President Donald Trump muddied three of his top allies’ claims that the United States wasn’t attempting a “regime change” in Iran.
Trump’s inner circle–notably Vice President JD Vance, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio–has been in damage control ever since the president announced that the U.S. had bombed three Iranian nuclear sites Saturday night.
In a Truth Social post Sunday, the president unraveled the narrative that the U.S. strikes on Iran were not leading up to a “regime change” in the region.
“It’s not politically correct to use the term, “Regime Change,” but if the current Iranian Regime is unable to MAKE IRAN GREAT AGAIN, why wouldn’t there be a Regime change??? MIGA!!!” he wrote.
Vance had insisted to NBC’s Meet the Press Sunday that the U.S. was not entering a war with Iran, adamantly defending the president’s decision to bomb the country’s nuclear sites as a purely tactical move.
“We are not at war with Iran, we are at war with Iran’s nuclear program,” the vice president said.
When asked by host Kristen Welker if the United States supports Israel killing Iran’s leader, Vance responded, “Well, look, that’s up to the Israelis, but our view has been very clear that we don’t want a regime change. We do not want to protract this or build this out any more than it’s already been built out. We want to end their nuclear program, and then we want to talk to the Iranians about a long-term settlement here.”
Vance later added: “What we said to the Iranians is we do not want war with Iran; we actually want peace. But we want peace in the context of them not having a nuclear weapons program, and that’s exactly what the president accomplished last night,” he continued.
Rubio echoed a similar sentiment to Vance, assuring Margaret Brennan on CBS’s Face the Nation Sunday that the bombings were a “very precise mission” and “not an attack on the Iranian people.”
“This wasn’t a regime-change move. This was designed to degrade and/or destroy three nuclear sites related to their nuclear weaponization ambitions, and that was delivered on yesterday,” he said.
“What happens next is up to the regime. The regime wants peace, we’re ready for peace. They want to do something else, they’re incredibly vulnerable. They can’t even protect their own airspace.”
When asked whether Iran was headed towards a regime change, Rubio strongly denied it.
“You don’t have to like the regime. There are a lot of regimes around the world that we don’t like. Okay, but in this particular case, what we are focused on is not the changing of the regime. Okay, that’s up to the Iranian people if they want to do that, but that’s not what we’re focused on. Our national interest is about one thing, and that is Iran not getting anywhere near the capability to weaponize and have nuclear weapons.”
Similarly, when quizzed on potential regime change Sunday morning, Hegseth was quick to answer. “This mission was not and has not been about regime change. The President authorized a precision operation to neutralize the threats to our national interests posed by the Iranian nuclear program.”
The president’s latest comments contradict his closest allies after the U.S. joined Israel in strikes against three nuclear Iranian sites on Saturday.
Iran’s Foreign Minister, Abbas Araghchi, warned Sunday the U.S. will be “solely and fully responsible for the dangerous consequences” as Iran weighs up its response. Araghchi said Trump “betrayed” American voters with the move while adding it crossed “a very big red line.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu commended Trump for a “bold decision,” adding the countries acted “full coordination”.
