In a telephone interview with The New York Times on Sunday, US President Donald Trump said the United States intends to maintain its military assault on Iran for “four to five weeks” if necessary, asserting that sustaining the intensity of the operation alongside Israel “won’t be difficult,” even as he acknowledged the likelihood of further American casualties.
Trump suggested multiple, at times contradictory, scenarios for a transition of power in Tehran following the killing of Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in a US-Israeli airstrike over the weekend. Among the options, he cited a model similar to the operation in Venezuela, in which only the top leader was removed while the rest of the government remained, newly willing to cooperate with the United States.
“The country has been very substantially weakened, to put it mildly,” Trump told The New York Times, adding that the Pentagon retained sufficient forces, missiles, and ammunition globally to continue the assault “if we have to.”
Trump also claimed that US and Israeli strikes had “knocked out a big portion” of Iran’s navy, including nine ships and the navy headquarters. He indicated that the conflict could result in casualties, but expressed confidence that the military operations would ultimately pressure Iran into compliance. “Three is three too many as far as I’m concerned,” he said, referring to projected American casualties.
On the question of Iran’s future leadership, Trump was vague. He said he had “three very good choices” for who could lead the country, but did not name them. He also suggested that Iran’s elite military forces, including the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, might voluntarily surrender their arms to the Iranian populace, a scenario experts have considered unlikely.
Trump repeatedly referred to his experience in Venezuela as a model for Iran, though analysts note significant differences in population, military capability, and political structure make a direct comparison challenging. “Everybody’s kept their job except for two people,” he said of the Venezuelan operation, emphasizing the U.S. goal of removing only the top leadership while keeping the rest of the government functional.
He left open the possibility of the Iranian people overthrowing their government, saying, “That’s going to be up to them about whether or not they do. They’ve been talking about it for years so now they’ll obviously have an opportunity.”
Trump also indicated that he did not consider Gulf Arab states necessary for US strikes on Iran, despite Tehran targeting several regional countries with missile and drone attacks.
The interview, conducted from Mar-a-Lago approximately 36 hours after Khamenei’s killing, came shortly after Trump received news of American casualties. He said he was about to meet with military generals and insisted that the U.S.-Israeli campaign remained “ahead of schedule.”
Regarding future diplomacy, Trump said he would consider lifting sanctions on Iran if a new leadership demonstrated pragmatism but refrained from committing to supporting an uprising by Iranian citizens.
The New York Times reported that Trump’s interview reflected uncertainty within the administration over both the battlefield and post-strike political outcomes in Iran, highlighting the complexity of sustaining a campaign in a country with extensive military capabilities and an active nuclear program.
