After several statements over the past months and weeks urging Iranians to prepare to take to the streets and seize power from the government once the bombing stops, US President Donald Trump on Friday acknowledged that it will be very difficult for them to overthrow the regime.
The US president’s comments came as his administration reportedly dispatched some 2,200 Marines on three navy ships to the Middle East, in an indication of a potential further escalation of the Iran war.
“I really think that’s a big hurdle to climb for people that don’t have weapons,” Trump told host Brian Kilmeade on Fox News Radio, in response to a question about whether he still thinks Iranians should rise up and overthrow their government.
“I think it’s a very big hurdle,” he said.
“It’ll happen,” Trump declared, “but… maybe not immediately.”
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At the start and in the early days of the US-Israeli strikes in Iran, Trump made repeated statements calling on the Iranian people to prepare to seize institutions once the bombings stopped and work to overthrow the regime.
Iranians stand on posters depicting images of the US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as they take part in the Quds Day rally in Tehran on March 13, 2026. (AFP)
However, his administration has reportedly assessed that Iran’s leadership is still largely intact and is not at risk of collapse any time soon after nearly two weeks of US and Israeli bombardment.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday night said he could not be certain that the Iranian people would rise up to overthrow the regime when the time comes, but that the promised help had arrived and more would arrive.
Asked when he’ll know that the Iran war is over, Trump said, “When I feel it.”
“When I feel it in my bones,” he said.
Asked about the fate of Iran’s new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, Trump told Fox News: “I think he’s damaged, but I think he’s probably alive in some form.”
Khamenei has not been seen in public since he was selected to replace his father. He was reportedly wounded in the war’s opening strikes.
Trump also said he thinks Russian President Vladimir Putin may be helping Iran, after his administration initially dismissed reports that Russia was providing the Islamic Republic with intelligence on US military targets in the region.
KILMEADE: You think Putin is helping Iran?
TRUMP: I think he might be helping them a little bit, yeah. And he probably thinks we’re helping Ukraine, right?
KILMEADE: And you are, right?
TRUMP: Yeah, we’re helping them also, and so he says that, and China would say the same… pic.twitter.com/0QWp173bm5
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) March 13, 2026
“I think he might be helping him (Iran) a little bit, yeah, I guess. And he probably thinks we’re helping Ukraine, right?” Trump said.
The Washington Post reported last week that Russia was providing Iran with targeting information that included locations of US warships and aircraft in the Middle East. Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff later said Russia had denied doing so, and “we can take them at their word.”
‘Not focused’ on plan to get uranium
Asked if there was a plan in place to recover the 400-plus kilograms of highly enriched uranium from Iran, Trump responded: “No, not at all.”
“We’re not focused on that. But at some point we might be,” Trump said.
“Right now we’re focused on knocking the hell out of their missiles and their drones,” he said, touting the progress made in degrading Iran’s military capabilities so far. “We had no idea it would be this far ahead. We’ve knocked out close to 90 percent of their missiles.”
While Trump pushed back on the idea that he could soon send troops to retrieve the enriched uranium from Iran’s nuclear facilities, his administration dispatched a US Marine expeditionary unit (MEU) of roughly 2,200 Marines to the Middle East on three navy ships, ABC News reported, citing two unnamed US officials.
The 31st MEU is permanently deployed to Japan, but has been ordered to head to the Mideast.
Illustrative: MV-22 Osprey military aircraft assigned to 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit at the seaport of Klaipeda, Lithuania, on August 22, 2022. (PETRAS MALUKAS / AFP)
Trump officials had long ruled out the idea of sending ground troops to the region, but have largely avoided ruling out the possibility since the outbreak of the war.
However, the deployment of the Marine unit doesn’t necessarily mean that the troops will be deployed on the ground in Iran, as they can also provide land, amphibious and aviation assets to military commanders in need, ABC said.
The 31st MEU also includes squads of F-35 fighter jets and MV-22 tilt rotor Osprey aircraft.
Since the US and Israeli bombings last June, Iran has refused to show what happened to its stockpile of highly enriched uranium or allow International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors access to sites where enrichment took place.
Trump said on Saturday he would not rule out the idea of sending ground troops into Iran to secure the country’s stockpiles of enriched uranium.
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