Trump:

Iran may be behaving badly. It hasn’t been confirmed, but if it’s confirmed, they know the consequences, and the consequences will be very powerful, maybe more powerful than the last time.

I gave them the option. I said you can make a deal, do it. They didn’t believe me. Now, they believe me.

Trump on recent Chinese drills around Taiwan:

President Xi hasn’t told me anything about it, and I don’t believe he’s going to be doing it. Nothing worries me.

Naval exercises and air exercises, they’ve been doing that for 20, 25 years. We’ll see.

Trump on Hamas:

We have 59 countries that want to go in and wipe out Hamas.

Trump:

Saudi Arabia has been very good. They’re getting along great with Israel.

At some point, they’ll sign the Abraham Accords.

Trump:

We do have an understanding regarding Syria. I respect the new Syrian President. He’s a very strong guy, and that’s what you need in Syria. He’s a strong guy. We get along with him.

He’s been with us all the way. We had that mishap with ISIS, and he was with us all the way.

I hope Israel and him will get along. I will try and make it so that they do get along. I think they will.

Trump on whether he'll sell F-35 jets to Türkiye:

We are thinking about it very seriously.

When the same question was asked to Netanyahu, Trump said:

I promise they'll never use them on Israel.

Trump:

Netanyahu will do the right thing on the West Bank.

I know him very well.

Trump:

Iran has been greatly reduced in power. We can’t let them build up again.

In the Middle East, it was a mistake when they wiped out Iraq. Iran had the whole Middle East, all to itself, but that’s not true anymore.

Trump:

I heard that number today, half of Gaza would leave. I've always said it. I said if they were given the opportunity to live in a better climate, they would move.

They are there because they sort of have to be.

SOUTHCOM:

On Dec. 29, at the direction of Pete Hegseth, Joint Task Force Southern Spear conducted a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel operated by Designated Terrorist Organizations in international waters.

Intelligence confirmed the vessel was transiting along known narco-trafficking routes in the Eastern Pacific and was engaged in narco-trafficking operations.

Two male narco-terrorists were killed. No U.S. military forces were harmed.

NEW: Pentagon awarded Boeing an $8.6 billion contract to produce 25 F-15IA fighter jets for Israel, with an option for 25 more.

The deal formalizes production of Israel’s customized F-15EX variant.

China's PLA fired 16 long-range rockets from PCL-191 launchers in Fujian, using a CH-4 drone for targeting during Justice Mission–2025 drills.

The impacts landed north of Taiwan, hitting ocean waters.

CIA carried out a drone strike on a drug-trafficking port on Venezuela’s coast, believed to be used by the Tren de Aragua gang.

The strike destroyed the facility with no casualties and marked the first known U.S. strike inside Venezuelan territory.

Source: CNN

Syrian security forces formed a human shield between Sunni pro-government and Alawite anti-government protesters after knife fights broke out.

Turkish prosecutors announced a major counterterrorism operation in Istanbul targeting ISIS-linked networks.

Police detained over 110 suspects across multiple provinces for alleged recruitment, propaganda, and funding through illegal religious activities.

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif:

Pakistan condemns the reported targeting of the residence of His Excellency Vladimir Putin, President of the Russian Federation.

Such a heinous act constitutes a grave threat to peace, security, and stability, particularly at a time when efforts aimed at peace are underway.

NEW: The head of Yemen's Presidential Leadership Council (PLC, aligned with Saudi Arabia) announces the cancellation of the joint defense agreement with the UAE and the imposition of an air blockade over Yemen.