Trump demands 'unconditional surrender' by Iran, shifting US objectives again

US President Donald Trump declared Friday that he would settle for nothing short of "unconditional surrender" by Iran, the latest and broadest expansion of his goals for the conflict, and one that could portend a much longer war if he persists in that aim.

Six days into the Israeli and American bombing campaign, Iran has shown no interest, at least publicly, in surrendering. Instead, it has done the opposite, expanding the war to Arab states that host U.S. bases and attacking them with missiles and drones.

But Trump demanded in a social media post that the country capitulate, after which he said would come "the selection of a GREAT & ACCEPTABLE Leader(s)," and promised that the United States and its allies "will work tirelessly to bring Iran back from the brink of destruction."


The president's bellicose statement reflects how he has melded his longtime vision of a powerful America that makes maximum use of its military might with his new confidence in his ability to decapitate hostile governments, and personally install a new generation of leaders who he believes will bend to American will.

It was also the latest in a series of ever-shifting goals Trump has laid out for the war in Iran. In fact, just hours after Trump made his demand, his press secretary tried to couch his demand, at least in part, suggesting that the surrender would "essentially" occur when Trump concluded his war objectives have been met.

In the opening hours of the U.S. attack Saturday, Trump declared that the goal of the attack was to destroy the existing order so that Iran's people could emerge from their homes, rise up and overthrow their government.

But in the following days, both Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth pivoted away from the emphasis on regime change, saying that the United States was simply focused on assuring that Iran's nuclear program was permanently destroyed, and that it no longer had the missile capability to attack Israel, its Arab neighbors, or perhaps the United States.

Hegseth went further Wednesday, telling reporters there would be no "nation-building," and spoke dismissively of the Bush administration's efforts to build new governments in Afghanistan and Iraq.

But Trump keeps returning to exactly that goal. He has repeatedly cited the model of the American action in Venezuela, where U.S. forces removed Nicolás Maduro earlier this year and sanctioned the ascension of his vice president, Delcy Rodríguez, saying she could run the country as long as she complied with U.S. demands, particularly access to oil.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.