In an Oval Office presser on Monday, President Trump spoke on the ongoing Operation Epic Fury, the state of the theocratic regime in Iran (or what's left of it), and that rogue nation's attempts at building a nuclear weapon. Vice President JD Vance was at his side throughout.
.@POTUS: "I don't want wars. I want wars less than almost anybody... I think @VP understands better than most — if you give Iran a nuclear weapon, at least a very substantial part of the world would be blown up, and it'd be used almost immediately." https://t.co/P0bwpBnyaR pic.twitter.com/WgSgQTF0zy
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) March 16, 2026
Some key excerpts from President Trump:
They (the Iranian regime) are violent people. If they had a nuclear weapon, they would use it. And sometimes we'll have some of the people who feel very strongly, like I do, about wars, and I say, "Do you think Iran is violent, and do you think their people are violent?" Yes, leadership. "Do you think they should have a nuclear weapon?" Which is massive power. I don't even want to discuss how powerful, because it's depressing. And they said, "No, they shouldn't have (a nuclear weapon)."
Key point here. This entire thing started over Iran's attempts to build a nuclear weapon, and if the Trump administration had not acted, first in Operation Midnight Hammer and now in Operation Epic Fury, there can be little doubt that the Iranian regime would have built such a weapon. It's not exactly new technology, after all; we did it in 1945. And if that regime had built a working device, as the president notes he has been saying for 20 years, and which I've been saying for at least that long, they would have used it. That's what is behind everything we are doing in Iran, right now; the problem, after all, isn't the technology. It's the regime that was working at all costs to develop such a weapon.
The president also called out the Iranian regime for shooting protestors, noting a claimed number of 32,000 protestors killed by the regime, describing them as "violent people." Later, the president waxed pretty enthusiastic about the capabilities of the B-2 Spirit bomber, its accuracy, its stealth, and credited that aircraft for the success, of Operation Midnight Hammer, claiming that no other country in the world has this capacity.
But the real moment came after a question directed at Vice President Vance, wherein a reporter allegedly tried to push some daylight between POTUS and VPOTUS, only to have the effort explode in his face.
"What the President said consistently going back to 2015 — and I agreed with him — was that Iran should not have a nuclear weapon," says @VP on Operation Epic Fury.
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) March 16, 2026
"I trust President Trump to get the job done... and to make sure that the mistakes of the past aren't repeated." pic.twitter.com/FphGIg59fu
VP Vance said:
VP Vance: I know what you're trying to do, Phil, you're trying to drive a wedge between members of the administration, between me and the president. What the president said, consistently, going back to 2015, and I agreed with him, is that Iran should not have a nuclear weapon. We have taken this military action under the president's leadership. I think all of us, whether you're a Democrat or a Republican, should pray for success and pray for the safety of our troops. That's the approach I've taken. Make it as successful as possible.
Questioner: So there's no hesitation, given your past statements, with the current operation?
VP Vance: What do you mean, there's no hesitation with my past statements?
Q: Given your skepticism, (inaudible) in the global war on terror previously?
VP Vance: I think one big difference, Phil, is that we have a smart president, whereas in the past we've had dumb presidents, and I trust President Trump to get the job done, to do a good job for the American people, and to make sure that the mistakes of the past aren't repeated. Absolutely.
This is a solid team. This is a team that understands that the problem isn't Iran's capability of building a nuclear weapon; it is the regime's willingness to use such a weapon. Were Iran to develop a workable device, they wouldn't even necessarily have to make it small and light enough to fit in a missile; all they would have to do is put it in a cargo container, put the container on an old tramp freighter with skeleton crew - there are useful idiots galore in the Muslim world who would take the mission on - and sail it into a harbor, such as Haifa, or Ashdod, or New York, late some night, and torch the thing off.
What is the result of such an act - remember that Israel already almost certainly has nuclear weapons - doesn't bear contemplation. That's why the administration has partnered with Israel to take this on. That's why it has to be seen through. It's good to see that the administration is solidly behind the effort.
Editor's Note: For decades, former presidents have been all talk and no action. Now, Donald Trump is eliminating the threat from Iran once and for all.
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