In contrast to how his predecessors dealt with North Korea, U.S. President Donald Trump acted against Iran before it could develop nuclear weapons, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar said on Sunday.
“Think back to the mid-’90s, when President [Bill] Clinton threatened North Korea not to develop nuclear weapons. But eventually, in the historic moment, he didn’t act, and therefore today North Korea has nuclear weapons,” Sa’ar said in an interview with Newsmax’s Greta Van Susteren.
The foreign minister emphasized that Washington had tried to address Iran’s nuclear ambitions through diplomacy. “Eventually, President [Trump] had to decide whether to act or not,” Sa’ar said.
North Korea has nuclear weapons because previous presidents didn’t act. With Iran - @POTUS Trump acted at the right historic moment.
— Gideon Sa'ar | גדעון סער (@gidonsaar) March 8, 2026
From my interview with @NEWSMAX pic.twitter.com/aWCsQMHyDm
He added that by taking military action against Iran in the joint U.S.-Israeli preemptive strike on Feb. 28, Trump demonstrated “greatness of leadership.”
Meanwhile, North Korea’s development of nuclear weapons “harms its neighbors and U.S. allies like South Korea and Japan.
“Now was the moment” to act, he said.
