Trump signals willingness to talk to new Iranian leadership as strikes continue

Politics Trump signals willingness to talk to new Iranian leadership as strikes continue By Stefan Becket Stefan Becket Managing Editor, Digital Politics Stefan Becket is a managing editor of politics for CBSNews.com. Stefan has covered national politics for more than a decade and helps oversee a team covering the White House, Congress, the Supreme Court, immigration and federal law enforcement. Read Full Bio Stefan Becket March 1, 2026 / 3:18 PM EST / CBS News Add CBS News on Google Washington — President Trump said Sunday that he is willing to speak with the new leadership in Iran following the death of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei , the country's longtime leader, who was killed in Israeli airstrikes on Saturday. "They want to talk, and I have agreed to talk, so I will be talking to them. They should have done it sooner. They should have given what was very practical and easy to do sooner. They waited too long," Mr. Trump told The Atlantic in a phone call on Sunday morning. A senior White House official said later in the day that the president will speak with the Iranians "eventually," but " or now, Operation Epic Fury continues unabated," referring to the ongoing bombing campaign by the U.S. and Israel . Khamenei's death has led to questions about who will now take power, with no clear successor in place. Dozens more top Iranian officials were also killed in strikes, further complicating the path forward. Mr. Trump and other officials have urged the Iranian people to overthrow the regime altogether, but the likelihood of a mass uprising succeeding is far from certain. Sen. Tom Cotton, the top Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan" on Sunday that "I don't think anyone can give you a simple answer" on who will succeed Khamenei, who had been in power since 1989. "There's probably a lot of jockeying inside of Iran right now. They have a very consultative, deliberative process to replace the supreme le...