
Trump says he doesn't want a regime change in Iran: ‘Chaos'
WASHINGTON — President Trump said Tuesday he does not seek regime change in Iran, as doing so could lead to 'chaos.'
'No. If there was, there was, but no, I don't want it. I'd like to see everything calm down as quickly as possible,' the president told reporters aboard Air Force One en route to the NATO summit in the Netherlands.
'Regime change takes chaos and ideally we don't want to see so much chaos. So we'll see how it goes.'
3 Trump speaks with reporters before going to The Hague.
AFP via Getty Images
3 A person wearing a MAGA hat leads chants with other supporters of regime change in Iran during a rally outside the Wilshire Federal Building on June 23, 2025 in Los Angeles.
Getty Images
Trump urged both Iran and Israel to adopt a ceasefire and end hostilities on Monday after ordering a US military strike on Tehran's nuclear sites on Saturday.
He had fired off a Truth Social post when Israel first began bombing Iran about possibly taking out their leader Ayatollah Khamenei, and floated 'regime change' in a post on Sunday.
3 Supporters of regime change in Iran rally outside the Wilshire Federal Building on June 23, 2025.
Getty Images
'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 on Truth Social.
But in private, the president had been telling those around him that he wanted to prevent regime change in Iran in case it ended as 'another Libya,' The Post previously reported.

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Miami Herald
29 minutes ago
- Miami Herald
‘Alligator Alcatraz': What you need to know about the Everglades detention camp
Florida's decision to build a massive detention facility for undocumented immigrants in the middle of the Everglades is fast becoming one of the most controversial symbols of the Trump administration's immigration crackdown. It pits environmental protection and Indigenous rights against political ambitions and border enforcement priorities. And with the facility expected to open soon, the fight over the swamp-bound detention center seems far from over. Dubbed 'Alligator Alcatraz' by its backers, the project reflects Governor Ron DeSantis and President Donald Trump's aggressive approach to immigration enforcement. Here's what we know so far: Q: What exactly is being built in the Everglades? Florida has begun construction on a 1,000-bed migrant detention center on an old airstrip in the Big Cypress National Preserve, a protected part of the Everglades. The facility, which officials describe as 'temporary,' will consist primarily of large tents and trailers and is expected to house undocumented immigrants detained both within and outside Florida. With support from the federal government, administration of Gov. Ron DeSantis began moving in trucks this week loaded with portable toilets, industrial generators and supplies to establish what state officials are calling 'Alligator Alcatraz.' A private emergency management company was also spotted on site assisting with the rapid setup. Q: Why is it being called 'Alligator Alcatraz'? A: The nickname came from Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier, a Trump ally who touted the site in a video posted on social media. He emphasized the remote and hazardous nature of the swamp, saying, 'There's not much waiting for [detainees] other than alligators and pythons. Nowhere to go, nowhere to hide.' The term underscores how the isolation and natural dangers of the area are being used as a deterrent — and potentially a substitute for traditional security infrastructure. Q: Why is the location controversial? A: The Everglades is one of the most important and fragile ecosystems in the United States. Environmentalists and local officials argue that placing a detention center there will damage critical wetlands, disrupt wildlife habitats, and undermine decades of restoration work. Over the past 35 years, more than $10 billion has been spent to restore the Everglades' natural water flow. The site is also historically significant. In the 1960s, there was a failed plan to build a massive international airport in the same area. That project was ultimately scrapped by President Richard Nixon, who called the cancellation 'an outstanding victory for conservation.' Q: How much will it cost, and who is footing the bill? A: The migrant detention facility is among several facilities planned by the state that together will cost around $450 million annually to operate, according to federal estimates. This includes the cost of setting up and running the facility on the site of the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport. While the state is responsible for the initial construction and setup, it can seek reimbursement for some of these costs from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Q: Who owns that land? A: The site falls within Miami-Dade County, and the state has offered $20 million to purchase the land. But two recent appraisals pegged the value at nearly $195 million. Despite the lack of a finalized purchase, the state has already invoked emergency powers from a 2023 executive order to take control of the property and begin development. Q: What's the federal government's role in the project? A: The Department of Homeland Security supports the construction of new detention centers in Florida, calling them 'cost-effective and innovative.' Florida will run the facility, with the possibility of reimbursement through FEMA's Shelter and Services Program, which has allocated $625 million for the effort. DHS Secretary Kristi Noem has defended the move, saying the previous administration used the program as a 'piggy bank' to support sanctuary cities and migrant services. The current plan redirects those funds to state-run detention infrastructure. Q: What will the facility look like when it's up? A: Picture a remote, temporary 'tent city' with minimal permanent infrastructure, nestled deep in swamplands teeming with dangerous wildlife. It's built within fenced perimeter zones — if fences are added — relying largely on Mother Nature as the security cordon. The stark visuals: rows of white-tan tents, trailers, and utility pods sitting on a cleared airfield, surrounded by dense wetlands, clouds of mosquitoes and lurking reptiles. Q: How many people will the facility hold? A: It is initially designed to hold from 500 to 1,000 detainees when it opens, but there are plans to expand it. Q: When will it open? A: The facility could become operational within 30 to 60 days of the start of construction. Q: Is the airport currently in use? A: Yes. The Dade–Collier Training and Transition Airport is operational, but it's primarily used for general aviation and flight training. While it was initially planned to be a major airport, environmental concerns and the development of flight simulators led to its current role. Q: What are critics saying? A: The plan has triggered widespread outrage: Environmentalists warn that the facility could pollute wetlands and threaten endangered species such as manatees, wood storks, and American crocodiles. Eve Samples, director of Friends of the Everglades, called the risks to water, waste, and ancillary development 'devastating.'Native American leaders, like Betty Osceola of the Miccosukee Tribe, say they were not consulted. Osceola, who lives just three miles from the site, said the gates to the airstrip were locked for the first time she can remember during a Sunday protest. 'The speed at which things are happening—and the secretiveness with which things are happening—is deeply concerning,' she rights advocates say the use of tents in a remote swamp during peak summer heat shows a callous disregard for the health and dignity of detainees. Mark Fleming of the National Immigrant Justice Center called it 'an independent, unaccountable detention system' that 'shocks the conscience.'Alex Howard, a former DHS spokesperson under the Biden administration, was even more blunt: 'You don't solve immigration by disappearing people into tents guarded by gators. You solve it with lawful processing, humane infrastructure, and actual policy—not by staging a $450 million stunt in the middle of hurricane season.' Q: What's the position of local government? A: Miami-Dade County owns the airfield land. County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava has raised objections over the state's aggressive tactics and environmental risks. In a letter to Florida's emergency management chief, she warned that 'the impacts to the Everglades ecosystem could be devastating' and said the state has not given the county enough time to evaluate the plans. Q: Has construction actually started? A: Yes. Trucks and contractors began arriving Sunday, and construction officially began Monday. Attorney General Uthmeier said the facility is scheduled to be operational by the first week of July. The setup includes heavy-duty tents, trailers, solar panels, and large generators. No brick-and-mortar construction is planned, according to state officials. Q: Is this part of a larger immigration crackdown? A: Absolutely. The Everglades project is a symbol of Trump's revived mass deportation efforts. In addition to Florida's new detention site, the administration has also sent migrants to Guantánamo Bay and a megaprison in El Salvador. Trump officials say the number of available detention beds nationally will determine how many people they can deport. They've asked Congress for more funding to expand capacity beyond the current 56,000 detainees—a sharp increase from the Biden administration's final months. Florida, under DeSantis, has passed laws criminalizing the presence of undocumented immigrants in the state and has carried out joint operations with federal agents, arresting over 1,100 migrants in a single week this spring. Q: Will the detention center be permanent? A: Officials insist the facility is temporary, but critics remain skeptical. 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The Hill
32 minutes ago
- The Hill
A changed Middle East brings vindication for Netanyahu but comes at a cost for Israel
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu likes to remind his country and the world that in the disorienting first days after Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, attack, he predicted Israel would 'change the Middle East.' Now, 20 months later, a regionwide war has all but crushed the Palestinian militant group Hamas in Gaza, thrashed Hezbollah in Lebanon, toppled Bashar Assad in Syria and delivered a harsh blow to archenemy Iran. It's an achievement that Netanyahu, who has long railed against what he dubbed Tehran's 'tentacles of terror,' will likely claim as a personal win and a boost for his battered legacy. One by one, Iran's network of regional allies has been neutralized, defeated or badly weakened, dismantling a ring of hostile armed actors along Israel's borders and reshaping the region. But the changes came at an enormous cost for Israel, which suffered the deadliest attack in its history on Oct. 7 and faces deep international isolation over its response, which has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians and made Gaza virtually unlivable. The strategic success, while stunning, leaves many questions about the future of the region. 'These changes are a major blow to the Iranian axis,' said Meir Litvak, a senior research associate at the Alliance Center for Iranian Studies, a Tel Aviv think tank. 'Does it change the Middle East entirely? No, because there are many problems that haven't been solved and won't be solved by this change.' In his relentless crusade against Iran and its nuclear program, Netanyahu has long highlighted the Islamic Republic's yearslong campaign to deepen its influence across the Middle East by arming and funding proxies in strategic locations. 'Iran's goons in Gaza, its lackeys in Lebanon, its Revolutionary Guards on the Golan Heights are clutching Israel with three tentacles of terror,' Netanyahu told Congress in a 2015 speech. In that speech, he railed against the Obama administration's emerging nuclear deal with Iran, which did not address its proxies. 'If Iran's aggression is left unchecked, more will surely follow,' he said. Netanyahu failed to prevent that nuclear deal from being signed, and there appeared to be little Israel could do to keep Iran and its allies in check. U.S. administrations slapped sanctions against Iran and its allies, while Netanyahu stepped up attacks in Syria against Iranian influence and arms transfers, but the axis persisted. Since the Islamic Revolution in 1979, Iran has sought to 'export' its ideals to other parts of the region. Palestinian militant groups, including Hamas, enjoyed Iranian funding and military support over the years. The Shiite Hezbollah has been a key ally of Iran's for decades. Assad, the former Syrian president and linchpin of Iran's foreign policy, allowed shipments of arms destined for Hezbollah to pass through his territory. The Iranian-backed Houthi rebels have launched missiles and drones at Israel since the start of the war in Gaza. Hamas launched its Oct. 7 attacks with the hope that the stunning assault would trigger a response from the so-called 'ring of fire' and lead to the intervention of Hezbollah and Iran. The result was the exact opposite, a total unraveling of what appeared to be an ironclad alliance. Although Hamas continues to fight Israel and hold dozens of Israeli hostages, its leadership has been wiped out and its strength is a small fraction of what it once was. Hezbollah and the Houthis joined the fighting after the attacks but had no major bearing on Israel's ability to respond to Hamas. In late September, Israel launched a dizzying campaign against Hezbollah. 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'There is no doubt that Iranian proxies, the ring of fire, the axis of terror, the axis of resistance, whatever you want to call it, doesn't exist anymore,' said Nadav Eyal, an Israeli commentator. Netanyahu, who has watched his political fortunes plummet since Hamas' initial attack, has been buoyed by each of those shifts in the region, though some were products of chance. 'We would not have gotten here without Oct. 7,' said David Makovsky, director of the program on Arab-Israel Relations at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. Without Hamas' initial attack and the chain reaction it set off, Israel may not have succeeded in dismantling the Iranian axis at all. And the shifts could backfire. Iran, without its first line of defense, may now feel vulnerable and could rush toward obtaining nuclear weapons in response. Still, Netanyahu can likely count on an electoral boost from the regional changes. Israelis can feel relieved that the major threats that long encircled them, as well as the more distant Iran, have been subdued for now. But Netanyahu's pledge to change the Middle East came at a staggering cost. Israeli society is forever changed by Hamas' attacks. The country's international standing has been badly, perhaps irreparably, damaged over devastation it has wrought in Gaza. And the underlying issue that set off the war in the first place — the Israeli-Palestinian conflict — remains further than ever from resolution. 'There is a major change here without a doubt,' said Litvak. 'But that problem doesn't disappear.'
Yahoo
32 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker expected to announce bid for 3rd term, sources say
The Brief Gov. JB Pritzker is expected to announce a bid for a third term in office this week, sources told Fox 32. His name has been floated as a top contender in the 2028 Democratic primary race for president. Pritzker would be the first Illinois governor since the 1980s to run for a third term. CHICAGO - Gov. JB Pritzker is expected to announce his bid for a third term as governor of Illinois this week. Sources told Fox 32 that invitations were sent out for an event on Thursday, where he is expected to announce his third campaign for the governorship. What we know While speculation has grown about Pritzker's plans for another run next year, his name has been thrown around as a potential presidential candidate in 2028. Running for re-election as governor could make for awkward timing if he tries to run for the presidency halfway through a third term. Pritzker, 60, was first elected in 2018, defeating one-term incumbent Gov. Bruce Rauner, a Republican. During his first term, he oversaw the passage of several progressive measures, from recreational marijuana legalization, codifying abortion rights, and a $50 billion infrastructure package. He also led the state's response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Other pieces of legislation have been controversial, especially among more conservative voters. The state did away with cash bond, a reform critics have argued would allow people accused of crimes to be set free from jail. The governor also pushed for a change in the state's personal income tax code to allow for a graduated rate system, but voters rejected the proposal in 2020. The governor went on to easily win re-election in 2022 over former downstate Republican State Sen. Darren Bailey. The State of Illinois has no term limits for governor, one of only 13 states without a limit. The last Illinois governor to run for a third term was Republican Jim Thompson, who was the state's longest-serving executive from 1977 to 1991. He was elected to four consecutive terms. Big picture view Pritzker, an heir to the Hyatt Hotel fortune who is worth about $3.7 billion according to Forbes, has also been making more of a name for himself on the national stage in recent months. He's earned headlines for calling out "do nothing Democrats" during a speech in New Hampshire, a key primary election state, and going on late night talk shows. Earlier this month, he appeared with two other Democratic governors in front of the U.S. House Oversight Committee to field questions about Illinois' sanctuary city laws originally passed under his predecessor. He excoriated House Republicans after the hearing for accomplishing "nothing" after hours of partisan back-and-forth jabs. Pritzker has also been a frequent and vocal critic of President Donald Trump. Most recently, Pritzker compared the Trump administration to the Nazi regime during his budget address in February. He also called out Trump's accelerating of immigration enforcement around the state, including Chicago. Trump has at times returned fire. Earlier this month, when fielding questions about his immigration policies, Trump called Pritzker "probably the worst in the country." Another campaign for governor also means that Pritzker will likely have to select a new running mate because his current lieutenant governor, Juliana Stratton, is running for an open U.S. Senate seat.