President Donald Trump is illuminated by a camera flash as he gestures while walking across the South Lawn of the White House, Nov. 2, 2025, in Washington, after returning from a trip to Florida. (AP Photo)
US President Donald Trump Saturday said Iran should seek new leadership, calling an end to the long rule of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
“It’s time to look for new leadership in Iran,” Trump told POLITICO as protests that had called for the fall of the Iranian leadership appeared to ease.
Trump’s remarks came after he was read a series of hostile posts published on X by Khamenei, in which the Iranian leader accused the US president of being responsible for deaths and unrest in Iran.
The US President sent a message to the seditionists saying he would support them and provide military support. In other words, the US President himself was involved in the sedition. These are criminal acts.
“We find the US president guilty due to the casualties, damages and slander he inflicted upon the Iranian nation,” Khamenei wrote. In another post, he accused Trump of wrongly portraying violent groups as representatives of the Iranian people.
Responding to the posts, Trump said Iran’s leaders rule through force and fear. “What he is guilty of, as the leader of a country, is the complete destruction of the country and the use of violence at levels never seen before,” Trump told POLITICO.
Earlier this week, Trump urged Iranians to keep protesting and said they should “take over institutions”, adding that “help is on its way”. A day later, he said he had been told the killings had stopped.
“The best decision he ever made was not hanging more than 800 people two days ago,” Trump said on Saturday, when asked about the scale of a possible US military response.
Trump went on to criticise Iran’s system of government and Khamenei personally. “The man should run his country properly and stop killing people,” he said, adding that Iran’s problems were the result of poor leadership.
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The exchange highlights rising tension between Washington and Tehran, coming shortly after Khamenei claimed in a public speech that “the Iranian nation has defeated America”.
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President Donald Trump is illuminated by a camera flash as he gestures while walking across the South Lawn of the White House, Nov. 2, 2025, in Washington, after returning from a trip to Florida. (AP Photo) 
