🚨 Axios PM: Trump gives his logic

PM Extra! We're sending this special Saturday PM to bring you Barak Ravid's interview with President Trump + our latest reporting on the strike on Iran.

• Today's newsletter, orchestrated by Alex Fitzpatrick, is 676 words, a 2½-min. read. Thanks to Mickey Meece for copy editing.

Bulletin: Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei was killed in an Israeli strike today as part of a massive joint military operation alongside the U.S., Israel's ambassador to Washington told U.S. officials, Axios' Barak Ravid and Avery Lotz report.

• An Israeli official confirmed that Khamenei is dead, according to Israeli intelligence.

The 86-year-old Khamenei led Iran for 35 years, making him one of the world's longest-serving authoritarians.

• His death is a massive blow to the regime and could accelerate its collapse, which U.S. and Israeli officials say is their explicit goal.
• It also sets off an immediate succession crisis with no clear answer. (Khamenei: What to know)

📱 TRUMP INTERVIEW: President Trump has several "off ramps" from his extraordinary military campaign against Iran, he told Barak Ravid in a phone interview from Mar-a-Lago today.

• Trump tells Axios: "I can go long and take over the whole thing, or end it in two or three days and tell the Iranians: 'See you again in a few years if you start rebuilding'" nuclear and missile programs.
• "In any case, it will take them several years to recover from this attack."

Trump cited two main reasons for launching the strikes: the failure of negotiations this week and Iran's historical conduct.

• Trump said: "The Iranians got close and then pulled back — close and then pulled back. I understood from that that they don't really want a deal."

☢️ Trump also claimed that Iran had begun rebuilding some of the nuclear facilities that the U.S. and Israel struck last June.

• Independent analysts pointed to building activity taking place at some of those sites, but didn't conclude that Iran has resumed nuclear activity.

What's next: The U.S.-Israeli plan envisions the massive bombing campaign against Iran lasting for at least five days, per a senior U.S. official.

• But, as Trump told Axios, that timeline could change based on developments on the ground — including Khamenei's death.

Go deeper.

European leaders called for restraint and diplomacy, while U.S. adversaries condemned President Trump's decision to strike, Axios' Lauren Floyd reports.

• 🪧 Public demonstrations for and against the operation broke out in London, Munich, New York, Washington and elsewhere.

In a joint statement, leaders of France, Germany and the U.K. reiterated their "commitment to regional stability" and called for a "resumption of negotiations."

• 🇫🇷 French President Emmanuel Macron wrote on X: The "outbreak of war" between the U.S., Israel and Iran "carries grave consequences." The "ongoing escalation is dangerous for all," Macron added, calling for a UN Security Council meeting.

🇪🇺 Ursula von der Leyen, the European Union's chief executive, called on "all parties to exercise maximum restraint, to protect civilians, and to fully respect international law."

🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia's Foreign Ministry said the country successfully intercepted Iranian attacks.

• The Saudis called on the international community to "take all firm measures necessary" to secure the region.

🇷🇺 The other side: Russia's Foreign Ministry called the attack "a preplanned and unprovoked act of armed aggression against a sovereign and independent UN member state."

• 🇨🇳 China's state news agency posted a caricature of Uncle Sam captioned: "Hegemonism is the only language I know."

Go deeper.

1. 🛢️ The strikes on Iran will likely increase oil prices by threatening supplies from a region that's home to a huge chunk of global output and transit, Axios' Ben Geman reports. Go deeper.
2. 🇮🇷 Reza Pahlavi, the exiled former crown prince of Iran, is positioning himself as the "transitional" leader if the Islamic Republic collapses. Go deeper.
3. 🏛️ Hawkish Democrats could doom party leaders' effort to force a vote reining in President Trump's war powers, Axios' Andrew Solender reports. Go deeper.

A person takes shelter in Jerusalem as sirens sound after today's U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran.

• Iran targeted Israel and other U.S. allies and bases across the Middle East in retaliation.

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