The internet was shocked on Wednesday after President Donald Trump appeared to reverse his stance on Iran having nuclear weapons — a key point he argued for launching the war.
The president was boarding Air Force One and heading to Paris when he spoke about Iran's nuclear program. Trump had spent the last several days at the G7 Summit in Évian-les-Bains, France, with world leaders and discussed the agreement.
"I'm saying that if other countries have them, it's a little unfair for them not to have some," Trump said.
Media and political experts were stunned by the comment and reacted to the remark.
"Remember, one of their stated aims for the war was to destroy Iran’s ballistic missiles," Mehdi Hasan, founder and CEO of news outlet Zeteo, wrote on X.
"That's what Iran has been saying for years," journalist Ray Locker wrote on X.
"Not the first time he’s said this still," Laurence Norman, reporter for The Wall Street Journal, wrote on X.
"Quite a day," Adil Haque, Rutgers Law professor and executive editor of Just Security, wrote on X.
"And if Israel has nukes?....." Political analyst and writer Yousef Munayyer wrote on X.
"Quite natural for Trump. He loves seere [SIC] dictatorships & the more autocratic the better in Trump's eyes," economist and author Anders Åslund wrote on X.
"Just complete surrender on every front," Clara Jeffery, editor-in-chief of Mother Jones, Center for Investigative Reporting and Reveal, wrote on Bluesky.
"Again, need to say it - if Biden, Obama or any other Democratic President publicly endorsed Iran having ballistic missiles after launching an ill advised war to essentially eliminate Iran's missile launching capabilities - Congress (even a Dem led one) would launch impeachment proceedings next day," Murshed Zaheed, founder and CEO of Pacifica Strategies, wrote on Bluesky.
Just complete surrender on every front.
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— Clara Jeffery (@clarajeffery.bsky.social) June 17, 2026 at 12:40 PM