President Donald Trump took a swipe at former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev for suggesting that other countries would step in to supply Iran with nuclear warheads in retaliation for the U.S. strikes on Saturday that targeted three Iranian nuclear facilities. 

‘Did I hear Former President Medvedev, from Russia, casually throwing around the ‘N word’ (Nuclear!), and saying that he and other Countries would supply Nuclear Warheads to Iran? Did he really say that or, is it just a figment of my imagination? If he did say that, and, if confirmed, please let me know, IMMEDIATELY. The ‘N word’ should not be treated so casually. I guess that’s why Putin’s ‘THE BOSS,’’ Trump said in a Truth Social Post on Monday. 

Trump’s comments came after Medvedev, now the deputy chairman of the Security Council of Russia, said that Iran would continue to advance its nuclear program and would receive assistance from other nations to do so. 

‘The enrichment of nuclear material — and, now we can say it outright, the future production of nuclear weapons — will continue,’ Medvedev said in a Sunday X post. 

‘A number of countries are ready to directly supply Iran with their own nuclear warheads,’ Medvedev said.

He did not specify which countries could be involved in providing Iran with nuclear capabilities, but Russia historically has supported Iran’s nuclear program. Last week, Russian President Vladimir Putin also offered to broker peace talks between Iran and Israel. 

Likewise, Moscow has also offered to intervene and help negotiate a nuclear deal between the U.S. and Iran. 

Moscow was involved in the 2015 Iran deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. The agreement lifted sanctions on Iran in exchange for limits on Iran’s nuclear program, but Trump withdrew from the deal in 2018.

On Saturday, the U.S. launched strikes late Saturday targeting key Iranian nuclear facilities: Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan. The mission involved more than 125 U.S. aircraft, including B-2 stealth bombers, according to Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine. 

Trump also touted the success of a guided-missile nuclear submarine involved in the strikes, which launched more than two dozen Tomahawk cruise missiles at key Iranian targets. 

‘By the way, if anyone thinks our ‘hardware’ was great over the weekend, far and away the strongest and best equipment we have, 20 years advanced over the pack, is our Nuclear Submarines,’ Trump said Monday in the Truth Social post. ‘They are the most powerful and lethal weapons ever built, and just launched the 30 Tomahawks — All 30 hit their mark perfectly. So, in addition to our Great Fighter Pilots, thank you to the Captain and Crew!’

The exiled prince of Iran has proposed leading the country’s democratic transition to end the Islamic Republic in a new speech Monday. 

‘Today, it is clearer than ever: The Islamic Republic is collapsing,’ Reza Pahlavi, the eldest son of the late last shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi, said. ‘Credible reports indicate that Ali Khamenei’s family – and the families of senior regime officials – are making preparations to flee Iran. The regime is on its last legs, in towns and cities across the country. The military is fractured. The people are united. The foundations of this 46-year tyranny are shaking.’

‘This is our Berlin Wall moment,’ Pahlavi said from a press conference he called in Paris.

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was reportedly hiding out in a bunker as the U.S. military pounded three Iranian nuclear sites over the weekend. Amid concerns that he could be assassinated, Khamenei has cut off all electronic communications to his commanders, relying on a trusted aide to relay orders, the New York Times reported.

Pahlavi, whose father was the last monarch overthrown during the 1979 Iranian Revolution, said Monday that Iran currently stands at a crossroads, warning that the West handing the current regime a lifeline would only result in more bloodshed. 

‘The difference in these two roads depends on one factor and one factor alone: whether the current regime in Iran is allowed to survive,’ he said. ‘If the West throws the regime a lifeline there will be more bloodshed and chaos – because this regime will not submit or surrender after it has been humiliated. It will lash out. As long as it is in power, no country and no people are safe: whether on the streets of Washington, Paris, Jerusalem, Riyadh or Tehran.’

He argued for a ‘peaceful and democratic transition’ and said the only way to achieve peace was through ‘a secular, democratic Iran.’ 

‘I am here today to submit myself to my compatriots to lead them down this road to peace and a democratic transition,’ Pahlavi said. ‘I do not seek political power, but rather to help our great nation navigate through this critical hour toward stability, freedom, and justice.’ 

Pahlavi accused Khamenei of using the Iranian people as ‘human shields’ by hiding out in his bunker. 

‘Seeing the images of the people of Tehran forced to flee our beautiful capital, the explosions in Isfahan, the fires along the Persian Gulf, all fill me with pain. But more than pain, I am filled with anger because this war is the result of the selfishness, hatred, and terror of one man: Ali Khamenei,’ he said. ‘While he directs this war from the safety of his hidden bunker, he uses our people as human shields. It is time to end the suffering.’

In a direct message to Khamenei, Pahlavi said, ‘Step down. And if you do, you will receive a fair trial and due process of law. Which is more than you have ever given any Iranian.’

He said other senior regime officials would have to face justice but promised not to ‘repeat the mistakes made in other failed transitions.’

‘To those of you who are loyal to the Iranian nation, and not the Islamic Republic: there is a future for you in a democratic Iran, if you join the people now,’ Pahlavi said. ‘The choice is yours to make. I know these officers, these soldiers, these brave men exist because they are reaching out to me and telling me they want to be part of this national salvation. But now, greater coordination is needed.’ 

Pahlavi announced that he is establishing ‘a formal channel for military, security, and police personnel to reach out directly to me, my team, and our expanding operation.’ He promised that it was a ‘secure platform to efficiently manage the growing volume of inbound communications and requests from those breaking with the regime and seeking to join our movement.’ 

He said the international community was right to be concerned about stopping nuclear weapons and securing regional stability. Although the destruction of the three nuclear sites at Natanz, Isfahan and Fordow has ‘diminished the regime’s domestic nuclear enrichment,’ Pahlavi warned that the U.S. strikes did ‘not diminish the regime’s intent to acquire and use nuclear weapons.’

‘The regime, enraged and emboldened, will be seeking revenge and can acquire nuclear weapons from other rogue regimes like North Korea,’ he said. ‘The destruction of the regime’s nuclear facilities alone will not deliver peace.’ 

Pahlavi said he was ‘stepping forward to lead this national transition – not out of personal interest but as a servant of the Iranian people.’ He said he has a ‘clear plan for transition and national renewal’ based on three core principles: Iran’s territorial integrity; individual liberties and equality of all citizens; and separation of religion and state. Pahlavi proposed convening a ‘national unity summit’ of activists, dissidents, business leaders, professionals, experts and other groups outside of politics. 

The goal would be for them to together develop a roadmap to democratic transition, and he said the ‘final form of this future democracy we seek will be for the Iranian people to decide in a national referendum.’ 

Pahlavi also said he developed a three-phase, comprehensive plan for the ‘economic reconstruction and social stabilization’ of the country. He promised that his team of experts ‘will publish the plans for the first 100 days after the collapse of the Islamic Republic based on this work.’ 

‘We are bringing together some of the world’s greatest investors, builders, entrepreneurs, and experts who care about Iran and see its immense potential,’ he said. 

Before opting for U.S. military intervention, President Donald Trump reportedly was working with Turkey to coordinate a diplomatic resolution to the Israel-Iran conflict and cut a nuclear deal, but the ayatollah did not engage. According to Axios, sources said Trump offered to send Vice President JD Vance and White House envoy Steve Witkoff for negotiations, and Trump offered to come to Turkey himself if it meant meeting with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian. 

Turkey relayed the proposal to its Iranian counterparts, who reportedly could not reach Khamenei for hours. Without the ayatollah’s sign-off, the proposed meeting was called off. 

A top Trump White House official is looking to undercut Senate Democrats’ talking points on Medicaid, arguing that the GOP’s plan to reform the healthcare program would benefit rural hospitals, not harm them.

Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz told Fox News Digital that ‘special interests are pushing misleading talking points to try and stop the most ambitious healthcare reforms ever.’

Oz’s sentiment comes as Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., and Senate Republicans sprint to finish their work on President Donald Trump’s ‘big, beautiful bill’ ahead of a self-imposed July 4 deadline.

Part of the bill from the Senate Finance Committee aims to make good on the GOP’s promise to root out waste, fraud and abuse within the widely used healthcare program by including work requirements and booting illegal immigrants from benefit rolls, among other measures.

Tweaks to the Medicaid provider tax rate have ruffled feathers on both sides of the aisle. Indeed, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. and Sens. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., sent a letter to Trump and the top congressional Republicans last week warning that changes to the Medicaid provider tax rate would harm over 300 rural hospitals.

And a cohort of Senate Republicans were furious with the change after the bill dropped last week.

But Oz contended that ‘only 5%’ of inpatient Medicaid spending happens in rural communities, and that the mammoth bill ‘instead targets abuses overwhelmingly utilized by large hospitals with well-connected lobbyists.’

‘We are committed to preserving and improving access to care in rural communities with a transformative approach that bolsters advanced technology, invests in infrastructure, and supports workforce — rather than propping up a system that mostly benefits wealthier urban areas,’ Oz said.

Schumer’s letter included data from a study recently conducted by the Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research at the University of North Carolina at his behest. He warned that if the bill is passed as is, millions of people would be kicked off of their healthcare coverage, and ‘rural hospitals will not get paid for the services they are required by law to provide to patients.’

Fox News Digital reached out to Schumer, Wyden and Merkley for comment.

However, another report from the Trump-aligned Paragon Health Institute argued similarly to Oz that special interest groups and healthcare lobbyists were ‘flooding the airwaves with claims’ that Republicans’ changes to Medicaid would shutter rural hospitals.

For example, they argued that a recent report from the Center for American Progress warned that over 200 rural hospitals would be at risk of closure, but that the findings were based on changes to the federal medical assistance percentage, or the amount of Medicaid costs paid for by the federal government.

Changes to that percentage were mulled by congressional Republicans but were not included in the ‘big, beautiful bill.’  

Still, the changes to the Medicaid provider tax rate, which were a stark departure from the House GOP’s version of the bill, angered the Republicans who have warned not to make revisions to the healthcare program that could shut down rural hospitals and boot working Americans from their benefits.

The Senate Finance Committee went further than the House’s freeze of the provider tax rate, or the amount that state Medicaid programs pay to healthcare providers on behalf of Medicaid beneficiaries, for non-Affordable Care Act expansion states, and included a provision that lowers the rate in expansion states annually until it hits 3.5%.

However, Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, is working on a possible change to the bill that would create a provider relief fund that could sate her and other Republicans’ concerns about the change to the provider tax rate.

Iran launched a retaliatory attack on Al-Udeid, the American airbase in Qatar, a U.S. defense official confirmed on Monday. 

‘I can confirm that al Udeid Air Base was attacked by short-range and medium-range ballistic missiles originating from Iran today,’ the official told Fox News. ‘At this time, there are no reports of U.S. casualties. We are monitoring this situation closely and will provide more information as it becomes available.’

Qatar’s foreign ministry called the attack ‘brazen aggression,’ but said it had successfully intercepted Iranian missiles. 

‘The State of Qatar strongly condemns the attack that targeted Al-Udeid Air Base by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard. We consider this a flagrant violation of the sovereignty of the State of Qatar,’ spokesperson Majed Al Ansari posted on X. 

‘We reassure that Qatar’s air defenses successfully thwarted the attack and intercepted the Iranian missiles.’ 

Explosions were heard in Doha, a source told Fox News. Iranian state media reported that ‘Operation Fatah’s Blessing against the American Al-Udeid base in Qatar has begun.’ After the strike, the U.S. embassy in Kuwait issued a security alert limiting base access to only essential personnel and the embassy in Bahrain shifted some of its employees to telework. 

Just before the attack, Iran’s President Mahmoud Pezeshkian issued a warning promising not to let Saturday’s strikes on its nuclear facilities go ‘unanswered.’ 

‘We neither initiated the war nor wanted it; but we will not leave the aggression against #GreaterIran unanswered. We will stand by the security of this #belovednation with all our being and respond to every wound on Iran’s body with faith, wisdom, and determination,’ he wrote on X. 

But Iran gave Qatari officials advanced notice of the attacks, Iranian sources told the New York Times. It would be a strategy similar to the response to the killing of Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani, where Iran needed to symbolically respond without escalating the conflict beyond what it could handle. 

A spokesperson for Iran’s armed forces said its Revolutionary Guard Corps carried out the attack: ‘We warn our enemies that the era of hit and run is over.’

Kuwait, Iraq, Bahrain and the UAE all closed their airspaces amidst the attack. 

The base is home to 10,000 American forces and is the U.S.’s largest military installation in the Middle East. Located southwest of Doha, it serves as a hub for logistical operations for the U.S. mission to fight ISIS in Iraq and Syria. It also hosts Central Command’s (CENTCOM) Forward Headquarters, as well as its air forces and special operations in the region. It also has been used as a headquarters for British involvement in airstrikes against ISIS in Iraq.

President Donald Trump visited Al Udeid last month on May 15, where he inked a $1 billion military sales agreement with Doha. 

Qatar has walked a tight line between friendly relations with the U.S., through efforts to expand the base, and with Iran. Prior to the attack, Qatar suspended all flights and promised to ‘take all necessary preventive measures.’ 

The attack was not entirely unexpected – satellite images showed the U.S. moved most of its unhangered aircraft out of Al Udeid last week. 

Iran vowed to retaliate against the U.S. after American B-2 bombers dropped 14 bunker buster bombs on three Iranian nuclear sites. 

‘The criminal US must know that in addition to punishing its illegitimate and aggressive offspring, the hands of Islam’s fighters within the armed forces have been freed to take any action against its interests and military, and we will never back down in this regard,’ Abdolrahim Mousavi, the new chief of staff of the Iranian armed forces, warned in a statement. 

But Trump warned Iran after Saturday’s strikes on its nuclear hubs: ‘Any retaliation by Iran against the United States of America will be met with force far greater than what was witnessed tonight.’

The air base also hosts an array of military assets: B-52 strategic bombers, C-17 Globemaster transports and RC-135 Rivet Joint reconnaissance aircraft, in addition to 379th Air Expeditionary Wing’s airlift, aerial refueling, and intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance capabilities. 

Fox News’ Thomas Ferraro and Liz Friden contributed to this report. 

The War on Terror led to regime change in Iraq and a briefly democratic Afghanistan — at least until former President Joe Biden’s disastrous withdrawal. More recently, a separate conflict between Israel and Iran saw the U.S. step in to help destroy nuclear facilities — but observers should pause before making any apples-to-apples comparisons between the two eras.

The image of then-White House chief of staff Andrew Card whispering in President George W. Bush’s ear during an elementary school reading event that the Twin Towers had been hit by terrorists began a continuing three decades of U.S. involvement in the Middle East.

The Middle East and the world writ-large was a different place back then, Heritage Foundation senior China and National Security Policy studies fellow Steve Yates told Fox News Digital.

Yates previously served in the Bush administration as a top national security affairs adviser to then-Vice President Dick Cheney. More recently, he co-chaired the 2016 RNC’s platform subcommittee on national security.

‘The world has changed an awful lot in 20 years,’ Yates said, when asked to compare the two administrations.

‘And I think that my perceptions of things have changed a great deal, in no small part, because I’ve had as a primary focus, among all other things in the world, what’s happening with China.’

During the Bush years, the Chinese Communist Party was led by Hu Jintao, who Yates quipped was the ‘definition of boredom’ compared to the feistier Xi Jinping.

The differences there and in the Mideast have presented challenges to the U.S., Yates said.

President Donald Trump leads essentially the first ‘post-globalist’ presidency as the world ‘awaken[ed] from’ its ‘globalist moment’ since the 1990s.

‘None of those things were factors in the early 2000s. And I think that context is vital to try to see how things are handled now,’ he said.

‘Frankly, I am a supporter of President Trump and what he’s been trying to do. I think he’s very clear that he’s willing to use decisive force when he judges it to be necessary.’

In the Middle East, American intervention during the War on Terror led to dictator Saddam Hussein being deposed, and a decades-long ground war ensued.

Iran, at the time, was led by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad — a more prominent president. Ayatollah Ali Hosseini Khamenei has become the more prominent global figure as of late, over current President Masoud Pezeshkian.

And, while the War on Terror led to boots on the ground, Yates noted Trump has been clear that he wants Mideast allies and their Western-friendly neighbors to carry their ‘fair share’ of risk and responsibility for what happens in the region — which has been marked by conflicts since the time of Jesus Christ.

‘In that, Israel has been very clear. They haven’t asked for American boots on the ground. To my knowledge to this point they haven’t asked for much of anything other than rhetorical support,’ he said, prior to the U.S. dropping MOP bombs from B-2s on Saturday night.

Yates foreshadowed that Trump has made clear he is ready to use ‘decisive American force’ if necessary to prevent Iranian nuclear proliferation.

‘That is a definable objective… That is not a war of occupation or trying to ‘remake Iran in our image’ as some [have] characterized Iraq, whether fairly or unfairly.’

‘So I think that the president has navigated this with deeper logic than most people give credit.’

The question at this time in history is more whether ‘the Old World’ will act on their shared interest in supporting a non-nuclear Iran or similar outcome in a meaningful way.

He referenced the ‘EU-3’ — Germany, Great Britain and France, the three largest European economic powers — and said they had previously been a ‘moderating force’ in negotiations that allowed Tehran to ‘mitigate sanctions’ and go back on promises made.

But the EU-3’s model failed to solve the problem, revealing that the early 21st century style of diplomacy — which often pulled the U.S. into conflicts — may no longer be effective. Israel’s decisive response to October 7 only underscored that point.

‘I still have a lot of gratitude and respect for my colleagues back in the Bush administration. I just see us as a world in a fundamentally different place,’ he said.

‘And I would give President Trump pretty high marks on how he’s balanced equities — keeping true to his definition of what America First means, but also true to standing by allies in times of need.’