US President Donald Trump in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, on April 23, 2026. BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI / AFP
US President Donald Trump on Thursday, April 23, ruled out striking Iran with a nuclear weapon, after his previous threats to destroy Iranian civilization. "No, I wouldn't use it," Trump told reporters at the White House. "Why would I use a nuclear weapon when we've, in a very conventional way, decimated them without it?" he asked. "A nuclear weapon should never be allowed to be used by anybody."
On April 7, Trump issued a genocidal threat to Iran that a "whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back," but within hours agreed to a ceasefire that he has since extended in the war launched by the United States and Israel.
During the conflict, Vice President JD Vance, warned that the US was ready to intensify damage on Iran with weapons not previously used, but the White House denied he was threatening nuclear strikes. Vance, in failed negotiations, had pushed Iran for greater concessions on its contested nuclear work. Trump told reporters that he was seeking an Iran "without a nuclear weapon that's going to try and blow up one of our cities or blow up the entire Middle East."
