronic water and energy shortages. The group noted that the participation of bazaar merchants, traditionally a pillar of regime support, signals declining confidence in the state’s economic management and raises the risk of prolonged unrest.

NCRI leader Maryam Rajavi said the protests reflect the anger of ‘tens of millions’ driven to the breaking point by inflation, corruption and clerical rule. NCRI’s claims reflect opposition reporting and cannot be independently verified due to restrictions on access inside Iran.

Cameron Khansarinia, vice president of the National Union for Democracy in Iran, said the latest demonstrations underscore a growing shift in public sentiment. ‘Iranians have once again taken to the streets.’ Citing President Donald Trump’s remarks this week, he added that ‘each time they do, the regime tries to crush it,’ but argued that ‘Iranians’ desire to be free is increasingly becoming greater than their fear of the regime.’ Khansarinia claimed that chants in support of Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi have been growing in the protests, saying the protesters showed ‘remarkable bravery.’ 

As protests continue, verification of casualties and arrests remains limited, but the scale and spread of the unrest underscore mounting pressure on Iran’s leadership amid economic free fall and growing public defiance.

Sen. Jim Justice, R-W.V., believed that Republicans had accomplished numerous feats in 2025, but he and his party had fallen woefully short of truly understanding what the everyday American thinks.

‘We, as Republicans, and I have said this so many times, we’re lousy,’ Justice told Fox News Digital. ‘We’re great at doing the good things, but we’re lousy at really knowing what Toby and Edith are thinking. And that causes a lot of problems.’

‘Toby’ and ‘Edith’ are the names Justice gives to the average voter, a group he said that he knows well from his time as West Virginia’s governor for eight years before joining the Senate after scoring an easy victory in the 2024 election.

Justice’s frustration came as Congress was readying to leave Washington, D.C., until the new year. Lawmakers had failed to tackle one last remaining issue after scores of legislative victories in the upper chamber: extending, or replacing, expiring Obamacare premium subsidies.

Those tax credits are set to lapse Wednesday, and tens of millions of Americans will see their out-of-pocket costs for healthcare double, triple and in some cases skyrocket by more than 300%.

Justice said that, as governor, there was understanding the credits would expire, given that Democrats under former President Joe Biden both enhanced the subsidies and set an expiration date for the end of the year. 

But to Toby and Edith, the political machinations and fights that dominated the latter part of the year mattered little. It’s the end result that they’re paying attention to, Justice said.

‘They’re thinking, ‘Well, you know, I know [former President Barack] Obama started all this stuff, and I know it didn’t work, and everything, but the Republicans are pretty much in charge right now,’’ Justice said. ‘‘So, you know, if they’re in charge, why don’t they fix it?’’

Effectively, he said, the extra money that people had to work with thanks to the subsidies would vanish, putting families and the Tobys and Ediths in the country under more financial strain.

‘That’s how they think, you know,’ Justice said. ‘And so what I would say to you is, if Republicans aren’t concerned about that, they’re making a bad move on the chessboard.’

What a fix could look like is in the air, for now. Senate Republicans’ plan to convert the subsidies into health savings accounts failed. So did Senate Democrats’ push for a three-year extension.

There are options bubbling from the House, including the GOP’s package that doesn’t address the subsidies, and a bipartisan plan that, similar to Senate Democrats’ proposal, would extend the subsidies for three years. The latter is expected to get a vote in early January.

Justice lauded President Donald Trump and Republicans’ work throughout the year, arguing that the GOP trifecta had ‘almost pitched nine perfect games,’ but the healthcare issue was one that would sting, politically and on the ground.

‘I think just an extension doesn’t work,’ Justice said. ‘We need to fix it. We need to fix it all. And I think that’s what President Trump is really trying to do. He’s trying to get the money in their hands, instead of the money to insurance companies. All that’s great and everything, but I’m telling you, our messaging is, as Republicans, is not great in my book.’

Escalating claims by Russia that Ukraine tried to hit a residence used by President Vladimir Putin with drones have been dismissed by a top military drone expert, who called the alleged attack ‘hard to fathom’ and tactically implausible.

Cameron Chell’s comments came as Moscow doubled down on accusations Kyiv has flatly denied, with the drone industry leader arguing the alleged strike announced Monday runs counter to Ukraine’s drone tactics.

Chell, the CEO and co-founder of Draganfly, a drone manufacturer that supplies to the U.S. Department of Defense and allied militaries, including Ukraine, said Russia’s claims lack credibility.

‘What really makes things usually very signature about Ukraine is that they’re always incredibly clever about how they use drones,’ Chell told Fox News Digital.

‘They are clever from a cost perspective — let’s call it an efficiency perspective — but also very clever in their tactics,’ he added.

‘I find it hard to fathom that this drone attack even happened on Putin’s residence or that it was something that Ukraine orchestrated for a number of reasons,’ Chell said.

‘To get over the top of Putin’s residence, for one, the drones would not have been launched from a very long distance away,’ he added.

Chell’s comments came as Russia doubled down Tuesday on accusations that Ukraine attempted to strike a presidential palace in the Novgorod region using drones, allegedly to disrupt peace efforts.

Kyiv dismissed the allegation, with the timing also raising questions given the upbeat tone of a recent meeting between President Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Florida.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov claimed late Monday that 91 drones were intercepted en route to Putin’s residence on the shores of Lake Valdai.

His statement appeared to contradict earlier Defense Ministry tallies, which said 89 drones were shot down over eight regions, including 18 over Novgorod, later adding another 23.

Only after Lavrov spoke did the ministry allege that 49 drones intercepted over Bryansk, nearly 300 miles away, were also targeting Valdai.

Asked about wreckage, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said it was ‘a matter for our military,’ while calling Zelenskyy’s denial and Western skepticism ‘completely insane.’

Peskov said Russia’s diplomatic stance would be toughened, and Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin vowed there could be ‘no forgiveness’ for Zelenskyy.

Chell said the story simply does not add up. ‘To attack Putin’s residence, you need long-range, very fast-moving drones,’ he said.

He added that for drones that small to reach such a site, they would have had to be launched from a much closer location, likely inside Russia itself.

‘They would have to be within about 10 kilometers [6.2 miles] — or maybe, at most, 30 kilometers — of Putin’s residence,’ Chell said.

‘That facility where Putin lives would also be incredibly secure, and so to have a number of lower-cost, slower-moving drones coming in on that facility would be very un-Ukrainian,’ Chell said.

‘Ukraine also doesn’t announce when they’re going to show up,’ he added.

Chell also noted that night operations would rule out GPS- or AI-based navigation due to jamming and visibility limits, making the launch of dozens of drones even less plausible.

‘Apparently the thing was at night, so that’s very difficult for machine vision or AI mapping software,’ he said. ‘So, you know, it definitely wasn’t using GPS, because it would have been jammed. There are just a bunch of things that don’t add up.’

Politically, Chell argued, Ukraine has nothing to gain. ‘They’re bold, but right in the middle of peace talks — when they need Trump on side — it makes no sense,’ he said. ‘Ukraine is just politically too smart to have done that.’

Zelenskyy on Monday also called the claim a complete fabrication, accusing Moscow of laying the groundwork for further attacks. 

Lavrov warned of retaliation but said Russia would continue talks with Washington.

Trump also said he learned of the alleged attack directly from Putin and was ‘very angry about it.’ Asked whether there was evidence, Trump replied, ‘We’ll find out.’

Fox News Digital has reached out to the Kremlin for comment.

A federal judge ordered the Trump administration to produce documents related to its decision to investigate and bring criminal charges against Salvadoran migrant Kilmar Abrego Garcia while he was detained at a maximum-security prison in El Salvador earlier this year – signaling what is sure to be an action-packed evidentiary hearing in Nashville next month. 

The order, filed by U.S. Judge Waverly Crenshaw earlier this month and released to the public Tuesday afternoon, requires the Justice Department to produce all relevant documents to defense lawyers pertaining to its decision earlier this year to open an investigation and seek criminal charges against Abrego Garcia for conduct stemming from a 2022 traffic stop. 

The Justice Department opened the criminal investigation and presented the case to a grand jury earlier this year, when Abrego Garcia was detained at CECOT, and at the same time as lawyers for the Trump administration officials were telling a separate federal judge in Maryland that they were powerless to bring him back from Salvadoran custody. 

The new order stops short of compelling any government witnesses to testify for next month’s hearing, including testimony from Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, whose remarks – for months – have been at the center of the vindictive prosecution effort pursued by Abrego Garcia’s defense team in Tennessee.

Abrego Garcia’s attorneys have argued Blanche played ‘a leading role’ in the decision to prosecute him, a notion Blanche’s office has vehemently dismissed.

They had also honed in on the involvement of Blanche’s associate, Aakash Singh. 

‘The cornerstone of Abrego’s motion to dismiss is that the decision to prosecute him was in retaliation for his success in the Maryland District Court,’ Crenshaw said in the newly unsealed ruling. 

‘Indeed, at the time of Abrego’s arrest, Blanche linked Abrego’s criminal charges to his successful civil lawsuit in Maryland. Specifically, some of the documents suggest not only that McGuire was not a solitary decision-maker, but he, in fact, reported to others in DOJ and the decision to prosecute Abrego may have been a joint decision, with others who may or may not have acted with improper motivation.’ 

U.S. District Judge Waverly Crenshaw had ruled in October that Abrego Garcia had established a ‘reasonable likelihood’ that the criminal case against him was the result of vindictive prosecution by the Justice Department, a determination that shifted the burden to the government to rebut ahead of the criminal trial, and ordered the Trump administration to produce for the court internal documents and government witnesses to testify about its decision to bring the case. 

Lawyers for the Justice Department fiercely resisted efforts to produce government witnesses or documents, arguing that the documents should be protected by attorney-client privilege and work-product privilege, among other things. 

The evidentiary hearing is slated to take place on Jan. 28.

Crenshaw separately canceled the criminal trial date for Abrego Garcia, though the update is likely more a procedural one than a reflection of the status of the case.

Abrego Garcia’s status has been at the center of a legal and political maelstrom for nearly 11 months, after he was arrested and deported to his home country of El Salvador, in violation of a 2019 withholding of removal order. 

This is a breaking news story. Check back for updates.

U.S. and partner forces killed or captured nearly 25 Islamic State operatives in Syria in the days following a large-scale U.S.-led strike on Dec. 19, according to a new statement from U.S. Central Command, underscoring Washington’s assessment that ISIS remains an active and persistent threat inside the country.

CENTCOM said those forces conducted 11 follow-on missions between Dec. 20 and Dec. 29, killing at least seven ISIS members, capturing the remainder and eliminating four ISIS weapons caches. The operations followed Operation Hawkeye Strike, when U.S. and Jordanian forces hit more than 70 ISIS targets across central Syria using over 100 precision munitions, destroying infrastructure and weapons sites linked to the group. 

‘We will not relent,’ CENTCOM Commander Adm. Brad Cooper said, adding that U.S. forces remain ‘steadfast’ in working with regional partners to dismantle ISIS networks that pose a threat to U.S. and regional security.

The scope of the follow-on raids highlights a reality U.S. commanders and analysts have been warning about for months: ISIS no longer controls large swaths of territory, but it retains the ability to organize, strike and regenerate inside Syria’s fragmented security landscape.

Syria remains divided among competing forces, militias and foreign-backed armed groups, with no single authority exercising full control over large parts of the country. Analysts say that vacuum continues to provide space for ISIS cells to operate quietly, recruit and exploit overstretched local forces.

Analysts note that Syria’s security environment remains shaped by former jihadist networks that were never fully demobilized after the war. The country’s transitional leadership, including President Ahmed al-Sharaa, emerged from armed Islamist factions that relied heavily on foreign fighters and militias, according to regional security assessments. While those groups are not synonymous with ISIS, experts say the incomplete dismantling of extremist networks has left gaps that ISIS cells continue to exploit.

‘ISIS today doesn’t need a caliphate to be dangerous,’ Bill Roggio told Fox News Digital. ‘We’ve always been quick to declare terrorist organizations defeated and insignificant, and that couldn’t be further from the truth.’

Roggio said the group has adapted rather than disappeared, shifting away from holding territory toward smaller, more covert cells capable of carrying out lethal attacks. He pointed to ongoing ISIS activity not only in Syria and Iraq, but also in Afghanistan and other regions, citing United Nations reporting that estimates roughly 2,000 ISIS fighters remain active in Afghanistan alone.

‘That’s not what a defeated group looks like,’ Roggio said, noting that ISIS continues to recruit, indoctrinate and inspire attacks even without the visibility it once had.

One of the most sensitive vulnerabilities remains the network of detention facilities in northeastern Syria holding thousands of ISIS terrorists and supporters. Those prisons are guarded primarily by Kurdish-led forces backed by a small U.S. military presence, estimated at roughly 1,000 troops, according to Reuters.

U.S. and coalition officials have repeatedly warned that any major disruption to prison security could allow hardened ISIS operatives to escape and reconstitute networks across Syria and beyond. Kurdish officials have also raised concerns about funding shortages, manpower strain and pressure from rival militias operating nearby.

While U.S. officials have not publicly linked the recent strikes to prison-related threats, analysts say the broader environment of fragmented control increases the risk of coordinated attacks, insider assistance or prison unrest.

The danger is not theoretical. ISIS has previously staged mass prison break operations in Syria and Iraq, including a 2022 assault on the al-Sinaa prison in Hasakah that required days of fighting to contain.

The U.S. strikes also come amid continued instability inside Syria, where multiple armed actors operate with overlapping authority. Analysts note that clashes among militias, sectarian violence and unresolved command structures have weakened overall security and diverted attention from counterterrorism efforts.

Bombings in neighborhoods of Damascus, including Mezzeh, and unrest in minority areas have further illustrated the gaps ISIS and other extremist groups can exploit, according to regional security assessments and open-source reporting.

‘Syria’s chaos is the accelerant,’ Roggio said. ‘ISIS thrives where no one is fully in charge.’

U.S. officials and analysts stress that ISIS activity in Syria is part of a wider pattern rather than an isolated flare-up.

Sources in the Israeli Mossad told Fox News Digital of continued ISIS-linked activity across multiple theaters, including recruitment networks and small-scale attacks designed to test security responses and maintain operational relevance.

In Turkey, security forces recently clashed with Islamic State militants during counterterrorism operations, wounding several officers, according to Reuters on Monday. Turkish authorities said the raids targeted ISIS cells suspected of planning attacks inside the country.

‘These are signals, not spikes,’ Roggio said. ‘ISIS operates across regions, adapting to pressure and exploiting weak governance wherever it finds it.’

The renewed U.S. military action raises difficult questions for policymakers about how long the current containment strategy can hold.

While U.S. officials say the Dec. 19 strikes delivered a significant blow to ISIS infrastructure, they have also acknowledged that counterterrorism operations alone cannot eliminate the underlying conditions that allow the group to persist.

‘Just because we want to declare the war against terror over doesn’t mean it’s over,’ Roggio said. ‘The enemy gets a vote.’

Two West African nations have issued a simultaneous ban on American citizens in a diplomatic tit-for-tat move, amidst heightened tensions with both the United States and Europe, and as Russia seeks to increase its economic and geopolitical influence in the region.

Mali and Burkina Faso made the move in response to the Trump administration’s Dec. 16 expansion of travel restrictions to more than 20 countries. The policy particularly affected the African continent, with Chad, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Libya, Niger, Republic of the Congo, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Sudan and Sudan also being subject to travel restrictions.

The Trump administration cited the persistence of armed attacks in both nations as part of the rationale for its decision:

‘According to the Department of State, terrorist organizations continue to plan and conduct terrorist activities throughout Burkina Faso. According to the Fiscal Year 2024, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Entry/Exit Overstay Report (‘Overstay Report’), Burkina Faso had a B-1/B-2 visa overstay rate of 9.16 percent and a student (F), vocational (M), and exchange visitor (J) visa overstay rate of 22.95 percent. Additionally, Burkina Faso has historically refused to accept back its removable nationals.’

Regarding its decision to include Mali on the list, it stated:

‘According to the Department of State, armed conflict between the Malian government and armed groups is common throughout the country.  Terrorist organizations operate freely in certain areas of Mali.’

Burkina Faso and Mali are both currently ruled by military juntas that came to power amidst rising violence and instability, as both nations came under attack from Islamist terrorist groups.

Both nations have also seen a rise in anti-French sentiment, in conjunction with deepening relationships with Russia, which has pledged to offer assistance in fighting back the Islamist rebels battling the central governments for territorial control.

‘In accordance with the principle of reciprocity, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation informs the national and international community that, with immediate effect, the Government of the Republic of Mali will apply the same conditions and requirements to US nationals as those imposed on Malian citizens,’ the Malian Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated.

Burkina Faso’s government cited a similar rationale for issuing its ban on American travelers.

Both nations, as well as neighboring Niger and Nigeria, have seen skyrocketing violence in recent years, as chronically underfunded governments struggle to retain control of rural, sparsely-populated desert regions.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.