President Donald Trump, who has been pressing for the U.S. to acquire Greenland, continued to beat the drum on the issue early on Tuesday.

‘I had a very good telephone call with Mark Rutte, the Secretary General of NATO, concerning Greenland. I agreed to a meeting of the various parties in Davos, Switzerland. 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!’ the president declared in part of a Truth Social post.

Trump is slated to speak at the World Economic Forum annual meeting on Wednesday.

In another post on Tuesday, Trump shared a graphic that appeared to depict Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Vice President JD Vance standing behind Trump as he held a flagpole flying an American flag near a sign that described Greenland as a ‘US TERRITORY EST. 2026.’

‘Shockingly, our ‘brilliant’ NATO Ally, the United Kingdom, is currently planning to give away the Island of Diego Garcia, the site of a vital U.S. Military Base, to Mauritius, and to do so FOR NO REASON WHATSOEVER,’ the president asserted in part of a separate post.

‘The UK giving away extremely important land is an act of GREAT STUPIDITY, and is another in a very long line of National Security reasons why Greenland has to be acquired. Denmark and its European Allies have to DO THE RIGHT THING. Thank you for your attention to this matter,’ he asserted.

Last week, Trump warned of tariffs as he continued to press the matter of Greenland.

‘Starting on February 1st, 2026, all of the above mentioned Countries (Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, The United Kingdom, The Netherlands, and Finland), will be charged a 10% Tariff on any and all goods sent to the United States of America. On June 1st, 2026, the Tariff will be increased to 25%. This Tariff will be due and payable until such time as a Deal is reached for the Complete and Total purchase of Greenland,’ Trump declared in a January 17 Truth Social post.

Tuesday, January 20, marks the one-year anniversary since Trump’s January 20, 2025 inauguration.

Donald J. Trump was inaugurated for a second term as president exactly one year ago. It is safe to say the country, and the world, will never be the same. 

President Trump has engaged in energetic and bold governing and diplomacy, fulfilling campaign promises like boosting domestic energy production, while also seeking peace in turbulent parts of the world and attempting to follow through on long-term ambitions, like acquiring Greenland.

He has engaged with the press on a near-daily basis, boosted recruitment for our military, dismantled harmful left-wing shibboleths like DEI, convinced our NATO allies to spend more on their own defense, junked burdensome regulations that interfered with our country’s progress, challenged our woke universities, extracted and jailed alleged drug kingpin Nicolás Maduro, defended women’s sports, significantly derailed Iran’s nuclear program, overseen new health initiatives like ridding our food of artificial dyes, shrunk the ever-expanding federal bureaucracy, and pushed through a reconciliation bill that lowered taxes for middle-class Americans. It is an incredible boatload of accomplishments.

But Trump’s first year is most notable for closing the southern border that predecessor Joe Biden opened to millions of unvetted illegal immigrants, and for resetting U.S. trade relations through the introduction of tariffs. As he might boast, few imagined that these efforts would succeed; however, neither has been without controversy.

Today, President Trump is at a crossroads. He begins midterm campaigning with approval ratings that are underwater, according to polling aggregated by RealClearPolitics, even on his signature issues of immigration and the economy. He has, in particular, lost favor with independents and with some of the groups that helped him win in 2024, like young voters and Hispanics. 

Surveys suggest voters think the president is spending too much time on foreign affairs instead of working to reduce the cost of living. While he pursues peace between Ukraine and Russia, Americans want lower cereal prices and cheaper housing. 

President Trump is trying to do too many things at once. On the one hand, we applaud the energy and pace of this president, a welcome change from the inert Joe Biden. On the other hand, Americans want stability, not chaos.

President Trump is aggrieved that the country is not giving him high marks for booming economic growth, a declining fiscal deficit, new investments flowing into the U.S., a declining trade gap, rising middle-class wages, all-time high oil production and record stock prices. And, inflation is substantially lower than the decades-high 9.1% recorded during the Biden presidency.

Public perceptions about the economy will play a decisive role in the midterm elections. Given today’s subdued consumer sentiment, President Trump faces the very real prospect that Republicans will lose their slim control of the House and maybe even their advantage in the Senate. He has warned more than once that should Democrats take over, they will almost certainly move to impeach him; he may well be right. 

Faced with that threat, and seemingly rattled by Democrats’ new ‘affordability’ pitch, Trump has unleashed a barrage of new policies meant to address the cost of living, some of which appear half-baked. He has proposed capping interest rates on credit cards at 10% and has strategized about that controversial notion with progressive Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., a development giving most Republicans hives. In addition, he has launched an attack on corporate-owned housing, which he claims has driven up rents. The number of homes bought up by businesses in recent years is small, and not likely to be a major source of rent inflation.

The frustrated president is also lashing out at adversaries, threatening to sue JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon for ‘debanking’ him in 2021 and waging war against Federal Reserve Chair Jay Powell, for instance. 

Trump blames the Fed chair for keeping interest rates too high, which in turn drives up the cost of living. The Justice Department’s investigation into whether the Fed Chair lied to Congress about the costly renovation of the Fed’s headquarters was a foolish miscalculation; it has backfired as Powell has dug in and caused the Senate to balk at confirming his successor.

Trump has also recently rolled out ‘The Great Healthcare Plan,’ which would make payments directly to households to cover health expenses rather than send federal subsidies to insurers on consumers’ behalf. This proposal comes as Congress continues to debate extending enhanced premium subsidies on Obamacare; the lapsing of payments augmented during COVID-19 will raise some peoples’ insurance costs significantly. For not being ready with a solution to this dilemma, which was anticipated for more than a year, voters should blame Republicans in Congress, not President Trump. Nonetheless, attempting to reconfigure our dysfunctional healthcare system, nearly one fifth of our economy, should not be done on the fly.

Most recently, Trump has again threatened to slap onerous tariffs on European Union countries unless Denmark agrees to sell Greenland. This is a mistake, as it undermines the president’s constructive use of tariffs, indicates our partners cannot trust hard-fought trade agreements, and again plunges America’s commitment to NATO into uncertainty.

President Trump is trying to do too many things at once. On the one hand, we applaud the energy and pace of this president, a welcome change from the inert Joe Biden. On the other hand, Americans want stability, not chaos.

They especially don’t want chaos on the streets of Minneapolis, with ICE agents under attack. They also don’t want chaos in our dealings with foreign nations. And, they don’t want chaos in our economy, with tariffs being raised and lowered according to the latest push from the Oval Office and with major proposals being spun out almost daily.

The president has accomplished a great deal in his first year in office. He needs to build on the wins, and remind voters why they elected him. That begins with deescalating some of his confrontations and restoring confidence through steady leadership. It continues with hitting the campaign trail, talking to the American people, and bringing them back on board.

President Trump’s agenda is not complete; let us hope he reboots and wins for three more years to continue making America great again.   

Rep. Yassamin Ansari, D-Ariz., asserted Monday in a post on X that President Donald Trump is ‘mentally ill’ and should be ‘immediately’ removed from office via the 25th Amendment.

‘The president of the United States is extremely mentally ill and it’s putting all of our lives at risk. The 25th Amendment exists for a reason — we need to invoke it immediately,’ she declared in the post.

Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for comment on Tuesday morning.

The congresswoman made the comment in response to a letter from President Donald Trump to Norway’s Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre.

‘Dear Jonas: Considering your Country decided not to give me the Nobel Peace Prize for having stopped 8 Wars PLUS, I no longer feel an obligation to think purely of Peace, although it will always be predominant, but can now think about what is good and proper for the United States of America,’ Trump asserted in the message.

‘Denmark cannot protect that land from Russia or China, and why do they have a ‘right of ownership’ anyway?’ he continued, referring to Greenland. ‘There are no written documents, it’s only that a boat landed there hundreds of years ago, but we had boats landing there, also. I have done more for NATO than any other person since its founding, and now, NATO should do something for the United States. The World is not secure unless we have Complete and Total Control of Greenland. Thank you!’ Trump added.

The prime minister pushed back in a statement.

‘Norway’s position on Greenland is clear. Greenland is a part of the Kingdom of Denmark, and Norway fully supports the Kingdom of Denmark on this matter. We also support that NATO in a responsible way is taking steps to strengthen security and stability in the Arctic. As regards the Nobel Peace Prize, I have clearly explained, including to President Trump what is well known, the prize is awarded by an independent Nobel Committee and not the Norwegian Government,’ Støre noted.

Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., and Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove, D-Calif., have also both called for the invocation of the 25th Amendment against Trump in light of the president’s message.

‘Donald Trump is unfit to lead and clearly out of control. Invoke the 25th Amendment,’ Kamlager-Dove asserted in a post on X. A note on the X account notes that it is ‘maintained by federal staff.’

Fox News’ Madeleine Rivera contributed to this report

President Donald Trump is garnering praise from a prominent faith leader who says the White House is reinforcing the religious revival growing across America as churches report growing attendance and younger parishioners.

‘There’s causality from the culture into politics and from politics that influences the culture, and I think we’re seeing that duality play out,’ JP De Gance, founder and president of Communio, a non-profit ministry that trains churches on how to evangelize, told Fox News Digital. ‘Religious non-affiliation had been growing for about 40 years, and it’s flatlined over the last four years. That’s a real change in trends.’

De Gance said that Communio had heard anecdotally that churches across the country have seen major increases in new member classes. 

In the case of Texas A&M, De Gance said there were currently 420 students enrolled in the Order of Christian Initiation of Adults (OCIA) class, with approximately 100 or more adult baptisms expected, something he said was ‘really unusual.’ OCIA classes are meant for adults looking to enter the Catholic Church. Regarding Protestant denominations, Communio is seeing an ‘increase in small and intimate church settings,’ De Gance said.

The faith leader said that the White House has not only been reacting to a growing interest in faith, but is also embracing it more publicly than prior administrations. He also stated that he sees a ‘huge difference’ in the Trump administration’s approach to faith versus that of the Biden administration.

‘When you look at the Biden administration, his final Easter celebration had a proclamation of ‘Transgender Day’ instead of an Easter proclamation,’ De Gance noted, referring to former President Joe Biden’s acknowledgment of Transgender Day of Visibility. In 2024, Easter Sunday fell on the same day.

‘I think you had a last administration that was seen by a lot of people of faith as being actively hostile to faith, and now I think a view that there’s an openness and an interest by the current administration to more embrace faith in their work and in their actions,’ De Gance added.

The Trump administration has not been quiet about faith and even created an entity to represent faith-based communities.

In February 2025, Trump signed an executive order establishing the White House Faith Office, which was meant to ’empower faith-based entities, community organizations, and houses of worship to better serve families and communities,’ according to the White House. The office is led by senior advisor Paula White and faith director Jenny Korn.

For Holy Week, Trump issued a proclamation on behalf of himself and first lady Melania Trump that put faith front and center.

‘This Holy Week, Melania and I join in prayer with Christians celebrating the crucifixion and resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ — the living Son of God who conquered death, freed us from sin, and unlocked the gates of Heaven for all of humanity,’ the proclamation read. ‘We pray that America will remain a beacon of faith, hope, and freedom for the entire world, and we pray to achieve a future that reflects the truth, beauty, and goodness of Christ’s eternal kingdom in Heaven.’

Trump also issued a faith-filled message for Christmas, saying that he and the first lady ‘send our warmest wishes to all Americans as we share in the joy of Christmas Day and celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.’ The president included a brief retelling of the Christmas story and prayers for ‘an outpouring of God’s abiding love, divine mercy, and everlasting peace upon our country and the entire world.’

The Trump administration has also invoked faith in times of tragedy, from the flooding at Camp Mystic in Texas to the shooting at Annunciation Catholic Church in Minnesota and the assassination of Charlie Kirk.

‘These are times where a president can be a comforter in chief, and I think it’s appropriate for the president, members of the administration to not compartmentalize and shelve their faith in these moments,’ De Gance said. ‘I think when there are times of great suffering, I think that it’s an opportunity to also embrace our faith.’

As Trump enters the second year of his second term and America approaches its 250th birthday, De Gance says many are looking to see the administration continue to reaffirm the role that religion plays in American life.

‘I think American Christians would love to see the president, the White House continue, or find ways to embrace the core pillars that made this country so excellent on the world stage,’ De Gance told Fox News Digital. ‘In this 250th anniversary, I think it’s a time where we can reflect and see that the American founding was grounded in sort of core cultural pillars that allowed self-governance to exist.’

De Gance emphasized the importance of strong families and Americans maintaining connections to faith communities, saying Christianity served as a ‘core bedrock’ at the nation’s founding.

Fox News Digital spoke to Communio’s founder before Sunday’s incident at Cities Church in St. Paul, Minn., made headlines over the weekend. Anti-ICE agitators disrupted a worship service, chanting slogans including ‘ICE Out’ and ‘Justice for Renee Good,’ a reference to the woman shot and killed by an ICE agent in Minneapolis earlier this month.

The Trump administration responded swiftly, with the Justice Department launching an investigation into potential violations of federal law. Attorney General Pam Bondi confirmed that she spoke to the pastor of the church and affirmed that ‘attacks against law enforcement and the intimidation of Christians are being met with the full force of federal law.’

President Donald Trump is expected to head to Davos, Switzerland, for the World Economic Forum this week — on the heels of threatening tariffs against NATO members as he seeks to acquire Greenland, a Danish territory. 

The Davos World Economic Forum is an annual summit bringing world leaders together to discuss global issues related to politics, business and society. 

Other world leaders who are expected to attend include Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Federal Chancellor of Germany Friedrich Merz and President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen. 

Trump is expected to deliver a special address Wednesday, per the World Economic Forum’s program. But the White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital regarding Trump’s schedule in Switzerland. 

Trump previously attended the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, twice during his first term, according to the State Department’s records. 

Trump is poised to enter the forum in the middle of heightened tensions between the U.S. and European allies. After a group of NATO members sent troops to Greenland amid Trump’s latest efforts to acquire the island, Trump announced Saturday that those countries would be subjected to a 10% tariff on all goods starting Feb. 1. 

That number would climb to 25% in June, until a deal is reached for Trump to secure Greenland, according to Trump. 

While the Danish territory claims it is seeking independence from Copenhagen, Denmark, and doesn’t want to join the U.S., Trump has regularly expressed a desire to acquire Greenland for the U.S. as Russian and Chinese presence grows in the Arctic since his first administration.

Trump has revived his rhetoric toward Greenland in recent weeks, claiming that the region is critical for national security purposes, including the creation of a Golden Dome project, a defense shield initiative for the U.S. similar to the one Israel has safeguarding itself.

Likewise, Trump said in text messages to Norway’s Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre on Sunday that Norway released Monday that he’s not inclined to only think of peace, after the Norwegian Nobel Committee did not award him with the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize. Instead, the committee awarded the prize to Venezuelan opposition leader, Maria Corina Machado. 

‘Considering your Country decided not to give me the Nobel Peace Prize for having stopped 8 Wars PLUS, I no longer feel an obligation to think purely of Peace, although it will always be predominant, but can now think about what is good and proper for the United States of America,’ Trump said in the text messages.

‘Denmark cannot protect that land from Russia or China, and why do they have a ‘right of ownership’ anyway? There are no written documents, it’s only that a boat landed there hundreds of years ago, but we had boats landing there, also,’ Trump said. 

Meanwhile, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Finland said in a joint statement Sunday that the tariff threats ‘undermine transatlantic relations and risk a dangerous downward spiral.’

Likewise, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said Sunday that he and Trump spoke over the weekend, and would see each other in Switzerland.

‘We will continue working on this, and I look forward to seeing him in Davos later this week,’ Rutte said in a post on social media Sunday. 

Meanwhile, Trump has refused to back down from his aspirations to acquire Greenland following his tariff threat, and issued another stern warning to Denmark. 

‘NATO has been telling Denmark, for 20 years, that ‘you have to get the Russian threat away from Greenland.’ Unfortunately, Denmark has been unable to do anything about it. Now it is time, and it will be done!!!’ Trump said in a social media post late Sunday.

Greenland has a trove of natural resources, including oil and natural gas. Meanwhile, both Russia and China have bolstered their presence in the region in recent years.

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

The Nobel Foundation weighed in Sunday after Venezuela’s opposition leader gifted her Nobel Peace Prize to President Donald Trump.

Maria Corina Machado gave her Peace Prize to Trump during a meeting at the White House last week. The Nobel Foundation pushed back on the legitimacy of such a transfer on Sunday, however.

‘One of the core missions of the Nobel Foundation is to safeguard the dignity of the Nobel Prizes and their administration. The Foundation upholds Alfred Nobel’s will and its stipulations. It states that the prizes shall be awarded to those who ‘have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind,’ and it specifies who has the right to award each respective prize,’ the foundation wrote in a statement.

‘A prize can therefore not, even symbolically, be passed on or further distributed,’ the statement continued.

Machado explained her decision to give Trump her award in an interview with Fox News.

‘He deserves it,’ Machado told ‘FOX & Friends Weekend’ co-host Rachel Campos-Duffy. ‘It was a very emotional moment.’

Machado said she presented the prize to the president on behalf of the Venezuelan people, crediting him for the historic work he did in liberating the country from its dictator Nicolás Maduro.

‘[Venezuelans] appreciate so much what he has done for, not only the freedom of the Venezuelan people, but I would say the whole hemisphere,’ she said.

As a longtime Maduro critic, Machado has been vocal in supporting Trump’s unprecedented removal of the disgraced Venezuelan leader, prompting her to credit him with the prize for the historic capture.

Trump appeared pleased and gratified by Machado’s gesture.

‘It was my Great Honor to meet María Corina Machado, of Venezuela, today,’ Trump wrote in a Truth Social post. ‘María presented me with her Nobel Peace Prize for the work I have done. Such a wonderful gesture of mutual respect.’

The Norwegian Nobel Institute had tried to shut down the transfer before Machado met with Trump earlier this month.

‘Once a Nobel Prize is announced, it cannot be revoked, shared, or transferred to others,’ the institute said in a statement. ‘The decision is final and stands for all time.’

Russia is preparing to target Europe’s biggest nuclear power plant’s power lines in a move that could unfold within days, according to a source familiar with the matter.

Ukrainian officials had said Moscow’s plan was focused on high-voltage transmission infrastructure rather than direct strikes on nuclear reactors, but a source has since claimed the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant lines (ZNPP) are Moscow’s focus.

In a statement released Jan. 17, the Main Directorate of Intelligence of Ukraine’s Defense Ministry (HUR) had warned that Russia was weighing attacks on substations critical to nuclear power generation.

‘In order to force Ukraine to sign unacceptable surrender demands to end the war, the aggressor state Russia is considering the option of attacking strategic facilities of our state’s energy system — we are talking about electricity transmission substations that ensure the operation of Ukrainian nuclear power plants.’

‘The threat is at ZNPP,’ a source told Fox News Digital. ‘There are talks of a massive attack either tonight or in the coming nights,’ the source said on condition of anonymity, adding that ‘the talks within the Ukrainian government are about ZNPP and the lines, and these talks have not been for the first time.’

According to The Associated Press, Russia also targeted energy infrastructure in Odesa region overnight Sunday, according to Ukraine’s Emergency Service.

ZNPP is located in southern Ukraine and consists of six VVER-1000 pressurized water reactors, and has been under Russian occupation since March 2022, according to reports.

Although the reactors are no longer producing electricity, the plant needs external power to maintain cooling and safety systems. 

The IAEA has repeatedly warned that disruptions to off-site power supplies and lines pose a serious nuclear safety risk.

A Jan. 16 localized ceasefire was agreed between Russia and Ukraine for repairs under IAEA coordination on one backup power line at ZNPP that had already been damaged.

In a statement, IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said Jan. 16: ‘The IAEA continues to work closely with both sides to ensure nuclear safety at the ZNPP and to prevent a nuclear accident during the conflict. This temporary ceasefire, the fourth we have negotiated, demonstrates the indispensable role that we continue to play.’

‘A deterioration of Ukraine’s power grid from persistent military activity has direct implications on the nuclear safety of its nuclear facilities,’ Grossi said.

‘Russia is said to be going to do this strike, maybe even tonight,’ the source said of the ZNPP operation.

‘Information also from the Ukrainian Parliament and Ukrainian Security Service, or internally, is that the Russian army told the Ukrainian army that if they don’t stop shelling their tankers in the sea or shelling their oil refineries, as well as their electric stations like power stations,’ the source said, ‘then they will fully destroy Kyiv energy facilities aswell.’

‘The parliament knows this. But we keep shelling,’ the source added.

‘This is a very difficult situation,’ the source continued, saying Ukrainian leadership, the Ukrainian parliament and ‘obviously the office of the president’ are fully aware that ‘if we keep shelling Russian tankers and oil refineries, then they will destroy everything that we have.’

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy also recently urged NATO allies to urgently deliver additional air-defense missiles, warning that some systems are running low on ammunition, according to reports.

‘To actually preserve the energy in the country when it is minus 20 outside and people are literally suffering hugely,’ the source added. ‘People don’t have electricity, don’t have warmth and some don’t even have water.’

‘And this is a very controversial situation,’ the source said, ‘particularly for the Ukrainian people sitting inside, hungry and freezing, and overall being in this disastrous humanitarian situation.’

Fox News Digital has reached out to President Zelenskyy’s office for comment.

Iranian protesters are facing their deadliest days yet as security forces unleash mass killings and executions in a sweeping crackdown some have labeled ‘genocide,’ new reports say.

According to The Sunday Times, a report compiled by doctors entrenched in the region and reviewed by the outlet, estimates that security forces have killed at least 16,500 protesters and injured more than 330,000 others.

The report also described the violence as an ‘utter slaughter,’ warning that the true toll may be even higher due to restricted access to hospitals and the near-total shutdown of communications.

Most of the victims, the report says, are believed to be under the age of 30, underscoring the heavy toll on Iran’s younger generation as the regime intensifies its efforts to crush dissent.

Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei acknowledged Sunday that ‘several thousands’ have been killed since protests erupted Dec. 28.

In a televised address, he blamed demonstrators, calling them ‘foot-soldiers of the U.S.’ and falsely claiming protesters were armed with imported live ammunition.

Meanwhile, Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) reported that as of day 22 of the protests, verified figures show 3,919 people killed, with 8,949 additional deaths under investigation, 2,109 severely injured, and 24,669 detainees.

HRANA noted that the true toll is likely far higher due to the internet shutdown.

Professor Amir Parasta, an Iranian-German eye surgeon and medical director of Munich MED, said in The Sunday Times report that doctors across Iran are ‘shocked and crying,’ despite having experience treating war injuries.

‘This is a whole new level of brutality,’ Parasta said. He added that Starlink terminals smuggled into Iran have been the only means of communication since authorities cut internet access on Jan. 8.

Eyewitnesses who fled Iran also described snipers targeting protesters’ heads, mass shootings and systematic blinding using pellet guns.

One former Iranian resident said in the report that doctors reported more than 800 eye removals in a single night in the capital alone, with possibly more than 8,000 people blinded nationwide.

‘This is genocide under the cover of digital darkness,’ Parasta said.

Alongside the street killings, executions have surged dramatically, according to Ali Safavi, a senior official with the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI).

Safavi told Fox News Digital that 2,200 people were executed in 2025, while 153 have already been hanged in the first 18 days of January 2026, averaging more than eight executions per day.

‘Ali Khamenei is continuing mass executions in parallel with the killing of young protesters,’ Safavi said. ‘Three executions in the form of hanging are now happening every hour according to our data.’

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi previously disputed high death tolls reported in an interview with Fox News’ Bret Baier, claiming fatalities were only in the hundreds and dismissing higher figures as ‘misinformation.’

President Donald Trump sharply condemned Khamenei over the weekend, calling him a ‘sick man’ and urging new leadership in Iran.

In an interview with Politico, Trump accused Khamenei of overseeing ‘the complete destruction of the country’ and using ‘violence at levels never seen before,’ adding that Iran’s leadership should ‘stop killing people.’

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., said on Sunday that the U.S. is engaged in an ‘ongoing war’ with Venezuela following what he described as recent U.S. actions involving the country.

During an appearance on NBC’s ‘Meet the Press,’ Paul said the U.S. continues to be in conflict with Venezuela over its oil.

‘That is an act of war, it’s an ongoing war, to continue to take their oil, ongoing war, to distribute it,’ Paul said.

‘I still hope it works out for the best, but we are still involved in an active war with Venezuela,’ he continued.

The senator added that ‘we still have hundreds of ships with a 100% blockade of the coast.’

This comes after the U.S. operation to attack Venezuela and arrest its president, Nicolás Maduro, and the Trump administration’s subsequent seizing of an oil tanker from the country.

Venezuela is one of the biggest producers of oil, and its oil industry has become a focus of the Trump administration. Officials said oil sales to the U.S. will start immediately with an initial shipment of about 30 million to 50 million barrels and that the shipments will continue indefinitely.

‘This Oil will be sold at its Market Price, and that money will be controlled by me, as President of the United States of America, to ensure it is used to benefit the people of Venezuela and the United States!’ Trump previously wrote on Truth Social.

Trump has also said that the U.S. would continue ‘running’ Venezuela for much longer than a few months. Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio have said it will take time for Venezuela, now led by interim acting President Delcy Rodriguez, to reach a place where it can hold elections.

More than half of U.S. voters oppose the Trump administration running Venezuela, according to a poll from Quinnipiac University.

Paul is part of a bipartisan group of lawmakers who want to limit Trump’s ability to conduct further attacks against Venezuela after the U.S. military’s recent move to strike the country and capture Maduro, which the Kentucky Republican has said amounts to war.

The group attempted to pass a War Powers resolution last week to block the president from additional intervention without congressional approval, but the effort failed in the Senate.

‘The only problem about a war powers vote now is that, since it hasn’t happened, there are a lot of Republicans who say, ‘Oh, that’s prospective. I’m not going to tie his hands prospectively,” Paul said on Sunday. 

‘The problem is, if you wait until after an invasion, whereas the administration argues, we don’t know it’s a war until we count the casualties. That’s sort of a crazy definition of war, because our job is to initiate or declare war,’ he added.

Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina announced on Sunday that he met with Israel’s Mossad Director David Barnea.

‘Just met with my good friend David Barnea, Director of Mossad. Wow, these people are clever. God Bless America. God Bless Israel,’ Graham wrote in a post on X, which includes a photo of himself and Barnea smiling and giving a thumbs up.

The Mossad’s website explains, ‘The institute for Intelligence and Special Operations (Mossad) is a national organization responsible for covert activity abroad.’

‘Lindsey Graham holds secret talks with MOSSAD boss in Israel,’ RT wrote in a post on X while sharing a screenshot of the U.S. lawmaker’s post about meeting with the Israeli official. ‘Is he speaking for all of America?’

The outlet’s website states, ‘RT is an autonomous, non-profit organization that is publicly financed from the budget of the Russian Federation.’

Graham shared the RT post and wrote, ‘To my Russian friends, chill out. I’ve known David for a very long time. He’s looking to buy property in South Carolina and I wanted to give him my two cents’ worth. In case you haven’t noticed, President Trump is in charge.’

Graham also met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other Israeli officials during his trip to the Jewish state.

‘Great visit with Prime Minister Netanyahu and his team at one of the most consequential moments in recent memory. America has no better friend than the State of Israel,’ Graham said in a post on X.

Graham also met with Netanyahu in Israel last month.