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| ▲ U.S. President Donald Trump smiles during a roundtable on the Ratepayer Protection Pledge at the White House in Washington on March 4, 2026, in this photo released by AFP. (Yonhap) |
Trump-Iran operation
Trump: 'When crazy people have nuclear weapons, bad things happen'
By Song Sang-ho
WASHINGTON, March 4 (Yonhap) -- U.S. President Donald Trump said Wednesday that when nuclear weapons are in the hands of "crazy people," "bad things" take place, as he defended the ongoing U.S. military operation against Iran that led to the death of the Islamic Republic's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Speaking at an energy-related event at the White House, Trump also said that everybody who wants to be an Iranian leader "ends up dead," in what appears to be a warning against the next Iranian leadership that could also pursue nuclear ambitions.
Trump's remarks came as North Korea has been doubling down on its nuclear weapons program, which the Pentagon's National Defense Strategy said presents a "clear and present" danger of a nuclear attack on the American homeland.
"When crazy people have nuclear weapons, bad things happen. So we are in very good shape," he said.
"We will continue forward, but it's a great display of military strength," he added, referring to Operation Epic Fury, the military operation against Tehran.
Trump repeated his criticism of the Iran nuclear deal that the U.S. signed under the former Obama administration in 2015 and the first Trump administration withdrew from in 2018.
"I called it the Obama nuclear deal, where he gave everything to Iran, including a nuclear weapon. It was a road to a nuclear weapon," he said.
"Bad things would have happened four years ago because they would have had a weapon four years ago if I didn't terminate the deal."
He went on to say that the United States is "in a very strong position."
"(The Iranian) leadership is just rapidly going," he said. "Everybody that seems to want to be a leader, they end up dead."
Trump expressed confidence in Operation Epic Fury.
"We are doing very well on the war front," he said. "To put it mildly, I would say ... somebody said, 'On a scale of 10, where would you rate it?' I said about a 15."
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