Trump Said the U.S. Is "Locked and Loaded" if Iran Kills Peaceful Protesters

President Donald Trump has had quite extreme responses to peaceful protests. During his time in office, he has made the controversial decision multiple times to send the National Guard into U.S. cities where Black Lives Matter and "No Kings Day" protests were happening. However, now it seems that he's on the other side of the battle, claiming to want to protect protesters in Iran.

Trump threatened to lash out at Iran for the way that authorities there are responding to peaceful protests. He wrote on Truth Social, "If Iran shots [sic] and violently kills peaceful protesters, which is their custom, the United States of America will come to their rescue. We are locked and loaded and ready to go."

The social post had some readers wondering what Trump means by "locked and loaded."

The phrase "locked and loaded" is a military expression that means a weapon is armed, ammunition is in place, and it's ready to fire, per Iran Intl.

Webster's Dictionary cites the term to an even more specific origin, saying that it specifically means an M-16 rifle is loaded with a magazine inserted. Webster's says that it refers specifically to the removable disk volume being prepared for use, locked into the drive with the heads loaded.

So, what did Trump mean when he said that we are "locked and loaded"? Essentially, he warned that the U.S. has weapons prepared and ready to use against Iran.

International relations scholar Kamran Matin said that his words could be interpreted as an "explicit threat that could be interpreted as readiness for military action," per Iran Intl.

However, the scholar also noted that Trump's volatile nature should be taken into account, as Trump often exaggerates and makes extreme statements that aren't exactly literal.

A senior advisor to Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Ali Larijani, responded to Trump's statement by saying that Trump should be careful because interfering could cause chaos in the Middle East, per the BBC.

Larijani wrote, "Trump should know that U.S. interference in this internal matter would mean destabilising the entire region and destroying America's interests."

Larijani also responded with a threat of their own: "Any attempt to interfere with Iran's security under any pretext will inevitably face Iran's resolute rejection and provoke regrettable consequences."

Another key advisor, Ali Shamkhani, wrote, "Iran's national security is a red line, not a topic for adventurous tweets," on X (formerly Twitter).

Fox News reported that at least seven people have died so far in Iran's protests, and the BBC reported that at least eight have been killed. The protests were sparked by economic conditions.

As of Jan. 2, 2026, the protests in Iran are on their sixth day. They are the largest protests in the country since protests over the death of Mahsa Amini (a 22-year-old who died in police custody) in 2022, according to NPR.