President Donald Trump claimed Tuesday that his war with Iran was not an unpopular topic among public, contrary to what recent poll surveys suggest, arguing that people know the stakes, and understand that the war is about stopping Iran from having a nuclear weapon.
“Everyone tells me it’s unpopular, but I think it’s very popular,” he told reporters at the White House.
Trump said that the opinions of Americans changes when he explains that Tehran cannot be allowed to obtain a nuclear weapon that could potentially strike US cities.
Iran has consistently denied trying to build a nuclear weapon, insisting its programme was for civil uses despite the very high level of enriched uranium. Trump had previously argued that the combined US-Israeli airstrikes in June 2025 on Iranian nuclear facilities had “obliterated” its nuclear programme.
“I tell you what, when we explain it to people, I don’t really have enough time to explain to people,” he said Tuesday. “I’m too busy getting it done.”
He further told reporters that he was just “an hour way” from making the decision to resume strikes Iran on Monday, and was only dissuaded due to Washington’s allies in the Persian Gulf, who he said had requested him to not go through with his plan.
The US leader further said that he would allow a “limited period of time” — two or three days, at least — for talks to continue, post the request of Gulf states, who told him that progress had been made in the Pakistan-brokered negotiations toward a peace deal.
