President Donald Trump is slated to meet with Venezuela’s opposition leader and 2025 Nobel Peace Prize recipient María Corina Machado at the White House Thursday. 

Trump announced Jan. 3 that the U.S. had captured dictator Nicolás Maduro and that the U.S. would be running Venezuela until a safe transition could occur. But instead of endorsing Machado, Trump cast doubt on her abilities to lead the country. 

‘I think it would be very tough for her to be the leader,’ Trump told reporters on Jan. 3. ‘She doesn’t have the support within or the respect within the country. She’s a very nice woman, but she doesn’t have the respect.’ 

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that the administration chose not to support Machado because the U.S. didn’t want to make similar mistakes to the ones it’s previously made in the Middle East in Latin America, although he said he had ‘tremendous admiration’ for Machado.

‘But there’s the mission that we are on right now. … A lot of people analyze everything that happens in foreign policy through the lens of Iraq, Libya, or Afghanistan,’ Rubio said Jan. 4 in an interview with CBS. ‘This is not the Middle East. This is the Western Hemisphere, and our mission here is very different.’

A classified CIA assessment, which senior policymakers requested and presented to Trump, evaluated who would be the best fit to oversee an interim government in Venezuela following the overthrow of Maduro, a source familiar with the intelligence told Fox News Digital. Ultimately, it determined that Marduro’s vice president, Maduro’s vice president, Delcy Rodríguez, would be best situated to lead the country. 

Although the Washington Post reported that Trump was annoyed Machado won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2025 — an award he had hoped to receive and that Machado dedicated to him — the White House claimed that Trump’s choices were based on ‘realistic decisions.’ 

As a result, Trump has put his support behind Rodríguez who is now serving as interim president. On Wednesday, Trump shared he had a call with Rodríguez, and later described her as a ‘terrific’ person.’  

‘We are making tremendous progress, as we help Venezuela stabilize and recover,’ Trump said in a social media post Wednesday.

‘This partnership between the United States of America and Venezuela will be a spectacular one FOR ALL,’ Trump said. ‘Venezuela will soon be great and prosperous again, perhaps more so than ever before!’

Specifically, Trump said that he and Rodríguez discussed oil, minerals and national security matters. On Jan. 7, Trump announced that Venezuela would provide the U.S. with 50 million barrels of oil that would be sold ‘immediately.’

Rodríguez voiced similar sentiments following the call, and said that the two’s ‘courteous’ call ‘addressed a bilateral work agenda for the benefit of our peoples, as well as pending matters between our governments.’ 

Meanwhile, Machado has praised Trump for his role overthrowing Maduro, and told CBS News that the president and the U.S. have ‘done much more than anybody thought was possible.’

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital on what Trump and Machado planned to discuss. 

Fox News’ Morgan Phillips contributed to this report. 

A Senate Republican wants to codify President Donald Trump’s desire to cap credit card interest rates, but it’s an idea that’s already been met with resistance among top Republicans.

Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., plans to introduce legislation that would make good on Trump’s push to cap credit card interest rates at 10% for one year. However, Republican leadership in both chambers has already pushed back against the idea, arguing that it could lead to credit scarcity.

Marshall’s bill, the Consumer Affordability Protection Act, would limit the amount that credit card companies could charge for one year, capping the ceiling at Trump’s desired rate of 10%.

That cap would only apply to banks and financial institutions with over $100 billion in assets, with the idea being that smaller community banks and most credit unions would not be affected.

Marshall said in a statement to Fox News Digital that the legislation was about ‘giving families breathing room, restoring fairness in the marketplace, and making sure the American Dream is still within reach for everyone who works hard and plays by the rules.’

‘Credit cards were meant to be a tool — not a trap,’ Marshall said. ‘Right now, millions of hard-working Americans are getting crushed by outrageous interest rates that make it nearly impossible to pay down debt and get ahead.’

The bill follows Trump’s demand that Americans no longer be ‘‘ripped off’ by credit card companies that are charging interest rates of 20 to 30%, and even more, which festered unimpeded during the Sleepy Joe Biden Administration.’

He set a target date for the cap of Jan. 20, the one-year anniversary of his inauguration to his second term in office.

‘AFFORDABILITY! Effective January 20, 2026, I, as President of the United States, am calling for a one year cap on Credit Card Interest Rates of 10%,’ Trump said on Truth Social.

Marshall’s push isn’t his first foray into the world of credit — he and Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin, D-Ill., have a long-simmering bill that would boost competition among credit card payment networks. Trump endorsed that legislation earlier this week, and the bipartisan duo reintroduced it in the Senate shortly after.

Durbin and Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vt., are co-sponsors of Marshall’s latest bill. Trump and Marshall also have an unlikely ally in Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass. The progressive lawmaker spoke with the president earlier this week about affordability, and both found middle ground on their desire to cap credit card interest rates. But she was wary that any real action, either from the White House or the GOP-controlled Congress, would come to fruition. 

‘I supported it for years,’ Warren said. ‘And when he first floated the idea over a year ago, I said, ‘I’m all in,’ and so far, Trump hasn’t done anything.’

But despite Trump’s edict and the patchwork of bipartisan support, the top Republicans in Congress aren’t completely sold on the idea.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., warned that capping credit card interest rates could ‘probably deprive an awful lot of people of access to credit around the country.’

‘Credit cards will probably become debit cards,’ Thune said. ‘So, yeah, I mean, that’s not something I’m out there advocating for.’

And House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., warned of ‘unintended consequences’ of such a change.

‘One of the things that the president probably had not thought through is the negative secondary effect: they would just stop lending money, and maybe they cap what people are able to borrow at a very low amount,’ Johnson said.

Israel will reportedly honor slain conservative activist Charlie Kirk with an award for his efforts battling antisemitism.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office indicated that this recognition will take place at the International Conference on Combating Antisemitism, The Associated Press reported.

Kirk, who founded the conservative organization Turning Point USA, was assassinated while holding an event at Utah Valley University in September.

‘A lion-hearted friend of Israel, he fought the lies and stood tall for Judeo-Christian civilization,’ Netanyahu said in a post on X on the day Kirk was fatally shot.

In the post, the Israeli leader called Kirk ‘an incredible human being’ whose ‘boundless pride in America and his valiant belief in free speech will leave a lasting impact.’

Kirk asserted in a post on X less than a month before he was killed, ‘Jew hate has no place in civil society. It rots the brain, reject it.’ 

Kirk, who was a supporter of Israel, indicated last year on ‘The Megyn Kelly Show’ that some in the pro-Israel camp had unfairly criticized him.

‘The behavior by a lot, both privately and publicly, are pushing people like you and me away. Not like we’re gonna be pro-Hamas,’ he said. ‘But we’re like, honestly, the way you are treating me is so repulsive.’

‘I have text messages, Megyn, calling me an antisemite. I am learning biblical Hebrew and writing a book on the Shabbat. I honor the Shabbat, literally the Jewish sabbath. I visit Israel and fight for it,’ he noted at the time.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Tense scenes played out in the House of Representatives on Tuesday night as a group of moderate Republicans took a stand against a trio of GOP-led labor rule bills.

One of those bills failed to pass, while the other two were quickly scuttled to avoid the same fate — an embarrassing blow to House Republican leadership and the majority of GOP lawmakers who supported them.

It’s an example of a situation that has been growing increasingly common in Congress’ lower chamber as Republicans wrestle with a party-line majority of anywhere between three and one vote, depending on attendance that day.

‘We’ve got simple bills like this that should be a no-brainer, and we’ve got several moderate Rs that are going to kill the bill,’ Rep. Greg Steube, R-Fla., told Fox News Digital on the sidelines just before the first bill failed. ‘What I foresee, and you’re seeing it in appropriations bills, they don’t care about guys like me … they’re just working with the Democrats to pass them.’

Several Republicans who spoke with Fox News Digital this week said there’s growing concern about Democrats growing their number of legislative victories despite Republicans holding the gavel — or potentially using their numbers to take over the agenda.

As Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., put to reporters last week, ‘We are one flu season away from losing the majority.’

Steube said he did not believe Democrats could actually take the speaker’s gavel but conceded the situation was tenuous. He pointed to the recent sudden death of Rep. Doug LaMalfa, R-Calif., as an example.

‘You’re a heart attack and a car accident away from the majority. There’s people in our conference that are not young people. I mean, you saw what just happened with LaMalfa. In my opinion, he was young, 65. We have people who are much older in the conference,’ he said Tuesday night.

‘Now, Democrats couldn’t take over the gavel, but like, what you’re seeing here, you’ve got attendance issues, you’ve got seven Republicans voting with the Democrats. You lose more than two, you’re toast.’

Despite that, however, Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., denied there was a fight for the agenda on Tuesday night.

‘We’re totally in control of the House,’ he told reporters. 

He added, however, that leaders were watching attendance closely.

‘They’d better be here,’ Johnson said of his members. ‘I told everybody, and not in jest, I said, no adventure sports, no risk-taking, take your vitamins. Stay healthy and be here.’

It comes after several recent incidents that have put their tenuous grasp on the House in perspective for Republicans.

Former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., abruptly resigned earlier this year after publicly falling out with President Donald Trump. Rep. Jim Baird, R-Ind., returned on Tuesday badly bruised from a car accident that he spent the week prior recovering from.

And just this week, Rep. Greg Murphy, R-N.C., said he is home recovering from major brain surgery. Rep. Derrick Van Orden, R-Wis., is in his district caring for his ill wife.

Beyond conversations about their own mortality, it’s also spurred discussion among some Republicans about what unexpected life events could do to their majority.

‘The margins are really, really close. A few of us were in a car the other day, driving … if that became an accident, that would have tipped the scale. So I think it’s a concern to be vigilant, prudent, and just understand that the consequences of an accident may have, you know, consequences outside of the norm,’ Rep. Ryan Zinke, R-Mont., told Fox News Digital.

He also warned his fellow Republicans, as a former Navy SEAL, to be mindful of unsafe situations.

‘Say some evil mind wants to change the majority in the House — we don’t have the same protection that the president does. And that’s why I say just remain vigilant,’ Zinke said. ‘I have faith that we’ll continue, but I think it should be a concern, because it’s a big deal to change power outside of a normal election cycle.’

One House Republican speaking to Fox News Digital anonymously pointed out that there appeared to be more Democrats than Republicans voting on a slate of bills — albeit, relatively uncontroversial ones — on Monday night.

‘I’d guess they’re terrified,’ the lawmaker said of GOP leaders on Tuesday. ‘Sometimes life happens — look at Derrick Van Orden … car accidents, COVID, or flu. I mean, I don’t think we had the majority last night.’

‘They’re going to have to get smart about the calendar, probably break some arms,’ that GOP lawmaker said. ‘It’s kind of unprecedented. I don’t know how it would work. Say, unfortunately, someone else passed. You can’t fix that. You may have to wait a few months. You might have to strip committees. There’s a whole lot of uncharted waters to deal with.’

There are also more than a dozen GOP lawmakers running for higher office — something that could also spur absences, as South Carolina gubernatorial candidate Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., pointed out.

She dismissed fears of Democrats taking over the agenda, however.

‘Certainly there’s concern with the slim majority. There are many of us that are running for higher office as well, and as the debate season gets underway, there’s going to be members that miss votes to make debates and to be campaigning,’ Mace said.

Rep. Andy Ogles, R-Tenn., told Fox News Digital he was not worried about Democrats taking over the floor but conceded there was tension over the slim margins for Republicans.

‘I know they’re carefully watching attendance,’ Ogles said. ‘I think the joke is that no two members should travel together at this point.’

But not all House Republicans are agonizing over how the politics of the situation are playing out.

One moderate GOP lawmaker who spoke with Fox News Digital anonymously said the thin majority could save Republicans in the middle from taking politically perilous votes.

‘It gives folks in the center a little more juice on preventing bills from coming to the floor,’ they said.

An example they used is Thursday morning’s expected vote on a bill dealing with the joint-employer labor rule, telling Fox News Digital, ‘There’s an active effort among pro-labor Republicans to block that from coming to the floor, and we can only really get that done in our majority.’

Former Democratic Attorney General Eric Holder, who served during former President Barack Obama’s tenure, played a key role in vouching for Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as the Democratic Party’s 2024 pick for vice president before a massive fraud scandal rocked the Gopher State. 

‘There’s nothing that of any substance that was missed by our vetting team,’ Holder told CNN in an October 2024 interview as the federal election came down to its final days. 

Walz is in the midst of facing a sweeping fraud scandal involving alleged money laundering operations related to alleged fraudulent meal and housing programs, daycare centers and Medicaid services that prosecutors say could total as much as $9 billion, Fox News Digital has reported. Dozens of individuals have been charged amid the investigations, most of whom are from the state’s Somali community. 

The scandal led to Walz dropping his re-election bid to serve a third term as Minnesota governor. 

Walz has said he is ‘accountable for’ the scandal as the state’s top elected official, but has accused Republicans and the Trump administration of sensationalizing multibillion-dollar figures of alleged fraud. 

Walz bucked calls to step down as governor, declaring during a press conference Tuesday: ‘Over my dead body will that happen.’

More than a year ago, Walz’s run on the 2024 Democratic ticket catapulted his national name recognition after serving in politics for decades, including in the U.S. Congress from 2007 until 2019, before his election as governor. Ahead of his name being floated as a potential vice presidential contender, Walz was a relatively unknown name to everyday Americans. 

Then-Vice President Kamala Harris tapped Obama’s former attorney general to lead the vetting process of her potential running mates during the 2024 cycle. 

Holder is a longtime Obama ally and was one of the officials tasked with vetting Obama’s potential running mates back in the 2008 election cycle before landing on then-Delaware Sen. Joe Biden. 

Holder told the media in 2004 that Walz was not at the top of his list when vetting 11 candidates for Harris’ running mate, but that he moved up the list of names as Holder reviewed his ‘very impressive’ and ‘significant’ work in Minnesota, including signing a law in 2023 for universal free breakfast and lunch for all K-12 students in the state, KSTP reported in November 2024 ahead of the election. 

‘As part of the process, the vetting process, I looked at almost every YouTube he’s ever been on,’ Holder told KSTP of Walz. ‘Everything we could ever find about his media interactions and he’s a genuine nice guy. He’s got that Minnesota Nice thing.’

‘There was a chemistry that I saw, I actually saw that happen with Kamala Harris and with Tim Walz,’ Holder added at the time. ‘So it was a combination, I think, of accomplishments and chemistry that propelled him to the number two spot on the ticket.’

A source with knowledge of Walz’s vetting process told Fox News Digital that the fraud investigation was included in the vetting process, as details had already emerged during the governor’s 2022 re-election race. 

‘Governor Walz’s Department of Education had been in contact with the FBI regarding investigations into organizations diverting funds from child nutrition programs,’ the source explained. ‘This issue was not a factor in the 2024 presidential campaign, nor did Kamala Harris’s vice presidential choice ultimately prove to be a negative factor in the race.’ 

Walz’s emergence as the vice presidential pick quickly drew scrutiny over a string of past controversies, including allegations he exaggerated his military service, repeated misstatements about his presence during China’s Tiananmen Square massacre and questions about his handling of Minnesota’s 2020 riots — issues Republicans seized on as Democrats rushed to elevate him on the national stage. 

The 2024 election cycle was unprecedented for a multitude of reasons, most notably when then-President Biden dropped out of the race on July 21, 2024, amid mounting concerns over his health and a pair of assassination attempts on then-former President Donald Trump’s life. 

Holder joined CNN in October 2024 and defended the vetting process of Walz, calling him an ‘authentic guy, a person with a great record as the governor of Minnesota and who I think will be a superb vice president.’

‘He has resonated with the American people,’ Holder told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer at the time. ‘He has generated enthusiasm for the ticket. And I think that the slight exaggerations, misspeaking that he has done, and, again, for which he has, you know, taken responsibility, is not something that’s going to ultimately hurt him,’ he said of Walz’s past misstatements. 

Holder was pressed if he and ‘your team of lawyers (missed) important information about him during the vetting process,’ considering the previous misstatements. Walz, for example, claimed in 2018 he had carried ‘weapons in war,’ but had not been deployed to an active combat zone across his 24 years in the Army National Guard. 

‘No, I don’t think we did,’ Holder responded about whether his team missed anything on Walz’s record. ‘I mean, I don’t think that we were surprised by any of the things that he has said. And as what he has indicated is that sometimes he misspoke, but he is — unlike Donald Trump, who lies like all the time. Tim Walz has made some misstatements that he has said, you know, I was wrong in saying that, apologized for making the misstatements.’

Walz has been directly implicated in the Minnesota fraud schemes, though the Trump administration has pinned some of the blame on the governor. 

‘I think Tim Walz should resign,’ Vice President JD Vance told the media Thursday during a White House press briefing. ‘Because it’s very clear either that he knew about the fraud in Minneapolis, he knew about the welfare fraud, or at the very least, he looked the other way. I mean, this is not this is not like Lex Luther, right? This is not movie villain fraud. This is the lowest IQ possible fraud.’

Amid the fraud investigations, federal law enforcement converged on Minneapolis in January. A fatal shooting broke out in a residential area Jan. 7 when a woman allegedly attempted to use her car as a weapon against immigration officers in what the Department of Homeland Security called an ‘act of domestic terrorism.’ The woman was shot and killed, sparking fierce condemnation from Democrats and Trump critics, including some lawmakers referring to the incident as a ‘murder.’ 

Fox News Digital also reached out to Walz’s office and Obama’s office regarding the 2024 vetting process considering the fraud investigations, but did not immediately receive replies. 

Fox News Digital’s Andrew Mark Miller contributed to this report. 

Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina declared in a Wednesday post on X that the U.S. should utilize ‘any means necessary’ to stop the individuals ‘responsible for killing’ Iranians.

‘People often ask me what should we do next when it comes to the murderous, religious Nazi regime in Iran. It’s pretty simple. Stand by the protesters demanding an end to their oppression. But it’s going to take more than standing by them. We must stop those who are responsible for killing the people by any means necessary ASAP. Make The Iranian People Safe Again,’ the hawkish lawmaker said in the post on X.

Protesters in the Islamic Republic of Iran have been met with a deadly crackdown.

‘We have been informed by very important sources on the other side, and they’ve said the killing has stopped and the executions won’t take place,’ President Donald Trump said on Wednesday afternoon, noting, ‘we’ve been told on good authority. And I hope it’s true.’

But in a Wednesday night post on X, Graham said, ‘Every indication that I’ve seen says that the Iranian regime’s killing of protestors is still very much in full swing. The death toll is mounting by the hour. Hoping that help is on the way.’

President Trump has been declaring his support for Iranian dissidents and promising that help is coming.

‘Iranian Patriots, KEEP PROTESTING – TAKE OVER YOUR INSTITUTIONS!!! Save the names of the killers and abusers. They will pay a big price. I have cancelled all meetings with Iranian Officials until the senseless killing of protesters STOPS. HELP IS ON ITS WAY. MIGA!!!’ the U.S. commander in chief declared in a Tuesday Truth Social post, using an acronym to abbreviate the phrase ‘Make Iran Great Again.’

Graham, an advocate for U.S. intervention against the Iranian regime, shared a screenshot of the president’s post and discussed the issue.

‘The tipping point of this long journey will be President Trump’s resolve. No boots on the ground, but unleashing holy hell — as he promised — on the regime that has trampled every red line. A massive wave of military, cyber and psychological attacks is the meat and bones of ‘help is on the way,’’ Graham declared in the post.

‘What am I looking for? Destroy the infrastructure that allows the massacre and slaughter of the Iranian people, and take down the leaders responsible for the killing,’ he noted.

Several federal prosecutors in Minnesota were formally fired on Wednesday after they gave notice that they had resigned in the wake of internal disagreements over the Justice Department’s handling of a shooting investigation involving Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The DOJ, at the direction of Attorney General Pam Bondi and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, terminated the employment of five prosecutors in the U.S. attorney’s office in Minnesota, including Joseph Thompson, the No. 2 official there,according to two sources familiar with the matter.

Their resignations and the internal disputes about the shooting probe first surfaced in the New York Times. The prosecutors were positioned to receive paid leave for months prior to their firings on Wednesday,according to the sources.

Thompson was spearheading a massive, high-profile investigation into welfare fraud in the state before he submitted his resignation. His exit came after he clashed with officials in Washington, D.C., over the investigation into the ICE shooting, which left 37-year-old Renee Good dead. Fox News Digital reached out to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Minnesota in an effort to reach Thompson for comment.

Thompson had expressed during a call with DOJ and FBI officials last week that he was on board with investigating the ICE shooting as an assault on or obstruction of a law enforcement officer, a source familiar with the call told Fox News Digital.

Another one of the fired prosecutors, Melinda Williams, who was also involved in the fraud work, was on the call as well, the source said.

Thompson also indicated that he believed the shooting was justified, two sources said. Prior to the shooting, he had already been discussing the possibility of resigning, the sources said.

Videos of the shooting showed an ICE agent opening fire on Good at close range after she was seen accelerating toward the agent in her vehicle while he was standing in front of it. Critics have argued that the agent improperly used deadly force against Good and that she had turned the wheels of her vehicle away from the agent before accelerating.

The FBI is investigating the incident and has excluded Minnesota prosecutors from the probe, which the Trump administration has said is justified because the incident involved a federal officer. Minnesota leaders have denounced that decision and launched their own parallel investigation.

While supportive of conducting the investigation as an offensive against law enforcement — rather than a civil rights matter against the agent — Thompson had reservations during last week’s call about the DOJ’s plan to also investigate Good’s widow and other possible co-conspirators, the source familiar with the call said.

The FBI had developed evidence that suggested Good and her spouse had at some point been following ICE officers on the day of the shooting, the source said.

That revelation echoes Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s allegations during a recent press conference that Good had been ‘stalking and impeding’ ICE throughout the day of the shooting. Noem said Good ‘weaponized’ her vehicle and that the ICE agent who fired shots feared for his life.

In a statement to Minnesota Public Radio, Good’s spouse, Becca, said that on Jan. 7, the day of the shooting, she and Renee ‘stopped to support [their] neighbors.’

‘We had whistles. They had guns,’ Becca Good said.

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and other Democrats have lauded the prosecutors who resigned, framing their departures as a valiant boycott against DOJ.

‘These prosecutors are heroes, and the people pushing to prosecute Renee’s widow are monsters,’ Frey wrote on X.

At this stage, there is no sign that the DOJ is planning to bring charges against Becca Good, despite the DOJ and FBI pursuing an investigation into her as part of a broader probe into any conspiracies to hinder federal law enforcement operations.

Fox News Digital reached out to the DOJ for comment.

David Spunt contributed to this report.

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi plans to dissolve Parliament’s powerful lower house as early as this month, setting up a snap election aimed at securing voter backing for her agenda while her approval ratings remain high, a senior party official said.

The Associated Press reported that the move would allow Takaichi to seek fresh support for her economic and security priorities at a time when her scandal-tainted party and a new coalition partner hold only a slim majority in Japan’s legislature.

Takaichi made history in October when she was elected as Japan’s first female prime minister.

Described by some Japanese and international media as an ultraconservative, hard-line figure, Takaichi has backed strengthening Japan’s defense posture, emerged as a vocal China hawk and supported constitutional revisions to expand the role of the Self-Defense Forces.

Calling a snap election could allow Takaichi to capitalize on approval ratings of about 70% and help her Liberal Democratic Party gain additional seats in Parliament.

Shunichi Suzuki, secretary general of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, told reporters that Takaichi informed him and other senior officials of her intention to dissolve the lower house ‘soon’ after it convenes Jan. 23.

Suzuki said no date has been set for dissolving the chamber or holding a snap election, adding that Takaichi plans to outline her strategy at a news conference Monday.

Takaichi’s scandal-tainted LDP and its coalition hold only a narrow majority in the lower house, Parliament’s more powerful chamber, after losses in the 2024 election.

By calling an early vote, Takaichi appears to be aiming to expand her party’s share of seats and strengthen its position alongside a new junior coalition partner.

Opposition lawmakers criticized the plan as self-serving, saying it would delay urgent parliamentary debate over the national budget, which must be approved quickly.

Echoing Suzuki’s comments, media reports have said Takaichi plans to dissolve the lower house on Jan. 23, the opening day of this year’s ordinary parliamentary session, potentially setting the stage for a snap election as early as Feb. 8.

Takaichi is seeking voter backing for her agenda, including ‘proactive’ fiscal spending and an accelerated military buildup under a new coalition with the Japan Innovation Party, Suzuki said.

The conservative Japan Innovation Party joined the ruling bloc after the centrist Komeito party withdrew, citing disagreements over Takaichi’s ideological positions and her approach to anti-corruption reforms.

Takaichi met Wednesday with Suzuki and other coalition leaders after holding talks in Nara with South Korean President Lee Jae Myung at a summit aimed at strengthening bilateral ties. The meetings came as she faces rising trade and political tensions with China following remarks on Taiwan that angered Beijing days after she took office.

Winning a snap election would also make it easier for Takaichi and her governing bloc to pass a budget and advance other legislation.

Her Cabinet approved a record 122.3 trillion yen ($770 billion) budget in late December that must clear Parliament before the fiscal year begins in April. The plan includes measures to fight inflation, support low-income households and boost economic growth.

Known for her hawkish and nationalistic views and her ultra-conservative positions on social issues, including gender and sexual diversity, Takaichi is seeking to reclaim conservative voters drawn to emerging populist parties in recent elections.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

The Iranian regime has allegedly broadcast at least 97 ‘coercive confessions’ from detained protesters on state television in just over two weeks, human rights groups say, as residents endure the longest internet blackout on record.

The videos reportedly feature handcuffed detainees with blurred faces showing remorse for their actions since the protests began Dec. 28, according to a rights group tracking the videos.

It said ominous music can be heard, and edited footage shows attacks on security forces, according to reporting by The Associated Press and data from the Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA).

Other rights groups also claim the confession videos are coerced and obtained under duress, with protesters ‘dragged before cameras under the threat of torture and execution.’

‘The regime’s broadcast of so-called confessions by detained protesters is a threadbare and worn tactic,’ Ali Safavi, a senior official with the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), told Fox News Digital.

‘Time and time again, the henchmen drag arrested demonstrators before cameras under the threat of torture and execution, coercing them to recant their beliefs or invent absurd stories.’

The broadcasts come amid nationwide protests sparked by public anger over political repression, economic collapse and alleged abuses by security forces.

Demonstrations have spread across major cities despite mass arrests, lethal force and sweeping restrictions on communication.

Safavi said the confessions serve a dual purpose. 

‘First, they are meant to justify the mass slaughter of protesters, no fewer than 3,000, which NCRI President-elect Maryam Rajavi has stated constitute manifest crimes against humanity,’ he said.

‘These forced confessions are designed to demoralize the Iranian people and sow fear and doubt.’

But he said any mass executions or staged confessions ‘won’t achieve that because no amount of televised coercion or repression will break the protesters’ resolve.’

U.S.-based HRANA has warned that forced confessions in Iran frequently follow psychological or physical torture and can carry severe consequences, including death sentences.

‘These rights violations compound on top of each other and lead to horrific outcomes,’ Skylar Thompson, HRANA group’s deputy director, told The Associated Press, adding that the scale of broadcasts is unprecedented.

The confession campaign coincides with a sweeping internet shutdown that has effectively cut the public off from independent information.

According to NetBlocks, Iran’s internet blackout has surpassed 144 consecutive hours, making it one of the longest disruptions ever recorded.

‘The shutdown is still ongoing, making it one of the longest blackouts on record,’ Isik Mater, NetBlocks’ director of research, told Fox News Digital.

‘State TV continues to operate normally via satellite transmission, which does not depend on the public internet, which means households can still watch Iranian state channels even during a near-total shutdown.’

Mater said the blackout magnifies the impact of state propaganda because ‘while the public is cut off, the state relies on broadcast media and its domestic National Information Network to control what people see,’ he said, likening Iran’s information strategy to that of North Korea.

‘A useful comparison is North Korea where the vast majority of citizens there have little to no access to the global internet, yet the state TV and radio broadcast regime propaganda 24/7,’ he said.

‘Information flows through closed systems, like North Korea’s domestic intranet Kwangmyong and not the open internet.’

Mater added that shutdowns are highly selective, with senior officials and state institutions retaining connectivity through ‘whitelisted networks.’

‘Senior officials and state institutions retain connectivity via whitelisted government networks and private links,’ Mater said.

‘This is why Ali Khamenei and other government officials continue posting on global social media platforms during the blackout, enabling the regime to shape the narrative internationally while citizens are unable to document events or even respond.’