Trump Walks Back Regime Change Talk: ‘Don’t Want To See So Much Chaos’

President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that he’s not pushing for regime change in Iran after bombing three of the country’s nuclear facilities over the weekend before working out a ceasefire agreement between Iran and Israel.

Asked by a reporter on Air Force One if he wants a regime change, Trump replied, “No. If there was, there was. But no, I don’t want it.” The president’s comments come shortly after he called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and asked him to hold off on a retaliatory strike on Iran Tuesday morning following a ceasefire agreement.

“I’d like to see everything calm down as quickly as possible,” Trump added. “Regime change takes chaos, and ideally, we don’t want to see so much chaos. … You know, the Iranians are very good traders, very good business people, and they’ve got a lot of oil. They should be fine. They should be able to rebuild and do a good job.”

“They’re never going to have nuclear, but other than that, they should do a great job,” he continued.

.@POTUS on Iran: "Regime change takes chaos — and ideally, we don't want to see so much chaos." pic.twitter.com/Tr56V91gRM

— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) June 24, 2025

Trump appears to be using these policy pronouncements as part of his negotiations with Iran. On Sunday, as Trump was working to get Iran to the negotiating table, he floated regime change in Iran, writing on Truth Social, “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?”

His statement against regime change now comes as he’s working to ensure Iran sticks to the ceasefire.

Shortly before a ceasefire between Israel and Iran went into effect Tuesday morning, however, Israel launched a massive attack on Iran, taking out “hundreds of Basij members and Iranian security personnel,” according to Netanyahu’s office. Iran then fired missiles at civilians in Beersheva, Israel, taking out a large apartment building and killing at least four people. The Ayatollah then violated the ceasefire by firing two rockets toward northern Israel, which were shot down.

Earlier on Tuesday, Trump told reporters at the White House, “We basically have two countries that have been fighting so long and so hard that they don’t know what the f*** they’re doing.” He also accused both Iran and Israel of violating the “complete and total ceasefire” that was agreed to on Monday. Trump later called Netanyahu and gave him a “firm and clear” message, urging him to back down from a retaliatory strike on Iran.

Trump said that Israel’s planes would only conduct a “friendly ‘Plane Wave’ to Iran. Nobody will be hurt, the Ceasefire is in effect!”

“ISRAEL is not going to attack Iran. All planes will turn around and head home …” Trump added.

Israel’s “friendly plane wave” appeared to be an airstrike on a small target north of Tehran. Israeli officials said that their pilots struck a radar installation in Iran, according to Israeli journalist Amit Segal.

The target that was hit was a radar installation https://t.co/6T54ORXuwm

— Amit Segal (@AmitSegal) June 24, 2025