'Gave Iran Week Off Because We're Nice': Trump References Ayatollah Funeral In Rushmore Speech

On Friday President Trump delivered a speech at Mount Rushmore to kick off the nation's 250th anniversary celebrations, and in it he confirmed that everything regarding Iran - whether on the military or diplomatic fronts - have been paused to allow for the Islamic Republic to bury its late supreme leader Ali Khamenei.

Trump said Washington "knocked the hell out of Iran" and that the country was "dying to settle". He also made comparisons between the lengthy Iran conflict and the brief US operation to overthrow Maduro of Venezuela.

"We beat Venezuela in one day, and we knocked the hell out of Iran," he said. That's when he claimed that the current US posture and pause in action is all about allowing the Iranians time to conduct a week-long funeral for the slain Khamenei, killed during the opening day of Operation Epic Fury.

"We gave them a week off for a funeral because we're nice," he said.

The funeral ceremonies began in Tehran on Friday, with government representatives from dozens of countries paying respects, and with the public multi-city procession in full swing on Saturday, amid a heavy Iranian security presence.

While the US administration is touting its Iran 'excursion' as a 'win' - the reality is that it is looking more like a quagmire with each passing week.

Iran is no closer to abandoning its nuclear program, it is proclaiming its own control over the Strait of Hormuz under Iranian protocol, and its ruling clerics and IRGC military apparatus are firmly in place. Trump and White House officials had from day one vowed a rapid engagement, saying repeatedly it would end 'fast' - and had even initially touted that regime change would be imminent - but now it's been 127 days since the conflict's start.

Trump in his Rushmore speech didn't dwell long on the Iran (mis)adventure, but moved on rather quickly to themes of American exceptionalism.

"Americans honor excellence; we admire boldness; we respect ambition," Trump said. "We are a nation of dreamers and believers, warriors and explorers, doers and fighters and in every human endeavor Americans see an unfinished competition.

"What is strong can be made stronger. What is fast can be made faster. What is great can be made greater than ever before. And that's what's happening with America."

He continued: "Show us a mountain, and we'll just climb it. Show us an ocean and we'll just cross it. Show us a problem and we will just solve it. Show us a task the world calls impossible and Americans will get it done."

Trump: "We knocked the Hell out of Iran. They're dying to settle. They want to settle so badly. We gave them a week off for a funeral because we're nice." pic.twitter.com/wV13cT3FLp

— The Bulwark (@BulwarkOnline) July 4, 2026

There's a rich irony in Khamenei's public funeral starting on the very day, July 4th, that America celebrates the 250th anniversary of its founding. The founding fathers warned the young Republic that America "goes not abroad in search of monsters to destroy."

John Quincy Adams famously warned, "She might become the dictatress of the world. She would be no longer the ruler of her own spirit."