I know for a fact that he was aware of those potentials. I raised the option of regime change in Iran several times during the time I was national security adviser. And one reason was that others had different views, and every time I raised it, they raised a whole long list of difficulties that are entailed by a regime change campaign. So he knew about it in his first term. I find it hard to believe that he forgot about it in the intervening years.

Source: Huffington Post March 18, 2026 11:07 UTC