WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump indicated Thursday that he wants Iran’s leadership structure fully removed and said he has some names in mind for a “good leader.”
“We want to go in and clean out everything,” Trump told NBC News in a phone call. “We don’t want someone who would rebuild over a 10-year period.” “We want them to have a good leader. We have some people who I think would do a good job,” he added, declining to name anyone. Trump said he is taking steps to try to ensure the people on his list survive the war. “We are watching them, yeah,” he said.
The remarks expand on comments he made in a Saturday interview with NBC News, when asked who would lead Iran next. Trump replied, “I don’t know, but at some point they’ll be calling me to ask who I’d like,” and said he was “only being a little sarcastic.”
Trump also responded Thursday to Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi’s comment to “NBC Nightly News” anchor Tom Llamas that Iran is ready for a ground invasion by U.S. and Israeli forces. Trump called that a “wasted comment,” and suggested an invasion is not something he is currently considering. “It’s a waste of time. They’ve lost everything. They’ve lost their navy. They’ve lost everything they can lose,” he said, adding that the pace and intensity of strikes will continue.
Iran faces a power vacuum after Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei died last weekend, with speculation that his son Mojtaba Khamenei could be chosen as the next supreme leader. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the dominant military, political and economic force in the country, is also seen as poised to expand its power if it survives the current conflict, analysts say.
On the domestic front, Trump reiterated frustration that Congress has not passed the SAVE America Act, which would impose new voting requirements such as proof of citizenship. The legislation is stalled in the Senate. “I am not happy it’s not moving,” he said, and added he has “expressed that to everyone.” He went further than before, saying he would support a government shutdown if the bill does not reach his desk: “I would close government over it. To me, that’s a core belief.”
On Texas’ Republican Senate primary, Trump did not endorse either Sen. John Cornyn or state Attorney General Ken Paxton, though he noted Paxton’s support for the SAVE America Act. He also praised Cornyn: “Cornyn is a very underrated person. He was supposed to lose by 10 points, and he won. He’s a good man.” None of the three major candidates won a majority in the primary, prompting a May runoff between Cornyn and Paxton.