Trump continues to threaten navy motion in opposition to Iran : NPR

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

President Trump continues to threaten navy motion in opposition to Iran and says he’s receiving hourly experiences on the violence in opposition to protesters as Iranian safety forces attempt to quash rising unrest.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

We do have many casualty estimates out of Iran, considered one of which comes from the Related Press, which says not less than 2,000 individuals have been killed in protests. Now, President Trump has continued to remark in regards to the scenario on his Fact Social account. This message went to protesters – quote, “assistance is on its method.” The president additionally mentioned he has canceled all conferences with Iranian officers. He had referred, in current days, to such conferences. On Monday, the president additionally mentioned he is imposing a 25% tariff on international locations doing enterprise with Iran.

MARTIN: NPR White Home correspondent Franco Ordoñez is with us now to convey us updated. Good morning, Franco.

FRANCO ORDOÑEZ, BYLINE: Good morning, Michel.

MARTIN: So what ought to we take away from President Trump’s newest message to Iran?

ORDOÑEZ: Yeah, simply this morning the president urged protesters to maintain at it, and he mentioned he cancelled all conferences with Iranian officers till the killings cease. By means of social media, Trump seems to be persevering with to place strain on the regime and utilizing his negotiating ways forward of constructing a choice on the subsequent steps. Now, in fact, Trump usually employs this hot-and-cold strategy to negotiations, and nothing is actually definitive till it truly is.

MARTIN: How significantly is the U.S. taking threats from Tehran to retaliate in opposition to U.S. or Israeli navy bases?

ORDOÑEZ: Nicely, Trump says, in the event that they do, the U.S. will reply.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: In the event that they try this, we are going to hit them at ranges that they’ve by no means been hit earlier than. They will not even imagine it. I’ve choices which are so robust.

ORDOÑEZ: And Karoline Leavitt, the press secretary, known as Iran’s threats laughable. She mentioned on Fox Information yesterday that the Iranians could also be speaking an enormous sport publicly, however they’re saying one thing very totally different privately.

MARTIN: So the president spoke of choices. What are these choices?

ORDOÑEZ: Yeah, Trump and Leavitt will not forecast what they’ll do. However Matthew Kroenig labored on the Iranian file on the Pentagon, and he informed me the lowest-hanging fruit can be a strike on Iran’s missile program. One other chance, he mentioned, can be strikes in opposition to the safety providers who’re main the crackdown on demonstrations. And Kroenig additionally pointed to the Venezuela operation.

MATTHEW KROENIG: After which lastly, after the Maduro raid, you’ll be able to’t rely out one thing extra inventive, some type of particular operations transfer by america or Israel, say, instantly in opposition to the Iranian management.

ORDOÑEZ: Kroenig says it isn’t one thing you’d count on from a U.S. president, however Trump would not appear to be constrained by conventional norms.

MARTIN: Nicely, you realize, to that finish, although, the president hasn’t made human rights a precedence in his international coverage, besides beneath very uncommon circumstances. So inform us somewhat bit extra about what sort of deal or what sort of negotiations the president appears to be pursuing.

ORDOÑEZ: Yeah, he is positively not put human rights in the beginning. However we should always do not forget that in the course of the first Trump administration, Trump did order navy strikes on Syria in response to chemical assaults by the Assad regime. Trump mentioned he was moved on the time by the photographs of choking youngsters. That mentioned, what Trump actually needs in Iran is a deal that completely prevents the federal government from getting a nuclear weapon. And Kroenig, who’s now on the Atlantic Council, thinks the Iranian supreme chief may very well be keen to comply with a zero enrichment deal if he thinks it should assist the regime survive. The subsequent query, although, shall be, in fact, does the regime truly comply with by with that going ahead sooner or later?

MARTIN: That’s White Home correspondent Franco Ordoñez. Franco, thanks.

ORDOÑEZ: Thanks, Michel.

Copyright © 2026 NPR. All rights reserved. Go to our web site phrases of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for additional data.

Accuracy and availability of NPR transcripts could differ. Transcript textual content could also be revised to appropriate errors or match updates to audio. Audio on npr.org could also be edited after its unique broadcast or publication. The authoritative report of NPR’s programming is the audio report.