Of the very few things that we know not to work are American wars seeking regime change in Asia. One can literally count on no fingers the number of successes we have had. Thus it is that, despite the fact that absolutely no American would shed a tear if the current theocratic Iranian regime were toppled by a moderate secular movement, you aren’t going to hear it from the administration. Or, you weren’t supposed to.
On this mission, the entirety of Trump’s cabinet came out to say that regime change had nothing to do with the bombing, only the prevention of developing a nuclear weapon. Late yesterday, Trump promptly threw those comments into the recycling receptacle, shredding American cred on the subject.
According to a report in Politico:
President Donald Trump’s top national security officials spent much of Sunday insisting his administration doesn’t want to bring about the end of Iran’s government, only its nuclear program. Then Trump left the door open for exactly that.
“It’s not politically correct to use the term, ‘Regime Change,’ but if the current Iranian Regime is unable to MAKE IRAN GREAT AGAIN, why wouldn’t there be a Regime change??? MIGA!!!” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.
Oh, it’s perfectly politically correct, that ain’t the problem. The problem is that we never succeed in effectuating them, and so to even hint at regime change as a possible justification is beyond stupid. There better be a bigger reason since those never come about.
While Trump did not call for the ouster of the regime, or say that the U.S. would play any role in overthrowing the Iranian government, his words undercut what had appeared to be a coordinated message from his top advisers. Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth each insisted Sunday that the U.S. was only interested in dismantling Iran’s nuclear capabilities.
Right.
VANCE: "Our view has been very clear that we don't want a regime change." HEGSETH: "This mission was not and has not been about regime change." RUBIO: Regime change is "certainly not the goal of what we're working on here." TRUMP:
— Megan Cassella (@megancnbc.bsky.social) 2025-06-22T21:22:50.238Z
So that happened. Granted, Trump never said that regime change was the goal; this is about messaging and public perception. The perception is that Trump and the cabinet are not on the same page. One gets the sense that Trump is merely rebelling from hearing the oft-stated lament that regime change simply doesn’t work and thus never bring it up. The man really can be adolescent.
There is no harm in hoping for regime change – we should all hope for such. But making the entire cabinet look like fools while also hinting that it may have been a partial rationale just makes the American public roll their eyes. Perhaps be infuriated.
We do have a perfect record on these, perfectly unaccomplished.
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The regime that needs to be changed is the U.S.A. STAT
MASA (Make America Sane Again)