US4 min(s) read
Published 18:27 18 Jun 2026 GMT
President Donald Trump has left viewers baffled after suggesting it would be "unfair" to prevent Iran from retaining some ballistic missiles under the new peace agreement.
The war, which began on February 28 after the 80-year-old joined Israel in military action against Tehran without congressional approval, dominated international headlines for months.
Throughout the conflict, Trump administration officials shared their objectives for the conflict, which included regime change, weakening Iran's missile capabilities, and ending their nuclear ambitions.
During a G7 press conference in France, Trump appeared to soften his stance on Iran's missile program as he proposed that they should be allowed to keep part of their ballistic missile arsenal.
When asked to clarify his comment, he replied: "I'm saying that if other countries have them, it's a little bit unfair for them not to have some. A ballistic missile is not the same thing as what we’re talking about."
The president also dismissed concerns from advisers who reportedly argued that Iran should be stripped of all missile capabilities.
"I like some of these guys, but I… don't think they're smart. 'Sir, you shouldn't let them have any missile,'" he said, per The Hill. "I said, 'Well, what am I going to do? Am I going to let Saudi Arabia have missiles, but they can't have them?' 'Yes, sir.'"
"Doesn't work that way, you know, it doesn't work that way, and missiles aren't the problem," he continued. "Missiles, they hurt a little location, but they don't blow up the planet."
The president's remarks immediately drew backlash from online users who argued that reducing Iran's missile threat had been presented as one of the central aims of the war.
Congresswoman Yassamin Ansari wrote on X: "This war was literally for nothing. None of the alleged objectives - regime change, destroying nuclear or missile programs - were met."
"We murdered thousands of Iranian civilians and 13 Americans died for NOTHING. A catastrophic, senseless tragedy at the hands of an evil moron," she added.
Senator Chris Murphy was equally critical, writing: "He took America to war - killing 13 soldiers, thousands of Iranian civilians and costing taxpayers $60 billion - to get rid of Iran's missile program. And now that he's lost the war, he pretends like it's no big deal. Just unforgivable. What a charlatan."
Others on social media were similarly perplexed by his statement. "The scariest thing about this is that there's no way to know whether he's even aware that he spent the last 4 months saying exactly the opposite," one person said.
"Remember when Trump said he would accept nothing less from Iran than unconditional surrender?" a user asked, while a third chimed in: "He went from 'destroy their missiles' to 'sharing is caring' in 12 seconds."
Despite the criticism, the president insisted Tehran's military powers have already been weakened by the war.
"We knocked out probably 84-85 percent of their missiles. The rest of them are underground; they can't even get them out, you know," he told reporters. "They don't want to be firing missiles right now. They're going to have a hard time rebuilding."
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth also claimed earlier this year that every Iranian company responsible for producing ballistic missile components "has been defeated, has been destroyed".
However, assessments from US intelligence agencies reportedly suggested Iran retained around 70 percent of both its mobile missile launchers and pre-war missile stockpile as recently as May.
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