President Donald Trump should bolster American support for courageous Iranians who are protesting against the corrupt Islamist theocrats who oppress them.
The president has already started. Responding to concerns that Iranian security forces would crush the protesters, Trump warned on Jan. 2, “If Iran shoots and violently kills peaceful protesters, which is their custom, the United States of America will come to their rescue. We are locked and loaded and ready to go.”
There’s no question that Iran’s 90 million-strong population is suffering. The protests stem from the government’s extraordinary economic mismanagement and malfeasance. With power and water shortages already at crisis levels and the Iranian currency, the Rial, collapsing in value, Iran’s leaders decided to double down on failure. Producing his budget for 2026, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian pledged massive boosts to defense and security spending but little for average Iranians.
Suffering under a 42% inflation rate, Iranians have also seen a cut to government subsidies that has doubled food prices over the past year. Proposed wage increases for 2026 are far below the rate of inflation. For many Iranians, it’s too much to bear. They know their country has a lot of oil and natural gas. They know their government could make their lives much better if it chose to do so. They are taking to the streets because their government has instead chosen to put them in a distant second to its never-ending campaign to spread chaos across the Middle East. Trump should back the Iranian millions and empower their righteous indignation.
First, he should expand efforts to smuggle Starlink Mini devices and similar satellite internet technology into Iran. These tools allow Iranians to communicate securely, coordinate with one another, and upload videos of protests beyond the regime’s control. Strengthening this digital ecosystem not only accelerates protest mobilization but also ensures that evidence of state repression reaches the outside world. The CIA already maintains smuggling networks capable of supporting such operations, and the Starlink Mini devices, being small, significantly reduce the risk of detection compared with bulkier equipment previously required.
Second, Trump could introduce sanctions on specific mid-ranking police-security-military personnel, judges, and local officials who are facilitating repression. By making those on lower rungs of the Iranian establishment fear unpleasant consequences if they abuse their positions, the Trump administration makes it likelier that they will suspend their repressive activities in fear, for example, of losing all their savings because they vainly try to save Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s sinking ship.
Third, Trump can take advantage of the unprecedented fear in Tehran created by his sophisticated capture of former Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro.
The power of Trump’s military threats is hard to overstate. Long gone are the flaccid days of former President Barack Obama, who threatened Syria’s former tyrant, Bashar Assad, that he would cross a “red line” if he used chemical weapons, and was ignored and did nothing. Where Obama detonated his credibility by failing to enforce his threat against Assad, Trump has made sure, with both the bombing of Iran’s nuclear plant at Fordow and by the recent magnificent operation in Venezuela, that everyone will take the threat of U.S. military action seriously.
Early in 2025, Trump warned the Houthis in Yemen to stop targeting international shipping through the crucial Red Sea chokepoint. When they refused, he launched a two-month air campaign to degrade their capabilities. The impact of these strikes was probably an important motive for the Houthis’ subsequent compliance with the Israeli-Hamas ceasefire. Trump similarly warned Nigeria that if it failed to do so, he would use force against terrorists responsible for attacks on Christians in that country. On Christmas Day, Trump launched missile strikes against an ISIS-linked terrorist base.
Iran offers the clearest precedent. Upon returning to the office, Trump warned Tehran that the window for negotiating a credible new nuclear agreement was closing and allowed diplomacy a final chance to succeed. When it became evident that Iran was stalling for time, Trump aligned with Israeli military action, ordering strikes that inflicted serious damage on hardened components of Iran’s nuclear program.
This is what we know from activities in the public eye. The Washington Examiner also understands that classified military operations and lethal CIA actions against terrorists and other adversaries have also significantly ramped up since Trump returned to the Oval Office.
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Those demanding a better future in Iran have every right to do so.
They have been systematically failed by a government that preaches holy virtues but sinks Iran’s resources into terrorism and tyranny. No one is asking Trump to preemptively attack Iran, but he can better support these protesters while ensuring Iran’s leaders know there will be heavy consequences for bloodletting.