Trump Vows Military Strike on Iran as Nuclear Threat Intensifies

By Jim Mishler | Monday, 29 December 2025 07:10 PM EST

Former CIA analyst and senior fellow at the America First Policy Institute Fred Fleitz told Newsmax that Iran has not given up on its plans to destroy Israel.

Fleitz told “The Chris Salcedo Show” on Monday that comments from Iran’s president that it is at war with Israel and America don’t carry much weight. “I don’t read much into this response.”

Fleitz said it’s business as usual for Iran to make threats. “This is just what Iranian leaders do. I don’t discount the fact that they still want to destroy the state of Israel.”

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Saturday told an interviewer that “In my opinion, we are in a full-fledged war with America, Israel, and Europe; they do not want our country to stand on its feet.”

Fleitz responded that what is somewhat concerning is that Iran may still have a nuclear production facility under development.

“There is at least one deeply buried WMD [weapons of mass destruction] facility called Pickaxe Mountain that could be used to build nuclear weapons or missiles,” Fleitz said. “We don’t know yet. We know Iran is working on that.”

The former House Intelligence Committee staff member said President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “had some serious stuff to talk about today,” during their meeting at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago.

Fleitz added, “Is it necessary to attack these sites? Do we wait to see what happens?” “Those are very, very significant and dire issues that the U.S. and Israel [are] going to have to consider,” he said.

Trump told reporters following his meeting with Netanyahu that he would not hesitate to order a military strike against Iran if there was proof Iran was rebuilding its nuclear program following the U.S. strike against Iran in June. “I hear Iran is trying to build up again, and if they are, we have to knock them down,” he told reporters while hosting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Mar-a-Lago estate.

Trump also said he remained open to negotiating a “deal,” which he called “much smarter.”