President Donald Trump said on Thursday that his administration is closely watching Iran for signs that it’s killing protesters, and has sent a “big flotilla” toward the region “just in case.”

The president said that he hopes the U.S. fleet is unnecessary. Trump talked about U.S. troop movements regarding Iran while on board Air Force One, with his orders suggesting that tensions between Washington and Tehran are still high amid Iran’s crackdown on anti-government protests.

“We’re watching Iran. You know, we have a lot of ships going that direction just in case. We have a big flotilla going in that direction, and we’ll see what happens,” Trump told reporters.

The president said that he stopped Tehran from following through on hundreds of public executions.

“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.’ And an hour before this horrible thing (the executions) was going to take place, they canceled it,” the president said. “But 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.”

.@POTUS: “We’re watching Iran. We have a lot of ships going that direction just in case… We have a massive fleet heading in that direction, and maybe we won’t have to use it. We’ll see.” pic.twitter.com/eL0sRyJb6u

— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) January 23, 2026

Trump threatened Iran with another attack if the regime used deadly force, as anti-government protests have swept the Middle Eastern country in recent weeks. Tehran has maintained an internet blackout over the entire country for two weeks, as reports suggest that the regime has killed thousands.

The U.S.-based Human Rights Activist News Agency says it has confirmed the deaths of over 5,000 people since mass protests erupted in Iran in late December. The human rights group says it is investigating nearly 10,000 more deaths. It says nearly 27,000 people have been arrested by the regime since the protests started.

Trump and Iran’s top leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, have traded strong words while Washington and Tehran negotiate and threaten each other over the fate of Iranian protesters and a potential U.S. strike.

“Anything ever happens [to me], we’re going to blow the whole — the whole country’s going to get blown up,” Trump said on Tuesday in response to the Iranian regime’s threats on his life.

Tehran hit back on Wednesday. An Iranian military spokesman, Gen. Abolfazl Shekarchi, 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.”

Trump ordered strikes against Iranian nuclear facilities last year, which the United States military carried out in cooperation with Israel, effectively ending the 12-Day War that took a significant toll on Iran’s top military leadership and nuclear research.

President Donald Trump called for Jack Smith to be prosecuted after the former special counsel was grilled by lawmakers for hours about his decision to bring charges against the president in the lead-up to the 2024 election.

Smith faced questions on Thursday from the House Judiciary Committee about whether his investigations into Trump were politically motivated. Smith’s investigation included snooping through the president’s phone records and casting a wide net on Republican lawmakers and Trump allies.

“Based on his testimony today, there is no question that Deranged Jack Smith should be prosecuted for his actions,” Trump posted on Truth Social. “He destroyed the lives of many innocent people, which has been his history as a prosecutor. At a minimum, he committed large scale perjury!”

Smith led investigations into Trump related to the January 6 riot and the president’s handling of classified documents. As part of this investigation, the Biden administration turned over Trump’s government-issued phone to Smith. Smith also subpoenaed all of Trump’s personal phone records.

Earlier on Thursday, Trump said that Smith was a “deranged animal” who should no longer be allowed to practice law.

“If he were a Republican, his license would be taken away from him, and far worse! Hopefully the Attorney General is looking at what he’s done, including some of the crooked and corrupt witnesses that he was attempting to use in his case against me. The whole thing was a Democrat SCAM — A big price should be paid by them for what they have put our Country through!” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

According to the House Judiciary Committee, Smith approved toll record subpoenas for members of Congress “without regard for whether the private communications were constitutionally protected.” Toll records show the length and time of phone calls in addition to who is speaking.

“Smith chose to target President Trump, and only President Trump, in his electors case—setting aside other targets so that he could secure an indictment of President Trump in advance of the election,” the House Judiciary Committee said ahead of the hearing.

Smith had four felony charges related to Trump’s actions following the 2020 election dropped in the weeks after the 2024 election, when Trump soundly defeated former Vice President Kamala Harris.

“It was a political hijacking, and a low point in the History of our Country that such a thing could have happened, and yet, I persevered, against all odds, and WON,” Trump said at the time as the charges were dropped.