The White House said Monday the people of Iran will determine who leads them, but President Trump raised a “good question” about whether they will choose to take control away from leaders who cannot “Make Iran Great Again.”
Mr. Trump “believes the Iranian people can control their own destiny,” said White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt.
“The president is just simply raising a good question that many people around the world are asking,” she said on Fox News.
Ms. Leavitt was responding to a late Sunday social media post in which Mr. Trump cracked the door open to regime change, a term that is politically loaded, given lingering controversy over U.S. campaigns to topple leaders in Iraq and other parts of the Middle East since the start of the century.
“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???” Mr. Trump posted on Truth Social. “MIGA!!!”
The post came hours after Vice President J.D. Vance said the Trump administration “has been very clear that we don’t want a regime change” and does not want a protracted war with Iran.
Ms. Leavitt said Mr. Trump’s suggestion was consistent with his view that Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and other Iranian leaders might lose their people’s support after a U.S.-led bombing designed to decimate the Islamic Republic’s nuclear capability.
“If the Iranian regime refuses to come to a peaceful diplomatic solution, which the president is still interested in engaging in, by the way — why shouldn’t the Iranian people take away the power of this incredibly violent regime that has been suppressing them for decades?” the spokeswoman said.
Mr. Trump has suggested he would like the strikes to result in a diplomatic solution to concerns about Iran’s nuclear ambitions and its conflict with Israel, rather than opening a Pandora’s Box of reprisals and extended war.
“Our posture has not changed, our military posture has not changed,” Ms. Leavitt said.
• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.