Trump's Iran pact seen as a strategic defeat in Washington US President Donald Trump jumbled his justification to launch the war on Iran, whose nuclear programme he claimed was already obliterated in a June 2025 attack. At first he toyed with the idea of overthrowing the Islamic Republic by backing Kurdish fighters and Iranian protesters. He also said the US would destroy Iran’s military and end its ballistic missile programme, which he framed as a threat to the US.