Time for new leadership: Trump wants Iran's supreme leader Khamenei to go

US President Donald Trump on Saturday openly called for an end to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s decades-long rule, escalating a sharp war of words between Washington and Tehran after Iran’s supreme leader accused Trump of fueling deadly unrest inside the country.

“It’s time to look for new leadership in Iran,” Trump told Politico, responding to a series of hostile posts from Khamenei’s X account that blamed the US president for violence linked to recent protests.

The remarks marked Trump’s most explicit call yet for regime change rhetoric, even as mass demonstrations across Iran have largely subsided following weeks of unrest. Human rights groups say thousands of protesters were killed over the past three weeks, prompting Trump earlier this month to warn of possible US military action.

Khamenei’s posts accused Trump of responsibility for bloodshed and instability. “We find the US president guilty due to the casualties, damages and slander he inflicted upon the Iranian nation,” Khamenei wrote. In another message, he accused Trump of falsely portraying violent groups as representatives of the Iranian people, calling it “an appalling slander.” Khamenei accused the United States and Israel of orchestrating the turmoil, saying groups linked to both countries caused widespread destruction and loss of life. He said they set fires, damaged public property and deliberately stirred chaos, calling their actions “crimes” and a “grave slander” against Iran.

The protests erupted on December 28, 2025 over economic hardship and swelled into widespread demonstrations calling for the end of clerical rule in the Islamic Republic. Trump has repeatedly threatened to intervene, including by threatening "very strong action" if Iran executed protesters. But on Friday, in a social media post, he thanked Tehran's leaders, saying they had called off mass hangings. Iran said there was "no plan to hang people".

After being read the posts, Trump accused Iran’s leadership of ruling through fear and mass violence, Politico reported.

“What he is guilty of, as the leader of a country, is the complete destruction of the country and the use of violence at levels never seen before,” Trump said. “In order to keep the country functioning — even at a very low level — the leadership should focus on running the country properly, like I do with the United States, and not killing people by the thousands to stay in control.”

“Leadership is about respect, not fear and death,” he added. Trump went further in personal terms, calling Iran’s supreme leader unfit to govern. “The man is a sick man who should run his country properly and stop killing people,” Trump said. “His country is the worst place to live anywhere in the world because of poor leadership.”

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