Trump's already shown the world he's willing to use force.
The Maduro raid proved that.
And now Trump just shocked everyone with a Tehran decision as military assets closed on Iran.
Trump Repositions Firepower as Crackdown Intensifies
The United States began deploying military assets to the Middle East this week as Trump weighs striking Iran over its brutal crackdown on protesters.
Fox News reported the Pentagon is repositioning forces in the region after Trump's national security team briefed him on options Tuesday.
The troop movements come as Iran's clerical regime enters its third week of violently suppressing nationwide protests that started over economic collapse.
NBC News reported the death toll has jumped past 2,500 people killed, while NPR cited estimates of at least 2,000 deaths from human rights monitoring groups.
Trump evacuated hundreds of troops from Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar — the largest U.S. military installation in the Middle East — moving them to safer locations as a precaution against Iranian retaliation if strikes occur.
The regime shut down internet access across Iran for five days, deployed surveillance drones over protesters, and unleashed security forces with live ammunition.
Trump told reporters Wednesday that Iran informed his administration the killing had stopped and executions of protesters wouldn't proceed.
"We have been notified pretty strongly — but we'll find out what that all means," Trump said in the Oval Office.
Now Trump has decided to deal a blow to the bloodthirsty neocons itching for conflict and signaled a rapprochement.
But the President didn't rule out military action.
This Mirrors Trump's Maximum Pressure Playbook
Trump's building pressure on Iran the same way he did during his first term when he withdrew from Obama's disastrous nuclear deal in 2018.
The first Trump administration slapped more than 1,500 sanctions on Iran between 2018 and 2021 — more than any administration in U.S. history.
That maximum pressure campaign targeted the Revolutionary Guard Corps, Iran's Central Bank, the Supreme Leader's office, and foreign companies doing business with Tehran.
Trump restored that strategy in his second term after Biden let Iran rebuild its economy and edge closer to nuclear weapons.
The sanctions devastated Iran's economy — GDP per capita collapsed from over $8,000 in 2012 to barely above $5,000 today, according to World Bank data.
Iran's currency, the rial, has lost most of its value since Trump's first-term sanctions, destroying the purchasing power of teachers, civil servants, and working families.
That economic destruction sparked the current protests that have Tehran's clerical rulers scrambling.
Trump also ordered the January 2020 drone strike that killed Qasem Soleimani, commander of Iran's Quds Force, near Baghdad International Airport.
The regime never retaliated effectively because Trump made clear he'd hit them harder if they tried.
Pentagon's Got Trump Multiple Options on the Table
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump keeps all options available, including airstrikes.
"I think one thing President Trump is very good at is always keeping all of his options on the table and air strikes would be one of the many, many options on the table for the commander in chief," Leavitt told reporters Monday.
Former Pentagon official Matthew Kroenig told NPR the easiest target would be Iran's missile program.
Another option involves striking the security forces leading the crackdown on demonstrators.
But Kroenig pointed to Trump's Venezuela operation as a model for creative approaches.
"After the Maduro raid, you can't count out something more creative, some kind of special operations move by the United States or Israel, say, directly against the Iranian leadership," Kroenig explained.
Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu discussed launching "round two" strikes on Iran during their meeting last month at Mar-a-Lago.
The two leaders greenlit bombing Iran's nuclear facilities in June 2025 in a 12-day operation the Israelis called a tremendous success.
Netanyahu argued Tehran might need another reminder not to rebuild those capabilities.
Sources:
- Alex Brandon, "US sending military assets to Middle East, Trump weighs Iran strike: sources," Fox News, January 15, 2026.
- Gordon Lubold, Courtney Kube and Alexander Smith, "Trump warns Iran against protest executions as death toll jumps past 2,500, activists say," NBC News, January 14, 2026.
- Franco Ordoñez, "Trump continues to threaten military action against Iran," NPR, January 13, 2026.
- Barak Ravid, "Netanyahu raised possible 'round 2' strikes on Iran with Trump," Axios, December 31, 2025.
- "Iran–United States relations during the first Trump administration," Wikipedia, accessed January 15, 2026.
- "Maximum Pressure Campaign on the Regime in Iran," U.S. Department of State, December 1, 2020.
- "Sanctions 5: Trump's 'Maximum Pressure' Targets," The Iran Primer, March 8, 2021.
