LAST TIME Trump says 'almost everything has been destroyed' in Iran, calls 'worst case scenario'

US President Donald Trump on Tuesday praised the extensive US military operation in Iran and stated that “almost everything has been destroyed”, referring to Tehran's military facilities, during a meeting in the Oval Office with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, CNN and Sky News write.

LIVE Israel announces large-scale airstrikes on Iran. The building where those electing the future supreme leader were located was hit

The Iranians “have no navy. It's been destroyed. They have no air force. It's been destroyed. They have no air detection, it's been destroyed. Their radars have been destroyed. And pretty much everything has been destroyed,” the US president said at the White House.

Trump added: “We're doing very well. We have an excellent military that's doing a fantastic job.”

New attacks targeted Iranian leaders

The White House leader said the new attacks targeted another group of Iranian leaders, saying the impact appeared “quite substantial.”

“Today there was another attack on the new leadership, and it appears to have been quite substantial,” he said from the Oval Office. “So they are being hit very hard,” the US president continued.

Trump did not specify which Iranian leaders were targeted or how many people were killed in the attacks. The attack came after US officials announced that an initial series of missiles fired over the weekend had killed 49 Iranian officials, including Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Trump denies he was pushed into war by Israel and says the US forced Israel's hand

The US leader went on to dispute the suggestion that Israel's plans to attack Iran prompted it to launch the wave of attacks, arguing that it was he who “forced Israel's hand”, and not the other way around.

“They would have attacked if we hadn't, they would have attacked first,” he said of Iran. “I was convinced of that,” Trump added.

“If I had to say something, I would say that I forced Israel's hand, but Israel was prepared, and we were prepared, and we had a very, very strong impact, because basically everything they had was destroyed. Now their rocket numbers are decreasing,” he added during the meeting with Merz.

A day earlier, US foreign policy chief Marco Rubio suggested the president decided to launch strikes on Iran because the US believed Israel was ready to take unilateral action.

'Worst case scenario' for Iran would be a new leadership, 'as bad as the previous one'

Trump also said on Tuesday that the “worst case scenario” for Iran would be if “someone as bad as the previous leadership takes over.”

“That could happen. We don't want that to happen,” the US leader said. “We'd like to see someone there to bring the power back to the people, and we'll see what happens.”

Of the candidates the Washington administration considered for leadership, some are dead, Trump said, adding that “soon, we won't know anybody.”

“It seems to me that someone on the inside would be a better fit,” Trump suggested. “If there is such a person, but we have people like that (consider, no). We have people … more moderate.”

Trump invokes emergency powers to increase weapons production for conflict with Iran

The American leader also stated that the United States has virtually inexhaustible reserves of certain munitions and that defense manufacturers are operating under emergency authority (a prerogative of the US president, nr) to accelerate weapons production.

Trump said that while the U.S. “gave away” a large amount of high-grade ammunition to help Ukraine in its war against Russia, “we have unlimited medium and high-grade ammunition.”

“We really have an unlimited supply. We also have a large amount of high-quality ammunition stored in various countries around the world,” he added, in statements from the White House.

The comments now echo those he made in a brief interview with Politico on Tuesday, in which he suggested that Iran's strength and ability to fight back would diminish and that the US weapons stockpile remained robust.

“Defense companies are working hard to produce various things that we need,” Trump told Politico. “They received emergency orders,” he added.

Surprise at Iran's response to its neighbors

Donald Trump also said on Tuesday that he thought the countries targeted by Iran were surprised by the retaliation, and that he too was surprised to see Tehran target its neighbors.

“Surprisingly, they attack countries that were, let's say, neutral, right? They've lived together for a long time. (…) I think they were surprised. I was surprised, and now all these countries are fighting against them and fighting fiercely,” Trump also told reporters in the Oval Office.

The president added that Iran's retaliatory attacks demonstrate “the level of evil that we're dealing with — they're going to hit people who were actually at least somewhat friendly and had no problem with. They're also only hitting civilian places, hotels and apartment buildings, and we're hitting them where it's much more appropriate, hitting them very hard.”

Trump's comments echo what he told CNN's Jake Tapper in an interview Monday, in which he said the “biggest surprise” was Iran's attacks on Arab countries in the region.

Pahlavi's Chances of Becoming Iran's Next Leader

Also during the meeting with Merz, the US president downplayed the prospect of exiled Iranian activist Reza Pahlavi taking over the country, saying he preferred someone from Iran to take over.

“Some people like him, and we haven't thought too much about it,” Trump said. “I think someone on the inside would be more appropriate.”

Pahlavi, the son of Iran's last shah, has positioned himself as a prominent figure in the Iranian opposition.

But Trump said that while he “seems like a very likable person,” it's more likely that “somebody out there who's popular, if there is such a person,” would be a better candidate.

Iran managed to build 'thousands of missiles' in a 'short period of time', Trump accuses

Trump also claimed that Iran was able to build its missile stockpile in a “pretty short period of time.”

“Look at all the missiles they've built – a lot of them were destroyed by us, and a lot of them were used up, but they had thousands of missiles in a fairly short period of time,” the US president said.

Trump and his administration cited various reasons for launching attacks on Iran over the weekend, including Iran's missile capabilities.

Merz 'on the same wavelength' with Trump on 'removing the terrible regime in Iran'

For his part, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Tuesday that he was “on the same wavelength” as US President Donald Trump in terms of removing the Iranian regime.

“We're on the same page about removing this terrible regime from Tehran. And we'll talk about the day after, what happens then,” Merz said, sitting with Trump in the Oval Office.

“We all hope this war will end as soon as possible,” Merz added. “So we hope that the Israeli and American military do the right thing to end this conflict and really have a new government that will bring peace and freedom back” to Iran, the federal chancellor added.

So far, the Trump administration has offered several evolving explanations for its decision to attack Iran, citing both an “imminent threat” to the U.S. and defending against the risk of Iran building nuclear weapons.

But Trump has also called on the Iranian people to take control of the country and suggested he has several successors in mind, even as senior US officials say the war is not aimed at changing the Islamic regime in Tehran.

In the Oval Office on Tuesday, Merz also said he would discuss a trade deal between the US and Germany with Trump, which, he added, “should go into effect as soon as possible.” The German chancellor mentioned that the war in Ukraine is also on their agenda.