Iran International
The public rancor between US President Donald Trump and Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has gotten increasingly personal, suggesting that a standoff once mediated through proxies and carefully coded threats may be approaching a finale.
That escalation was on display last week when Trump openly questioned Khamenei’s right to rule and called him a “sick man” who kills his own people.
“It’s time to look for new leadership in Iran,” the president was quoted as saying by Politico. His blistering rhetorical intervention came after one of Khamenei's most strident speeches yet in which he, uncharacteristically, acknowledged thousands had been killed in the state's crackdown on protests this month.
"We consider the US president criminal for the casualties, damages and slander he inflicted on the Iranian nation," Khamenei said.
Iranian officials denounced Trump’s language as “offensive” and “unacceptable,” with president Masoud Pezeshkian warning that any move against Khamenei would trigger an all-out war.
The latest public spat followed widespread protests inside Iran, which were quelled through the unprecedented use of force. Speaking about the unrest last week, Khamenei once again blamed Israel and the United States for incitement, accusing Washington of fomenting terrorism and sabotage.
'The most wretched of humankind'
While the language has grown sharper, the confrontation itself is not new.
The personal animosity between Trump and Khamenei reached a decisive turning point in January 2020, when a US drone strike in Baghdad ordered by Trump killed Qassem Soleimani, the commander of Iran’s Quds Force and one of the most powerful figures in the Islamic Republic.
Khamenei described those responsible as “the most wretched of humankind” and vowed revenge. The killing transformed what had been a strategic rivalry into a deeply personal feud—one infused with symbolism, grievance, and a sense of irreversibility.
In the years that followed, Khamenei increasingly personalized his attacks on Trump. He portrayed the US president as the embodiment of American arrogance and decay, at one point calling him a “clown.”
Still, the veteran theocrat most abstained from uttering the name of his nemesis, out of contempt. Trump has done largely likewise.
'Ultimately responsible'
Even before Soleimani’s death, the two leaders had traded insults during Trump’s first term.
In June 2019, Trump imposed sanctions on Khamenei, calling him “ultimately responsible” for Tehran’s conduct. Iran’s then president, Hassan Rouhani, responded by calling the White House “mentally disabled,” a remark later endorsed by Khamenei’s office.
Trump dismissed the response as “ignorant and insulting,” saying Iran’s leaders “do not understand reality.”
A year later, when Japan’s then prime minister Shinzo Abe attempted to deliver a message from Trump to Khamenei, the Iranian leader publicly refused to accept it, telling Abe that he did not believe Trump was “worthy” of receiving a message.
Footage later showed Abe awkwardly folding the envelope away—an episode widely read as a calculated public snub.
One last dance?
Since Trump’s return to office, the exchanges have become more frequent and more explicit, often coinciding with moments of heightened tension, not least the June war between Iran and Israel.
On June 17, Trump took to social media for a rare direct attack.
“We know exactly where the so-called ‘Supreme Leader’ is hiding,” he wrote. “He is an easy target, but is safe there—we are not going to take him out, at least not for now.”
In October 2025, Khamenei described the United States under Trump as “a true manifestation of terrorism.” He compared Trump to figures such as Pharaoh and Nimrod, warning that “tyrants fall at the height of their arrogance.”
What distinguishes the current phase of their feud is not merely its volume, but its direction.
Earlier exchanges left room for ambiguity, intermediaries, or eventual de-escalation. The present rhetoric increasingly dispenses with those buffers, with Trump now speaking openly of replacement.
Whether this marks the final chapter of the confrontation remains uncertain. What is clear is that the US-Iran conflict now includes a personal clash between two leaders loath to compromise, despite the asymmetry of power between them.
