Live Update 
From the Liveblog of
Friday, March 13, 2026
From the Liveblog of
Friday, March 13, 2026
Trump says he thinks new Iranian supreme leader is ‘damaged’ but ‘alive in some form’
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleUS President Donald Trump weighs in on the status of Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei after the supreme leader issued his first statement since being appointed.
Asked if he thinks Khamenei is alive, Trump says, “I think he probably is.”
“I think he is damaged, but I think he’s probably alive in some form, you know,” Trump says, speaking to the Brian Kilmeade Show on Fox News Radio. The interview was taped Thursday to air Friday morning.
Khamenei hasn’t appeared in public since the start of the war.
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