Trump Claims All Potential Successors to Iran's Supreme Leader Were Killed in Initial Strike

President Trump told ABC News senior reporter Jonathan Karl in a phone call that the US-Israeli strike was so successful it eliminated all identified candidates for the next Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic. "The strike was so successful that it wiped out all the major options for leadership of the Islamic Republic — there is no one who was previously being considered for leadership who is coming to power, because they are all dead," Trump said. He added that even the second and third candidates in line for succession were among those killed.