Johnson Pushes Back on Trump’s Iran Reconstruction Talk

Mike Johnson and other senior Republicans said the United States should not be involved in rebuilding Iran, a day after President Donald Trump described U.S. operations there as “the beginning of building a new country,” Scott Wong and Kyle Stewart reported for NBC News.

Johnson said the United States lacks both the resources and the public appetite for such efforts. (Photo: Speaker Mike Johnson Facebook)

“I don’t support nation-building,” Johnson, a Republican from Louisiana, said during a discussion with NBC News at House Republicans’ annual policy conference in south Florida.

“I don’t think it’s our role,” he added, arguing that while the United States has an important global role defending freedom and liberty, it should not intervene everywhere or undertake large-scale reconstruction efforts abroad.

Johnson said the United States lacks both the resources and the public appetite for such efforts.

Trump, meanwhile, had earlier urged the Iranian public to overthrow their government after U.S. strikes began. “When we are finished, take over your government. It will be yours to take,” Trump said in a video message.

Johnson echoed that message, telling reporters that Iranians themselves must seize the opportunity to change their government, though allies might assist in limited ways.