WASHINGTON

President Donald Trump stated Wednesday that Iranian citizens cannot currently rise up against their government because they are being shot by security forces, refusing to confirm whether the U.S. would materially assist dissident groups.

Speaking from the Oval Office, Trump addressed his Tuesday night Truth Social post questioning, "when are the Iranian people going to rise up and fight?" He said he posed the question "sort of knowing the answer. The only answer is that they're being shot."

Trump cited estimates of nearly 65,000 protesters killed following mass demonstrations in December 2025 and January 2026. The Iranian government and military suppressed those protests before U.S. military operations commenced in February, killing thousands in the streets and executing many more in subsequent months.

"That's why it's not happening — and who can blame them?" Trump said.

On Truth Social on Tuesday, Trump stated he is "not trying to force Iran to the bargaining table" and is instead waiting for the regime's collapse. "I couldn't care less if [Iranian officials] sign a worthless, to them, agreement," he wrote, citing U.S. control of the Hormuz Strait and Iran's collapsing economy.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio affirmed this hardline stance during a Wednesday interview on The Brian Kilmeade Show. When asked about reports that Tehran was open to revisiting a lapsed peace agreement from earlier this year, Rubio said, "That ship, in many ways, has sailed — no pun intended with regards to the straits."

Trump predicted the Iranian regime would weaken enough that "at some point, they're not going to be able to shoot [dissidents] so easily because the people aren't going to take it."

The U.S. approach has split Democrats. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries delivered a fiery press briefing criticizing Trump's handling of Iran. But centrist Democrats — Reps. Jimmy Panetta of California, Jared Golden of Maine, Henry Cuellar of Texas, Jim Costa of California, and Greg Landsman of Ohio — broke ranks and supported a resolution offering Trump a 30-day window to conduct military operations against Iran.