❓WHAT HAPPENED: President Donald J. Trump said he does not want “regime change” in Iran, after facilitating a ceasefire between the Islamic Republic and the State of Israel.
👤WHO WAS INVOLVED: President Trump, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Iranian leaders.
📍WHEN & WHERE: Trump made the comments on Tuesday aboard Air Force One.
💬KEY QUOTE: “Regime change takes chaos—and ideally, we don’t want to see so much chaos.” – Donald Trump.
🎯IMPACT: The ceasefire has temporarily halted hostilities, with Trump coming out strongly against early violations and retaliatory actions by both sides.
President Donald J. Trump stated on Tuesday that he does not want “regime change” in Iran, following a weekend of military actions targeting Iranian nuclear facilities and subsequent ceasefire negotiations. When asked aboard Air Force One if regime change in Iran was a goal, Trump said, “No. If there was, there was. But no, I don’t want it.”
The President highlighted the potential for Iran to rebuild, saying, “Regime change takes chaos, and ideally, we don’t want to see so much chaos… The Iranians are very good traders, very good business people, and they’ve got a lot of oil. They should be fine. They should be able to rebuild and do a good job,” he said, cautioning, “They’re never going to have nuclear, but other than that, they should do a great job.”
Trump’s remarks followed a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Iran. Shortly before this went into effect, Israel launched heavy strikes on the Iranian capital of Tehran, with Iran retaliating with a missile strike that killed four civilians in Israel’s Beersheba. Both parties conducted some follow-up strikes after the ceasefire officially took effect at 7:00 AM.
President Trump was angered by these actions, with most of his ire directed at Israel. He argued that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not act in “good faith” by launching a massive attack on Iran just hours before the ceasefire was due to take effect. In a phone call to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Trump delivered a “firm and clear” message urging restraint.
Trump’s public comments against regime change will reassure anti-war members of the America First coalition, concerned by a Truth Social post from the President suggesting he was open to it following the U.S. strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities. “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?” he wrote.
Having now brokered a ceasefire and denounced regime change, it now seems likely this message was mainly intended to pressure Iran into coming to the negotiating table.
.@POTUS on Iran: “Regime change takes chaos — and ideally, we don’t want to see so much chaos.” pic.twitter.com/Tr56V91gRM
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) June 24, 2025
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