‘He’s right’: Karoline Leavitt backs Trump’s Iran regime change comments

WASHINGTON, DC: Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, said President Donald Trump was right about his remarks on regime change in Iran during a press briefing on March 25. Her comments came after Washington Post reporter Michael Birnbaum asked whether regime change had taken place in the country. The exchange followed Trump’s statement a day earlier that Operation Epic Fury had successfully eliminated Iran’s top leaders.

Leavitt says Trump is right about regime change in Iran

When the reporter asked Leavitt, "The President yesterday said that he had achieved regime change in Iran because the regime has changed in terms…"

Leavitt interrupted, replying, "I mean has it not? Their entire leadership has been killed, and nobody has really seen or legitimately heard from this alleged new leader. So wouldn't you say there's been a change in the regime?"

The reporter agreed, saying, "There’s been a change in the regime leadership—" but before he could finish, Leavitt interjected, "There’s been a change in the regime leadership, which is what the president said, so thank you for confirming he was right."

Birnbaum then rephrased his question and asked if Trump believed he had achieved a leadership structure or personnel that he was satisfied with. Leavitt responded that it was too soon to say, “I think it’s too soon to say.”

Trump talks about leadership change in Iran

Trump said, “We have, really, a regime change. You know, this is a change in the regime because the leaders are all different. I think we can say this is regime change.”

Karoline Leavitt supported Trump after the POTUS said that Operation Epic Fury had successfully removed Iran’s top leaders during a Q&A in the Oval Office.

He said, “We killed all their leadership, And then they met to choose new leaders, and we killed all of them. And now we have a new group, and we can easily do that, but let’s see how they turn out.”

“We have, really, a regime change,” the president added. “You know, this is a change in the regime, because the leaders are all very different than the ones we started off with that created all these problems.”

His comments came after US and Israeli attacks killed Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei early in the conflict, along with many other Iranian leaders in the following weeks. Khamenei’s son, Mojtaba, was named as the new leader but hasn’t been seen since and may have been seriously hurt during one of the strikes.

Leavitt said Iran’s remaining leaders have been urgently trying to make a deal with the Trump administration lately, especially after the president warned he would target the country’s power plants one by one.