Expert reveals why Trump uses 'state violence' on US protests while backing Iranians

Border Patrol commander Greg Bovino stands accompanied by federal agents at a gas station in Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S. January 13, 2026. REUTERS/Seth Herald

President Donald Trump has been vocal in his support of pro-democracy protesters in Iran — but has endorsed heavy-handed tactics for American protesters. One expert is offering a theory as to why that dichotomy exists.

The New York Times' Peter Baker wrote Tuesday that Trump has become increasingly more involved in backing Iranian demonstrators, posting to his Truth Social platform that the "killers and abusers" of more than 2,400 protesters in the Islamic Republic "will pay a big price." He has also urged protesters to remain in the streets, and pledged: "Help is on its way."

Meanwhile, the president has used demeaning language toward Americans protesting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Minneapolis, Minnesota following ICE agent Jonathan Ross' fatal shooting of 37 year-old U.S. citizen Renee Good. In a lengthy Truth Social post written just an hour prior to his post about Iran, Trump called Minneapolis demonstrators "anarchists and professional agitators" who were deliberately causing "unrest" to distract from daycare fraud that took place in 2022 and was widely investigated.

Baker posited that the opposite approaches Trump has taken to demonstrations in the Middle East vs. in the United States signal that the president is happy to support movements aimed at ousting an unpopular leader — unless that unpopular leader is himself.

"The situations in Iran and Minnesota, of course, are different and complicated, but the president’s rule of thumb seems simple enough: Those who take to the streets supporting a cause he favors are laudable heroes," he wrote. "Those who take to the streets to oppose him are illegitimate radicals."

Former State Department official Amy Hawthorne, who Baker described as a "longtime scholar of democracy issues in the Middle East," agreed, and added that Trump simply "frames each protest movement in terms of himself."

"He justifies state violence against protesters who challenge him or his policies, and promises protection when he thinks demonstrators can hurt his adversaries," she said.

Baker noted that Trump's cheering of pro-democracy protesters has not extended to Venezuela. After ousting President Nicolás Maduro, Trump allowed Maduro's vice president Delcy Rodroguez to become acting president, and has so far not entertained calls to support Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado's bid to lead the South American petrostate. He notably did not rule out a potential one-eighty if Machado was willing to hand over her Nobel Peace Prize, which she won in 2025 for her efforts to oppose the Maduro government.

Click here to read Baker's full analysis in the New York Times (subscription required).

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