Iran International
A new photo of US President Donald Trump posing with a “Make Iran Great Again” hat is ramping up suspense over US intentions as protests there which Trump vowed to protect are being met with deadly force.
The photo, posted on Senator Lindsey Graham’s account on X, shows the two men smiling aboard Air Force One as Trump holds the hat which he has signed.
Trump first deployed the slogan at the height of a 12-day war in June, saying that if Iran’s rulers couldn’t “make Iran great again,” regime change should be on the table.
“God bless and protect the brave people of Iran who are standing up to tyranny,” Graham wrote, referring to nationwide protests now in their ninth day.
Holly Dagres, an Iran expert at the Washington Institute, told Iran International that while the photo leaves room for interpretation it at least shows the Iran issue is on the president's radar.
“While much of the world’s focus is squarely on Venezuela, President Donald Trump’s comments about the ongoing protests and posing with the MIGA hat suggest his mind is also on Iran,” Dagres said.
“It’s hard to interpret what the president’s next steps are, but the clerical establishment won’t be resting easy," she said.
Demonstrators across Iran continue to chant slogans against the country’s supreme leader in protests which entered their ninth day.
Trump has twice warned that the United States will respond forcefully if Iranian authorities kill protesters. According to the Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), at least 19 protesters and one member of the security forces have been killed so far.
Behnam Ben Taleblu, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, suggested the message could ripple beyond the White House.
“Hopefully his statement has a contagion effect in the Congress and helps the administration adhere to its own red line about standing by the Iranian people and taking down their apparatus of repression,” he told Iran International.
Others see the moment as part of a broader warning directed at Tehran. Kamran Matin, who teaches International Relations at Sussex University in Britain, described Trump’s messaging as layered and intentional.
“More broadly, the remarkable success of Trump in leading targeted and consequential operations, from the assassination of Qassem Soleimani to the bombing of Iran’s nuclear sites to the seizure of Nicolas Maduro has likely increased Trump’s appetite for using limited military force to achieve political ends in Iran now that the regime is in its weakest point,” he told Iran International.
The image has fueled anticipation online about whether Trump might pursue tougher measures toward Tehran, particularly after the US seizure of Venezuela and previous strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities.
Greg Brew, an Iran analyst with the Eurasia Group, told Iran International the symbolism of the photo could suggest a willingness to go further.
“Trump has already secured for himself a legacy of doing what no other president would do — bombing Iran’s nuclear program. But recent protests and the success of the Maduro operation suggest he may go further,” Brew said.
