Trump In First Suggests Iran Regime Change: ‘Time To Look For New Leadership’

The deadly unrest and protests in Iran have largely gone quiet, but White House pressure on Tehran has not. President Trump over the weekend for the first time in the two-week crisis called for the end of the Iranian Supreme Leader’s rule. His words came in an interview with Politico: 

President Donald Trump on Saturday called for an end to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s 37-year reign.

“It’s time to look for new leadership in Iran,” Trump told POLITICO, as widespread protests calling for an end to the regime appear to have waned.

“The man is a sick man who should run his country properly and stop killing people,” Trump said. “His country is the worst place to live anywhere in the world because of poor leadership.”

Days prior into last week, it became clear that Trump would hold off striking Iran. He described that the killing had stopped, and that Iranian leaders agreed to not execute any protesters.

Recent reporting in major US news sources also indicated that the Pentagon could not assure success in taking out top leadership if strikes on Tehran were authorized. This figured strongly into Trump’s holding off.

Referencing Ayatollah Khamenei, Trump told Politico further, “The best decision he ever made was not hanging more than 800 people two days ago.”

It’s unclear where this 800 figure comes from, as there’s an absence to any such reference from Iranian officials or state media. Typically when the Islamic Republic executes someone, it is highly publicized by state sources as a stern message and warning to the public or other potential criminals.

Khamenei himself isn’t backing down, and is also engaging in accusatory rhetoric aimed at Trump. After linking US and Israeli intelligence to the protests in which “thousands” were killed (Iran has made clear that among these were many police and security forces), the top Shia cleric has said as follows:

“We find the US President guilty due to the casualties, damages and slander he inflicted upon the Iranian nation,” Khamenei wrote.

But probably Khamenei is holding back his rhetoric to some degree, not wishing to provoke Trump into attacking Iran at a delicate moment, also when the economy and currency are in a tailspin. Trump responded:

Trump, after being read the posts, said Tehran’s rulers rely on repression and violence to govern. “What he is guilty of, as the leader of a country, is the complete destruction of the country and the use of violence at levels never seen before,” Trump said. “In order to keep the country functioning — even though that function is a very low level — the leadership should focus on running his country properly, like I do with the United States, and not killing people by the thousands in order to keep control.”

There are fresh reports Sunday that internet access is slowly coming back to Iran, after the say prior SMS messaging was restored – though it’s expected that authorities will continue to keep a ban on certain US and Western-based apps and communications platforms. 

ℹ️ Update: While ordinary internet connectivity in #Iran remains disrupted at hour 238, traffic data indicate a significant return to some online services including Google, suggesting that heavily filtered access has been enabled, corroborating user reports of partial restoration pic.twitter.com/YR1YfkxZCU

— NetBlocks (@netblocks) January 18, 2026

While Trump has refrained from attacking Iran, US military assets are said to be en route to the Middle East and CENTCOM area of responsibility. The bulk of the US Navy’s strike group has been in the Caribbean, after the Jan.3rd operation to oust Maduro.