President Trump said that he believes he can easily reach a diplomatic solution with Iran after killing Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in strikes on Saturday.
Trump told CBS News’ Robert Costa Saturday night that making an agreement with Iran will be “much easier now than it was a day ago, obviously, because they are getting beat up badly.”
He also said that he knows who is currently in charge in Iran following the death of the Ayatollah — who had final say in almost all aspects of political and public life.
“I know exactly who, but I can’t tell you,” he said.
He also said there are “good candidates” for the next leader of the nation of 91 million people.
The president acknowledged the damage across the Middle East from Iran’s counter-strikes, saying, “it’s what we expected.
However, he suggested the retaliation was far less extensive than what US military planners had projected.
“Less than we thought, actually. We thought it’d be double,” he said.
He also said he’s willing to work with Congress on authorization for military action in Iran — but declined to call the strikes a “war,” according to CBS.
“I always want to work with Congress. Always. I’ve always worked with Congress,” he said.
