Trump Says ‘We Might Have Gone Too Far’ With Killing Iran’s Leaders

President Trump said on Monday that the US and Israel “might have gone too far” with the killing of Iranian leaders, suggesting it was complicating negotiations with the Islamic Republic. Trump made the comments at a rally in Youngstown, Ohio, while repeating his usual claims about the state of Iran. “They got no ships. They got no nothing. They got no leaders, even. That’s the problem. We might have gone too far with the leaders because we don’t know who the hell we’re dealing with anymore,” Trump said. US President Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally for US Senator Jon Husted (R-OH) and gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy in Youngstown, Ohio, US, October 12, 2026. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque “Nobody wants to be the president of Iran. They have roll calls. Who would like to be the president? Nobody. I don’t want it. We’re having a hard time figuring out who the hell to deal with, to be honest with you. I think we went too far. Could have stopped it at level one, level two. And level two and a half was probably going too far,” he added. Trump appeared to confuse the role of president with that of a supreme leader, since Masoud Pezeshkian has been Iran’s president since July 2024 and recently traveled to New York City for the UN General Assembly, where he delivered a defiant speech . Pezeshkian survived an Israeli strike during the 12-Day War in June 2025, but it doesn’t appear that he was targeted in the current conflict. The opening US and Israeli strikes did kill Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei, along with several members of his family, including his 14-month-old granddaughter. His son, Mojtaba Khamenei, has replaced him, though he has not made a public appearance since taking the role. If you liked this article, please support Antiwar.com. We are 100% reader-supported.