President Trump says he ‘will lead the pack’ if military strike on Iranian nuclear sites is necessary

U.S. President Donald Trump did not deny the possibility of a military strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities in a recent interview with Time magazine, but again emphasized his preference for making a deal to prevent the country from developing nuclear weapons. 

President Trump presented an optimistic stance in his interview, saying, “I think we're going to make a deal with Iran. Nobody else could do that.” 

However, the president said that if an attack were to happen, he would “be leading the pack.” 

The interview, which covered the first hundred days of his second term as president, touched on a range of domestic and foreign policy topics, including Trump’s role in trying to end the conflicts in Gaza and Ukraine. 

Trump said he blames former President Joe Biden for most of the suffering from the events of October 7, due to Biden reversing sanctions on Iran. 

“There was no money for Hamas. There was no money for Hezbollah. There was no money. Iran was broke under Trump,” he remarked. 

“They [Iran] had no money, and they told Hamas, we're not giving you any money,” Trump claimed. “When Biden came and he took off all the sanctions, he let China and everybody else buy all the oil, Iran developed $300 billion in cash  over a four year period. They started funding terror again, including Hamas.” 

“Iran had no money under me. I blame the Biden administration, because they allowed Iran to get back into the game without working a deal,” he continued. 

Trump denied the reports that he prevented Israel from launching an attack against Iran’s nuclear sites, “That's not right.” 

“I didn’t stop them,” he repeated, “but I didn't make it comfortable for them, because I think we can make a deal without the attack. I hope we can.” 

President Trump didn’t rule out an attack on Iran either, saying, "It's possible we'll have to attack because Iran will not have a nuclear weapon.” 

He explained that he called for negotiations first, because “I would much prefer a deal than bombs being dropped.” 

Asked if he was worried that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would drag the U.S. into war with Iran, Trump responded, “He may go into a war. But we’re not getting dragged in.” 

Rejecting the notion that Israel would lead the U.S. into a war it didin’t want, Trump said, “You asked if he’d drag me in, like I’d go in unwillingly. No, I may go in very willingly if we can't get a deal. If we don't make a deal, I'll be leading the pack.” 

The comments appeared to contradict previous statements, in which Trump indicated that Israel might lead any military action against Iranian nuclear sites. 

“If it requires military, we’re going to have military. Israel will obviously be very much involved in that – it’ll be the leader of that,” Trump said earlier this month. 

Those comments came just before the start of the direct talks between the Trump administration, through special envoy Steve Witkoff, and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi. 

The two nations have now conducted three rounds of direct talks, which both have cautiously described as “constructive,” however, few details have been revealed by either side. 

While the U.S. and Oman, which has functioned as a mediator between the sides, have both publicly declared that a “full renunciation of nuclear weapons” is part of the goal for the negotiations, Iran has not been so clear. 

The country’s foreign minister was non-committal in recent statements, saying, “There is no reason for much optimism, and there is no reason for much pessimism either.” 

Aragchi also said he hoped Iran would “be in a better position after the technical talks,” which concluded yesterday. 

In the meantime, Israel has reportedly continued to prepare for the possibility of a strike, conducting training drills, while the U.S. has continued to provide missile defense supplies to the Jewish state.