President Trump on Tuesday warned that he would take "very strong action" against Iran's leadership if authorities go ahead with executing anti-government demonstrators. "I haven't heard about the hanging. If they hang 'em, you're gonna see some things that – I don't know what you're – where you come from and what your thought process is, but you'll perhaps be very happy," Trump told "CBS Evening News" during an interview in Detroit.
When the show's anchor Tony Dokoupil pressed him to explain what he meant, Trump doubled down, saying that if Iran follows through, the U.S. would respond with "very strong action." Large-scale protests have rocked Iran over the past few weeks.
Trump's Final Warning
More than 2,000 people in Iran have died during the government's violent crackdown on protesters, according to the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency. Other reports suggest the reality could be far worse, with estimates putting the death toll anywhere between 12,000 and 20,000, CBS News reported.
Trump said the "endgame" of taking any tough response toward Tehran would be "to win." When asked what that would look like, he hinted that victory could involve a military operation.
"Well, let's define it in Venezuela. Let's define it with al Baghdadi. He was wiped out. Let's define it with Soleimani, and let's define it in Iran, where [the US military] wiped out the Iran nuclear threat in a period of about 15 minutes once the B-2s got there," the president explained.
"We don't want to see what's happening in Iran happen," Trump continued. "And, you know, if they want to have protests, that's one thing. When they start killing thousands of people – and now you're telling me about hanging – we'll see how that works out for them.
"It's not going to work out good."
Iran in Doldrums
Dokoupil, who recently stepped in as an anchor on "CBS Evening News," challenged Trump on concerns from voters who feel his focus has been shifting away from issues at home and toward conflicts and crises overseas.
"My big focus is here," Trump said, as he claimed that the US economy is thriving. "But you can't be forgetting about bad threats. You can't be forgetting about an Iran with a nuclear weapon. You can't forget that there's tremendous wealth in the Middle East, and a lot of that wealth is coming over here to build plants."
The president added, "My focus is very much on this country, but you can't lose sight of the fact that we need peace all over the world."
Later on, Trump reiterated remarks he had made earlier this month, suggesting that when it comes to decisions abroad, the only real limit on his actions would be his own sense of right and wrong.
"I'm a moral person. I don't like seeing death. I don't like seeing our people hurt. I don't like seeing the other side hurt either," he said.
"You know, when we went into Venezuela we lost nobody, but a lot of people on the other side were killed," the president continued, referring to ousted dictator Nicolas Maduro's security forces. "I don't like that. Somebody else would say, 'Oh, that's wonderful.' I don't like that.
"So yeah, it's limited by my morality. And I have a very high grade of morality, so therefore it's limited."
