{"id":16295,"date":"2026-06-06T20:43:48","date_gmt":"2026-06-06T12:43:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?p=16295"},"modified":"2026-06-06T20:43:52","modified_gmt":"2026-06-06T12:43:52","slug":"the-memo-trump-upends-expectations-with-idea-of-meeting-irans-supreme-leader","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?p=16295","title":{"rendered":"The Memo: Trump upends expectations with idea of meeting Iran\u2019s supreme leader"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignwide size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"636\" height=\"371\" src=\"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/2-1.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-16296\" srcset=\"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/2-1.png 636w, https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/2-1-300x175.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 636px) 100vw, 636px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">President Trump upended expectations yet again when he told reporters Thursday that he would be \u201chonored\u201d to meet Iran\u2019s supreme leader in the event of a peace deal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIf we make a deal, it\u2019s possible that I would meet him,\u201d the president said in the Oval Office.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The idea of a meeting between Trump and Mojtaba Khamenei anytime soon borders on inconceivable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That\u2019s not only because of the death, damage and bitterness caused by the war the U.S. and lsrael launched against Iran on Feb. 28. It\u2019s also because of the specific toll exacted upon Khamenei\u2019s family.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The current supreme leader ascended to the position after his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was killed in an Israeli air strike on the first day of the war. Mojtaba Khamenei\u2019s wife and one of his children were also reported to have been killed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Asked by Peter Doocy of Fox News whether this might mean that Khamenei has \u201chard feelings and wouldn\u2019t want to meet,\u201d Trump replied: \u201cWell, I would say I\u2019m not his favorite person. But, with that being said \u2026 he\u2019s probably a professional. In some circles, he has a very good reputation, actually.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The shockwaves were immediate across the foreign policy world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI saw that comment and my first thought was, \u2018My God, does he know what they think of him?\u2019\u201d said Joel Rubin, who served as a deputy assistant secretary of State during the administration of former President Obama.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But while the notion of a meeting between the American president and the Iranian supreme leader seems shocking to critics, it is consistent with other instances where Trump has been willing to sit down with enemies or adversaries prior presidents would have avoided entirely \u2014 or at least treated with extreme wariness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The most prominent example came during Trump\u2019s first term in relation to North Korea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Having once disparaged Kim Jong Un as \u201cLittle Rocket Man\u201d and threatened his nation with \u201cfire and fury,\u201d Trump later became the first president to meet any North Korean leader. He met Kim three times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">At the third meeting, held at the demilitarized zone between North Korea and South Korea, Trump marked another presidential first when he set foot on the northern side of the border.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If other meetings weren\u2019t quite so startling as that one, Trump\u2019s recent trip to China to meet President Xi Jinping was clearly a significant event. So too was his Alaska summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in August 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Trump clearly enjoys the spectacle of such encounters and the degree of which they spark media fervor. But his critics question whether any real achievements spring from them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The summit with Putin, in particular, faced criticism because of the way it allowed the Russian president to savor the pomp and ceremony while making virtually no meaningful concessions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) at the time contended that Putin had \u201cgot everything he wanted.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Such jabs, in turn, spurred Trump to hit back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cMurphy is a lightweight who thinks it made the Russian President look good in coming to America. Actually, it was very hard for President Putin to do so. This war can be ended, NOW, but stupid people like Chris Murphy, John Bolton, and others, make it much harder to do so,\u201d Trump contended.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Similarly, the more recent summit with Xi failed to produce any public commitment from Beijing to lean on Iran to open the vital Strait of Hormuz. The Chinese side also issued an ominous warning that the issue of Taiwan would have to be dealt with \u201cproperly\u201d or risk \u201cclashes and even conflicts.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Still, Trump called the trip \u201cincredible,\u201d emphasizing trade deals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">To be sure, Trump\u2019s propensity to breach norms in diplomatic matters can take an aggressive shape as easily as a more affable one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Most notably, his frustration at a fraying ceasefire between Iran and Israel back in June 2025 boiled over when he told reporters at the White House that the two nations \u201cdon\u2019t know what the f\u2011\u2011\u2011 they\u2019re doing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Just this past week, Trump confirmed reports of another profane phone call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, this time over continuing Israeli attacks on Lebanon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Independent observers say that Trump is clearly willing to take risks that presidents who operate within more normal parameters are not. The question is whether the risks bring commensurate rewards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cTo the extent that there is an upside, it is that he is willing to take a risk that goes against the small-c conservative approach, because he doesn\u2019t care about the normal protocol,\u201d said Grant Reeher, a professor of political science at Syracuse University.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cHe is always looking to surprise people and to go against type. The problem is, he sometimes does that in ways we all wish he didn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Rubin, the former State Department official and the author of a recent book titled, \u201cSaving Democratic Foreign Policy: How Democrats Can Earn the American People\u2019s Trust to Lead the World Once Again,\u201d contended that the more traditional standards of diplomacy have a real value \u2014 one which Trump skates past.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI\u2019m a big advocate for diplomacy but not for reckless diplomacy,\u201d Rubin said. \u201cHe believes you just go meet, and you fix it \u2014 and it\u2019s completely devoid of context.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Reeher offered a somewhat more forgiving explanation for Trump\u2019s apparent willingness to meet with Khamenei.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cHe tends to think in terms of transactions, and he thinks of it as \u2018Would you be willing to meet this guy?\u2019 He doesn\u2019t think about it in terms of \u2018the leadership of Iran\u2019 or the nature of Iran. He thinks, \u2018I can have a productive meeting with any guy.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If that is what Trump thinks, it may be a long time before the world finds out if he is correct.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On Friday, Mohsen Rezaei, a military adviser to Khamenei, adamantly poured cold water on the idea of such a meeting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThis will not happen,\u201d Rezaei told CNN. \u201cRight now we are in the first stage of negotiations and Mr. Trump has brought the negotiations to a standstill. This will not happen.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>President Trump upended expectations yet again when he told reporters Thursday that he would be \u201chonored\u201d to meet Iran\u2019s supreme leader in the event of a peace deal. \u201cIf we make a deal, it\u2019s possible that I would meet him,\u201d the president said in the Oval Office. The idea of a meeting between Trump and [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":16296,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[1906,1754,1724],"class_list":["post-16295","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international","tag-he","tag-president","tag-trump"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v19.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>The Memo: Trump upends expectations with idea of meeting Iran\u2019s supreme leader - LISTEN WORLD<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?p=16295\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Memo: Trump upends expectations with idea of meeting Iran\u2019s supreme leader - LISTEN WORLD\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"President Trump upended expectations yet again when he told reporters Thursday that he would be \u201chonored\u201d to meet Iran\u2019s supreme leader in the event of a peace deal. \u201cIf we make a deal, it\u2019s possible that I would meet him,\u201d the president said in the Oval Office. 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