Trump Says He’ll Help Pick Iran’s Leader, Predicts Regime Change In Cuba

President Donald Trump is on the warpath: In an interview Thursday, he dismissed concerns about the Iran war, told POLITICO the United States would help choose Iran's next leader, predicted the downfall of the Cuban regime and attacked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the tech giant Anthropic.

The president is facing domestic political backlash on numerous fronts, including criticism of the Iran war from within the MAGA coalition and unrelenting attacks from Democrats over the cost of living.

But speaking in a phone call Thursday, Trump was entirely on offense. He brushed off worries about the impact of the Iran war on gas prices and U.S. ammunition reserves, and he insisted that the military onslaught was popular with voters. Many recent public polls show the opposite is true, although a survey released Thursday by Fox News found voters have mixed opinions on Iran.

“People are loving what’s happening,” Trump insisted. He predicted that Iran’s government would not be the last to buckle in a Trump-initiated confrontation: “Cuba’s going to fall, too.”

“We cut off all oil, all money, or we cut off everything coming in from Venezuela, which was the sole source. And they want to make a deal,” he said.

Intervention in Cuba

Asked whether the United States was playing a role in the Cuban government’s demise, Trump responded: “Well, what do you think? For 50 years, that's icing on the cake. Venezuela is doing fantastically. [Delcy Rodríguez] is doing a fantastic job. The relationship with them is great.”

Trump also confirmed the United States is in touch with Cuba’s communist leadership as instability on the island intensifies following the capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro.

“They need help. We are talking to Cuba,” Trump said.

And he suggested the island’s worsening situation is partly the result of U.S. pressure, including cutting off the Venezuelan oil supplies that once sustained Havana.

“Well, it's because of my intervention, intervention that is happening,” Trump said. “Obviously, otherwise they wouldn't have this problem. We cut off all oil, all money, … everything coming in from Venezuela, which was the sole source.”

“How long have you been hearing about Cuba — Cuba, Cuba — for 50 years?” Trump added. “And that's one of the small ones for me.”

Confidence on Iran

Speaking as U.S. military operations against Iran continue to dominate the administration’s foreign policy agenda, Trump indicated the United States intends to play a significant role in shaping Iran’s postwar political landscape.

Asked how much influence he expects to have over Iran’s future leadership, Trump replied: “I'm going to have a big impact, or they're not going to have any settlement, because we're not going to have to go do this again.”

“We'll work with the people and the regime to make sure that somebody gets there that can nicely build Iran but without nuclear weapons,” Trump said.

The president also weighed in on the late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s son, who is in contention to be the new supreme leader saying, “Now they’re looking at the son. The reason the father wouldn't give it to the son is they say he's incompetent.”

Trump emphasized the U.S. is going to “work with them to help them make the proper choice” because he wants to avoid having a head of Iran “that's going to lead to having to do this again in another 10 years.”

Trump projected confidence about the campaign’s trajectory and dismissed concerns that rising gas prices tied to the conflict could hurt Republicans politically ahead of the November elections that could break the party’s power trifecta in Washington.

“People are loving what's happening,” Trump said. “We're taking out a threat to the United States of America, major threat, … and doing it like nobody's ever seen before.”

Trump described the U.S. campaign against Iran as highly controlled while boasting about overwhelming military capacity despite Pentagon officials and Hill lawmakers' concern over dwindling weapons supplies.

“We’re being surgical,” he said. “We have unlimited supply of weapons, unlimited. … We have thousands, thousands, of them.”

The president also painted a picture of Iran’s military capability being effectively dismantled.

“They have no navy. They have no air force. They have no detection of air. It's all wiped out. Their radar is all wiped out. Their military is decimated,” Trump said. “All they have is guts.”

Impatience with Zelenskyy

Even as Iran remains a top focus, Trump said negotiations over the war in Ukraine continue. And he again expressed frustration with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

“Zelenksyy he has to get on the ball, and he has to get a deal done,” Trump said.

On the other hand, Trump said he believes Russian President Vladimir Putin is prepared to negotiate an end to the war.

“I think Putin is ready to make a deal,” he said. Trump has said that before.

When pressed on what Zelenskyy’s obstacle is to a peace deal, Trump declined to elaborate but maintained that Ukraine’s leader is not showing enough willingness to negotiate.

“It's unthinkable that he's the obstacle,” Trump said. “You don't have the cards. Now he's got even less cards.”

‘I fired Anthropic’

Trump also stepped into the increasingly contentious dispute between the Pentagon and Anthropic over the AI startup’s refusal to give the military unfettered access to its technology.

“Well, I fired Anthropic. Anthropic is in trouble because I fired [them] like dogs, because they shouldn't have done that,” he said.

And underscored his support for his Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

“You see how good Pete's doing, and you see how good the military. And so we have an amazing military. The whole world is seeing that now I built the military in my first term, and I'm using it in my second term," he said.