President Donald Trump confirmed on Tuesday that he does not want to see a “regime change” in Iran following a major ceasefire agreement between Israel and Iran that was negotiated after the U.S. military conducted strikes against Iran’s three nuclear facilities in the Middle East.
In response to a reporter asking the president Tuesday on Air Force One if he wanted to see a “regime change” in Iran, Trump said, “No. If there was, there was. But no, I don’t want it.”
“I’d like to see everything calm down as quickly as possible. Regime change takes chaos, and ideally, we don’t want to see so much chaos, so we’ll see how it does,” Trump added. “You know, the Iranians are very good traders, very good business people, and they’ve got a lot of oil. They should be fine. They should be able to rebuild and do a good job. They’re never going to have nuclear, but other than that, they should do a great job.”
Trump’s comments on Tuesday come after the 47th president appeared to suggest in a social media post on Sunday that “regime change” might be needed in Iran to “MAKE IRAN GREAT AGAIN.”
In a Sunday statement on Truth Social, the president said, “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!!!”
READ MORE: Trump suggests ‘regime change’ to ‘Make Iran Great Again’
Following Trump’s Truth Social post hinting at a major “regime change” in the Middle East, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt assured reporters that the U.S. military’s “posture” regarding regime change had not changed.
Leavitt told reporters, “The President was just simply raising a question that I think many people around the world are asking, if the Iranian regime refuses to give up their nuclear program or engage in talks … if they refuse to engage in diplomacy moving forward, why shouldn’t the Iranian people rise up against this brutal terrorist regime.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio also emphasized during a Sunday interview on CBS News’ “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan” that the U.S. military strikes ordered by the president were not an “attack on Iran,” an “attack on the Iranian people,” or intended to force a “regime change.”
“This wasn’t a regime change move,” Rubio said. “This was designed to degrade and, or destroy three nuclear sites related to their nuclear weaponization ambitions, and that was delivered on yesterday.”
