Auburn's Bruce Pearl backs Trump during Israel-Iran conflict: 'The world is going to be a safer place'
Auburn Tigers men’s basketball head coach Bruce Pearl spoke in support of President Donald Trump Wednesday as his administration continued to weigh possible U.S. involvement in the ongoing conflict between Israel and Iran.
The accomplished coach, who has been outspoken in his support of Israel since Hamas' October 2023 terror attacks, addressed the issue during an appearance on OutKick’s "Don’t @ me with Dan Dakich."
He explained that he believes the U.S. has some level of interest considering its history with Iran.
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"We can go back and talk about 1982 in Lebanon and all those U.S. Marines that were murdered. We can talk about Oct. 7, where 45 Americans were killed. And they abducted, you know, six or seven more and executed them before Israel rescued them.
"This has been going on since 1979, and it is about to become a safer place, a non-nuclear Iran. And without having the money to be able to do what they have been doing, the world is going to be a safer place," he added.
"If the Middle East gets safer and stronger, look at what dynamic country Israel is. Look at all the unicorns that are there. Look at all the high tech and development. Look at all the wealth. If you began to spread that to some of these other Middle Eastern countries, who are they going to partner with? The United States, Russia, China? It’s going to be the U.S. because Donald Trump has led the way to create peace and prosperity for everybody in the region."
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The president was noncommittal on the possibility of military intervention when speaking to reporters outside the White House Wednesday, saying that military strikes targeting Iran's nuclear sites have not been ruled out entirely.
"Yes, I may do it. I may not do it. I mean, nobody knows what I'm going to do. I can tell you this, that Iran's got a lot of trouble, and they want to negotiate," Trump said. "And I said, 'Why didn't you negotiate with me before all this death and destruction? Why didn't you go?' I said to people, 'Why didn't you negotiate with me two weeks ago? You could have done fine. You would have had a country.' It's very sad to watch this."
Trump has pushed Iran to sign a nuclear agreement, but talks between the two scheduled for Sunday were called off after Iran withdrew days earlier. While the Trump administration weighs its options, Iran has said the U.S. entering the conflict would mean an "all-out war."
Fox News Digital’s Diana Stancy and Connor McGahan contributed to this report.
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