President Donald Trump claimed Iran posed an “imminent” threat to the US and its allies as he joined Israel in launching an operation to topple the Iranian regime.
Trump said Saturday that Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed, although Tehran said he was alive and that its government continued to function. Iran responded with attacks on US bases, Israel, and targets across the Middle East.
Trump announced the major military action, which so far has relied on US air and naval power, in a video posted to his social media account at 2:30 a.m. ET in which he wears a white USA ball cap.
Bracing Americans for the likelihood of US casualties, Trump also warned that Iranian forces will be killed unless they lay down weapons.
Here are his remarks, annotated with context:
A short time ago, the United States military began major combat operations in Iran. Our objective is to defend the American people by eliminating imminent threats from the Iranian regime, a vicious group of very hard, terrible people. Its menacing activities directly endanger the United States, our troops, our bases overseas and our allies throughout the world.
(While the US and Israel launched this attack without obvious provocation, Trump argues it was an act of self-defense. Iran does have nuclear capabilities, but Trump says, without specifics, the threat from Iran is “imminent.” It’s important for him to claim Iran is an imminent threat because he launched this war using emergency powers and without authorization from Congress. Critics will say an unprovoked attack violates international law and usurps the role of Congress.)
For 47 years, the Iranian regime has chanted “death to America” and waged an unending campaign of bloodshed and mass murder targeting the United States, our troops and the innocent people in many, many countries. Among the regime’s very first acts was to back a violent takeover of the US Embassy in Tehran, holding dozens of American hostages for 444 days.
(Trump does not mention here that the US and CIA were involved in the coup that toppled a democratically elected leader in Iran in 1953, something that sparked anti-American sentiment in Iran. The US supported the authoritarian shah who ruled until he was overthrown in the 1979 revolution, when hostages were taken from the US Embassy. The hostage crisis, which featured a failed rescue attempt by US special forces, played a major role in the 1980 presidential election, when Ronald Reagan defeated Jimmy Carter. The hostages were released by Iran in the moments after Reagan was sworn in as president.)
In 1983, Iran’s proxies carried out the Marine barracks bombing in Beirut that killed 241 American military personnel. In 2000, they knew and were probably involved with the attack on the USS Cole. Many died.
(Read more about the bombing of the Marine barracks and the USS Cole disaster, which killed 17 sailors.)
Iranian forces killed and maimed hundreds of American service members in Iraq. The regime’s proxies have continued to launch countless attacks against American forces stationed in the Middle East in recent years, as well as US naval and commercial vessels in international shipping lanes. It’s been mass terror. And we’re not going to put up with it any longer.
From Lebanon to Yemen and Syria to Iraq, the regime has armed, trained and funded terrorist militias that have soaked the earth with blood and guts. And it was Iran’s proxy Hamas that launched the monstrous October 7 attacks on Israel, slaughtering more than 1,000 innocent people, including 46 Americans, while taking 12 of our citizens hostage. It was brutal, something like the world has never seen before.
(Oil-rich Iran has long supported Hamas with money and training, but Tehran’s government claimed no direct involvement in the October 7, 2023, attacks. CNN reported in the aftermath of the attack on Israel that initial US intelligence suggested senior Iranian officials were surprised by it.)
Iran is the world’s No. 1 state sponsor of terror and just recently killed tens of thousands of its own citizens on the street as they protested. It has always been the policy of the United States, in particular my administration, that this terrorist regime can never have a nuclear weapon. I’ll say it again. They can never have a nuclear weapon.
(Iran claims not to be seeking a nuclear weapon, but rather energy. Last March, the US intelligence assessment was that Iran is not seeking to build a nuclear weapon. Trump struck Iran’s nuclear sites last year anyway. Iran insists that it has the right under international law and the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty to which it is a party to develop its own nuclear material for an energy program. The US and Israel, along with other countries, do not trust the Iranian regime. Trump during his first term ended a complicated deal negotiated by the Obama administration through which Iran said it would set aside nuclear ambitions in exchange for unlocking sanctions against its oil wealth.)
That is why in Operation Midnight Hammer last June, we obliterated the regime’s nuclear program at Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan. After that attack, we warned them never to resume their malicious pursuit of nuclear weapons, and we sought repeatedly to make a deal. We tried. They wanted to do it. They didn’t want to do it. Again, they wanted to do it. They didn’t want to do it. They didn’t know what was happening. They just wanted to practice evil.
(Read CNN’s report about Trump’s decision to bomb Iran’s nuclear sites last June, when Trump said the operation had destroyed Tehran’s nuclear program. That boast now seems to have been premature, given the massive new military operation.)
But Iran refused, just as it has for decades and decades. They rejected every opportunity to renounce their nuclear ambitions. And we can’t take it anymore. Instead, they attempted to rebuild their nuclear program and to continue developing long-range missiles that can now threaten our very good friends and allies in Europe, our troops stationed overseas, and could soon reach the American homeland.
(US intelligence does not back up Trump’s claim that Iran is building long-range missiles. Here’s the key line from CNN’s report: “An unclassified assessment from the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) from 2025 said that Iran could develop a ‘militarily-viable’ intercontinental ballistic missile by 2035 ‘should Tehran decide to pursue the capability.’”)
Just imagine how emboldened this regime would be if they ever had and actually were armed with nuclear weapons as a means to deliver their message. For these reasons, the United States military is undertaking a massive and ongoing operation to prevent this very wicked, radical dictatorship from threatening America and our core national security interests. We are going to destroy their missiles and raze their missile industry to the ground. It will be totally, again, obliterated.
(The words “massive” and “ongoing” are important here. This is not a one-off strike like the bombing of Iranian nuclear sites in June or the snatching of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro in January. This sounds similar to a war, even though Congress has not authorized it or written a check to pay for it.)
We’re going to annihilate their navy. We are going to ensure that the region’s terrorist proxies can no longer destabilize the region or the world and attack our forces and no longer use their IEDs or roadside bombs, as they are sometimes called, to so gravely wound and kill thousands and thousands of people including many Americans. And we will ensure that Iran does not obtain a nuclear weapon. It’s a very simple message. They will never have a nuclear weapon.
This regime will soon learn that no one should challenge the strength and might of the United States armed forces. I built and rebuilt our military in my first administration. And there is no military on Earth even close to its power, strength, or sophistication. My administration has taken every possible step to minimize the risk to US personnel in the region.
(Trump has asked Congress to spend $1.5 trillion on the defense next year, a massive increase.)
Even so, and I do not make this statement lightly, the Iranian regime seeks to kill. The lives of courageous American heroes may be lost, and we may have casualties. That often happens in war. But we’re doing this not for now. We’re doing this for the future. And it is a noble mission.
(This is an important warning for Americans: US service members may be killed in this operation. Most Americans opposed using military force to attack Iran, according to recent polls, although most Republicans approve of the idea. There is broad concern about the US getting entangled in a long-term war.)
We pray for every service member as they selflessly risk their lives to ensure that Americans and our children will never be threatened by a nuclear-armed Iran. We ask God to protect all of our heroes in harm’s way. And we trust that with his help, the men and women of the armed forces will prevail. We have the greatest in the world, and they will prevail.
To the members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard, the armed forces, and all of the police, I say tonight that you must lay down your weapons and have complete immunity, or in the alternative, face certain death. So lay down your arms. You will be treated fairly with total immunity. Or you will face certain death.
(In Venezuela, the Trump administration is working with the remnants of the Maduro regime, which are still in charge of the country. It’s not clear who the US would like to see take over in Iran.)
Finally, to the great, proud people of Iran, I say tonight that the hour of your freedom is at hand. Stay sheltered. Don’t leave your home. It’s very dangerous outside. Bombs will be dropping everywhere. When we are finished, take over your government, it will be yours to take. This will be probably your only chance for generations.
(Interestingly, Trump does not call on Iranians to rise up against the authoritarian regime, but rather to let the US take out their leaders.)
For many years, you have asked for America’s help, but you never got it. No president was willing to do what I am willing to do tonight. Now, you have a president who is giving you what you want. So let’s see how you respond. America is backing you with overwhelming strength and devastating force. Now is the time to seize control of your destiny and to unleash the prosperous and glorious future that is close within your reach. This is the moment for action. Do not let it pass.
(If recent history from US adventures in Iraq, Afghansistan and Libya is any guide, it is after military action and regime change that things can truly fall apart.)
May God bless the brave men and women of America’s armed forces. May God bless the United States of America. May God bless you all.