Hey there, it's the MPR Politics Podcast for Thursday January 15th, 2026.
I'm Miles Parks at Cover Voting.
I'm Frank O'Donnell as I cover the White House.
I'm Greg Myrie.
I cover national security.
And we are recording this podcast at 1.17 p.m.
Today, and it has been a very busy week in the world of foreign policy.
President Trump has threatened Iran with military action as protests against the regime there continue.
U.S.
officials met with Danish leaders over the fate of Greenland,
which the president has made it very clear he wants to be a part of the United States,
and Maria Carina Machado, the Venezuelan opposition leader,
and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, is at the White House today.
So, with all of that, let's start with Iran.
Greg, get us up to speed on the protest there.
What is happening and why?
Yeah,
the protests seem to be simmering down at least for the moment and I really want to stress for the moment.
They started in late December.
They've been swelling and it seems in recent days the Iranian security forces have really cracked down.