President Donald Trump warned the US could carry out further military strikes against Iran if it attempts to rebuild its nuclear and ballistic missile programs. He made the remarks to journalists alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida on Monday.
BREAKING:
Trump: US will ‘knock the hell’ out of Iran if it tries to rearm, US president says as he welcomed Netanyahu to Mar-a-Lago pic.twitter.com/69Xt4Rg6YY— Mr. Lou Rage (@mrlourage) December 29, 2025
In June, the US and Israel carried out coordinated airstrikes on Iranian nuclear sites at Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan, claiming they were intended to prevent Iran from advancing its nuclear program. Tehran has vehemently denied seeking nuclear weapons and condemned the strikes as unprovoked violations of its sovereignty. Iranian officials have stated that the damaged facilities will be rebuilt and uranium enrichment will continue.
Read more: Zohran Mamdani has bold promises. Can he make them come true as New York City mayor?
“If it’s confirmed, they know the consequences, and the consequences will be very powerful, maybe more powerful than the last time,” Trump said on Monday. “We’ll knock them down. We’ll knock the hell out of them. But hopefully that’s not happening.”
The US president indicated he would “absolutely” support Israeli military action against Iran’s missile program, saying the US would act “immediately” against any nuclear advances.
“We know exactly where they’re going, what they’re doing, and I hope they’re not doing it, because we don’t want to waste the fuel on a B-2 – it’s a 37-hour trip both ways,” he added.
Trump noted it would be “much smarter” for Tehran to “make a deal” with Washington, claiming that Iran missed an opportunity “the last time, before we went through a big attack on them.”
Read more: Trump and Netanyahu are to meet in Florida at a crucial moment for the US-backed Gaza ceasefire
Omani-mediated US-Iran negotiations were suspended earlier this year after Washington joined Israel’s 12-day bombing campaign. In October, the EU and UK reimposed sanctions on Iran, which had been lifted as part of the 2015 nuclear deal that the US withdrew from during Trump’s first term in office. Tehran has since said it is no longer bound by the 2015 agreement.
Iran has insisted it remains open to reaching a deal with the US, but only if Washington stops setting what Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi previously described as “impossible and unacceptable preconditions.”
