By — Liz Landers Liz Landers By — Molly Finnegan Molly Finnegan Leave your feedback Share Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/watch-trump-says-he-wont-use-nuclear-weapons-in-iran Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Tumblr Share on Facebook Share on Twitter WATCH: Trump says he won't use nuclear weapons in Iran Politics Apr 23, 2026 6:28 PM EDT President Donald Trump said Thursday that he wouldn't use a nuclear weapon in Iran and that nobody should be allowed to use them. Watch Trump's remarks in the video player above. "We don't need it. Why do I need it? Why would a stupid question like that be asked? Why would I use a nuclear weapon where we've totally in a very conventional way decimated them without it," Trump said in a response to a question by PBS News' Liz Landers. "A nuclear weapon should never be allowed to be used by anybody," he added. WATCH: Trump says the pope has to understand that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon Trump has often said that preventing Iran from getting a nuclear weapon is one of the reasons for launching the nearly two-month war. Educate your inbox Subscribe to Here’s the Deal, our politics newsletter for analysis you won’t find anywhere else. Enter your email address Subscribe Form error message goes here. Thank you. Please check your inbox to confirm. "You cannot give Iran a nuclear weapon. This is all about a nuclear weapon. They cannot have the nuclear bomb, and they're not going to have the nuclear bomb," Trump said during his appearance Thursday in the Oval Office. Earlier this month, the president threatened that a "whole civilization will die" if Iran didn't concede to his deadline to make a deal. Trump pulled back from that threat, leading to a temporary ceasefire. A free press is a cornerstone of a healthy democracy. Support trusted journalism and civil dialogue. Donate now By — Liz Landers Liz Landers Liz Landers is a correspondent for PBS News Hour, where she covers the White House and the Trump administration. Prior to joining the News Hour, she served as the national security correspondent for Scripps News, and also reported on disinformation for the network. By — Molly Finnegan Molly Finnegan
President Donald Trump said Thursday that he wouldn't use a nuclear weapon in Iran and that nobody should be allowed to use them. Watch Trump's remarks in the video player above. "We don't need it. Why do I need it? Why would a stupid question like that be asked? Why would I use a nuclear weapon where we've totally in a very conventional way decimated them without it," Trump said in a response to a question by PBS News' Liz Landers. "A nuclear weapon should never be allowed to be used by anybody," he added. WATCH: Trump says the pope has to understand that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon Trump has often said that preventing Iran from getting a nuclear weapon is one of the reasons for launching the nearly two-month war. Educate your inbox Subscribe to Here’s the Deal, our politics newsletter for analysis you won’t find anywhere else. Enter your email address Subscribe Form error message goes here. Thank you. Please check your inbox to confirm. "You cannot give Iran a nuclear weapon. This is all about a nuclear weapon. They cannot have the nuclear bomb, and they're not going to have the nuclear bomb," Trump said during his appearance Thursday in the Oval Office. Earlier this month, the president threatened that a "whole civilization will die" if Iran didn't concede to his deadline to make a deal. Trump pulled back from that threat, leading to a temporary ceasefire. A free press is a cornerstone of a healthy democracy. Support trusted journalism and civil dialogue. Donate now