Trump Sends ‘Massive Fleet’ Toward Iran Amid Threats Over Protest Crackdown
President Donald Trump confirmed Thursday that a “big flotilla” of U.S. warships is heading toward Iran, signaling heightened tensions as the Islamic regime reportedly prepares a brutal wave of executions targeting anti-government protesters.
Speaking aboard Air Force One, Trump said the deployment is precautionary but underscored his warning to Tehran: any massacre of demonstrators will bring overwhelming U.S. retaliation.
“We’re watching Iran. You know, we have a lot of ships going that direction just in case,” Trump told reporters. “We have a big flotilla going in that direction, and we’ll see what happens.”
The president claimed his previous warning to Tehran directly halted a mass execution. “I said, ‘If you hang those people, you’re gonna be hit harder than you’ve ever been hit. It’ll make what we did to your Iran nuclear look like peanuts,’” Trump recounted. “And an hour before this horrible thing was going to take place, they canceled it.”
He reiterated that the U.S. presence is intended as a deterrent, not a provocation — but said he won’t hesitate if Iran crosses the line. “We have an armada. We have a massive fleet heading in that direction. And maybe we won’t have to use it. We’ll see.”
Mass protests erupted across Iran in late December following years of repression, economic hardship, and religious crackdowns. According to the U.S.-based Human Rights Activist News Agency, over 5,000 protesters have been confirmed dead, with nearly 10,000 additional deaths under investigation. The regime has reportedly arrested close to 27,000 people and implemented a nationwide internet blackout to conceal the violence.
Trump’s comments come as the war of words between Washington and Tehran intensifies. On Tuesday, the president responded to threats against his life, warning: “Anything ever happens [to me], we’re going to blow the whole — the whole country’s going to get blown up.”
Iran fired back the next day. Gen. Abolfazl Shekarchi, a spokesman for Iran’s armed forces, said: “Trump knows that if any hand of aggression is extended toward our leader, we not only cut that hand but also we will set fire to their world.”
Last year, Trump ordered a coordinated strike on Iran’s nuclear infrastructure, carried out in partnership with Israel. That 12-Day War took a serious toll on Iran’s top military brass and research centers, setting back the regime’s nuclear ambitions and demonstrating Trump’s willingness to act decisively.
Now, as Iran teeters on the edge of internal collapse, the Trump administration appears ready to act again — if the regime dares to turn its guns on its own people.