Trump Considers “Decisive” Options Against Iran as U.S. Aircraft Carrier, Fighter Jets Head to Middle East
The WSJ: “Those deployments may be the start of a broader buildup that would give Trump the firepower to strike Iran should he choose to use them.”
As the Iranian regime quells the nationwide uprising by massacring tens of thousands of protesters, President Trump is reportedly considering a significant military action against Tehran. “The US president is pushing the Pentagon and White House for attack plans that could collapse the regime,” the British Daily Telegraph reported Tuesday.
According to The Wall Street Journal, President Trump was looking for “decisive” options for a possible strike on Iran. “After pulling back from strikes on Iran last week, President Trump is still pressing aides for what he terms “decisive” military options, U.S. officials said, as Iran appears to have tightened its control of the country and targets protesters through a crackdown that has killed thousands,” the newspaper reported Tuesday.
PRESIDENT TRUMP: “So with Iran, they were going to hang 837 people…and we let them know that if that happens that it will be a very bad day for them, and they decided not to do it.”
“I can’t tell you what’s going to happen in the future but supposedly they’ve taken that off the… pic.twitter.com/b65E3Yb00A
— Fox News (@FoxNews) January 20, 2026
With President Trump keeping ‘all options’ open on Iran, the U.S is moving Navy and Air Force assets to the region, including the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln. “The discussions are happening while the U.S. sends an aircraft carrier and jet fighters to the Middle East,” the WSJ added. “Those deployments may be the start of a broader buildup that would give Trump the firepower to strike Iran should he choose to use them.”
The Associated Press, on Tuesday, tracked the U.S. naval movement:
As tensions remain high between Tehran and Washington, ship-tracking data analyzed by the AP on Monday showed the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier, as well as other American military vessels, in the Strait of Malacca after passing Singapore on a route that could take them to the Middle East.
The Lincoln had been in the South China Sea with its strike group as a deterrent to China over tensions with Taiwan. Tracking data showed that the USS Frank E. Petersen Jr., the USS Michael Murphy and the USS Spruance, all Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyers, were traveling with the Lincoln through the strait.
Multiple U.S. media reports quoting anonymous officials have said the Lincoln, which has its homeport in San Diego, was on its way to the Mideast.
USS Abraham Lincoln passes Iranian bulk carrier on her way to the Middle East
The US Navy’s nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln and her associated carrier strike group overtook the Iranian-flagged bulk carrier Arvin off Singapore on January 18, according to… pic.twitter.com/YoQ7PkFZEa
— MarineTraffic (@MarineTraffic) January 20, 2026
Following fresh threats coming from Tehran, President Trump on Tuesday warned that if an attempt was made on his life, Iran “is going to get blown up.”
“But I have very firm instructions — anything happens, they’re going to wipe [the regime] off the face of this earth,” he told NewsNation.
🚨 WATCH: President Trump threatened Iran that if it tries to harm him, the US will "wipe them off the face of the earth." pic.twitter.com/iPQrGcUuq4
— Raylan Givens (@JewishWarrior13) January 21, 2026
The regime has vowed to declare a global ‘jihad’ if its dictator, Ayatollah Khomeini, was targeted or deposed. “Any attack on the Supreme Leader means a declaration of war with the entire Islamic world and must await the issuance of a Jihad decree by Islamic scholars and the response of Islam’s soldiers in all parts of the world,” Iran’s national security parliamentary commission declared on Tuesday.
Besides heading Iran’s tyrannical regime, Khomeini also poses as the ‘spiritual leader’ of nearly 300 million Shia Muslims worldwide. His regime has propped up and armed Islamic terrorist organizations from Lebanon to Yemen.
Military General, Shekarchi, the Deputy Chief of Armed Forces in Iran, threatens @realDonaldTrump:
“Trump knows that if any hand is extended to harm our Leader, we won't just cut it off, we will set their country on fire and leave them no safe zone anywhere."
But I strongly… pic.twitter.com/gOOk8EWEHl
— Masih Alinejad 🏳️ (@AlinejadMasih) January 20, 2026
With the U.S. building up its military presence in the Middle East, the Israeli government and armed forces were on high alert. Iran has threatened to attack Israel if the U.S. takes any military action against the regime.
“Israel is maintaining close coordination with the United States on Iran, and the prevailing assessment is that a military strike remains on the table and could still take place,” Israel’s Ynetnews observed Sunday. “Until then, the United States is building both defensive and offensive capabilities, deploying cargo aircraft and an aircraft carrier to the region.”
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF), given its successful execution of the 12-Day War (June 13-24, 2024), is well-positioned to counter foreign threats, the IDF’s chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, assured on Wednesday. The Israeli fighter jets had knocked out Iran’s air defense systems and struck its nuclear and military sites as part of the operation Rising Lion during the war.
“During the war and in Operation ‘Rising Lion,’ [the IDF] accumulated operational experience unparalleled anywhere in the world, and we will draw lessons from it and employ it to ensure the security of the State of Israel at all times,” the IDF’s chief of staff said.
Earlier this week, the Israeli Air Force received three new U.S.-made F35s to its fleet of fighter jets. The news F35s are “a significant milestone in strengthening the IDF’s operational capabilities,” he observed.
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They’ve been attacking us for decades, get it done and over with.
PRESIDENT TRUMP: “So with Iran, they were going to hang 837 people…and we let them know that if that happens that it will be a very bad day for them, and they decided not to do it.”
1. They already did it
2. Trump knows they did it
3. They know that Trump knows
4. But what they don’t know is what Trump will do about
Trump not talking more would help. We had better have very detailed info about what to strike and just when or the people holed up in their homes will stay there. Also needed is the where abouts of all those civilian prisoners who need to be freed.
So, we are days away from the beginning of the end of the regime?
You are not going to take a country like Iran by bombing. Those in charge will just ride it out and strike back using asymmetrical warfare. You have to put boots on the ground. Israel doesn’t have near enough and the US shouldn’t do it.
Has anyone given a thought of how many Iranian (and allied) sleep cells are in the US. I can conceive of a large number of such cells comprised of both legal and illegal immigrants. We’ve been letting in Iranians Lebanese Iraqis, and so-called Palestinians for years, Activated such cells could cause a lot of damage here in the homeland.
Nobody is “taking” Iran. The regime has never had majority support, it’s always been a small population in control. The people of Iran are the ‘boots on the ground’.
Unarmed boots on the ground
If there are Iranian sleeper cells here, they plan to damage us sooner or later. I’d rather they do their damage in response to the collapse of the mullahs’ regime than see them do their damage with nothing to show for it in return.
As scaulen said above, we’ve been involved in a low-level war with Iran (operating largely through proxies) for decades, during which they’ve killed hundreds of Americans, attacked our assets, and attacked our allies (and their citizens). We don’t need any other reason to attack them. If we do now, it should be to leverage the unrest there to our own advantage and to rid ourselves of this pest permanently (rather than striking at some other time when the regime can withstand it, as we have done before).
Remember that Bill Clinton missed his chance to eliminate Bin Laden. Trump shouldn’t make the same mistake. Mistakes are “teaching opportunities.” Did we learn our lesson from Clinton’s mistake?
The two cases are completely different. Iran is its own country with a loyal armed force, In Bin Laden case I recall that Saudia Arabia offered to hand him over and Clinton said no.
Look, you want to bomb missile factories, storage facilities, revolutionary guard barracks, the leadership – go right ahead. I support it. That is not going to make the government fall.
What happens if the leadership is taken out?
The mullahs and iranian revolutionary guard seem pretty loyal. I don’t know how far down the hierarchy you’d have to go before the regime would collapse.
Kill the leaders of the regime and the protest becomes a successful revolution.
There’s no need to actually invade.
have drones circling their city as 50% recon 50% payload
May be too late already. The regime has killed at least 15,000 so far, and imprisoned many more.
Not having a carrier anywhere nearby really limited our options.
And we’re still a few days away from having one in range.