Trump says Iran missiles 'aren't the problem' after White House made them central to war rationale
For months, senior Trump administration officials argued that Iran's ballistic missile arsenal helped shield Tehran's nuclear ambitions and was a key reason the U.S. launched Operation Epic Fury attacks on the country.
Now, President Donald Trump is suggesting Iran having missiles may not be a problem at all.
"If other countries have them, it's a little bit unfair for them not to have some. If Saudi Arabia and Qatar, and they all have some, I would say that in relative proportion, I think it's okay," Trump said at the G7 international forum Wednesday. "Am I going to let Saudi Arabia have missiles, but (Iran) can't have them? It doesn't work that way."
"Missiles aren't the problem. They hurt a little location, but they don't blow up the planet."
"The Gulf nations will address the nonnuclear issues, as we'll be talking about the ballistic missiles," the president added. "And we'll talk, also, about the terrorist proxies that they have that — we don't want that to happen."
Trump made the remarks while discussing whether Iran should be permitted to retain missile capabilities in a news conference at the G7 in Évian-les-Bains, France, just as details of the memorandum of understanding between the U.S. and Iran were being released.
The comments strike a much different tone than arguments repeatedly made by senior administration officials in recent months, who described Iran's ballistic missile force as both a major threat to regional security and a protective shield for Iran's nuclear program.
"Iran can never have a nuclear weapon, and we will not allow Iran to hide behind the immunity of a massive short-term ballistic missile inventory, or the ability to make them or launch them," Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters in a press conference March 3. "What they are trying to do, and have been trying to do for a very long time, is build a conventional weapons capability as a shield to hide behind."
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Other senior officials repeatedly described degrading Iran's missile capabilities as a central objective of Operation Epic Fury.
In remarks at the White House on March 2, days after the start of the operation, Trump said, "Our objectives are clear. First, we're destroying Iran's missile capabilities ... and their capacity to produce brand new ones."
War Secretary Pete Hegseth later said March 4 the mission was "laser-focused" on obliterating Iran's missiles and the facilities that produce them, while White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said the same day one of the administration's primary goals was to "destroy the regime's deadly ballistic missiles and completely raze their missile industry to the ground."
Rubio repeatedly returned to the theme throughout the operation, arguing that degrading Iran's missile force was necessary to prevent Iran from using conventional military power as cover for a future nuclear weapons program.
"This is about very specific objectives," Rubio told reporters March 30. "The President laid them out on the first night of the operation… Here they are — you should write them down. No. 1, the destruction of their air force. No. 2, the destruction of their navy. No. 3 the severe diminishing of their missile launching capability. And number four, the destruction of their factories so they can't make more missiles and more drones to threaten us in the future. All of this so that they can never hide behind it to acquire a nuclear weapon. That was our objective from the beginning; that remains our objective now."
Leavitt made similar comments the same day, saying the objectives of Operation Epic Fury included "destroying their ballistic missiles" and dismantling the infrastructure used to produce them while ensuring Iran never obtains a nuclear weapon.
Trump's remarks at the G7 also raised questions about the administration's approach to Iran's nuclear program, another issue that administration officials had previously described in far less flexible terms.
Trump's comments also come as the administration pursues a memorandum of understanding with Iran that leaves unresolved one of the central disputes in the nuclear negotiations: the future of Iran's enrichment program.
Under the framework agreement unveiled in recent days, the United States and Iran agreed to spend 60 days negotiating the fate of Iran's nearly 900-pound stockpile of near-weapons-grade 60% enriched uranium and any future enrichment activities. Administration officials said the minimum outcome under discussion would involve down-blending the material under International Atomic Energy Agency supervision, while acknowledging that key details of a final agreement remain unsettled.
Officials described Iran's willingness to dilute its stockpile as a significant concession, but also acknowledged that the memorandum does not resolve whether Iran will ultimately be permitted to retain any enrichment capability.
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Trump appeared to strike a more accommodating tone when discussing Iran's access to nuclear power at the G7.
"It is a little hard, though, when you say that somebody wants it, other people have it, other, adjoining states have it. And you're not letting them have it for purposes of electricity and things like that," Trump said. "It's always a little tough. You have to use a little common sense."
The administration previously had drawn a much harder line on Iran's nuclear program. Special envoy Steve Witkoff said the United States could not allow Iran to retain "even 1%" enrichment capability, while White House officials repeatedly described the end of Iranian enrichment as a red line.
The White House referred back to Trump's recent remarks on missiles when asked for additional comment. "
"We are going to let the President's comments stand," a State Department spokesperson said when asked for comment.
The Pentagon could not immediately be reached for comment.