Shortly after Vice President J.D. Vance disputed the US’s interest in “regime change” in Iran, President Donald Trump signaled openness to a shake-up in the country’s leadership.
“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!!!,” Trump wrote in a Sunday evening Truth Social post.
Trump’s statements come after Vance and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth emphasized that US strikes on Iran were an “intentionally limited” operation focused on eliminating the country’s nuclear capabilities – and not fueling a larger conflict.
“Our view has been very clear that we don’t want a regime change,” Vance said in a Sunday NBC News interview. “This mission was not, and has not, been about regime change,” Hegseth told reporters during a Sunday briefing.
Trump’s post on Sunday notably muddied the administration’s position.
Last week, Trump had written that the US knew where Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was hiding, but that “We are not going to take him out (kill!), at least not for now.” Previously, Trump has also criticized the US’s role in wars that spurred “regime changes” in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, meanwhile, has said that “regime change” in Iran is not a goal of the attacks his country has launched, though it could be a “result.”
