With his promise to help the protesters in Iran, US President Donald Trump has put himself under pressure. Even his own party members are warning him not to attack. But will he listen to them?
On the night of January 2, 2026, US President Donald Trump put himself in a difficult position. If peaceful protesters are killed, the US will come to the aid of the Iranians, he wrote on his online platform Truth Social, German public media ARD recalls.
Now, after several hundred protesters have already been killed, Republican Senator Lindsey Graham is making it clear what he wants. Graham, a close ally of President Trump, has targeted Iran's supreme leader - Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. "He is a modern-day Hitler, a religious Nazi, a terrible person." According to the senator, it is time for Khamenei to step down, the people want him to go. "If I were you, Mr. President, I would eliminate this leader who is killing people. You have to put an end to this!", Graham said on Fox News.
Trump is exploring options
According to the "Wall Street Journal", today, January 13, Trump will receive a detailed briefing with options for intervention, including military and non-military ones. This does not mean that the president will make a decision immediately afterwards.
However, Trump knows that he has raised expectations. On Sunday aboard Air Force One, he said the following: "It seems that there are people who were killed, even though they shouldn't have been killed… They rule there with violence… We are looking at the situation carefully, we are discussing some very strong options and we will make a decision", ARD quoted him as saying.
Fast operations, impressive footage
Democratic Senator Mark Warner points out that in less than a year, President Trump has sent the US military to attack in Syria, Iraq, Iran, Yemen, Nigeria and Venezuela, and now he is threatening Colombia, Greenland and other nations. "I'm not sure that Americans elected Donald Trump as president to play the role of world policeman", the senator emphasizes.
Trump seems to be intoxicated by the success of the American military operation in Venezuela, ARD further writes and recalls the several easy military operations carried out before, which did not hide any particular risks, but provided impressive footage. Trump apparently likes the image of a decisive and courageous leader, ARD comments.
Danger of achieving the opposite effect?
However, Iran is different, very different, warns Trump's party colleague, Senator Rand Paul. In an interview with ABC television, he emphasizes that if the US decides to bomb Iran, this could have the opposite effect - people will unite on a national basis, since they will perceive this as an attack by a foreign power, Paul pointed out.
Democrat Tim Kaine is of the same opinion. In his words, a military action in Iran would be "a huge mistake". He told CBS that it would bring back painful memories of the 1950s, when the US overthrew then-Iranian Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadegh. In addition, a US military operation in Iran would allow the regime in Tehran to blame its own failure on the United States, ARD quoted the Democratic senator as saying.
Will Trump hear the warnings?
On the night of Tuesday, January 13, the US president imposed punitive tariffs - 25 percent on any country that still trades with Iran and at the same time imports goods into the US. It seems that he has heard the warnings. In addition, the White House continues to claim that it is betting on diplomacy. After all, the Iranians have signaled that they want to negotiate.
It is possible that Trump instinctively feels that coming to the aid of the protesters in Iran is easier said than done: it would be complicated, could go wrong, and could have unintended consequences.
But it is also just as possible that the president will ultimately ignore these warnings.