On Sunday morning, Vice President JD Vance and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth appeared on national television to defend President Trump’s decision to bomb three of Iran’s nuclear sites—marking the first time the United States has directly struck Iranian territory.
During an interview on NBC’s Meet the Press, Vance flatly rejected the notion that the U.S. was entering a new war.
“We’re not at war with Iran,” Vance said. “We’re at war with Iran’s nuclear program.”
Asked whether the U.S. could confirm the sites were destroyed, Vance declined to give a definitive answer but offered a confident assessment:
He separately said during the interview that the U.S. “destroyed the Iranian nuclear program,” adding, “I think we set that program back substantially.”
On ABC’s This Week, Vance backed off slightly when pressed about the Fordo facility, buried deep in a mountain:
“Severely damaged versus obliterated — I’m not exactly sure what the difference is,” he said. “What we know is we set their nuclear program back substantially.”
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth echoed the message at a Pentagon briefing, calling the mission “not open-ended” and emphasizing:
“This is not about regime change.”
He stressed that Saturday’s U.S. military strikes were strictly targeted at Iran’s nuclear infrastructure. According to Axios, Hegseth confirmed that seven B-2 stealth bombers carried out the “complex and high-risk mission,” flying 18 hours from the U.S. and coordinating with escort and support aircraft.
Both Vance and Hegseth insisted the U.S. wants peace if Iran is serious about returning to diplomacy.
But that message began to shift just hours later. On Sunday afternoon, Trump posted on Truth Social:
It’s not politically correct to use the term, “Regime Change,” but if the current Iranian Regime is unable to MAKE IRAN GREAT AGAIN, why wouldn’t there be a Regime change??? MIGA!!!
It was the first time Trump publicly hinted at regime change, and with it, the clearest sign yet that this may not be just a one-night strike, but the beginning of something bigger.
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