It’s clear that regime change is among the biggest objectives of the U.S. war in Iran.
“I have to be involved in the appointment” of Iran’s next leader, President Donald Trump said on March 5, 2026.
Trump has also said he might put U.S. boots on the ground to get the job done.
Trump now joins a long list of modern U.S. presidents—from Franklin Roosevelt to Harry Truman, Lyndon Johnson, George W. Bush and Barack Obama—who started wars to either overthrow hostile regimes or support embattled friendly governments abroad.
For all the parallels to history, though, Trump’s Iran war is historically unique in one critically important way: In its early stages, the war is not popular with the American public.
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