Donald Trump told reporters on the margins of the G7 summit that he "never cared about changing status" in Iran, although he believed this would happen anyway.
"I never cared about a regime change, but I guess there is a regime change," said the American president after meeting with Qatar's emir Tamim bin Hamad al Thani.
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“I don't belive in regime change. I've watched regime changes for years, and they never work.
It has to just Happen. ‘
Trump has repeatedly stated in previous statements that the goal is regime... pic.twitter. com/bMPb6TopK5— Megatron (@Megatron ron) June 16, 2026
At the start of the US-Israeli offensive against the Islamic Republic on 28 February, Trump had called on Iranians to take control of their country's power. "This is the biggest opportunity for the Iranian people to get their country back," he had then written on Truth Social.
The Trump government then argued many times that the murder of many high-ranking members of the Iranian leadership essentially brought a change of face to the country's authority.
In other statements on the subject at the summit, Trump said members of the "first" and "second" group of Iranian leadership are dead, as are some of the "third group". The people with whom the US is now negotiating are reasonable, he said - not radicalised and willing to help their country.
At the same time, the American president said: "I have seen regime changes for years, they haven't worked.".