President Donald Trump denied to “Meet the Press” host Kristen Welker during an interview which aired Sunday that he made any promises about starting wars.
The United States and Israel launched Operation Epic Fury on Feb. 28 after talks involving Iran’s nuclear weapons program broke down, months after Trump ordered B-2 bombers to strike enrichment facilities in Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan in June 2025. Welker pressed Trump on his past statements on the Middle East after the president defended his policies on Iran.
“I put it out for many, many years. Now, I’m going to put it out permanently,” Trump told Welker, adding, “I’m going to do it either through negotiation, where we’re very close to a deal, or I’m going to blow the hell out of them, to be honest with you. And it’s going to be very easy for me to do that.”
Trump also took issue with claims he had promised to not start wars.
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“So when you say I ‘promised,’ I didn’t promise anything,” Trump said. “I don’t like these endless wars. This is not an endless war. We’ve been doing this for three months. Much of it has been under the form — a pretty good form — of ceasefire.”
During his victory speech after the 2024 presidential election, Trump took aim at the Biden administration’s inability to end multiple conflicts.
“We want a strong and powerful military and, ideally, we don’t have to use it. You know, we had no wars four years. We had no wars,” Trump said. “Except we defeated ISIS, we defeated ISIS in record time. And— but we had no wars. They said, ‘He will start a war.’ I’m not going to start a war. I’m going to stop wars.”
Welker reminded Trump about his past statements during the contentious interview, which was taped during Trump’s Friday visit to Wisconsin.
“Let me ask you though, during your 2016 campaign, you called the Middle East a quagmire,” to which Trump said, “It is.”
“What makes you so sure this won’t become a quagmire?” Welker asked Trump, who then gave a two-minute answer about Iran before briefly addressing the question:
“We’re not going to be there.”
“You’re convinced this won’t become a quagmire?” Welker asked.
“It’s not a quagmire,” Trump replied. “Just wiped out the military of a very dangerous country. And I wiped out the nuclear threat. Let me tell you, if we left tomorrow, we just said, ‘All right, let’s get out,’ it’ll take them 15 or 20 years to rebuild back. But I’m not going to give them even that chance. Not going to give them that chance.”
Energy Secretary Chris Wright claimed during a May 10 “Meet the Press” interview with Welker that Iran had material for ten nuclear devices and over 1,000 pounds of uranium at 60% enrichment. Wright also asserted that ending the Iranian nuclear weapons program would lower energy costs in the long term.
While U.S. Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff made similar allegations in a March 2 interview with Sean Hannity, the administration has not publicly offered evidence to corroborate the assertions by Witkoff or Wright.
Trump and other administration officials asserted the Iranian nuclear weapons program had been “obliterated” after the June 2025 strike targeting multiple nuclear sites. They also maintained, however, the regime posed a threat to the U.S. without providing specific details. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the U.S. launched strikes because an Iranian response to a planned Israeli attack could potentially have targeted American forces.
The New York Times reported April 7 that, despite skepticism from administration officials, including Vice President J.D. Vance, Trump was convinced to launch strikes against Iran during a Feb. 11 visit to the White House by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Former Director of the National Counterterrorism Center Joe Kent resigned March 17 over the conflict, claiming the war began “due to pressure from Israel and its powerful American lobby.” He also argued in an X post that Iran posed no “imminent threat” to the United States.
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