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Trump pledges to uncover leftist groups countering ICE
President Donald Trump said that he believes the woman fatally shot by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer in Minneapolis last week may have been a professional agitator, and indicated that the government will uncover the funding sources behind such anti-law enforcement agitation.
"The woman and her friend were highly disrespectful of law enforcement," Trump said during a Sunday gaggle aboard Air Force One. "They were harassing," he said, noting, "I think frankly, they're professional agitators."
The president added that he would "like to find out, and we are gonna find out, who's paying for it, with their brand-new signs, and all the different things."
"But these are professional agitators. And law enforcement should not be in a position where they have to put up with this stuff. What that woman, and what her friend, and what their other friends were doing to law enforcement — not just ICE — law enforcement, is outrageous," he said.
TRUMP DEFENDS ICE AGENT, SHOWS NYT REPORTERS VIDEO OF DEADLY MINNEAPOLIS SHOOTING
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security retweeted a post in which Republican Rep. Lance Gooden of Texas asserted that anti-ICE protesters are being funded.
CELLPHONE VIDEO RELEASED IN DEADLY MINNEAPOLIS ICE AGENT SHOOTING
"The anti-ICE mobs are anything but organic. Dark money is bankrolling far-left groups like ICE Watch and lighting the fuse. Americans deserve to know who’s cutting the checks!" the lawmaker asserted in the post.
A person "weaponized her vehicle" against law enforcement in Minneapolis, DHS announced last week.
DHS DEPLOYING HUNDREDS MORE FEDERAL AGENTS TO MINNEAPOLIS, NOEM ANNOUNCES
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"This individual was impeding law enforcement and weaponized her vehicle against @ICEgov. The officer dutifully acted in self-defense," DHS assistant secretary for public affairs Tricia McLaughlin noted in a post on X last week.
CDC reports first cruise norovirus outbreak this year, as nearly 90 people are infected
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has confirmed a norovirus outbreak aboard a cruise ship — the first one of the year that's been reported.
The Holland America Line was hit with a norovirus outbreak that sickened nearly 90 passengers and crew during its Dec 28-Jan. 9 voyage.
The cruise notified the CDC of the outbreak on Jan. 8, according to the agency’s report.
CDC REPORTS 21ST CRUISE SHIP NOROVIRUS OUTBREAK THIS YEAR, WITH NEARLY 100 PEOPLE INFECTED
The outbreak spread on the cruise line’s Rotterdam ship.
The vessel departed from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, with stops in Curaçao, Colombia, Costa Rica, Jamaica and other destinations, according to CruiseMapper.
Eighty-one passengers plus eight crew members reported diarrhea and vomiting, the CDC's data shows.
Over 2,593 passengers, plus 1,005 crew members, were on board at the time.
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A Holland America Line spokesperson told Fox News Digital on Monday that "during its previous voyage, a number of guests onboard Rotterdam reported symptoms of gastrointestinal illness."
"The cases were mostly mild and quickly resolved," the spokesperson added.
"The health of our guests and crew is a top priority, and consistent with CDC protocols, we conducted a comprehensive sanitization of the ship when the cruise ended Friday in Fort Lauderdale."
Since the outbreak, the cruise line has increased its cleaning and disinfection procedures, according to their outbreak prevention and response plan, the CDC noted.
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Holland America Line collected stool specimens from gastrointestinal illness cases for testing and isolated ill passengers and crew, the CDC reports.
In order to track gastrointestinal issues, medical staff evaluated symptoms of three or more loose stools from individuals within a 24-hour period, or that which is more than normal for individual travelers.
Scott Weisenberg, M.D., medical director of the NYU Langone Infectious Disease Associates and the NYU Travel Medicine Program, previously told Fox News Digital that the virus is highly contagious — and it can spread quickly in crowded settings such as cruise ships.
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"If people have acute vomiting, they should avoid public areas, since even if they don't touch anything, the virus can spread through the air," he said.
Weisenberg also noted that proper hygiene plays a key role in preventing transmission.
Shared surfaces can easily become contaminated, putting anyone who touches them at risk of infection.
Trump's Greenland push escalates as GOP lawmaker moves to make it America's 51st state
FIRST ON FOX: A House Republican is pushing for Greenland to become the country's 51st state as President Donald Trump publicly pushes for the Danish territory to come under U.S. rule.
Rep. Randy Fine, R-Fla., is introducing a bill on Monday aimed at authorizing Trump "to take such steps as may be necessary" to acquire Greenland and set it on the pathway of becoming part of the United States.
"I think it is in the world's interest for the United States to exert sovereignty over Greenland," Fine told Fox News Digital in an interview.
"Congress would still have to choose to make it a state, but this would simply authorize the president to do what he's doing and say the Congress stands behind him. And then it would expedite it into becoming a state, but it would still be up to Congress about whether to do that."
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Wednesday that he would be meeting with officials from Denmark this week to discuss Greenland.
Trump has publicly pushed for the idea of the U.S. buying the Arctic island territory since his first term in the White House.
He and other Republican officials have pointed out its strategic importance, including Greenland's proximity to Russia and the critical minerals located within its borders.
Fine agreed with those points while also arguing U.S. rule would be better for those living in Greenland as well.
"Their poverty rate is high. Denmark hasn't treated them well," Fine said. "When war came to town, Denmark couldn't protect them. Guess who protected Greenland during World War II? We did."
And while a majority of Republicans have conceded they understand Trump's argument for why owning Greenland would benefit the U.S., GOP lawmakers were somewhat rattled after White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt did not rule out using military force to acquire the island during a recent press conference this month.
TRUMP SAYS GREENLAND'S DEFENSE IS 'TWO DOG SLEDS' AS HE PUSHES FOR US ACQUISITION OF TERRITORY
Asked if he would support using military force, Fine said, "I think the best way to acquire Greenland is voluntarily."
"The poverty rate in Greenland is much, much higher than it is in Denmark. The country is run by socialists, and it is not in America's interests to have a territory that large between the United States and Russia run by socialists," Fine said.
The U.S. Constitution grants Congress the power to admit new states into the Union.
It typically requires Congress to pass a bill authorizing the new state after a territory is formed, after which that territory must draft a state constitution approved by people who live there.
Congress must then vote again to admit that new state before it's made final with the president's signature.
Minnesota fraud scandal sparks push to scrutinize billions in Biden-era energy grants
FIRST ON FOX: As a sweeping fraud scandal grips Minnesota, a conservative energy watchdog is encouraging lawmakers to scrutinize billions of dollars in Department of Energy grants they say were rushed out the door in the final weeks of the Biden administration, warning that internal red flags were ignored and taxpayer money may have been exposed to waste and political favoritism.
Power the Future founder and director Daniel Turner sent a letter to Republican Sen. Ron Johnson, chair of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations United States Senate, and Republican Rep. James Comer, chair of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, on Monday calling on lawmakers to examine grants and loan guarantees approved under the Biden administration's Department of Energy, Fox Digital learned.
"As allegations of widespread fraud among government programs in Minnesota rightly horrify the American taxpayer, on behalf of Power The Future, I write to request immediate congressional oversight of the Department of Energy (DOE) unprecedented grant and loan activity conducted during the final weeks of the Biden Administration," Turner wrote, referring to the
The letter turned lawmakers' direction to the final months of the Biden administration, when "former Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm authorized tens of billions of dollars in so-called ‘clean energy’ grants and loan guarantees, an amount that exceeds many years of prior Department activity," according to the letter.
TREASURY SECRETARY ANNOUNCES CASH REWARDS FOR MINNESOTA FRAUD WHISTLEBLOWERS
"These funds were rushed out the door, despite warnings from the DOE Inspector General that internal controls were insufficient and that the program should be paused pending further review," the letter continued, pointing to a Department of Energy Inspector General report that recommended the department halt its $400 billion green bank over conflict of interest concerns.
"Those warnings were ignored," the letter states. "The funds were distributed anyway."
Turner pointed to a Department of Energy's Loan Programs Office granting roughly $710 million as part of a 12-state affordable energy initiative four days before President Donald Trump returned to the Oval Office.
The allocation to New Jersey was "followed closely by Secretary Granholm’s acceptance of a senior role overseeing energy policy for New Jersey governor-elect Mikie Sherrill. This troubling sequence of events raises legitimate questions about whether federal resources were deployed with political or personal considerations in mind rather than objective public interest," the letter stated.
Sherrill appointed Granholm to co-lead an action team on "Making Energy More Affordable and Reliable" back in November after her gubernatorial election.
USDA IMMEDIATELY SUSPENDS ALL FEDERAL FUNDING TO MINNESOTA AMID FRAUD INVESTIGATION
"This episode reflects a broader pattern increasingly familiar to the American people: oversight mechanisms function, red flags are raised, and yet taxpayer dollars are still lost, only for accountability to be discussed after the money is gone. Public confidence erodes when internal warnings are dismissed and transparency is treated as optional," Turner wrote in his Monday letter.
Fox News Digital reached out to Sherrill's transition team for comment regarding the letter, Granholm's role and response from the former DOE chief, but did not immediately receive a reply. Fox Digital also reached out to Biden's office for comment on the letter.
Climate change was a cornerstone of the Biden administration, with the then-president repeatedly casting it as an existential danger and "the single greatest existential threat to humanity. He argued his administration was correcting the ship on the climate through laws such as the Inflation Reduction Act’s sweeping clean energy tax credits and incentives, and cracking down on EPA rules aimed at cutting emissions from power plants and oil and gas, among other initiatives.
Power the Future urged Congress to conduct a full accounting of all DOE grants and loan guarantees approved during the final six months of the Biden administration, review Inspector General findings that were overridden, and examine political or financial ties between grant recipients and senior DOE officials.
"Congress must not allow these funds to vanish without answers," Power The Future said, adding that taxpayers deserve transparency and accountability for how their money is spent.
After returning to office, the Trump administration moved to halt and reassess Biden-era climate spending, with Trump signing a day-one order positioning the U.S. to "unleash" domestic energy and shift away from what the White House has framed as a "globalist climate agenda."
"Under the Biden Administration, green energy spending was sold to taxpayers as transparent, accountable, and carefully scrutinized," Turner's letter continued. "As the episode involving former Democratic gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams securing $2 billion dollars worth of grants reveals, this was not always the case. Instead, it increasingly appears to have operated as a shield for rushed, massive federal expenditures timed to avoid meaningful review and now embedded within state and political ecosystems."
BESSENT BLAMES WALZ AS TREASURY PROBES WHETHER MINNESOTA FRAUD FUNDS REACHED TERROR GROUP AL-SHABAB
The Biden administration came under fire from Republicans following the IG report, using it like ammo to argue the Biden-era Loan Programs Office was pushing money out too fast without proper guardrails, while the Department of Energy discounted the 2024 IG report as based on "mistaken facts and misunderstanding of the law."
"LPO is in full compliance with both the Department’s conflict of interest rules and the Federal Acquistion Regulation ("FAR")," the department wrote in a response letter at the time. …. "Indeed, despite a months-long audit involving over one hundred contract files, OIG has not identified any organizational conflicts of interest."
Lawmakers and voters have taken a heightened interest in fraud as it relates to taxpayer funds as a sprawling COVID-era scheme involving money laundering came to light in Minnesota in the lead up to the holiday season. Investigators speculate the fraud could exceed $1 billion and rise to as high as $9 billion. Suspects arrested in the alleged schemes are mostly from the state's large Somali community.
"The large-scale fraud in Minnesota, where federal funds intended for public benefit were systematically abused despite warning signs, underscore the risks of allowing massive sums of taxpayer money to move with limited scrutiny. Just as lawmakers are calling for congressional investigations into Minnesota, Congress should call into question the Biden Department of Energy’s late stage grantmaking in a similar fashion," Turner added in his letter to lawmakers.
Ex-NFL star Tony Romo takes heat during his call of Bills-Jaguars playoff game
Tony Romo, the former Dallas Cowboys star quarterback-turned-commentator, took heat again for his broadcasting chops during the Buffalo Bills’ win over the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Romo’s bizarre noisemaking and analysis of the playoff game sparked criticism from NFL fans on social media.
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Awful Announcing noted a few times in which Romo may have fallen short, including a scene-setter in which he suggested the Jaguars were the underdog in their home playoff game against the Bills.
The former NFL player has routinely drawn the ire of those watching the game and Sunday afternoon’s broadcast was no exception.
Romo’s strange noises and a "DTF" remark sparked complaints from fans earlier in the 2025 NFL season.
EAGLES COACH'S CLASH WITH STAR WIDE RECEIVER DRAWS TERSE RESPONSE FROM NFL GREAT
Before Super Bowl LVIII, he addressed some of the criticism he’s received.
"It’s a normal arc of someone’s career," he said at the time. "Honestly, I think a lot of people were rooting against (Patrick) Mahomes because he’s been there. They want to see people new.
"It’s just part of an arc when you do something at a very high level. I think that’s normal. Same thing happens in football. You become dominant at things, and then all of a sudden people are like, ‘OK.’ Then at the end, Tiger Woods comes back and everyone roots for you. It’s just a normal arc of a career. It’s not abnormal. It’s absolutely what’s supposed to happen."
He did say he received some praise for how he called games, though his chemistry with legendary broadcaster Jim Nantz had also been put under the microscope.
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Former DHS official calls out Portland police chief's tearful remarks on gang suspects who attacked feds
Former acting DHS Deputy Secretary Ken Cuccinelli criticized Portland leadership after the city’s police chief appeared emotional while confirming that two suspects shot during a federal immigration operation had suspected ties to the Venezuelan Tren de Aragua gang.
Portland Chief of Police Bob Day spoke at a press conference on Friday when he confirmed a DHS statement linking the two individuals shot by a U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agent to TdA.
The suspects, Luis David Nino-Moncada and Yorlenys Betzabeth Zambrano-Contreras, "weaponized their vehicle against Border Patrol in Portland," DHS Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin alleged in a press release.
"This information in no way is meant to disparage, or to condone or support or agree with any of the actions that occurred yesterday," Day said while wiping his eyes, prompting mockery by Fox News hosts.
DEM NARRATIVE CHALLENGED AFTER DHS EXPOSES IDENTITY OF 'MARRIED COUPLE' IN CBP-RELATED SHOOTING
"Do we have a girly man problem with police chiefs in our country?" host Rachel Campos-Duffy asked Cuccinelli after playing a clip from Day's press conference on "Fox & Friends Weekend" on Sunday.
"It's Portland, Rachel. They have a girly man problem that's much broader than just the police chief," Cuccinelli replied. "This is a statewide problem, and they're not the only state."
Cuccinelli argued that "hiring for softness instead of for toughness and reliability" has undermined public safety in Portland.
He warned that Tren de Aragua is a fast-growing danger in the United States.
PORTLAND AGITATORS CLASH WITH POLICE AFTER 2 SHOT BY FEDERAL IMMIGRATION AGENT
"They escalated up the ramp of violence, if you will, much faster than other gangs like, say, MS-13."
It appears CBP "responded appropriately," Cuccinelli added, "but this is definitely one we're going to want to see all of the evidence [for]."
Cuccinelli also praised Day for correcting himself after initially hesitating to disclose the suspects’ ties to TdA.
"I appreciated that the police chief corrected his error," he said. "He's the only person on the left who's been critical and then come back and corrected his errors."
Record number of Americans identify as political independents, rejecting 2 major parties, poll finds
There has been a significant political shift in Americans’ political party identification in the first year of President Donald Trump’s second term in office, according to a new poll.
The findings of a Gallup survey released Monday found that 45% of U.S. adults identified as political independents in 2025 — a record number that surpassed the previous high of 43% measured in 2014, 2023 and 2024.
U.S. adults who identified as either Democrats or Republicans were tied at 27% each, according to the poll.
The rise in political independence reflects generational shifts, with younger adults today far more likely to identify as independents than in the past.
POLL SHOCK: DEMOCRATS’ CONGRESSIONAL APPROVAL SINKS TO ALL-TIME LOW
About 56% of Gen Z adults now call themselves independents, compared with 47% of millennials in 2012 and 40% of Gen X adults in 1992, the poll found.
Gallup, which has regularly asked political independents since 1991 whether they lean toward the Republican or Democratic Party, found that more independents said they lean Democratic than Republican in 2025.
Of the 45% of Americans who identify as political independents, 20% leaned Democratic, 15% leaned Republican and 10% did not lean either way, according to the poll. Compared with 2024, that reflects a three-point drop in Republican leaners and a three-point increase in Democratic leaners.
REPUBLICANS RALLY BEHIND TRUMP'S MILITARY STRIKE TO ARREST MADURO AS DEMOCRATS SOUND ALARM: POLL
Factoring in party identification and leanings, about 47% of Americans identified as Democrats or Democratic-leaning independents, compared with 42% who identified as Republicans or Republican-leaning independents.
The shift ends a three-year period in which Republicans held an advantage in party affiliation, and more closely resembles the numbers seen during Trump’s first term, when Democrats held an average lead of about five points.
Gallup said the findings were based on interviews with more than 13,000 U.S. adults conducted throughout the year.
GOP eyes Venezuela's untapped oil wealth as Democrats sound alarm over taxpayer risk
Lawmakers are keenly aware of the costs of running a country due to the nation’s skyrocketing debt, but now another expense may be added to Congress’ tab — Venezuela.
President Donald Trump hasn’t backed down from his position that the U.S. will run Venezuela after the surprise strikes and capture of former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. That’s left some on Capitol Hill wondering what the price tag will be, considering Venezuela's bleak economy.
Like most issues in Washington, D.C., there’s a strong partisan divide on how lawmakers expect running Venezuela will shake out. Senate Republicans believe that the vast petroleum, natural gas and mineral reserves will be enough to foot the bill and cause oil companies to come running to dump money into the region.
TRUMP’S VENEZUELA PUSH RUNS INTO HARD REALITIES FOR US ENERGY GIANTS
And fiscal hawks in the Senate, who routinely sound the alarm over rampant government spending, believe that running the country will be a financial boon for the U.S.
"I would envision there's so much money to be made that the oil companies will show up, and they'll pay for everything," Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., told Fox News Digital.
That’s a shared calculus among several other Republicans, who contend that any cost incurred from stewarding the country during the transition period would be leveraged by the colossal reserves of crude oil creeping underground.
"That's the whole point," Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., told Fox News Digital.
There could already be a wrench in that plan following a meeting between Trump and several top oil executives at the White House last week. The roster of companies in attendance Friday touched nearly every choke point in Venezuela’s oil sector, including production, services, trading and refining. The sheer weight of that lineup underscored what is at stake for global energy policy, with the United States squarely at the center.
And ExxonMobil CEO Darren Woods told the administration that Venezuela was "uninvestable," which prompted Trump to suggest that he'd be "inclined to keep Exxon out."
And despite lawmakers' optimistic outlook, the economic reality on the ground in Venezuela is stark.
5 GOP SENATORS JOIN DEMOCRATS TO STOP TRUMP FROM POLICING VENEZUELA
Venezuela once had the makings of an economic powerhouse, but years of mismanagement and international sanctions have hollowed out the economy, leaving behind a much smaller, debt-laden nation.
Precise figures are difficult to verify because Venezuela has not published comprehensive financial data in years. However, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) estimates the economy will total about $82.8 billion in 2025, which is roughly the size of Maine’s economic output.
VENEZUELAN OIL’S RETURN COULD IMPACT TEXAS REFINERIES AND GAS PRICES NATIONWIDE
What’s more, Venezuela’s debt is roughly 200% of its economy. In simple terms, the country owes about $2 for every dollar it produces.
Those pressures are compounded by runaway inflation. The IMF forecasts eye-watering inflation, with consumer prices expected to rise by more than 680% in 2026, underscoring the continued strain on Venezuela’s economy and households.
That collapse is inseparable from Venezuela’s oil industry, once the backbone of national wealth. Petroleum revenues long underwrote government spending and social programs, leaving the economy acutely vulnerable as production fell, infrastructure decayed and sanctions tightened.
Even in its diminished state, oil remains Venezuela’s most consequential asset. The country holds more than 300 billion barrels of proven crude — the largest in the world, eclipsing established energy titans like Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Kuwait — underlining its potential if production and investment return.
The potential cost of reinvigorating Venezuela’s oil infrastructure, coupled with the prior military operation and any other costs accumulated from running the country, is emblematic of the growing rift between the Hill and the White House, where Trump has routinely run roughshod over lawmakers in his decision-making.
Senate Democrats want to claw back some of that authority through the appropriations process, where they could try to limit the flow of taxpayer dollars toward Venezuela.
"Congress should be involved," Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., told Fox News Digital. "And we must be involved because we have the power of the purse, we have appropriations authority, and we need better and more information to make these decisions about how the taxpayer funds are spent in support of these military or intelligence operations."
Some of that action is already taking place.
Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., whose war powers resolution to curtail future use of military force in Venezuela without congressional approval survived its first procedural test on Thursday, said lawmakers were having discussions tweaking the defense spending bill to "block appropriated defense funds from being used in certain actions that haven't been authorized by Congress."
Senate Republicans, despite cries from the other side of the aisle to regain some modicum of congressional oversight over the Venezuela situation, are firm in their belief that Venezuela’s oil, not American taxpayers’ money, will foot the bill.
"We're going to use Venezuelan resources to reimburse the U.S. Treasury for what we've already spent there, and we're going to use Venezuelan resources to help rebuild their own country," Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, said. "The taxpayer is not going to be on the hook for one cent of this."
Eagles coach's clash with star wide receiver draws terse response from NFL great
NFL legend Michael Strahan took issue with the heated interaction between Philadelphia Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni and wide receiver A.J. Brown in the first half of their playoff game against the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday.
Sirianni and Brown were seen yelling at each other on the sideline, sparking fans to wonder whether it was tensions boiling over or fiery competitive spirit breaching the hatch.
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The former New York Giants star didn’t appear to appreciate the moment.
"I don’t understand why Sirianni’s running down there and yelling at one of his star players, A.J. Brown," Strahan said during halftime of the FOX broadcast. "You know, A.J. Brown wanted to get involved in the game, I’m pretty sure. They took two big shots with him, maybe he said, ‘Give me a shot,’ and the coach said, ‘You had your chance, you better catch the ball next time.’
"I don’t understand why you do that in the middle of a game like this, because I don’t think that brings out the best in your players. I think it takes away from your play. I think it takes away from the attitude of the team and the energy of the team."
49ERS' GEORGE KITTLE CARTED OFF FIELD WITH ACHILLES INJURY DURING WILD CARD ROUND VS EAGLES
Strahan did credit the Eagles for being able to win games with what appeared from the outside as "internal dysfunction."
Sirianni explained that he was rushing toward Brown to get him off the field so the team could punt.
"I love A.J. I think he knows how I feel about him. I have a special relationship with him," Sirianni said. "We probably went through every emotion you can possibly have together. We’ve laughed together, we’ve cried together, we’ve yelled at each other. We’re both emotional. I was trying to get him off the field and that happens in this game.
"It happens in this game, but I love him."
Brown did have an opportunity to make a play on third down on the Eagles’ final drive down four points. A Jalen Hurts pass intended for the wide receiver went off of his hands. The Eagles’ drive was able to continue as they converted on fourth down.
Brown didn’t receive another target for the rest of the series.
San Francisco won the game, 23-19.
Brown had three catches on seven targets for 25 yards. Dallas Goedert had a rushing touchdown and a receiving touchdown from Hurts.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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US hostages in Iran face heightened risk as protests spread, experts say number held may exceed estimates
FIRST ON FOX: The Islamic Republic of Iran may have more than eight American citizens and residents in its captivity, Fox News Digital can reveal based on information from sources outside the Trump Administration who are well-versed with Tehran’s hostage-taking policy system.
Information shows that the total number of Americans citizens and residents held hostage by the Iranian regime could exceed the open-source data listing five American hostages in Iran.
Iran’s regime arrested a U.S. citizen, Kamran Hekmati, a 70-year-old from Great Neck, New York, who went to Iran to visit family members last May. Iranian authorities arrested Hekmati in July 2025 and charged him with "making a trip to Israel" 13 years prior to his visit to Iran. Hekmati, a Persian Jew who was born in Iran, traveled to Israel in 2012 to attend his son’s Bar Mitzvah.
IRAN REGIME ESCALATES REPRESSION TOWARD 'NORTH KOREA-STYLE MODEL OF ISOLATION AND CONTROL'
Iran bans Iranians from traveling to the Jewish state and any relations with Israel. Tehran considers Hekmati an Iranian citizen because the regime does not recognize dual citizenship.
The regime’s Islamic Revolutionary Court sentenced Hekmati to four years in prison, and he is being held in Iran’s infamous Evin Prison — a complex that is reportedly used to torture political prisoners and dissidents. The Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) noted Hekmati has also been held at an intelligence ministry facility in Tehran. CNN reported that Hekmati suffers from bladder cancer.
The regime arrested another U.S. citizen, Afarin Mohajer, on Sept. 29, 2025 at Imam Khomeini International Airport. The human rights group, HRANA, said there was no information about the charges leveled against the Californian resident.
According to U.S. government outlet Radio Farda that reports on Iran, Mohajer has an inoperable brain tumor and was told by "a doctor before going to prison that she does not have long to live," citing her son. She visited Iran to take care of her husband’s finances following his death, the son said. While released in December on bail, she is not allowed to leave Iran.
TRUMP TARGETED BY IRANIAN DEATH FATWAS AS WATCHDOG GROUP DEMANDS IMMEDIATE SANCTIONS RESPONSE
The authorities arrested an unnamed Iranian American woman in December 2024. She was released from prison, but the authorities seized the passports of the dual national, and she is also barred from leaving Iran.
The former Radio Farda journalist Reza Valizadeh traveled to Iran in March 2024 to visit relatives, according to a report by United Against a Nuclear Iran (UANI) on American hostages held in Iran.
The U.S. government outlet Voice of America, like Radio Farda, reports on Iran, said Valizadeh was reportedly arrested in September 2024 and charged with "collaborating with overseas-based Persian media."
The charge was later changed to "collaborating with a hostile government." UANI noted that "VOA cited sources claiming that Valizadeh was arrested for not cooperating with the IRGC’s Intelligence Organization and Iran’s intelligence ministry and for not expressing regret for his journalism."
The regime arrested Shahab Dalili, a permanent U.S. resident who lives in Virginia, in 2016.
The UANI report stated that Taghato, a Farsi-language news outlet operated by Iranians living in the U.S., posted on Twitter (now X) that the Iranian regime arrested Dalili in March 2016. He went to Iran after his father’s death. The opaque Iranian regime judicial system sentenced him to 10 years in prison for "allegedly cooperating with a hostile government."
IRAN PROTESTS PROMPT NEW TRUMP WARNING OVER DEADLY GOVERNMENT CRACKDOWNS
A U.S. State Department official told Fox News Digital that "As Secretary Rubio has said, President Trump is working to secure the release of detained Americans around the world. The Iranian regime has a long history of unjustly and wrongfully detaining other countries’ citizens as hostages for use as political leverage. Iran should release these individuals immediately."
The U.S. official added that "Due to security considerations with respect to ongoing cases, we do not disclose specific numbers of hostages."
Barry Rosen, a former American diplomat and survivor of the Iran hostage crisis that took place in 1979 when Islamist revolutionary students took a group of 66 Americans captive, told Fox News Digital, in the wake of the nationwide revolts against the regime, "We are in a very intractable situation right now" and expressed skepticism about bringing the hostages back under the current situation.
The nationwide strikes and demonstrations to topple the regime with respect to securing the hostage’s release "make it even more complicated," Rosen said, adding that hostage diplomacy "has always been complicated." Rosen was eventually released having spent 444 days in captivity.
"Quiet diplomacy is the best way to go, but I don’t think there is any way for quiet diplomacy right now," he said.
When discussing "quiet diplomacy," Rosen said he was "talking about dealing with the hostage situation with Iran, given all our differences on the nuclear situation between both countries. But when it comes to the uprising in Iran, we need to loudly support a democratic Iran."
IRAN ON THE BRINK AS PROTESTERS MOVE TO TAKE TWO CITIES, APPEAL TO TRUMP
Rosen, who considers Iran his second home, said, "I want to see the Iranian people do what they are doing now, so the Iranian regime implodes by itself." He said, "Support for uprisings (and protests) is the right way to go. I am fearful of any military operations that could cause chaos in the country."
Rosen co-founded the non-government organization Hostage Aid Worldwide, which provides current information on hostages held outside the U.S.
Navid Mohebbi, who worked as a Persian media analyst for the U.S. State Department's Public Affairs Bureau, wrote a booklet on "Breaking the Trend: How to Combat the Hostage-Taking Business in Iran" for the U.S.-based National Union for Democracy in Iran.
He told Fox News Digital, "Iran’s hostage-taking is not a series of isolated cases; it is a systematic state policy designed to extract political and economic concessions. The Islamic Republic has learned that detaining Americans and other Western nationals carries little cost and often produces tangible rewards — whether sanctions relief, access to frozen assets or asymmetric prisoner swaps. As long as this behavior is treated as a humanitarian problem rather than a coercive strategy, Tehran will continue to rely on hostage-taking as a core tool of statecraft."
He continued, "To reverse this pattern, the United States must impose consequences that are measurable, cumulative and irreversible. Every hostage-taking case should trigger automatic penalties: targeted sanctions on judges, prosecutors, interrogators, prison officials and intelligence officers involved; permanent confiscation — not escrow — of regime assets tied to hostage diplomacy; and coordinated diplomatic consequences with allies, including travel bans, removal of regime officials from international bodies and the pursuit of Interpol red notices where applicable. The message must be unambiguous: hostage-taking will leave the regime worse off, not better."
Mohebbi urged that, "The U.S. should formally designate Iran as a state that engages in hostage-taking, ban the use of U.S. passports for travel to or through Iran and maintain a public registry of regime officials involved in these crimes. At the same time, Washington must provide stronger, more transparent support to families of hostages and ensure sustained public naming and shaming. Only by raising the cost across legal, diplomatic, financial and reputational fronts can the United States begin to dismantle Iran’s hostage-taking business," he said.