President Donald Trump contradicted Vice President JD Vance’s comments on possible “regime change” in Iran after the U.S struck nuclear sites over the weekend.
Vance told NBC’s Kristen Welker on Sunday’s “Meet the Press” that the United States will not be pushing for “regime change” in Iran after the massive military strikes on the country’s nuclear sites. But hours later, Trump said on Truth Social that there should be regime change in Iran.
“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. We want to end their nuclear program, and then we want to talk to the Iranians about a long-term settlement here,” Vance told Welker on Sunday morning.
Around 5 p.m. on Sunday, Trump backed regime change in Iran.
“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!!!”, he wrote on Truth Social.
Many social media users criticized Trump and Vance for their contradictory statements, with some questioning whether the two men communicate about their stances.
“They have no idea what they’re doing,” Democratic activist Harry Sisson wrote on X.
“Trump keeps crossing up his own team, all of whom were on TV yesterday proclaiming that ‘regime change’ in Iran was not a goal. Then he drops a post this AM that explicitly suggests it .Why do we even bother to quote the VP, SecState & SecState? They’re clearly clueless as to what he’ll say next,” Democratic strategist David Axelrod wrote on social media platform X:
Trump critic Ron Filipkowski also weighed in: “Just when the paid MAGA shills got done cranking out 36 hours of posts to their divided cult that this was only about nukes and not regime change, Trump does it again …“.
Trump announced Saturday that the U.S. struck Iranian nuclear facilities just days after Israel launched its own attack on Iran. Israel and Trump have claimed that Iran has come close to acquiring a nuclear weapon.
The U.S. strikes, confirmed by the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, hit the Fordo and Natanz enrichment facilities, as well as the Isfahan nuclear site. Iran and the U.N. nuclear watchdog said there were no immediate signs of radioactive contamination around them.
Trump asserted on his Truth Social platform that Iran’s nuclear sites sustained “monumental damage” in the attack, though an American assessment on the strikes is still underway.
“The biggest damage took place far below ground level. Bullseye!!!” he wrote.
Trump previously claimed the U.S. “completely and fully obliterated” the sites, but the Pentagon reported “sustained, extremely severe damage and destruction.” Israeli army spokesman Effie Defrin said “the damage is deep,” but an assessment with the U.S. continued.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Stories by Lauren Sforza
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