Donald Trump

Trump Expected to Announce ‘Phase 2’ in Gaza Today

U.S. President Donald Trump is expected on Wednesday to announce the launch of Phase 2 of his Gaza plan, including the appointment of 15 members to a temporary Palestinian committee that will oversee the territory, according to U.S. officials cited by The Wall Street Journal. Officials told the newspaper that the conditions now allow a shift ...

U.S. Designates Muslim Brotherhood Branches in Egypt, Jordan, and Lebanon as 'Terror' Groups

The United States designated three Middle Eastern branches of the Muslim Brotherhood as terrorist organizations on Tuesday, including on the group’s Egyptian, Jordanian, and Lebanese branches, alleging they pose a threat to U.S. interests. The State Department designated the Lebanese branch as a "foreign terrorist ...

U.S. Strike in Venezuela a Blow to Hezbollah’s Revival Efforts

The United States dealt Iran and its proxy Hezbollah a strategic blow over the weekend by seizing key ally, Venezuela’s strongman Nicolás Maduro. While the dominant narrative of the complex military strike has focused on its framing as a counternarcotics operation and aggressive energy politics, coverage has largely missed a critical strategic ...

Trump Announces 25% Tariff on Countries Doing Business With Iran

U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday announced fresh tariffs on Iran's trading partners in an apparent response to the rising number of people killed during recent protests. In a post on Truth Social, President Trump wrote that any country "doing business with the Islamic Republic of Iran" will pay a 25% tariff "effective ...

Syrian Forces Push Out Kurdish Fighters as U.S. Hits ISIS

Syrian government forces have detained 300 Kurds and evacuated more than 400 Kurdish fighters after clashes in Aleppo, the interior ministry has said, as U.S. and allied forces carried out separate “large-scale” strikes against Islamic State targets. An interior ministry official told Agence France-Presse that about 360 Kurdish ...

Trump Says Iran Wants to "Negotiate"

U.S. President Donald Trump said Sunday that Iran’s leadership had called him seeking “to negotiate” after he repeatedly threatened to intervene militarily if Tehran killed protesters. He added, however, that the U.S. "may have to act before a meeting.” Trump has not elaborated on what the U.S. is considering, but said on Sunday that ...

Egypt-Lebanon Gas Deal: Israeli Gas at the Heart of the Agreement

Two eastern Mediterranean natural gas deals announced twelve days apart highlight shifting energy dynamics amid dramatic geopolitical transformations in the region, with Lebanon aiming to benefit.  On December 17, 2025, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced a $35 billion gas deal with Egypt, describing the agreement as ...

Khamenei Says "Arrogant" Trump Will be "Overthrown"

Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Friday insisted that the Islamic republic would "not back down" in the face of protesters who he called "vandals" and "saboteurs", in a speech broadcast on state TV. Speaking to supporters in his first comments on the escalating protests since January 3, Khamenei said U.S. President Donald Trump's ...

Iran at the Edge: Uprising, Exhaustion, and the Fate of the Islamic Republic

Amid growing protests, Iran’s rulers face one of their most dangerous moments since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, with the pillars that have long sustained the regime now visibly cracking. Protests that erupted in late December 2025 over imploded living conditions have evolved into a nationwide revolt against the ruling system itself, fueled by ...

Trump Says US Will Hit Iran 'Very Hard' if Protesters Are Killed

U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday threatened to take severe action against Iran if its authorities "start killing people" who are protesting in the country, where an economic crisis has led to mounting civil unrest, according to AFP.  "I have let them know that if they start killing people, which they tend to do during ...

Iran Warns of Retaliation as President Orders Restraint on Protesters

Iran's military chief warned on Wednesday that Iran will not stand by and allow itself to be threatened by outside powers, after the United States and Israel backed anti-government protests in which at least 35 protesters have reportedly been killed. "The Islamic Republic of Iran considers the escalation of hostile rhetoric against the ...