Trump is “seriously considering attacking Iran,” but does not rule out meeting with its leaders

Donald Trump referred to the situation in Iran and his threats to use force during a conversation with journalists aboard Air Force One. When asked if he was seriously considering the option of attacking Iran, he confirmed that he was “looking into it,” adding that he intended to meet with the son of the former shah of Iran, Reza Pahlavi, who encourages the US to attack the regime. Trump previously twice threatened the Iranian regime with a strong response if it shot at anti-regime protestors. The president added that he receives reports on the situation almost every hour.

The article continues below the video

— Some protesters died, trampled in panic, there were so many of them (…) and some were shot. “I'm getting reports every hour and we'll make a decision,” he said. He also noted that he had “very strong options on the table.” The president also revealed that “Iran's leaders” called him on Saturday and “want to negotiate.” He added that he might meet with them, but also assessed that he might be forced to act before the talks.

Referring to the possibility of Iranian retaliation against U.S. forces in the region or other U.S. facilities, Trump threatened that the U.S. “will respond with a force like it has never seen before.”

According to the Wall Street Journal, Trump will meet with top members of the Cabinet and military on Tuesday to discuss how to respond to the Iranian protests. Action options in Iran are to include, among others: amplifying anti-government voices online, cyberattacks against Iranian military and civilian facilities, imposing greater sanctions on the regime, and military attacks.

Donald Trump on Cuba and Venezuela

In addition to the topic of Iran, Trump also announced that he was in talks with the Cuban authorities, which he threatened on Sunday morning. However, he did not reveal the details of these talks, saying only that he would take care of people who had to flee from Cuba to the USA.

Trump also praised cooperation with the new regime in Venezuela, announcing that “at some point” he would meet with Nicolas Maduro's successor, Delcy Rodriguez. He also assured that oil companies have nothing to fear when it comes to the risk of investing in Venezuela.

— There will be guarantees, they will be safe, there will be no problem (…) They had problems in the past because they did not have Trump as president. They had stupid people, he said. He added that he did not like the conservative statements of the head of ExxonMobil, Darren Woods, during Friday's meeting with oil industry leaders. Woods then said that in its current state, Venezuela was an “uninvestable” country and that big changes were needed for his company to return there. Trump said that Exxon was “overthinking things” and added that he might exclude the company from Venezuela.

“You know, there are so many companies (interested) that we will probably be willing to rule out Exxon,” he noted.

Shortly after landing, Trump also posted a post on his social media site, Truth Social, showing a fictitious Wikipedia entry where he is listed as “acting president of Venezuela.”