That quote is real - from his campaign rallies this week.$AGT $ZEREBRO $SIREN
*What Trump said:*
At *Youngstown, Ohio on Oct 12* and again in *Arizona Oct 14-15*, in a joking / boastful tone, not as a formal policy admission:
“We might have gone too far with the leaders because we don’t know who the hell we’re dealing with anymore... We’re having a hard time figuring out who the hell to deal with, to be honest with you. I think we went too far. Could have stopped at level one. Level two and level two-and-a-half was probably going too far.”
At the Arizona rally he added:
“Their radar is gone. Their anti-aircraft is gone. Their leaders are gone... That's one of the problems. I might have gone too far... Their first level leaders are gone. They picked the second level. Their second level leaders are gone. They picked the third level, half of them are gone. They made me promise not to take out anymore, and I did... But nobody wants to be the president of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Who would like to be the president of Iran? Please raise your hand.”
Context reporters noted:
- He was referring to US-Israel strikes on Iranian leadership that began after the 12-Day War in June 2025. Reports say opening strikes killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei and several family members.
- He claimed Iran has no ships left ("all 159 ships resting beautifully in the bottom of the sea" - no Pentagon assessment released for that number) and no air defense.
- He framed it as a problem for negotiations: eliminating successive layers of leadership makes it hard to find who holds decision-making authority in Tehran.
It was not presented as an apology or reversal of Iran policy - he also repeated in same speeches that Iran must never get a nuclear weapon and that strikes were necessary because Iran is "the number one state sponsor of terror."
The White House has not released a formal policy change tied to the comment.
*What Trump said:*
At *Youngstown, Ohio on Oct 12* and again in *Arizona Oct 14-15*, in a joking / boastful tone, not as a formal policy admission:
“We might have gone too far with the leaders because we don’t know who the hell we’re dealing with anymore... We’re having a hard time figuring out who the hell to deal with, to be honest with you. I think we went too far. Could have stopped at level one. Level two and level two-and-a-half was probably going too far.”
At the Arizona rally he added:
“Their radar is gone. Their anti-aircraft is gone. Their leaders are gone... That's one of the problems. I might have gone too far... Their first level leaders are gone. They picked the second level. Their second level leaders are gone. They picked the third level, half of them are gone. They made me promise not to take out anymore, and I did... But nobody wants to be the president of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Who would like to be the president of Iran? Please raise your hand.”
Context reporters noted:
- He was referring to US-Israel strikes on Iranian leadership that began after the 12-Day War in June 2025. Reports say opening strikes killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei and several family members.
- He claimed Iran has no ships left ("all 159 ships resting beautifully in the bottom of the sea" - no Pentagon assessment released for that number) and no air defense.
- He framed it as a problem for negotiations: eliminating successive layers of leadership makes it hard to find who holds decision-making authority in Tehran.
It was not presented as an apology or reversal of Iran policy - he also repeated in same speeches that Iran must never get a nuclear weapon and that strikes were necessary because Iran is "the number one state sponsor of terror."
The White House has not released a formal policy change tied to the comment.