WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said Friday that the United States would accept nothing short of Iran's "unconditional surrender," signaling that the possibility of regime change may be emerging as an objective as the expanding war in the Middle East entered its seventh day.

In a Truth Social post, Trump indicated that diplomatic negotiations with Tehran are no longer being pursued and said the U.S. wants to play a role in determining who Iran's next leader will be following any capitulation.

"After that, and the selection of a GREAT & ACCEPTABLE Leader(s), we, and many of our wonderful and very brave allies and partners, will work tirelessly to bring Iran back from the brink of destruction, making it economically bigger, better, and stronger than ever before," Trump wrote.

The comments mark one of the clearest indications yet that Trump is contemplating regime change in Iran, a goal that administration officials had previously said was not part of the U.S. military strategy but are now acknowledging as a key point of interest for the president.

"Of course it's in the best interest of the U.S. for Iran to no longer be led by a radical terrorist regime that chants 'Death to America,' and is lying to the U.S. and the world about their secret ambitions to possess a nuclear bomb," White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters Friday.

Leavitt emphasized that Trump has taken an interest in "pursuing who the next leader of the Iranian country is going to be," but said the process of negotiating that has "yet to be seen."

"The president is discussing it and deliberating it," she said.

Trump has already said that Mojtaba Khamenei — the son of the former leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei who has emerged as a leading candidate to succeed his father — would be an "unacceptable" choice. Ali Khamenei, 86, was killed in an airstrike Saturday when the war began.

In an interview with Politico on Thursday, the president said he expects his administration will "work with them to help them make the proper choice."

Washington's renewed focus on filling Iran's leadership vacuum comes as the war is rapidly widening across the region, with Israeli forces carrying out attacks on targets in Tehran and in Beirut and Iranian forces launching missile and drone attacks against Israel and Persian Gulf countries. The Israeli military also said it hit an area in Tehran where it said Iran had secretly moved some nuclear activities to underground bunkers.

As strikes pounded the region, the Trump administration faced mounting criticism from allies in the gulf who have complained about not being given enough time to prepare for Iran's attacks on their countries in retaliation for strikes launched by the U.S. and Israel.

There were also new indications Friday that Russia, a major nuclear power, is providing intelligence to Iran to help counter U.S. attacks.

Trump declined to answer a question about Russia's involvement in the war during a Friday event at the White House related to college sports. The president instead made fun of the question.

"That's an easy problem compared to what we're doing here," Trump said. "What a stupid question to be asking at this time."

Trump eventually did talk about Iran and framed the military operation as a success, as he had in previous days.

When asked by reporters about Russia, Leavitt dismissed the idea that having one of Washington's chief adversaries involved in the conflict would present issues for the Americans.

"It clearly is not making a difference with respect to the military operations in Iran because we are completely decimating (Iran)," Leavitt said. "We are achieving the military objectives of this operation and that is going to continue."

Leavitt's remarks came as the president met with six defense contractors at the White House to discuss efforts to boost the U.S. stockpile of weapons and munitions.

"The U.S. military has more than enough munitions, ammo, and weapons stockpiles to continue demolishing the Iranian regime and achieve the goals of Operation Epic Fury," Leavitt said in a statement. "Nevertheless, President Trump has always been intensely focused on strengthening our military, which is why this meeting with defense contractors was scheduled weeks ago."

As the White House asserted that U.S. military operations are proceeding as planned, new evidence has suggested that a strike that killed more than 100 people, including children, at an Iranian elementary school was probably caused by a U.S. attack, the Associated Press reported.

The explosion at the elementary school — which was near a branch of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps — is believed to be the deadliest strike of the war. Trump administration officials this week said the U.S. is investigating the strike, and has not yet taken responsibility for it.

But in a statement Friday, U.S. military officials said Iran has been "deliberately" targeting civilians across the Middle East.

Adm. Brad Cooper, the leader of U.S. Central Command, said in a statement that on Thursday night, Iranian forces had fired seven attack drones at civilian, residential neighborhoods in Bahrain.

"This is unacceptable and will not go unanswered," Cooper said. "We will continue working with regional partners to address this threat to innocent people across the region."

The White House's messaging on the war has been accompanied by a series of video montages on social media that feature Hollywood movies and video games that appear to be designed to rally support at home for Trump's war efforts.

In a 31-second video posted on the official White House account on X, a series of clips featured Russell Crowe in "Gladiator," Mel Gibson in "Braveheart" and Tom Cruise in "Top Gun" with the caption: "JUSTICE AMERICAN WAY" with an American flag and fire emojis.

Another video montage to market the administration's efforts in Iran used clips from the video game "Grand Theft Auto" with one of its characters saying: "Oh s—, here we go again."

The tone of the social media campaign highlights the administration's effort to frame the conflict in dramatic and patriotic terms as questions grow about its potential human toll.

In an interview with Time, Trump once again acknowledged the possibility of U.S. casualties — not just abroad but at home.

Asked whether Americans should be worried about retaliatory attacks at home, Trump said, "I guess."

"You know, we expect some things," Trump said. "Like I said, some people will die. When you go to war, some people will die."

Trump's response drew swift criticism from congressional Democrats, a majority of whom have tried to rein in Trump's efforts through legislative action to no avail in the Republican-controlled Congress.

Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, was offended by the president's "I guess" retort to the question of domestic attacks.

"You've got to be kidding me. We have totally unserious, completely incompetent people taking us into mindless deadly war," Murphy said.

When asked about American sentiment over the war and the divisions among Trump's base, Leavitt told reporters that social media is "not real life."

"This president lives in the real world," she said. "There is nothing more America first than taking out terrorists who have maimed or killed our own servicemen and women, who chant death to America, and who pose a threat to the homeland."

As the world has watched the war in Iran unfold in the last seven days, Trump increasingly hinted in public statements that he is also hoping to take action in Cuba in the near future.

"Cuba is gonna fall pretty soon," Trump told CNN in a phone interview Friday. "Cuba is gonna fall too. They want to make a deal so badly."

Trump told CNN that he plans to put Secretary of State Marco Rubio in charge of talks with Cuba, an island that has faced increased instability after the capture of former Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro.

During a White House event Thursday, Trump said that he would like to "finish" the conflict with Iran first, but that his administration plans to soon pivot to Cuba.

Trump has been clear about his desire to vastly expand U.S. influence in Latin America. In the months since the U.S. attacked Venezuela, Trump has turned his attention to Havana, long a bastion of the Latin American left.

The future of Cuba is likely to be discussed further this weekend as Trump convenes 12 right-wing Latin American leaders for a summit near Miami on Saturday. They include Argentine President Javier Milei, Costa Rican President Rodrigo Chaves, Ecuadorean President Daniel Noboa and Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele, along with incoming Chilean President José Antonio Kast.

The "Shield of the Americas" meeting will focus on security and migration, Trump officials said.

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Times staff writer Kate Linthicum in Mexico City contributed to this report.

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