WASHINGTON—President Donald Trump on Monday warned countries against doing any business with Iran, promising that any such countries will pay a tariff on their business with the United States.

“Effective immediately,” the president shared on Truth Social, “any Country doing business with the Islamic Republic of Iran will pay a Tariff of 25% on any and all business being done with the United States of America.”

“This Order is final and conclusive,” he added. “Thank you for your attention to this matter!”

Trump’s post comes as demonstrations throughout Iran challenging the cleric-controlled system rock the Iranian regime. Behnam Ben Taleblu, senior director of the Iran program at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told Morning Wire this week that the demonstrations are the most consequential challenge to the Iranian government’s legitimacy since the birth of the Islamic theocracy in 1979.

“Iranians pushed past reform, Iranians pushed past the ballot box and found the street to be the best way to contest the state and make their case,” Taleblu explained, “not just to their fellow compatriots and citizens, but to the world that they seek wholesale political change – not evolution, not musical chairs at the top, not another fig leaf, not putting lipstick on a pig.”

TEHRAN, IRAN – JANUARY 12: People join a pro-government rally on January 12, 2026, in Tehran, Iran. (Photo by Stringer/Getty Images)

Iranian authorities have restricted citizen access to the internet for five days now as the protesters chant “Death to Khamenei,” referencing Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Iranian security forces are responding to the unrest with violence: U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) reports that 503 protesters in Iran have died.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Monday that the president is ready to use military force against Iran if necessary. In June, the United States struck and obliterated Iran’s nuclear sites under Operation Midnight Hammer, destroying the country’s nuclear program for the time being.

Whoopi Goldberg immediately backpedaled after claiming Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents were “violent criminals,” saying that she was using “nuance” when she made that particular statement.

Goldberg joined her cohosts on Monday’s broadcast of ABC’s “The View,” where they discussed the fatal confrontation between anti-ICE activist Renee Good and the ICE agent who shot and killed her when she accelerated toward him, striking him with her vehicle. Goldberg’s overall assessment of the situation was that ICE agents were more violent than the people they were apprehending in major cities like Minneapolis.

WATCH:

After calling all ICE agents “violent criminals” before the commercial break, Whoopi comes back and claims that’s not what she did and whines about people calling her out:
“Welcome back. Before we go on, I — before folks gather around and say, ‘oh, she’s accusing all of the… pic.twitter.com/eCQK46pPPl

— Nicholas Fondacaro (@NickFondacaro) January 12, 2026

Goldberg began by complaining that the Department of Homeland Security had promised to pick up the worst of the worst and the most “violent criminals” — and reports detailing who ICE agents have arrested since the surge in Minneapolis began indicate they have followed through on that promise.

But Goldberg disagreed with DHS and said that, as far as she was concerned, it appeared that the “violent criminals” were inside ICE.

“This is the thing, you said you were going after the bad guys. That’s what you said, the violent criminals. And what does it turn out? The violent criminals seem to be in the agency,” she said.

The show cut to a commercial break then, and by the time they returned to air, she was already trying to un-ring the bell.

“Welcome back. Before we go on, I — before folks gather around and say, ‘oh, she’s accusing all of the folks at ICE of being criminals,’ that is not what I’m doing. And just so I’m clear, it feels sometimes that there is no one watching the henhouse. Okay? So before y’all start blowing it into all kinds of other stuff, just know that it’s nuance speaking,” she said.