A Running List Of The Most Inspirational Trump Quotes About The Iran War

On Mar 7, 2026

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The U.S. is at war with Iran.

Or, well, technically not, because that would require congressional approval, which didn’t happen.

And it’s only going to last a few weeks, according to President Donald Trump. But at the same time, it could go on forever?

A ground invasion would be a waste of time, according to the president. But he and his administration won’t rule out boots on the ground. And oh yeah, they’re pretty sure Americans will die. Because, as the president says, that’s what happens: “When you go to war, some people will die.”

And definitely don’t worry about the U.S. doing all this for regime change, because Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has promised that’s not the case. Except, uh, Trump said explicitly that there won’t be any deal with Iran except “unconditional surrender” with the selection of an “acceptable” new leader.

But the good news is that the U.S. doesn’t need to worry about retaliation from Iran — probably, Trump guesses. Literally.

This is just a smattering of the increasingly disjoined — and downright worrying — things the administration has said about what is pretty clearly a war by any other name. Much has already been said about U.S. officials’ inability to get their messaging together on explaining the rationale or objectives for this war, barring one obvious reason.

But as the situation develops, the messaging around how they expect things to play out is starting to take shape as well. And there is one consistent theme that is deeply troubling: Trump just doesn’t care.

Because if you were looking for reassurance from the leader of the free world, Trump’s messaging is not it.

A plume of smoke rises above Tehran after explosions there on March 2, 2026, at left. At right, President Donald Trump points while giving Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia a tour of the White House on Nov. 18, 2025.

“Like I said, some people will die.”

― Trump, reflecting on the outcome of his war.

“If they rise, they rise.”

― Trump, on soaring gas prices as a result of his widening conflict.

“When you go to war, some people will die.”

― Trump, elaborating on the outcome.

“I guess.”

― Trump, when asked if U.S. citizens should be worried about retaliatory attacks from Iran on American soil.

“We had no wars. They said, he will start a war. I’m not going to start a war. I’m going to stop wars.”

― Trump, speaking in his 2024 election night address.

“Cuba is gonna fall pretty soon.”

― Trump, clearly preparing his next big foreign intervention, told CNN’s Dana Bash this unprompted.

“Forget about next.”

― Trump, dismissing concerns about what will transpire in Iran after the bombs stop falling.

“Your next one is gonna be … Cuba. Special. We could do them all at the same time, but bad things happen.”

― Trump, speaking to Secretary of State Marco Rubio during an unrelated event at the White House.

“It’s very dangerous outside.”

― Trump, addressing the Iranian people after he ordered the massive bombing campaign.

Rated the war with Iran a “12 or 15 out of 10.”

― Trump, speaking with CNN. A reminder that U.S. missiles struck a girls’ elementary school in the opening salvo of the war, killing up to 175 people, most of them under 12 years old.

“How do you like the performance? I mean, Venezuela is obvious. This might be even better. How do you like the performance?”

― Trump, speaking with ABC’s Jon Karl, repeatedly described the war as a “performance.”

“We figured it will be four weeks or so. It’s always been about a four-week process so ― as strong as it is, it’s a big country, it’ll take four weeks ― or less.”

― Trump, predicting how long the U.S. campaign in Iran will last.

“I don’t want to see it go on too long.”

― Trump, sharing his war timeline with CNN.

“It won’t be difficult.”

― Trump, reflecting on regime change in Iran in an interview with The New York Times.

“This is not a so-called regime change war.”

― Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, addressing the media on Monday after the war began.

“We want to go in and clean out everything.”

― Trump, laying out his goals for the war, basically defines regime change. Trump also said he wants to pick Iran’s next leader.

Accused the media of reporting U.S. troop deaths “to make the president look bad.“

― Hegseth complained that the “fake news” should stop reporting about dead troops because “the press only wants to make the president look bad.”

“The president’s feeling based on fact.”

― White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, attempting to explain Trump’s rationale for war.