President Donald Trump made clear Wednesday the administration is “not looking for a long-term war” with Iran.
Trump addressed concerns among members of the Make America Great Again base that the United States would be pulled into a long-term war, while fielding a question from Brian Glenn of Real America’s Voice.
“We’re not looking for a long-term war. We’re looking– I only want one thing–Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon. That’s it,” Trump said. “I’m not looking long-term, short-term, and I’ve been saying that for 20 years. I’ve been saying it as a civilian, who got a lot of publicity, people would cover it.”
“Very simply, Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon. That’s it,” he continued. “It’s not a question of anything else, and if you did, you wouldn’t have much of a country because they would use it on us and use it on other people and they’d be a terror all over the world.”
Trump notably tweeted in 2011, before he even entered the political world, that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon, and has been firm in his stance throughout his political career and the presidential campaign in 2024.
Trump notably gave Iran a 60-day deadline, which expired Thursday, June 12, to make a deal to end its nuclear program. On Friday, Israel began striking Iranian nuclear sites, military leaders, and refineries.
Trump declared Tuesday, “We have complete and total control of the skies over Iran,” and revealed his team knew the exact location of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
When asked Wednesday if the U.S. was moving closer to striking Iranian nuclear sites, Trump said, “I can’t say that.”
“You don’t seriously think I’m going to answer that question? ‘Will you strike the Iranian nuclear component, and what time exactly, sir? Sir, would you strike it? Would you please inform us so we can be there and watch?’” he said, mocking the reporter.
“I mean, you don’t know that I’m going to do it. You don’t know. I may do it. I may not do it. I mean, nobody knows what I’m going to do,” he added.
