Donald Trump
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US President Donald Trump has rejected the claim that he broke his 'no new wars' pledge, telling NBC's Meet the Press in Wisconsin that 'I didn't guarantee no war' as he defended the US role in the war with Iran on Sunday.

The remark landed in Chippewa Falls on 8 June, where the president's interview with Kristen Welker became a messy, rain-soaked rebuttal to one of the slogans that helped define his campaign.

The news came after Trump spent years selling himself as the candidate who would keep America out of fresh conflicts. On the trail he repeatedly promised 'no new wars', only for his second term to include US involvement in the Iran conflict, a war that has already cost American lives and drawn fierce scrutiny over whether the White House had just shelved the slogan the moment it became inconvenient.

'I Didn't Guarantee No War': Trump Rewrites His Own Pledge

The clash over his peace promise came when Welker pressed Trump on whether he had broken faith with voters.

'One of your consistent campaign promises was no new wars, going all the way back to 2015. Did you break that promise to the American people?' she asked.

Trump flatly rejected that accusation, arguing that stopping Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon justified military action.

'No. I had to stop a country, very powerful, very dangerous country, from having a nuclear weapon because they'd use it. They'd blow up the world. They'd blow up the Middle East. They'd blow up Israel. They'd come here. They'd blow up Europe,' he said, calling Iranians 'nuts' and 'crazy people'. 'I'm doing the world a service, but I'm doing our country a service. You know, it's America first.'

When Welker pointed out that his 'no new wars' vow had been 'so fundamental' to his political brand, Trump snapped back with the line that has now set social media on fire.

'First of all, I didn't guarantee no war. Why would I have built the strongest military in the world?' he said. 'I built our military. I inherited a terrible military. We had no equipment. We had nothing. I built a tremendous military.'

Pressed again that he had said it 'over and over again', Trump brushed her off: 'You say I promised, I didn't promise anything. I don't like these endless wars. This is not an endless war. We've been doing this for three months.'

War With Iran, 'Not An Endless War' And A Moving Goalpost

Trump's argument hinges on redefining both his pledge and the current conflict. He insisted to NBC that the Iran campaign is short, contained and necessary rather than the kind of open‑ended quagmire he once warned about.

'I don't like these endless wars. This is not an endless war. We've been doing this for three months,' he said, claiming US forces had 'destroyed the capability of Iran in a matter of days' and that 'the threat is largely over.'

He framed his choice as a binary. 'We had a choice. We could let them have a nuclear weapon, or we could go along and have some beautiful days. But they would have, you know, it's a judgment. They would've used a nuclear weapon,' he told Welker.

At one point he boasted that US B‑2 bombers had 'obliterated, totally obliterated' an Iranian nuclear site 'nine, ten months ago', arguing that without that strike 'half of the world would be eradicated already'.

Elsewhere in the same interview he said Iran's capability had been 'wiped out' and that if America left tomorrow it would take Tehran '15 or 20 years to rebuild back' – only to add that he would not grant them even that chance.

Welker challenged him on the logic, noting that after he unilaterally withdrew from Barack Obama's nuclear deal without securing his promised 'better deal', Iran moved closer to weapons‑grade uranium. 'Iran was the closest to developing weapons‑grade uranium after you ripped up the nuclear deal because there were no guardrails in place,' she said.

Trump pushed back, blaming Obama instead. 'They were developing it during the nuclear deal. You don't know that? ... They got all of this uranium during Obama,' he said, referring to 'Barack Hussein Obama' and calling the agreement a 'st***d deal' in which the US 'paid them billions, and billions of dollars.'

'Quagmire' Fears, Iran And A Shifting Peace Brand

Welker tried again to anchor the conversation in Trump's own earlier warnings. 'During your 2016 campaign, you called the Middle East a quagmire. What makes you so sure this won't become a quagmire?' she asked.

'We're not going to be there,' Trump replied. 'It's not a quagmire. Just wiped out the military of a very dangerous country. And I wiped out the nuclear threat.'

He insisted the US presence had lasted only 'a few months', contrasting that with Vietnam and Iraq: 'You were in Vietnam 19 years because of s***** people. You were in so many different countries. Every war, you were in for years. Look at Iraq. You were there for years. Listen. Kristen. We're there for a few months. And the threat is largely over.'

Throughout the interview he repeatedly derided opinion polling, saying, 'You'll do polls, but they're all fake polls anyway, especially yours,' and arguing that his election victory proved 'people have confidence in me. I have good judgment. I had to make a judgment.'

The tension in the barn was audible, not helped by waves of heavy rain hammering on the metal roof and occasionally drowning out the audio. At one point Trump broke off mid‑answer to remark, 'Nice rain.'

From 'Fake, Dirty Press' To 'Let's Call It Quits'

The Iran clash was only part of a broader, bad‑tempered sit‑down. Welker also grilled Trump on his proposed $1.8 billion (£1.35 billion) 'anti‑weaponisation fund' to compensate allies who say they were unfairly targeted by Biden‑era investigations, a plan that has stalled after finding little support among federal authorities.

Defending it, Trump accused his political rivals and sections of the media of destroying lives.

'I love the idea because people like you, the fake dirty press, the crooked press, people like stupid Biden, he's not smart enough to know what's going on, but people that surrounded him ... what they did to the lives of people, they destroyed people. They sent people to jail who did nothing wrong,' he said.

When Welker pressed him again on his baseless claims that the 2020 election was rigged, Trump doubled down. 'Listen to me: There's tremendous evidence. There's nothing but evidence. The election was rigged. It was a dirty election, and it's happening again right now in California,' he claimed.

As she asked for specifics, he turned his fire back on the media. 'They're crooked, just like you're crooked. Your press is crooked, and Meet the Press is crooked,' he said. When Welker rejected that, Trump shot back: 'Really? Well, you play right into their hands then. You're either crooked, or you're stupid.'

Moments later he cut the interview short. 'Let's call it quits because I've had enough. Thank you, darling,' he said, taking off his microphone and standing up. As Welker urged him to continue, he replied: 'I've given you enough time. You ought to straighten out your press because you know what, a country can never be great with a dishonest press,' before walking away.

NBC later said Welker spoke to Trump again on Saturday, and that he blamed the rain for some of the difficulties and agreed to do another interview in future.

Donald Trump spent both his 2016 and 2024 campaigns branding himself the 'candidate of peace' and railing against what he called 'stupid' foreign interventions. On the trail he routinely promised: 'Under Trump, we will have no more wars, no more disruptions, and we will have prosperity and peace.'

In his first term he leaned heavily on the line that he had started 'no new wars'. That soundbite underpinned a core part of his appeal to voters exhausted by Iraq and Afghanistan.

The war with Iran, launched on 28 February and still ongoing three months on, has blown that claim wide open.

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