Trump floats regime change in Iran
President Trump floated the possibility of "regime change" in Iran on Sunday in a post to his Truth Social account.
"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!!" the president wrote.
Why it matters: This is the first time Trump has raised the possibility of regime change in Iran since Israel launched its war ten days ago — and the U.S. joined with airstrikes targeting Iran's nuclear sites on Saturday.
Trump has criticized the neo-conservative faction of the Republican Party for years over their support for regime changes in Iraq, Iran and other places around the world.
Driving the news: The president's post is a departure from the rest of his administration, which has stressed multiple times over the last several days that its goal is to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons and that the U.S. is not pushing for regime change in Iran.
Vice President Vance said on Sunday on NBC's "Meet The Press" that the administration's 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 said.
Between the lines: An Iran regime change has become an unstated goal of the Israeli government since the war began earlier this month. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu even said it could be one of the results of the war.
Yes, but: There has been no significant uprising against the Iranian regime since the war began, and experts have mentioned a dynamic of rallying around the flag in Iran — even among Iranians who are critical of the regime.
State of play: Trump also wrote on his Truth Social account on Sunday that the damage to the Iran nuclear sites targeted by U.S. airstrikes "is said to be monumental" and that the hits "were hard and accurate."
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New York Times
35 minutes ago
- New York Times
Around Military Bases in the U.S., Unease Over What Comes Next
For some families who gathered this weekend at Fort Benning in Georgia, the past few days have served as a solemn reminder of the unsettling emotions military service can bring. On Friday, a group of Army enlistees graduated from basic training. On Saturday, President Trump bombed Iran. On Sunday, service members and their loved ones pondered an uncertain future. 'People can lose their life, so I'm worried,' said Michele Bixby, 24, of upstate New York, whose brother had just graduated. 'But it's what he wanted to do; it's what he loves to do. He's going to move forward with it no matter what.' One day after the administration announced it had carried out airstrikes at three nuclear sites in Iran, the mood in some communities around military bases on U.S. soil varied from firm support to bitter disagreement. But one sentiment stood out among those interviewed: concern for the safety of America's troops everywhere. No one knows how the strikes on Iran could affect service members. Pete Hegseth, the secretary of defense, emphasized on Sunday that the administration did not want an open-ended war. But Iranian leaders have vowed to retaliate, and U.S. military installations in the Middle East, with more than 40,000 active-duty troops and civilians employed by the Pentagon, are already potential targets. That reality, along with the potential repercussions for the entire military, was on the minds of many people around U.S. bases at home, even as service members accepted that reality as part of the job. 'A lot of the families around here are quickly realizing this is a real threat; this is something we need to be worried about,' said Meghan Gilles, 37, a self-described military brat who works in the Army Reserve's human resources division at Fort Campbell in Kentucky, a training site and home to the 101st Airborne Division. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
CNBC
36 minutes ago
- CNBC
CNBC Daily Open: Have Trump's strikes on Iran bolstered or eroded his credibility?
United States on Saturday conducted air strikes on three of Iran's nuclear sites, entering Israel's war against Tehran. The timing was unexpected. On Thursday, U.S. President Donald Trump said he was still considering U.S. involvement and would arrive at a decision "within the next two weeks." Financial and political analysts had largely taken that phrase as code word for inaction. "There is also skepticism that the 'two-week' timetable is a too familiar saying used by the President to delay making any major decision," wrote Jay Woods, chief global strategist at Freedom Capital Markets. Indeed, Trump has commonly neglected to follow up after giving a "two week" timeframe on major actions, according to NBC News. And who can forget the TACO trade? It's an acronym that stands for "Trump Always Chickens Out" — which describes a pattern of the U.S. president threatening heavy tariffs, weighing down markets, but pausing or reducing their severity later on, helping stocks to rebound. "Trump has to bury the TACO before the TACO buries him ... he's been forced to stand down on many occasion, and that has cost him a lot of credibility," said David WOO, CEO of David Woo Unbound. And so Trump followed up on his threat, and ahead of the proposed two-week timeline. "There will be either peace, or there will be tragedy for Iran far greater than we have witnessed over the last eight days," Trump said on Saturday evening. But given Trump's criticism of U.S. getting involved in wars under other presidents, does America bombing Iran add to his credibility, or erode it further? The U.S. strikes Iran U.S. President Donald Trump on Saturday said the United States had attacked Iranian nuclear sites, pushing America into Israel's war with its longtime rival. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said Sunday that "Iran's nuclear ambitions have been obliterated." The decision to attack Iran engages the American military in active warfare in the Middle East — something Trump had vowed to avoid. Iran calls attacks 'outrageous'Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Sunday said Tehran reserves all options to defend its sovereignty and people after the "outrageous" U.S. attacks on three of its major nuclear enrichment facilities. Iranian state-owned media, meanwhile, reported that Iran's parliament backed closing the Strait of Hormuz, citing a senior lawmaker. The U.S. on Sunday called on China to prevent Iran from doing so. Stock futures in U.S. retreatU.S. futures slid Sunday evening stateside as investors reacted to Washington's strikes on Iran. On Friday, U.S. markets mostly fell. The S&P 500 lost 0.22%, its third consecutive losing session, while the Nasdaq Composite retreated 0.51%. But the Dow Jones Industrial Average eked out a 0.08% gain. The pan-European Stoxx 600 index ticked up 0.13%, but ended the week 1.5% lower. Oil jumps but bitcoin slumpsOil prices jumped Sunday evening in the U.S., its first trading session after Saturday's strikes. U.S. crude oil rose $1.76, or 2.38%, to $75.60 per barrel, while global benchmark Brent was up $1.80, or 2.34%, to $78.81 per barrel. Meanwhile, bitcoin prices briefly dipped below the $99,000 mark Sunday, its lowest level in more than a month, before paring losses. It's now trading around $100,940, down 1.5%. [PRO] Eyes on inflation reading Where markets go this week will depend on whether the conflict in the Middle East escalates after the U.S.' involvement. Investors should also keep an eye on economic data. May's personal consumptions expenditure price index, the Federal Reserve's preferred gauge of inflation, comes out Friday, and will tell if tariffs are starting to heat up inflation. How regime change in Iran could affect global oil prices Senior Israeli officials said this week that their military campaign against Iran could trigger the fall of the regime, an event that would have enormous implications for the global oil market. There are no signs that the regime in Iran is on the verge of collapse, said Scott Modell, CEO of the consulting firm Rapidan Energy Grop. But further political destabilization in Iran "could lead to significantly higher oil prices sustained over extended periods," said Natasha Kaneva, head of global commodities research at JPMorgan, in a note to clients this week. There have been eight cases of regime change in major oil-producing countries since 1979, according to JPMorgan. Oil prices spiked 76% on average at their peak in the wake of these changes, before pulling back to stabilize at a price about 30% higher compared to pre-crisis levels, according to the bank.
Miami Herald
44 minutes ago
- Miami Herald
Oil up, but stocks look to slide after U.S. attacks on Iran
The U.S. attack on Iranian nuclear facilities on Saturday changes the focus of what's ahead for the U.S. economy in the last full week of June. Because everyone is waiting to see what Iran will do, other than fire missiles on Israel. That's what happened late Saturday. Don't miss the move: Subscribe to TheStreet's free daily newsletter The three biggest questions a day later: How will energy and stock markets react?Does Iran still have enough enriched uranium to make and deploy a small nuclear weapon?Will Iran move to block the ships from passing from the Persian Gulf through the Strait of Hormuz into global shipping lanes? Outside geopolitics, economic events coming up include Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell's testimony before Congress on Tuesday and an important inflation report. Related: Netflix analysts turn heads with stock price target updates The nuclear question is on the table because U.S. officials weren't sure Sunday if the attacks on facilities at Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan actually destroyed nuclear materials. Vice President J.D. Vance, in fact, suggested that Iran's nuclear stock pile is still intact. If that's the case, it's possible Iran could assemble a first-generation weapon. That would be as powerful as the bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945, Robert Pape of the Chicago Project on Security and Threats told MSNBC's Alex Witt on Sunday. Not having this awful idea become reality depends on cooler heads prevailing. A key issue: If Iran is willing to discuss destroying or otherwise ceding control its nuclear development efforts. The Trump Administration is threatening more attacks if Iran rejects the demand. Blocking the Strait of Hormuz, through which 25% of the world's crude oil passes - headed mostly to China, India and Asia - will send global oil prices surging and, ultimately, will boost gasoline prices in the United States and elsewhere. Stocks and bonds also would slump. ChinaCrude oil futures in New York opened up nearly $3 a barrel, then fell back quickly. At 7:30 p.m. EDT, crude was was up $2.12 to $75.99. Brent crude, the global benchmark, jumped to as high as $81.40, then fell back to $79.20 per barrel, up $2.19 Crude oil settled at $73.84 a barrel on Friday, up 34 cents. or 1.2%, from Thursday and up 21.5% so far in June. AAA's daily report on gasoline prices put the U.S. average at $3.218 a gallon, down slightly from Saturday's $3.129. Stock index futures were lower in early trading Sunday with S&P 500 futures off 28 points to 5,990. Futures based on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were down just 184 points to 42,333. Nasdaq-100 futures had fallen 137 points to 21,710. Stocks overall were flat last week even as global tensions heated up. Some defense-oriented stocks slipped on Friday. Palantir Technologies (PLTR) was off 2% to $137.30. Lockheed Martin (LMT) , however, was up 0.4% to $470.56. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, who is always verbally battered by President Trump, will testify before the Congress twice this week. The questions almost certainly focus on the Iran situation and its impact on the economy. He will also have to explain why the Fed is so stubborn about NOT cutting its key federal funds rate. The Fed decided last week to leave its federal funds rate at 4.25% to 4.5%. One Fed governor, Christopher Waller, who voted in support of holding rates steady, thinks a rate cut could come in July. Mary Daly, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, thinks the Fed will have better information by September. The federal funds rate mostly affects short-term rates. Bond yields influence rates on, say, home mortgages and auto loans. The 30-year mortgage rate was just under 7% on Friday. Powell's first appearance is before the House Financial Services Committee on Tuesday and the Senate Banking Committee on Wednesday. More Economic Analysis: Federal Reserve prepares strong message on long-term interest ratesMassive city workers union approves strikeAnalyst makes bold call on stocks, bonds, and gold The most important economic report this coming week is the Personal Consumption Expenditures Index (PCE), due Friday from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. This is the Federal Reserve's preferred inflation rate. The index for May is expected to show a 2.3% year-over-year index. The core index, stripping out food and energy, is expected to rise 2.6%, up slightly from April. The inflation rate is still the lowest since March 2021, Barrons says. Four reports come this week that will help clarify the condition of the housing market. Existing homes sales for May, due Monday from the National Association of Realtors. Most estimates are around 4.1 million units on a seasonally-adjusted annual basis, up From April's 4 million rate. S&P Case-Shiller Home Price Index, due Tuesday from Standard & Poor' sales, due Wednesday from the Commerce Department. Pending home sales, due Thursday from the National Association of Home Builders. S&P Global reports its flash purchasing manager index reports for June. These measure what manufacturing and services companies are actually buying. The Conference Board comes out with its monthly Consumer Confidence Index report for June Tuesday morning It may show a slight gain because the data were collected as stocks were rallying after April's stock-market slump. The University of Michigan offers its revised Consumer Sentiment Index report on Friday. Its early version suggested consumers were a touch less worried and cited the market rally. Related: Veteran fund manager who predicted April rally updates S&P 500 forecast The Arena Media Brands, LLC THESTREET is a registered trademark of TheStreet, Inc.
