--- title: Trump Says Iran May Need ‘Regime Change’ description: After Administration officials insisted the U.S. is not seeking “regime change,” the President posted on social media that it may be necessary to “Make Iran Great Again.” canonical: https://time.com/7296670/trump-iran-regime-change-khamenei-hegseth-vance-rubio-us-war/ author: Chad de Guzman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2025-06-23T06:00:00.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-19T08:08:03.793Z article:section: Politics og:title: Trump Says Iran May Need ‘Regime Change’ og:description: After Administration officials insisted the U.S. is not seeking “regime change,” the President posted on social media that it may be necessary to “Make Iran Great Again.” og:url: https://time.com/7296670/trump-iran-regime-change-khamenei-hegseth-vance-rubio-us-war/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7e1f77acc325903c/6998c7b29fbc7cecb2d9a349/trump-iran-vance-hegseth-rubio.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: Donald Trump, JD Vance, Marco Rubio and Pete Hegseth og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Trump Says Iran May Need ‘Regime Change’ twitter:description: After Administration officials insisted the U.S. is not seeking “regime change,” the President posted on social media that it may be necessary to “Make Iran Great Again.” twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7e1f77acc325903c/6998c7b29fbc7cecb2d9a349/trump-iran-vance-hegseth-rubio.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Trump Says ‘Regime Change’ May Be Necessary to ‘Make Iran Great Again’ > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=32929275-d5b6-4b3a-91f9-1d008f32085f&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: U.S. Joins Israel in Strikes on Iranian Nuclear Sites, Trump Announces, Risking Wider War [Watch (HLS stream): U.S. Joins Israel in Strikes on Iranian Nuclear Sites, Trump Announces, Risking Wider War](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/mSrygUbr.m3u8) (3:43)  _Published 2025-06-22. President Donald Trump announced Saturday evening that the United States military carried out airstrikes on three Iranian nuclear sites, joining Israel’s bombing campaign in an effort to cripple Tehran’s ability to build a nuclear weapon._  by [Chad de Guzman](https://time.com/author/chad-de-guzman/)  ## Chad de Guzman Reporter Jun 23, 2025 6:00 AM UTC President Donald Trump announced Saturday evening that the United States military carried out airstrikes on three Iranian nuclear sites, joining Israel’s bombing campaign in an effort to cripple Tehran’s ability to build a nuclear weapon.  by [Chad de Guzman](https://time.com/author/chad-de-guzman/)  ## Chad de Guzman Reporter Jun 23, 2025 6:00 AM UTC “It’s not politically correct to use the term, ‘Regime Change,’” President Donald Trump [posted](https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/114729009239087163) Sunday on Truth Social, a day after the U.S. [bombed](https://time.com/7296469/u-s-strikes-iran-nuclear-trump-war/) Iran, raising questions of the ultimate end-goal of American military involvement in the Middle East. “But if the current Iranian Regime is unable to MAKE IRAN GREAT AGAIN, why wouldn’t there be a Regime change???” Trump ended with an Iranian spin on his famous campaign acronym: “MIGA!!!” Following the U.S. strikes, which targeted three nuclear facilities in Iran, multiple high-ranking members of the Trump Administration had insisted that the goal is not to topple the current Iranian government. **Read More:** [_In Bombing Iran, Trump Looked Past 80 Years of U.S. Regime Change Mistakes_](https://time.com/7296013/trump-strike-iran-war-regime-change/) “This mission was not and has not been about regime change,” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth [said](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t11MJCEAO98) in a press conference on Sunday morning. “The President authorized a precision operation to neutralize the threats to our national interests posed by the Iranian nuclear program and the collective self-defense of our troops and our ally Israel.” Vice President J.D. Vance [said](https://www.nbcnews.com/meet-the-press/video/vice-pres-vance-says-us-has-substantially-delayed-iran-s-nuclear-weapon-program-full-interview-242050117543) on NBC on Sunday morning: “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.” Vance said that the U.S. is “not at war with Iran” but only with “Iran’s nuclear program.” And he even suggested that the U.S. attack could help put negotiations between the current Iranian government and the U.S., which had [begun months ago](https://time.com/7287313/iran-israel-strike-report-nuclear-us-trump-history-context-explainer/) but had stalled when [Israel attacked Iran](https://time.com/7293795/israel-strikes-iran-attack-what-to-know/) earlier this month, back on track. “I actually think it provides an opportunity to reset this relationship, reset these negotiations, and get us in a place where Iran can decide not to be a threat to its neighbors, not to be a threat to the United States,” said Vance, “and if they’re willing to do that, the United States is all ears.” **Read More:** [_How U.S. Strikes May Have Inadvertently Helped the Iranian Regime_](https://time.com/7296554/us-strikes-iranian-regime-benefits/) Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Israel and the U.S. “[decided to blow up](https://x.com/araghchi/status/1936703124783112448)” diplomacy with their respective attacks. “That’s certainly not the goal,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio [said](https://youtu.be/APD5gNeIJjY?t=294) of regime change on Fox News on Sunday. “I don’t like the regime, but we’re not into the regime change business here. We’re into the safety and security of the United States business.” “At the end of the day, if Iran is committed to becoming a nuclear-weapons power, I do think it puts the regime at risk,” he added. “I think it would be the end of the regime if they tried to do that.” **Read More:** [_Russia Warns World Is ‘Millimeters’ Away From Nuclear Catastrophe_](https://time.com/7295939/russia-iran-israel-us-war-nuclear-catastrophe-trump-putin-khamenei/) Rubio urged Iran to negotiate seriously and directly with Trump, warning: “What we are seeing is that this is a President that tells you what he’s going to do, and then he does it.” Trump had floated the idea of forcing a regime change by killing Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on June 17, before he authorized strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities, when he [posted](https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/114699610769479275) that the U.S. knows Khamenei’s location and that he was “an easy target” but that “for now” he would be spared. “But we don’t want missiles shot at civilians, or American soldiers,” Trump added. “Our patience is wearing thin.” As Iran [threatened](https://time.com/7296512/iran-responds-united-states-strikes-trump-nuclear-sites-warning/) after Saturday’s attack that it planned to retaliate, Trump [added](https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/114724683855260695): “ANY RETALIATION BY IRAN AGAINST THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA WILL BE MET WITH FORCE FAR GREATER THAN WHAT WAS WITNESSED TONIGHT.” **Read More:** [_How Netanyahu Pushed Trump Toward War_](https://time.com/7295726/netanyahu-trump-israel-iran-nuclear-strikes/) Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz [said](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zz1KiQYxk0U) last week, after Iran struck an Israeli [hospital](https://time.com/7296012/israeli-hospital-damaged-iran-airstrike/), that Khamenei “cannot continue to exist.” Amid the threats on his life, the 86-year-old Khamenei, who has led Iran since 1989, is sheltering in a bunker and has even named potential successors in the event of his death, according to the [_New York Times_](https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/21/world/middleeast/iran-ayatollah-israel-war.html).Trump previously said, before this weekend’s strikes, that what he wants from the Iranian regime is “[UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER](https://time.com/7295400/trump-us-iran-israel-war-khamenei-strike-fordow-unconditional-surrender/).” But Khamenei [responded](https://x.com/khamenei%5Fir/status/1935296111444472296) then that the U.S. President “should make threats against those who are afraid of being threatened. The Iranian nation isn’t frightened by such threats.” ## Transcript Thank you very much. A short time ago, the U.S. military carried out massive precision strikes on the three key nuclear facilities in the Iranian regime Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan. Everybody heard those names for years as they built this horribly destructive enterprise. Our objective was the destruction of Iran's nuclear enrichment capacity, and a stop to the nuclear threat posed by the world's number one state sponsor of terror. Tonight, I can report to the world that the strikes were a spectacular military success. Iran's key nuclear enrichment facilities have been completely and totally obliterated. Iran, the bully of the Middle East, must now make peace. If they do not, future attacks will be far greater and a lot easier. For 40 years, Iran has been saying death to America, death to Israel. They have been killing our people, blowing off their arms, blowing off their legs with roadside bombs. That was their specialty. We lost over a thousand people and hundreds of thousands throughout the Middle East and around the world have died as a direct result of their hate in particular. So many were killed by their general, Qasem Soleimani. I decided a long time ago that I would not let this happen. It will not continue. I want to thank and congratulate Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu. We worked as a team like perhaps no team has ever worked before. And we've gone a long way to erasing this horrible threat to Israel. I want to thank the Israeli military for the wonderful job they've done. And most importantly, I want to congratulate the great American patriots who flew those magnificent machines tonight and all of the United States military on an operation the likes of which the world has not seen in many, many decades. Hopefully we will no longer need their services in this capacity. I hope that's so. I also want to congratulate the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Dan Raisin Cain. Spectacular, general. And all of the brilliant military minds involved in this attack. With all of that being said, this cannot continue. There will be either peace or there will be tragedy for Iran, far greater than we have witnessed over the last eight days. Remember, there are many targets left. Tonight's was the most difficult of them all by far, and perhaps the most lethal. But if peace does not come quickly, we will go after those other targets with precision, speed and skill. Most of them can be taken out in a matter of minutes. There is no military in the world that could have done what we did tonight. Not even close. There has never been a military that could do what took place just a little while ago. Tomorrow, General Caine, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth will have a press conference at 8 a.m. at the Pentagon. And I want to just thank everybody. And in particular, God, I want to just say we love you, God, and we love our great military. Protect them. God bless the Middle East. God bless Israel, and God bless America. Thank you very much. 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