First posted on Instagram
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has drawn a sharp line between the two phases of America's confrontation with Iran, saying President Donald Trump was right to destroy Iran's nuclear facilities but that turning the campaign into a war to topple the regime in Tehran is a different war — one he says Americans do not want to fight with their troops and their money.
In a clip of his remarks shared on X, DeSantis says Trump was right to strike Iran's nuclear sites and obliterate them, arguing that keeping a nuclear weapon out of Tehran's hands was the point of the operation. But he says Israel's goal went further — regime change — and imposing that would require "massive amounts of boots on the ground and treasure that the American people are not interested in providing."
DeSantis made the broader case in an interview with Stephen A. Smith on SiriusXM's "Straight Shooter," which aired on Monday night, November 2. He called the war with Iran a "big, big drag" on Republicans, saying some voters who backed Trump's America First message in 2024 have "checked out" because "I didn't want any more Middle East wars, and now we're doing it." He compared it with the operation that captured Venezuela's Nicolas Maduro, which took about 90 minutes: "Had that been wrapped up in, like, a week, like Venezuela was very quick, probably wouldn't have been an issue right now."
"We just got to be honest. Gas is higher. It hurts people, working-class people, and it's higher because of this conflict. That's just a fact," DeSantis said, accusing Republicans who blame former President Joe Biden for the higher prices of "gaslighting" voters. Gasoline hit a record high for an election day, averaging $4.11 a gallon, and has stayed above $4 since late July, driven largely by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a key passageway for global oil transport.
DeSantis warned that if the war drags on for the rest of Trump's presidency, "it's going to be devastating to his ability to get anything done and it is going to be very, very difficult for Republicans in the next cycle."
The United States and Israel launched the war against Iran in February 2026, in an operation known as Operation Epic Fury, killing Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in the opening strikes. DeSantis backed the operation at the time, saying Khamenei "deserved to face justice" and that Iran should not have a nuclear weapon, calling its government "a fanatical, apocalyptic, militant Islamist regime." The nuclear sites at Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan had been struck months earlier, in June 2025, in Operation Midnight Hammer.
The remarks come days after the November 3 midterm elections, in which Democrats swept both the House and the Senate. Vice President JD Vance blamed the Iran war for the losses, saying bluntly: "The reason we lost is the war." Trump backed Vance's assessment as "largely true" and said he would launch the war again, adding that it ends "whenever I want it to." Trump has also said he may have to "destroy the rest" of Iran, while ruling out nuclear weapons and American ground troops.
DeSantis, who is term-limited and leaves office in January, did not rule out another presidential run. Asked about 2028, he said: "We'll see what happens. Maybe someday. I don't know about '28. Maybe later."