Trump says Iran still wants talks, rejects calls for its “complete annihilation” as he downplays U.S. role in seven-month war

President Donald Trump said Iran continued to seek talks with Washington and suggested further U.S. action remained possible, while defending his handling of the seven-month conflict and pushing back against criticism from both anti-war Republicans and those demanding a more destructive campaign.

Asked whether Iran needed regime change, Trump said, “We’ve sort of changed the regime, in a sense. We did it twice,” without elaborating on what he meant.

Asked whether he was surprised by Iran’s resilience, Trump replied: “I don’t know what resilient means. I mean, we’ve been nice because they want to talk, and they keep talking, talking. At some point, we will have to do that.”

Trump said some Republicans were angry because they had expected him to be a “no-wars president,” but argued that the conflict had been limited. “I haven’t had much of a war, if you think about it,” he said, later adding that “for much of this war, we haven’t been really fighting.”

He said another president could have lost thousands of U.S. personnel without attracting the same criticism, while citing 18 American deaths over seven months. Trump also acknowledged pressure from the opposite direction: “There are also people who are angry because I didn’t completely annihilate Iran.”

The remarks came in an interview with New York Post columnist Miranda Devine for her Pod Force One podcast, released Monday, a day before the U.S. midterm elections.

Trump said he was not confident the elections would be secure and warned that if Democrats eventually controlled the House, Senate and presidency, “our country is finished.” Asked how he would govern if Democrats won Congress, he said he would become “Mr. Veto,” while leaving open the possibility of later negotiations.

Trump also said he would consider pre-emptive pardons for allies or administration officials if he believed they faced politically motivated prosecution under a future Democratic government.

On emergency-preparedness warnings issued abroad, Trump said Americans did not need to stockpile food, saying the United States was “in good shape.” He also predicted gasoline prices would eventually fall below $2 a gallon.