Donald Trump speaks to the media before boarding Air Force One at West Palm Beach, Florida.
Trump says Iran rulers surviving past his term equals “defeat”
Note: AI technology was used to generate this article’s audio.
US President Donald Trump said he would view it as a defeat if Iran’s current rulers remain in power at the end of his term.
In an interview with the Salem News Channel, Trump was asked: “If the Iran crazies are still in power when you leave office, will that have been a defeat for you?”
He replied, “Yes, that would be a defeat… Absolutely.”
Trump also said he would not hesitate to use military force against Iran again if needed.
Asked whether he would hesitate, he responded: “No. No hesitation… If I saw things going the other way, I would do that. It’s possible I would do it right now.”
He described the Iranian government as collapsing under severe economic pressure.
“Their regime is collapsing… They are not doing well, they have 301% inflation, their economy is gone, they’re not paying their soldiers,” Trump said.
Trump defended the US military campaign, noting limited intense fighting and no recent American combat deaths.
“We’ve been fighting… at a pretty rapid clip for three weeks, not seven months… We haven’t lost a soldier in five months and we control the Gulf,” he stated.
The remarks came amid an ongoing conflict that began in February.
Trump has repeatedly claimed the Iranian military has been heavily degraded, saying its navy, air force and much of its manufacturing capacity have been destroyed, while insisting the United States remains “locked and loaded.”
The comments followed recent midterm elections in which Republicans lost control of Congress, a result some in the administration linked partly to the war’s domestic impact.
Trump has continued to defend the campaign as necessary to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons.
