On Friday, President Donald Trump stated he would consider bombing Iran again if Tehran were found to be enriching uranium. He also issued a stark warning to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, suggesting he was nearing a dire end.
When asked during a White House press conference about possibly striking Iranian nuclear sites if needed, Trump affirmed, “Absolutely, without question.”
Trump further promised a swift response to Khamenei’s claim of Iran’s victory. After the press conference, he posted an extensive message on his Truth Social account, criticizing the Ayatollah.
‘His Country was decimated, his three evil Nuclear Sites were OBLITERATED, and I knew EXACTLY where he was sheltered, and would not let Israel, or the U.S. Armed Forces, by far the Greatest and Most Powerful in the World, terminate his life. I SAVED HIM FROM A VERY UGLY AND IGNOMINIOUS DEATH,’ Trump wrote.
‘They have no hope, and it will only get worse! I wish the leadership of Iran would realize that you often get more with HONEY than you do with VINEGAR. PEACE!!!,’ he added.
President Donald Trump bragged about Saturday’s airstrike on Iran, saying ‘the place got bombed to hell’
The Ayatollah put out a statement claiming his country delivered a ‘slap to America’s face’ by striking a U.S. air base in Qatar and warned against further attacks may be on the horizon.
Khamenei claimed the U.S. had only intervened in the war with Israel because ‘it felt that if it did not intervene, the Zionist regime would be utterly destroyed.’
‘It entered the war to save them, yet it gained nothing,’ he said.
He said his country’s attack Monday on the U.S. base in Qatar was significant, since it shows Iran ‘has access to important U.S. centers in the region and can act against them whenever it deems necessary.’
‘The Islamic Republic was victorious and, in retaliation, delivered a hand slap to America’s face,’ he said, adding, ‘This action can be repeated in the future.’
‘Should any aggression occur, the enemy will definitely pay a heavy price,’ he said.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei bragging he won the war
Trump, meanwhile, bragged about Saturday’s airstrike during his 56-minute press conference.
‘The place got bombed to hell,’ he said of Iran.
Trump held a hastily scheduled news conference to brag about a Supreme Court ruling that was a victory for his administration. The high court ruled that individual federal judges can’t set nationwide pauses on his executive orders.
But he was asked about several other topics, including the airstrikes on Iran; his upcoming deadline for trade deals; his July 4th deadline for his one big, beautiful bill; and the federal reserve.
During the back-and-forth with reporters, Trump said he would like inspectors to examine Iran’s nuclear sites.
Trump said he believes the sites were ‘obliterated.’ He has rejected any suggestion that damage to the sites was not as profound as he has said.
‘It’s been obliterated. It would be years before they could ever get going, and I really think it’s probably the last thing they have to recover from a hell of a tough war,’ he said.
There has been speculation that Iran moved much of its highly-enriched uranium before the strikes but Trump also rejects that idea.
It’s unclear where talks on Iran’s nuclear program stands. Trump had indicated there could be a meeting next week but one has not been announced.
Meanwhile, in an interview on Iranian state television broadcast, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi left open the possibility his country would again enter talks but suggested it would not be anytime soon.
‘No agreement has been made for resuming the negotiations,’ he said. ‘No time has been set, no promise has been made, and we haven’t even talked about restarting the talks.’
The American decision to intervene militarily ‘made it more complicated and more difficult’ for talks on Iran´s nuclear program, Araghchi said.
In his press conference, President Donald Trump referenced the attempts on his life – above, Trump after an assassination attempt in Butler, Pa., in July 2024
During the press conference, Trump also talked about the fact there have been threats on his own life. He was shot at a rally in Butler, Pa., during the 2024 presidential campaign and Secret Service later thwarted another shooter hiding in the bushes of his Trump International Golf Club West Palm Beach.
The president joked he still gets a throbbing feeling in his ear – which got hit in the Butler shooting – and added he may not have run for the White House if he knew the death rate for presidents.
‘I get that throbbing feeling. Every once in a while, get that throbbing feeling,’ Trump said.
‘But you know what? That’s okay. This is a dangerous business. What I do is a dangerous business,’ he added. ‘People die when you’re president, it’s about 5%. If somebody would have told me that, maybe I wouldn’t have run.’
Four sitting U.S. presidents have been killed while in office: Abraham Lincoln (1865), James A. Garfield (1881), William McKinley (1901), and John F. Kennedy (1963).
Ronald Reagan (1981) is the only sitting president to have been wounded in an assassination attempt.
