Trump Says Iran Will Get ‘Hit Very Hard’ By U.S. if Protesters Harmed [WATCH]

What a week on the world stage.

President Donald Trump drew a red line Sunday night: if Iran starts killing protesters again, the United States could hit back — hard.

Asked about his remarks on protecting Iranian demonstrators during a press gaggle aboard Air Force One, Trump said: “We’re watching it very closely. If they start killing people like they have in the past, I think they’re going to get hit very hard by the United States.”

The warning lands as anti-regime protests have engulfed Iran for nine days — and as Trump issues his second threat to intervene on the side of the demonstrators.

A U.S.-based group, Human Rights Activists in Iran (HRAI), says the protest wave has reached at least 78 cities and 222 locations. HRAI says protesters are demanding the end of the regime controlled by the 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

HRAI says the regime has killed at least 20 people, including three children, and arrested 990 people.

It also says Khamenei’s security forces have detained more than 40 children.

Iran expert Shukriya Bradost, CEO of Four Sides Security Solutions, told Fox News Digital that “Trump’s warning to the Iranian regime emboldened protesters because it came from a president who had already demonstrated a willingness to confront Tehran directly, most notably by ordering the killing of Qassem Soleimani.”

“For Iranians who felt abandoned during the 2009 Green Movement under the Obama administration, and later disappointed by the Biden administration’s softer approach toward the regime, Trump’s words were seen as credible and empowering.”

Bradost says many Iranians want Trump to keep that same posture now — and to make sure repression carries a cost. “Today, many Iranians want Trump to maintain that same clarity: to side openly with the Iranian people, not the regime, and to make clear that repression will not be ignored or normalized.

“The Islamic Republic is no longer a functional system. The central question now is whether U.S. policy reinforces the Iranian people’s demand for genuine change, or unintentionally helps parts of a collapsing regime survive.”

Watch the clip below:

🚨 President Trump: “If (Iran) starts killing people like they have in the past, I think they’re gonna get hit very hard by the United States.” pic.twitter.com/5lQs3oGjai

— Ryan Saavedra (@RyanSaavedra) January 5, 2026