President Donald Trump has been hitting the campaign trail for GOP candidates ahead of what are expected to be several tight midterm elections around the country as Republicans fight to hold onto their congressional majority.
The Iran war has been a frequent topic in Trump’s stump speeches, and he touched on it again during a speech in Bullhead City, Arizona, on Wednesday.
In particular, Trump said he may have gone “a little too far” in taking out Iranian leaders because it’s been difficult to carry on peace talks with no central figure in charge.
“Their leaders are gone. That’s one of the problems, I might have gone too far. I don’t know who the hell to deal with,” Trump mused.
“Their first level leaders are gone. They picked a second level. Their second level leaders are gone. They picked a third level. Half of them are gone. They made me promise not to take out anymore, and I did, I promised them,” he continued.
“But nobody wants to be the president of the Islamic Republic of Iran. We have conversations, we hear them,” the president added.
“Who would like to be the president of Iran? Please raise your hand. ‘No, I don’t want to be…’ I probably went a little too far, I’m sorry, because I don’t know who the hell we’re dealing with anymore,” he said.
WATCH:
Senior Trump administration officials gathered at Camp David earlier this month for hours of high-level discussions about the war with Iran and the rapidly escalating conflict between Iran-backed Houthi forces and the Saudi-backed government in Yemen.
The previously unannounced meeting brought together some of President Donald Trump’s most senior national security advisers as the administration weighs its next steps in two increasingly interconnected Middle East conflicts.
Vice President JD Vance chaired the session, Conservative Brief previously reported.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, CIA Director John Ratcliffe, Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Dan Caine were among those attending, CBS News reported.
Trump was not reported to have attended the Camp David meeting. Officials discussed possible next steps in the Iran war as well as whether and how the United States should support a major Saudi-backed campaign against the Houthis in Yemen.
The meeting took on additional significance because of its timing.
The U.S. military evacuated a dozen B-1 bombers from the RAF Fairford airbase in the UK over the weekend, the Pentagon said.
A U.S. official said the base was under threat of attack by Iran.
Rubio told reporters on Monday that there are “regular rotations” of U.S. Air Force assets around the world and that the movement of the bombers was not directly tied to the Iranian threat.
“We have confidence in the security of all of our bases. All of our bases could be threatened theoretically at any moment and that is why there is so much security built around them,” he said.
Rubio said the U.S. has been working closely with the British government on an investigation into the threat “and they couldn’t be more cooperative.”
British security forces last week arrested several dual British-Iranian citizens suspected of planning an attack on the base.
Saudi Arabia has been pressing Washington for additional military assistance as Yemen’s internationally recognized government attempts to retake territory controlled by the Houthis.
Saudi Defense Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman spoke with Hegseth on Thursday and briefed him on the planned offensive, according to Axios. The Saudi official also renewed a request for direct U.S. airstrikes against Houthi targets.
For now, the Trump administration has stopped short of approving American combat operations.
U.S. officials said Washington is providing intelligence and targeting assistance to Saudi and Yemeni forces but is not currently conducting direct strikes against the Houthis as part of the new offensive.
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