Warum der schießwütige Trump die Bombardierung des Iran (wieder) bereuen könnte

 [Donald Trump](https://inews.co.uk/topic/donald-trump?srsltid=AfmBOoqsabpIqzsmb3GqbGn_Mmu0fXRwo5rUTyc7C-ekA0tLNEawHsLg&ico=in-line_link) has started the year in trigger-happy mood.  

His new “might is right” approach to global affairs was heralded by his military raid on Caracas and the [audacious capture of former Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro](https://inews.co.uk/news/how-us-raid-capture-venezuelas-president-unfolded-4146763?srsltid=AfmBOoodo1Yb9Op2m0OLyuW_xjhByaacuE5Et4OssLxSAfh_Ta603m-U&ico=in-line_link). He continues to flex, suggesting that military options may yet be [used to seize Greenland](https://inews.co.uk/news/politics/greenland-fearing-trumps-next-move-why-he-wants-arctic-4148708?ico=in-line_link). He rattled the windows in Syria again over the weekend, launching fresh [air strikes on Isis ](https://inews.co.uk/news/world/us-carries-out-large-scale-strikes-against-isis-targets-in-syria-4163118?ico=in-line_link)targets. And at home, he spent the past several days vigorously defending a trigger-happy immigration agent who – in an earlier era – would be facing murder charges over the [killing of 37-year old Minneapolis motorist Renee Nicole Good](https://inews.co.uk/news/what-videos-of-ice-tell-us-4159532?srsltid=AfmBOoqeOojC1xqAZ5tqsARzpC9cH14xI8wLyb6ffd4XWDTzRvhwtAOV&ico=in-line_link). 

But now, Trump faces an even more serious test of his shoot-first, evade-questions-later policy. Will the author of the “Donroe doctrine” now authorise air strikes on far-off [Iran](https://inews.co.uk/topic/iran?srsltid=AfmBOop8k3kNFdB4UDjFxJsuRhna9rrm-PujVUmsRDgTChdcpsiFoHBN&ico=in-line_link), where Washington believes there is a real possibility that the hardline clerical regime is close to collapse? Or will he exercise uncharacteristic restraint, and take the advice of some of his strategists who are warning that any US involvement could only inflame the situation and put protesters at risk of violent reprisals. 

“Iran is looking at FREEDOM, perhaps like never before”, Trump wrote on his social media account on Saturday. “The USA stands ready to help!!!” he said. That is notably vaguer language that he used days earlier. On 2 January, he warned that the United States military was “locked and loaded”, promising that if Iran “violently kills peaceful protesters, which is their custom, the United States of America will come to their rescue”. So far, reports that cannot be independently confirmed claim that at least 217 protesters have been killed by the regime as it tries to suppress [rapidly spiralling protests](https://inews.co.uk/news/world/irans-people-no-longer-cowed-brutal-regime-knows-it-4163298?ico=in-line_link), but no American military action has yet materialised.

Trump was reportedly briefed over the weekend about a range of military options available to him. *The New York Times* reported on Sunday that [Trump was mulling](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/10/us/politics/trump-iran-strikes.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share) tactical strikes that specifically target elements of the country’s security services already engaged in violence against demonstrators. It is also reported that Pentagon planners are also considering attacks on non-military sites across the country.

He is scheduled to be briefed by senior administration officials on Tuesday on specific options to respond to the protests, [*The Wall Street Journal* reported](https://www.wsj.com/world/middle-east/major-trump-briefing-on-iran-options-planned-for-tuesday-5827429f), citing US officials. This might include not only military strikes but the use of secretive cyber weapons against Iranian military and civilian sites, placing more sanctions on the government and boosting anti-government sources online, it reported.