President Donald Trump denied making any promises about avoiding wars during a Sunday “Meet the Press” interview with Kristen Welker — despite telling voters in his 2024 victory speech that he would “stop wars.”
The denial came as Welker pressed Trump on U.S. military operations against Iran that began in June 2025 and expanded into Operation Epic Fury in February 2026.
“So when you say I ‘promised,’ I didn’t promise anything. I don’t like these endless wars. This is not an endless war. We’ve been doing this for three months.”
But Trump struck a different tone the night he won the 2024 election.
“We had no wars four years. We had no wars,” Trump said in his victory speech. “They said, ‘He will start a war.’ I’m not going to start a war. I’m going to stop wars.“
The United States and Israel launched Operation Epic Fury on Feb. 28 after talks involving Iran’s nuclear weapons program broke down. That followed Trump’s June 2025 order for B-2 bombers to strike enrichment facilities in Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan.
During the contentious interview taped Friday in Wisconsin, Welker reminded Trump he had called the Middle East “a quagmire” during his 2016 campaign.
“It is,” Trump replied.
When Welker asked what makes him sure this won’t become a quagmire, Trump responded, “We’re not going to be there.”
“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.”
Energy Secretary Chris Wright claimed during a May 10 “Meet the Press” interview that Iran had material for ten nuclear devices and over 1,000 pounds of uranium at 60% enrichment. Wright said ending the Iranian nuclear weapons program would lower energy costs long-term.
The administration has not publicly offered evidence to corroborate those assertions.
Trump and other officials asserted the Iranian nuclear weapons program had been “obliterated” after the June 2025 strike. 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 Trump was convinced to launch strikes against Iran during a Feb. 11 White House visit by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — despite skepticism from Vice President J.D. Vance and other officials.
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 argued in an X post that Iran posed no “imminent threat” to the United States.
