President Donald Trump on Friday declared that the United States will accept nothing short of Iran’s unconditional surrender before entering any agreement with the Islamic Republic, while simultaneously holding out the promise of a prosperous future for the Iranian people under new leadership.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump said there would be “no deal with Iran except UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER,” adding that the selection of what he called “a GREAT & ACCEPTABLE Leader(s)” was a prerequisite for any diplomatic progress. The blunt message leaves little room for the kind of phased negotiations that have characterized past U.S.-Iran diplomacy.
In the same post, Trump sketched out a rare vision of what he envisions for Iran after the conflict ends, pledging that the U.S. and its allies would “work tirelessly” to rebuild the country’s economy under new leadership. It marks one of the clearest signals yet from Trump about the day-after scenario — a subject the administration has largely avoided spelling out publicly until now. “Iran will have a great future,” he wrote, closing with the phrase “MAKE IRAN GREAT AGAIN (MIGA!)” — a deliberate echo of the slogan that defined his political rise.
The remarks follow Trump’s statement to Reuters on Thursday, in which he said he was demanding the right to help select Iran’s next supreme leader. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed by U.S. and Israeli forces on the opening day of the war.
