President Donald Trump grew increasingly aggressive in his rhetoric regarding Iran on Tuesday, claiming that U.S. officials know the location of Iran‘s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and leaving the door open to assassinating him in the future.
In a slew of posts on Truth Social, Trump expressed maximalist terms for the Israel-Iran war to end while taunting Iran. The president hosted a Situation Room meeting Tuesday afternoon with his national security team to consider officially joining the war by launching a strike on Iran, according to media reports.
“We know exactly where the so-called ‘Supreme Leader’ is hiding,” he said, referring to Khamenei. “He is an easy target, but is safe there — We are not going to take him out (kill!), at least not for now. But we don’t want missiles shot at civilians, or American soldiers. Our patience is wearing thin. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”
In another post, ostensibly referring to Tehran, the president said, “UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER!”
In a post boasting about U.S. military might, he notably grouped the United States with Israel when discussing air superiority over Iran.
The White House declined to clarify whether the president was referring directly to the U.S. or Israel using U.S.-made equipment when he said “we,” however, Politico reported that Trump’s phrasing referred to the U.S.
“We now have complete and total control of the skies over Iran,” Trump said. “Iran had good sky trackers and other defensive equipment, and plenty of it, but it doesn’t compare to American made, conceived, and manufactured ‘stuff.’ Nobody does it better than the good ol’ USA.”
His remarks come as part of a wider shift in rhetoric against Iran, possibly hinting at future U.S. military action against Tehran to prevent the country from obtaining a nuclear weapon. The U.S. has begun moving many military assets to the Middle East over the past several days, including naval vessels and a significant number of refueling aircraft.
Trump’s hint that the U.S. would be open to assassinating Khamenei came after reports that Trump directly vetoed an Israeli effort to assassinate the Iranian supreme leader, as well as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s claim that Iran was behind the two attempts to assassinate the U.S. president on the 2024 campaign trail.
Trump’s taunts and saber-rattling come in stark contrast to his previous rhetoric since Israel’s opening strikes, when he bemoaned the violence and promised a peace deal to end the conflict.
TRUMP VETOED ‘CREDIBLE PLAN’ BY ISRAEL TO KILL IRANIAN LEADER KHAMENEI
“We will have PEACE, soon, between Israel and Iran! Many calls and meetings now taking place. I do a lot, and never get credit for anything, but that’s OK, the PEOPLE understand. MAKE THE MIDDLE EAST GREAT AGAIN!” Trump said in a post to Truth Social on Sunday, hours after the president promised he “can easily get a deal done between Iran and Israel, and end this bloody conflict.”
U.S. intelligence officials believe Iran undertook several efforts to assassinate Trump in retaliation for his assassination of former Quds Force Commander Qassem Soleimani in January 2020.
