MS NOW95%
Trump tells MS NOW it will take Iran ‘10 years’ to rebuild after U.S., Israeli strikes 0%
By Clarissa-Jan Lim71% David Rohde0% Lindsey Pipia0%
3/20/2026, 8:07:33 PM
BS Summary: This article contains 16 faulty reasoning types, including Overconfidence Bias, Appeal to Emotion, and Negativity Bias, with Biased Writer Voice as the most egregious example at 25.9% saturation with 304 hits. Analysis detected 877 faulty-reasoning hits from 1,175 analyzed words, generating a BS Score of 0% and a BS Rank of 0% (0 of 21,214 articles). This article is better (less manipulative) than 100.00% of the article peer group.
In an interview with MS NOW on Friday morning, President Donald Trump said it would take 10 years for Iran to rebuild following the military offensive waged by the U.S. and Israel and asserted that toppling the hard-line theocratic rulers of the country was not a primary goal of the operation.
“I think I could leave right now and it would take them 10 years to rebuild.
But I don’t think that’s an acceptable situation,” Trump told Stephanie Ruhle, host of “The 11th Hour.”
“If we stay longer, they’ll never rebuild.”
Trump’s interview with Ruhle largely centered on the Iran war.
But he also covered a wide range of topics, including NATO, the Russia-Ukraine war, Cuba and the Texas Republican Senate runoff.
He also said the White House ballroom construction, which he is spearheading, would result in a drone-proof room where inaugurations can take place.
“They call it ‘protected from the outside.’
If a drone hits it, it just explodes and just blows away,” Trump said.
“They call it ‘protected from the outside.’
If a drone hits it, it just explodes and just blows away,” Trump said of the White House ballroom that is being constructed.
Iran
The president, who has advanced conflicting rationales for the war since it began three weeks ago, told Ruhle that regime change wasn’t a primary goal of the offensive.
He said that the U.S. could “possibly” influence who controls the Iranian government, but it was not his top priority.
“The major thing is that they cannot have a nuclear weapon,” Trump told Ruhle.
Trump said the U.S. “totally obliterated” Iran’s ability to build a nuclear weapon with Operation Midnight Hammer in June, but there was still what he called “nuclear dust,” the enriched uranium that nuclear experts believe is mostly stockpiled under a mountain in Isfahan.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday that Iran is no longer capable of enriching uranium or producing ballistic missiles.
If Netanyahu’s statement is correct, Iran apparently no longer has the centrifuges to create a nuclear weapon from the “nuclear dust” Trump described, and Israel and the U.S. would have achieved one of their primary objectives.
Experts and administration officials have said that retrieving that uranium would entail a lengthy and dangerous operation that could even require ground troops.
Trump also repeated his assertion that Iran was “two weeks” away from having nuclear weapons after the June attack by U.S. bombers on three nuclear sites in Iran.
Trump said that material would have been used “within a day or two or a week,” a claim that members of his administration appear to have disputed.
Experts say that while Iran could have enriched the uranium to bomb-grade status quickly, it would have taken longer to make any kind of weapon.
When asked if the U.S. has the same goals as Israel, who helped the U.S. wage its war with Iran, Trump said the goals are “largely similar,” but the difference with Israel is that they “live right next door” to Iran and “we don’t.”
Israel and Iran do not share a border.
Despite the massive targeting of military targets by the U.S. and selective targeting of political ones by Israel — resulting in the killing of Iran’s supreme leader and the installation of his son — the war has unleashed chaos in the Middle East, killed thousands of people, including U.S. troops, and destabilized global oil markets as Iran has closed the Strait of Hormuz and targeted oil facilities in the Persian Gulf.
Earlier this month, Trump claimed the U.S. could take apart Iran’s electric capacity within “one hour,” but it would take the nation 25 years to rebuild.
“Ideally, we’re not going to be doing that,” he said.
NATO
Trump raised his grievances about NATO to Ruhle as well.
When asked how he felt about European allies — who Trump did not consult before launching strikes on Iran, have distanced themselves from the war and said nuclear negotiations should have continued — he said “not good.”
“Until I came along, we paid 100% the cost of NATO,” Trump said, overstating the share the U.S. paid.
“And I always said it’s a one-way street.
If they need something, we’re there.
But if we need something, they’re not there.
And it turned out that I was right.
This was a great test.”
When talking about the United Kingdom offering assistance after the start of the war with Iran, Trump said he told them, “No, I need you before the war, not after we won the war.”
British officials have said Trump did not consult them before attacking Iran.
Russia-Ukraine war
Trump repeated his claim that the war between Russia and Ukraine would not have happened if he had won the 2020 election.
He said the two countries are “closer” to ending the conflict but did not elaborate.
Trump added that he did not want Ukraine’s help fighting Iran, dismissing President Volodymr Zelenskyy’s offer to contribute to the U.S. and Europe’s effort to protect military bases in the Persian Gulf region.
“I don’t need to help,” Trump said, adding about Zelenskyy, with whom his relationship is fraught: “He’s doing that for political reasons.”
Zelenskyy told The New York Times in early March that Ukraine sent assistance to protect U.S. bases from Iranian drones.
Cuba
Trump issued an ominous warning about Cuba when asked what his intentions were toward the Caribbean nation.
“You just watch.
It’s going to be — Cuba’s seen better days,” he said.
“Cuba’s gonna end up being very happy for the people in this country that had to suffer so much, the way they were treated.”
Texas Senate race
Trump told Ruhle that he has not decided whether to endorse anyone in the Senate Republican runoff in Texas, though he said Sen.
John Cornyn is “definitely trying to push it.”
The May 26 runoff election between the incumbent Cornyn and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is in two months.
Trump said in early March that he would make an endorsement “soon,” but he demurred when Ruhle asked which way he was leaning.
“I haven’t made that determination yet,” he said.
The White House ballroom
Trump denied that the new White House ballroom would be “too big,” which critics have said about the project since plans were drawn up.
“It’s actually beautiful, he said, adding that “it fits like a glove.”
He also said inaugurations will be held in the ballroom because of the level of security it will have.
“You know, the [U.S.]
Capitol is not bulletproof.
It’s not drone-proof,” Trump said.
“But the ballroom will be?”
Ruhle asked.
“Oh, 100%.
It’s 100% protective,” he replied, claiming that a drone would blow up on impact if it hit the ballroom.
Gavin Newsom
The president continued his line of attack on Gov.
Gavin Newsom honing on on the fact that the California Democrat has dyslexia.
“It’s fine to be mentally challenged,” Trump said, but “not as a president.”
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