In a recent meeting at the White House, President Donald Trump and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz discussed the ongoing military operations against Iran. Trump characterized the strikes as overwhelmingly successful, asserting that Iran's military infrastructure has been severely degraded.
"They have no navy-it was wiped out; they have no air force-it was wiped out; they have no air detection system-it was wiped out. Almost everything is wiped out," Trump stated, praising the performance of the US military. He reiterated his belief that the offensive was preemptive, claiming, "We were negotiating with these lunatics. They were going to attack first, I was sure of it... I didn't want this to happen."
According to Trump, Iran responded to the initial American and Israeli strikes by targeting uninvolved nations and civilians, demonstrating "the level of evil we are dealing with." He emphasized the human cost of the regime, stating they had "killed 35,000 people with machine guns and snipers" in recent weeks.
Chancellor Merz echoed the objective of removing the current Iranian regime, noting, "We are on the same page in terms of getting this terrible regime in Tehran away. We will be talking about the day after." Trump cautioned that any successor regime must be carefully vetted to avoid repeating the mistakes of the past.
Trump: Spain has been terrible. In fact, I told Scott to cut off all dealings with Spain. Spain actually said that we can't use their bases. And that's all right. We could use their base if we want. We could just fly in and use it. Nobody's going to tell us not to use it. pic.twitter.com/XugXBGiypW
— Acyn (@Acyn) March 3, 2026
The conversation also highlighted friction between the US and its European allies. Trump criticized Spain for allegedly refusing the US access to its military bases for the Iran operation. He suggested implementing an embargo, citing Spain's failure to meet NATO's 2% GDP defense spending threshold. "I could tomorrow stop or today-even better-stop everything having to do with Spain. Embargoes," Trump declared. Merz noted that Germany is attempting to persuade Spain to increase its defense spending to 3% or 3.5%.
Trump also expressed dissatisfaction with the United Kingdom, specifically British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, regarding initial hesitation to provide base access. Furthermore, he criticized the UK's transfer of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, an issue sensitive to the US due to its military base on Diego Garcia. Summarizing his view on Starmer, Trump remarked, "This is not the age of Churchill."
Regarding the economic impact of the conflict, Trump predicted that any surge in oil prices would be temporary. He also defended his decision to terminate the Obama-era nuclear deal with Iran, arguing that without that action, Iran would have already deployed nuclear weapons against Israel and other nations.
The situation in Iran remains volatile. Trump suggested that the leadership structure within Iran has been severely compromised, raising questions about the country's future direction.