‘We are locked and loaded’: Trump warns Iran against shooting protesters

The decades-old rogue Islamic regime in Iran, which is beset by an increasingly freedom-demanding population and the resulting protests and riots, has responded as autocrats to: with threats, violence and repression.

The result is evidence of an economic collapse, a failure of the nation’s currency through government action that has put 80% of Iranian households living below the global poverty level.

A WND report revealed, “Forecasts for 2026 from international institutions affirm this dire trajectory. The World Bank projects a further –2.8% economic contraction, indicating even deeper recession, widespread industrial shutdowns and rising unemployment. The government is grappling with a chronic budget deficit rooted in structural imbalances: declining oil revenues under international sanctions, no access to foreign credit and an inability to collect taxes from an economy locked in recession. In such conditions, printing money becomes the final – and most destructive – policy option, perpetuating inflation and pushing the middle class further into poverty.”

Further, Iran’s dictators have pursued an unprecedented surge in state violence – including 357 executions between November 22 and December 21, 2025, alone.

“Resistance units” have torched regime-affiliated centers or even Islamic Republic emblems in citizens’ neighborhoods. Reports indicate more than 3,000 such operations, along with tens of thousands of other acts of public messaging, occurred last year.

The result now is a threat from President Donald Trump that those protesters cannot be targeted for death by the regime.

Or else.

“If Iran shots 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. Thank you for your attention to this matter!” – President DONALD J. TRUMP pic.twitter.com/ctNbfJD9jv

— The White House (@WhiteHouse) January 2, 2026

“If Iran shots [sic] and violently kills peaceful protesters, which is their custom, the United States of America will come to their rescue,” Trump said on social media. “We are locked and loaded and ready to go. Thank you for your attention to this matter! President DONALD J.TRUMP.”

Reports have confirmed the protests in Iran over recent days were the largest since 2022.

A report from Just the News said, “On Thursday, the Hengaw Organization for Human Rights said that Iranian authorities detained at least 29 demonstrators amid the protests. Also on Thursday, at least three protesters were killed, and 17 others were wounded during an attack on a police station in Iran, according to Far News Agency.”

Ali Larijani, the secretary of Iran’s national security council, responded, “We distinguish between the stance of the protesting shopkeepers and the actions of disruptive actors, and Trump should know that U.S. interference in this internal matter would mean destabilizing the entire region and destroying America’s interests. The American people should know — Trump started this adventurism. They should be mindful of their soldiers’ safety.”

Growing revolt: Radical inflation in Iran causing collapse of large middle class