Even as President Trump's national security team spent Sunday emphasizing that the US is targeting only Iran's nuclear program, not aiming to topple its government, Trump's own Truth Social post Sunday night complicated that message: "If the current Iranian Regime is unable to MAKE IRAN GREAT AGAIN, why wouldn't there be a Regime change??? MIGA!!!" he wrote—undercutting a unified front from his top advisers, Politico reports. This is the first time Trump has raised regime change (a term he noted was "not politically correct") since Israel first launched strikes against Iran earlier this month, Axios reports.
Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth each stressed to media outlets Sunday that regime change was not the objective. "We don't want to achieve regime change. We want to achieve the end of the Iranian nuclear program," Vance said on ABC. Rubio did signal on Fox News, however, that while regime change is not the goal, if Iran presses ahead with its nuclear ambitions, that move might endanger the regime's survival. Further complicating matters: Iran has already threatened retaliation, and Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Netanyahu, have long hinted at support for regime change in Tehran.
The contradictions highlight the challenge for the administration as it manages fallout from the recent US strike on Iran. Officials are trying to keep Tehran's reaction measured and appease parts of Trump's base unhappy with military action. Some Republicans, including Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, voiced concern about renewed foreign entanglements, while others, like Sen. Lindsey Graham, backed the idea of regime change—and indeed said Israel should have pushed for that "a long time ago." Interestingly, Trump himself has in the past criticized neo-conservative pushes for regime change in Iran, Iraq, and other countries. (This content was created with the help of AI. Read our AI policy.)
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