President of the United States admits he doesn’t know who is leading the country
United States President Donald Trump told CNN in a nine-minute telephone interview this Monday morning that the US Armed Forces are “giving a beating” to Iran, but that the “big wave” is yet to come.
“We’re beating the shit out of them,” Trump told CNN’s Jake Tapper. “I think it’s going very well. It’s very powerful. We have the best military in the world and we’re using it.”
Trump covered a wide range of topics in the interview, including the expected duration of the conflict, his surprise at Iran’s widespread retaliation and the country’s planned succession plan.
Regarding the possible duration of the war, the president responded as follows: “I don’t want it to go on too long. I always thought it would be four weeks. And we’re a little ahead of schedule.”
Asked whether the US is doing more than the military strike to help the Iranian people regain control of the country from the regime, Trump replied: “Yes.”
“We are, indeed. But right now we want everyone to stay home. It’s not safe out there.”
And the situation is about to become even more insecure, said the US president.
“We haven’t even started attacking them hard yet. The big wave hasn’t even happened yet. The big wave is coming soon.”
The “biggest surprise” so far
So far, said Donald Trump, “the biggest surprise” have been Iran’s attacks against Arab countries in the region: Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.
“We were surprised,” said the American president. “We told them, ‘We resolved this,’ and now they want to fight. And they are fighting aggressively. They were going to get very little involved, and now they insist on getting involved.”
Regarding Arab leaders, the President of the United States assured CNN: “I know these people. They are tough and intelligent.”
The Iranians, he recalled, “they shot at a hotel, they shot at an apartment building. It just made them mad. They love us, but they were watching. There was no reason to get involved.”
Regarding Iran’s attacks against Arab countries, he said: “That was probably the biggest surprise.”
Trump has pointed to the Iranian nuclear threat as a major problem in the region for some time.
“You need to understand, they lived under this dark cloud for years. That’s why there was never peace,” he said.
Succession in Iran
Regarding who might emerge to lead Iran, Trump said that “we don’t know who the leadership is. We don’t know who they’re going to pick. Maybe they’ll get lucky and get someone who knows what they’re doing.”
The Iranians, he continued, lost “a lot in terms of leadership” because of the initial attacks.
“Forty-nine people,” Trump said. “It was an impressive attack.”
“They got a little arrogant” when they all gathered in one place, he added. “They thought they were undetectable. They weren’t. We were shocked.”
Trump admitted that it is unclear who is leading the country now.
“They don’t even know who’s leading them now,” Trump said. “We shot down 49” Iranian leaders.
“These were the leaders, and some of them were being considered,” Trump pointed out. But with more than four dozen dead, “we don’t know who’s leading the country right now. They don’t know who’s leading. It’s a little like the unemployment line.”
“We couldn’t reach an agreement with these people”
The American president explained that his team tried to negotiate with the Iranians, but “we were unable to reach an agreement with these people”. Each new offer, he said, was met with a retraction of previous offers.
The Iranians would not agree to end uranium enrichment, Trump said.
“They had all this enriched material. They considered redoing the process, but it was in such bad shape that the mountain basically collapsed,” Trump said.
Regarding his military steel, Trump understands that “this is the way” to deal with Iran.
“We don’t have to worry about agreements.” He pointed to the country’s long history of causing destruction in the region following the 1979 revolution.
“If you go back 37 years, actually 47 years, close to 50, look at what happened and all the deaths. Soldiers walking around without legs, without arms, with disfigured faces”, he lamented.
Trump said he asked his team for a list of all Iranian or Iranian-backed attacks against the US, its allies and interests.
“In the last 47 years, I said: ‘Tell me all the attacks’. If I counted them all, I would still be talking”, he guaranteed.
The latest military operation is part of a long-term campaign to eliminate the Iranian threat, Trump said. “We eliminated Soleimani last time,” referring to the January 3, 2020, US drone strike against Iranian general Qasem Soleimani. “He was an incredibly violent and cruel general.”
The attack against Soleimani “was a great move”, praised the president of the United States. “If that hadn’t happened, Israel might not exist today. Israel might not even exist.”
Then, “we had Operation Midnight Hammer — very important,” the president said, referring to the June 2025 U.S. strikes against Iranian nuclear facilities. “They were a month away from having a nuclear weapon.”
Criticizing President Barack Obama’s nuclear deal, Trump argued that “it was the Iran nuclear deal that gave all the power to Iran. They would have had a nuclear weapon three or four years ago. They would have used it against Israel. Maybe even against us.”
“That deal was so bad,” Trump said, “that it paved the way for the bomb.”
In the latest negotiations, the Iranians “were not willing to give us what we asked for. They should have.”
“So it’s going well,” Trump added, before hanging up the phone.
