In an interview with MS NOW on Friday morning, President Donald Trump said it would take 10 years for Iran to rebuild following the military offensive waged by the U.S. and Israel and asserted that toppling the hard-line theocratic rulers of the country was not a primary goal of the operation.
“I think I could leave right now and it would take them 10 years to rebuild. But I don’t think that’s an acceptable situation,” Trump told Stephanie Ruhle, host of “The 11th Hour.” “If we stay longer, they’ll never rebuild.”
The president, who has advanced conflicting rationales for the war since it began three weeks ago, told Ruhle that regime change wasn’t a primary goal of the offensive. He said that the U.S. could “possibly” influence who controls the Iranian government, but “that’s not the majors.”
“The major thing is that they cannot have a nuclear weapon,” Trump told Ruhle.
Trump also repeated his assertion that Iran was “two weeks” away from having nuclear weapons after the June attack by U.S. bombers on three nuclear sites in Iran. Trump claimed that material would have been used “within a day or two or a week,” a claim that members of his administration appear to have disputed. Experts say that while Iran could have enriched the uranium to bomb-grade status quickly, it would have taken longer to make any kind of weapon.
Without providing any evidence, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday that Iran is no longer capable of enriching uranium or producing ballistic missiles.
Ruhle’s interview with the president covered a wide range of other topics. The president continued his line of attack about whether Gov. Gavin Newsom is fit to be president because of his dyslexia; discussed the possibility of endorsing Sen. John Cornyn in the Texas GOP runoff, conceding that Cornyn is “definitely trying to push it”; and issued an ominous warning about Cuba.
Asked what the U.S. will do regarding Cuba, Trump told Ruhle: “You just watch. It’s going to be — Cuba’s seen better days.”
But the president’s comments largely centered on the Iran war. Despite the massive targeting of military targets by the U.S. and selective targeting of political ones by Israel — resulting in the killing of Iran’s supreme leader and the installation of his son — the war has unleashed chaos in the Middle East, killed thousands of people, including U.S. troops, and destabilized global oil markets as Iran has closed the Strait of Hormuz and targeted oil facilities in the Persian Gulf.
Asked what the U.S. will do regarding Cuba, Trump told Ruhle: “You just watch. It’s going to be —Cuba’s seen better days.”
Trump said the U.S. “totally obliterated” Iran’s ability to build a nuclear weapon with Operation Midnight Hammer in June, but there was still what he called “nuclear dust,” the enriched uranium that nuclear experts believe is mostly stockpiled under a mountain in Isfahan.
Experts and administration officials have said that retrieving that uranium would entail a lengthy and dangerous operation that could even require ground troops. In the interview with MS NOW, Trump raised his grievances about NATO, saying the U.S. “paid for NATO until I came along.” He has asked NATO allies to help defend the Strait of Hormuz, but they have so far declined. Trump also criticized the members of NATO on Truth Social shortly after for declining to help the U.S. protect shipping vessels on the Strait of Hormuz from Iranian fire. “So easy for them to do, with so little risk. COWARDS, and we will REMEMBER!” he wrote about the U.S.’ allies. This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
Clarissa-Jan Lim is a breaking news reporter for MS NOW. She was previously a senior reporter and editor at BuzzFeed News. Recommended
