US President Donald Trump ruled out using nuclear weapons against Iran in a Newsmax interview on Thursday. He stopped short of ruling out the GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast, or MOAB, the largest non-nuclear bomb in the American arsenal. His remarks came a day after Israel's security establishment raised its alert level on Wednesday to the highest point in months, as intelligence assessments pointed to a possible Iranian attack.
Not nuclear at all
Trump Rules Out Nuclear Strike on Iran
Trump told Newsmax he would not use nuclear weapons against Iran • He called the 'Mother of All Bombs' 'not nuclear at all' | New US strike plans on Iran's energy and nuclear sites could include the bomb
CNN reported Thursday that the US military has drawn up new strike plans against Iran's energy infrastructure and nuclear facilities, and that those plans could include the weapon. Among the potential targets is Pickaxe Mountain, an Iranian nuclear site under heavy fortification.
The bomb weighs roughly 21,600 pounds, or 9.8 metric tons. It carries about 8,500 kilograms of H6 explosive and was developed in 2003. It first saw combat in 2017, when US forces struck an Islamic State tunnel complex in Afghanistan.
Newsmax host Rob Finnerty conducted the interview at the White House and raised the report. Trump neither confirmed nor denied it, focusing instead on the nature of the weapon. "The mother of all bombs is not nuclear. It's not nuclear at all. This is just an extremely large bomb," Trump said. "It's like a tiny nuclear bomb. But the mother of all bombs is one big bomb, but it's not nuclear."
"No, I wouldn't use nuclear [against Iran]. We don't have to. We're the greatest nuclear power in the world."
Trump then named the fortified site himself. "Now, we're looking at Pickaxe Mountain. We may have to go there," he said. "We'll take a shot at that one. We'll knock it out fast."
Asked why Washington would not simply declare victory and leave Iran, he replied: "Well, we could. But if we do that within a year we may have to do it again. We want to make it so that they will never have a nuclear weapon, because if they had it, they would use it, in my opinion, instantaneously."
He dismissed the prospect of American ground troops inside Iran. "No, I don't see that. I don't see that," he said. He also forecast a quick end to the fighting. "The Iran war will be over very soon," Trump said, adding that Tehran had asked for the attacks to stop. "They've asked us to please stop. And we do, because we're negotiating with them."
Trump also floated future nuclear disarmament talks with Russia and China, predicting that Beijing could match US nuclear capabilities within five years.
His statements on timing have shifted over the past week. Last Thursday, he posted on Truth Social that any further US strikes on Iran would wait until after November 3. On Monday, he told reporters the election calendar would not dictate his Iran policy. At a campaign rally in Alaska on Tuesday night, he turned more menacing. "Oh, wait till you see what we do to Iran. We're going to do a number," he told supporters, Arutz Sheva reported.
The interview also covered Israel's October 27 election, in which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is seeking another term. Asked whether he would get involved, Trump said, "Well, they'd like me to be. Yeah, they'd like me to be." He did not commit to joining the campaign. Asked whether he trusts Netanyahu, he answered, "In the world of politics, I don't trust anybody." He then praised their cooperation: "We had a very successful partnership, you know, in terms of a military partnership."
