President Trump has doubled down on his warning to the Iranian regime. On Thursday, President Trump warned that if the Iranian leadership begins to kill protesters in the streets, then the United States will “hit them very hard.” Trump offered similar remarks last month when protests began to break out in Iran. The New York Post reported more on President Trump’s warning to Iran: President Trump on Thursday reiterated his support for Iranian protesters as the civilian unrest continues. “I have let them know that if they start killing people, which they tend to do during their riots… we’re going to hit them very hard,” Trump said in an interview with radio host Hugh Hewitt on Thursday. Trump had warned last month that the regime would face consequences if the government shot protesters. When Hewitt mentioned that dozens have already been killed in the protests, Trump said some were due to stampedes and not necessarily caused by law enforcement. “I’m not sure I can necessarily hold somebody responsible for that, but … they’ve been told very strongly — even more strongly than I’m speaking to you right now — that if they do that, they’re going to have to pay hell,” Trump says. Listen to the 47th President below: Here’s what the protests look like so far in Iran: BREAKING: Major protests in Iran – updates: – Massive crowd comes out in Tehran– Nationwide internet blackout reported– Iran suspends flights at Tabriz International Airport, Mehr News reports– More than 340 protests have taken place across all of Iran’s 31 provinces-… pic.twitter.com/5T7ao4u03v — Insider Paper (@TheInsiderPaper) January 8, 2026 BREAKING: Telephone lines cut out in Iran as nationwide protests rage- APpic.twitter.com/YrqMscS3qA — Election Wizard (@ElectionWiz) January 8, 2026 BREAKING: Massive anti-regime protest have now also erupted in the city of Dezful in southwestern Iran. The Islamic regime’s security forces are stretched thin due to mass protests taking place in more than 100 cities now. pic.twitter.com/eZllxTRMRs — Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) January 8, 2026 CBS News reported Iranian authorities have cut off the internet as a response to the massive demonstrations erupting throughout the country: Iranian authorities appeared to be cutting off internet access Thursday in the capital and some other regions of the country as mass protests and chanting against the government continue. Multiple sources in Tehran told CBS News the internet was down in the capital. The NetBlocks monitoring organization said at about 8:30 local time in Iran that its live data “show #Iran is now in the midst of a nationwide internet blackout; the incident follows a series of escalating digital censorship measures targeting protests across the country and hinders the public’s right to communicate at a critical moment.” One CBS News source in the capital said there were “huge crowds out across Tehran. Unprecedented,” and confirmed that the internet was down for most people in the city. He said some people, with more robust, more reliable business accounts could still get online. Not long after, that source became unreachable, suggesting the blackout had widened even further. There were reports on social media, largely by anti-regime activists, that web service was also down or severely restricted in the cities of Esfahan, Lodegan, Abdanan, and parts of Shiraz.