Whether he will now make good on his promise to the protesters that help was on its way remains to be seen, but at least at this point he is no longer credulously claiming that the Islamic Republic has stopped killing protesters.
“Trump to POLITICO: ‘It’s time to look for new leadership in Iran,’” by Sophia Cai, Politico, January 17, 2026:
President Donald Trump on Saturday called for an end to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s 37-year reign.
“It’s time to look for new leadership in Iran,” Trump told POLITICO, as widespread protests calling for an end to the regime appear to have waned….
Trump, after being read the posts, said Tehran’s rulers rely on repression and violence to govern. “What he is guilty of, as the leader of a country, is the complete destruction of the country and the use of violence at levels never seen before,” Trump said. “In order to keep the country functioning — even though that function is a very low level — the leadership should focus on running his country properly, like I do with the United States, and not killing people by the thousands in order to keep control.”
“Leadership is about respect, not fear and death,” Trump added.
The exchange underscores a sharpening rhetoric between Washington and Tehran at a volatile moment for the region, and as Khamenei recently made a public address in which he claimed that “the Iranian nation has defeated America.”
Trump went further in personal terms, denouncing Khamenei and the Iranian system of governance.
“The man is a sick man who should run his country properly and stop killing people,” Trump said. “His country is the worst place to live anywhere in the world because of poor leadership.”…
࿗Infidel࿘ says
It’s called putting the cart before the horse. First destroy the advantage that the IRGC has over the Iranian people, and then the regime will collapse on its own. A transition team led by Reza Pahlavi will take over, and then over a 1-2 year period, new political parties can emerge and put forth their agendas for a future Iran. In the meantime, Iranians can also vote on their constitution, and whether to be a republic or a monarchy, among other things. Even if it’s a monarchy, they’ll have an executive prime minister and a cabinet, and only the Shah will be permanent, w/ limited powers
But none of this is possible while Iranians are still being massacred by the IRGC/Basij
Keys says
General Jack Keane said this morning on FoxNews that he believes Trump is going to attack the Iranian regime, but is needing time to get together the assets needed for a successful attack that will be a step toward the regime’s collapse. The assets are not yet in place – he was quite confident in this.
I wanted to provide a link to the General’s comments today, but the new update on the iPad is a nightmare and it won’t let me paste the link.
The General also says the idea that the Iranians are not going to kill more people: “put that in the trashcan!”; the Iranians will eventually kill all the protestors now in prison, “because that’s who they are.”
My opinion: Trump, and the Saudi’s and other Sunni’s, must realize that this regime will never stop striving for nuclear weapons.
࿗Infidel࿘ says
The report in Iran international said that the Saudis and Egyptians joined the Qataris and Omanis in discouraging Trump from moving against Iran. Imho, they’d prefer the islamic regime for a bunch of reasons:
⮞ Once the islamic regime collapses, there will be no more reason to preserve sanctions against Iran, and they can sell their oil in the same open markets as the rest of them, bringing down oil prices even further. (Besides, some countries like India might prefer buying from Iran than from the Arabs, since Iran, aside from Oman, has the shortest distance from India for an oil producing country)
⮞ Once Iran is no longer islamic, it’ll be a very attractive country for both tourism and investment, like Lebanon was when it was Christian. That would also make Gulf countries a lot less attractive: right now, their sole attraction is b’cos all the alternatives to them are either more Leftist, like the West, or more islamic, like Iran or Turkey. But once Iran is no longer islamic, that would be a great, and strategic country to invest in: close to Eastern markets like India and China, and close to Western markets like Europe
⮞ Although the West has never adjusted foreign or defense policies to reflect newer ground realities (other than the bombs to plowshares after the Cold War), one more thing Arab countries will have to contend w/ is the West being less willing to sell them military hardware, since Iran is no longer a threat. All these years, trillions of dollars of weaponry were sold to them to ward off the Iranian threat. Once that disappears, there could be a lot more political opposition to that continuing, since it’s most likely to be repositioned against Israel. Not that there is any basis for that, since Egypt still gets military aid, despite Libya having ceased to be a threat to them for decades now
I do hope that we ultimately help the Iranians overthrow their regime, although the signals from this administration the last several weeks haven’t been inspiring
Keys says
Excellent points, Infidel, and all great reasons, indeed, why Trump should proceed with an attack against the current Iranian Islamic regime.
I hope Trump isn’t compromised by future Tump Hotels and golf courses in Saudi Arabia and Qatar.
Walter Sieruk says
There’s more needed than a now “leadership change ” in that Islamic tyranny . There is need for the overthrow of that horrific regime and it’s despots deposed of , and in its a good genuine government should be established which respects natural human rights and ensures the basic freedoms and security of the people.
࿗Infidel࿘ says
Watch the Pahlavi press conference from yesterday that’s there on YouTube. He described comprehensively how his team would ensure that Iran wouldn’t plunge into chaos once this regime collapses
Jon Evan Drucker says
I’m sure Trump MEANS well but he’s a sucker for the belief that “We are all the same; and we want the same — health and prosperity.” He says, “the leadership [of Iran] should focus on running his country properly, like I do with the United States, and not killing people by the thousands in order to keep control.”
But the rulers of Iran don’t think like that. They have a revolution to protect, one that God demands of them, no less. There is NO sacrificing of that goal. While victory for them might be nice, even defeat with survival is also deemed a victory. It doesn’t matter how many people die. There is no compromising with them. THAT is what he and everyone else need to understand.
࿗Infidel࿘ says
Actually, the people of Iran do want those things – prosperity, solution to their water crisis and their environmental degradation, their agriculture and so on. In that respect, he is right, unlike how he would be if he projected that on to Arabs or even Turks
But the islamic regime isn’t made up of normal people: it’s made up of people who eat, drink & inhale islam. Sometimes, they look beyond sectarian differences when they’re fighting Israel or the West. At other times, when they’re fighting the Saudis or the Syrians, they factor in those sectarian differences
I don’t expect better from Qatar or Oman (the latter which has an inflated importance due to being a negotiator b/w the Arabs and Iran), but I do expect Saudi Arabia and Egypt to remember the shi’a threat from Iran, before they start advocating that the US not move against Iran. Even if Iran becomes more attractive than Saudi Arabia or Egypt as far as foreign tourism and investment goes, it would at least not be a threat to them, and they can continue to put billions into their new futuristic city in case of Saudi Arabia and capital in case of Egypt, as well as expensive water projects
somehistory says
The creep can’t ‘run’ the country effectively because, rather than being a ‘man,’ he is a ghoul…muzziiescum ghoul.
“doing the devil’s desires’ means people are murdered….by the millions.
Wellington says
I hope that Trump is unfathomable rather than fathomable. Yes I do.
gravenimage says
So do I, Wellington. Not lookin too good right now, though.
OLD GUY says
I hope this Iran change of leadership can be done without putting boots on the ground in Iran.
࿗Infidel࿘ says
Nobody is demanding US boots on the ground. The only boots on the ground are Iranian. All that is being asked is that the IRGC be disarmed/destroyed by bombing their weapons depots
ed says
Anyone remember iran before 1979?
Huh?!? says
Trump needs to make good on his statements. Move forward with assisting with the toppling of Iran.