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US President Donald Trump speaks to reporters on board Air Force One on the way from Joint Base Andrews to Eau Claire. Photo: Mark Schiefelbein/AP/dpa
Keystone
US President Donald Trump denies having promised not to start any new wars. "Why else would I have built the strongest military in the world?" he asked in an interview with US broadcaster NBC News. At the same time, he explained that the Iran war was not an "endless" war. "We've been at this for three months now, and a lot of it has been in the form of a pretty good ceasefire." Trump reiterated that the conflict was close to an end - although there has been no visible progress in the negotiations between Washington and Tehran for several weeks.
Trump had spoken out against new wars during the election campaign. "No wars" was a central slogan of his campaign in 2024, with which he wanted to rally supporters of the "Make America Great Again" (MAGA) movement. "I was the first president in modern times not to start new wars," he has said repeatedly in the past. Shortly after predictably winning the presidential election campaign in November 2024, Trump declared: "I will not start a war. I will end wars."
Meanwhile, Trump sees no need to withdraw troops from the Middle East. "It's unlikely. (...) But I think we'll leave them there until we reach an agreement," he said, according to NBC News. The broadcaster quoted him further: "I would say it would be unwise to do that, because we may need them" to force Tehran to the negotiating table, he said. The US troop deployment would cost taxpayers "very little" anyway.
According to NBC News, around 50,000 troops are currently stationed in the region. In the framework agreement, Tehran demands the complete withdrawal of US troops from the region.
07.06.2026, 19:53
