Trump’s Wednesday evening address sought to steady public expectations as the war entered its early stretch and as his rhetoric had drawn scrutiny from both markets and lawmakers. Speaking in Washington, he dialed back what the Associated Press described as bluster that had dominated recent days, and he framed the fighting as a decisive campaign that had already weakened Iran’s ability to threaten Gulf neighbors and U.S. bases.
Trump told the public that the outcome would arrive quickly, saying in the speech that the U.S. operation is “so powerful, so brilliant” and that “all of his military objectives will be completed ‘shortly.’” He said the United States had been in the operation for 32 days and that Iran had been “eviscerated and essentially is really no longer a threat,” adding that the campaign was “a true investment in your children and your grandchildren’s future.” He also said “the whole world is watching” as it reacts to what he presented as American strength.
In outlining the timeline, Trump said the United States will continue to strike Iran hard for “the next two or three weeks,” according to the AP account of his remarks. The speech, however, did not include details about negotiations with Iran that could bring about an endgame he suggested could take shape within weeks. Trump also did not lay out an approach for reopening the Strait of Hormuz, even as he faced criticism over whether allies would have to help fix what U.S. actions had disrupted.
The AP report said Trump offered no overt lashing out at NATO allies for failing to fall in line or help reopen the critical waterway, a move White House officials had said would feature prominently in the roughly 20-minute address. Instead, Trump urged that allies “buy oil from the United States of America” and “build up some delayed courage,” framing their assistance as necessary to secure the strait. The speech also included a plea for Americans to show patience, with Trump arguing that Americans had endured long wars in the past.
To support that message, Trump compared the duration of World War I, World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War and Iraq, saying each lasted far longer than the early period of the Iran campaign. He also addressed the domestic pressure he was facing to wind down the fighting, speaking earlier at a private White House lunch to mark Easter, where the AP said he argued the U.S. could “very easily” take Iran’s oil. At that lunch, Trump said it was “unfortunate” that American patience seemed to be lacking for such an effort, and he described people in the country as wanting to “see it end.”
In Congress, Democrats criticized the president’s address as lacking a concrete strategy. Sen. Chris Murphy, a Connecticut Democrat, said Trump’s speech was “grounded in a reality that only exists in Donald Trump’s mind,” the AP reported. Murphy and other Democrats said Trump did not present a coherent plan for reopening the Strait of Hormuz, even though the AP account said a battered Iran has effectively choked off the waterway.
Democrats also argued that the president’s approach could leave the conflict open-ended, with Murphy saying, “We are losing this war.” He said the U.S. cannot “destroy all their missiles or drones, nor their nuclear program,” and he warned that Iran would project more power in the region than it did before the war—particularly if it permanently controls the Strait of Hormuz. Murphy also faulted the cost and broader instability, saying the U.S. is “spending billions we don’t have and losing American lives in a war that is destabilizing the world and making us look feckless.”
Trump’s remarks included statements about conditions in Iran’s leadership after more than a month of U.S. and Israeli strikes. He described those now in power as “less radical and much more reasonable,” and he said much of the pre-war Islamic Republic’s hierarchy had been taken out. The AP report said he did not explicitly mention a Monday deadline he has set for Iran to open the strait or face attacks on energy infrastructure, though he said the U.S. would target electric generating plants “very hard and probably simultaneously” if there is no deal.
The president also addressed the prospect of striking Iran’s energy and nuclear-related assets while steering away from any imminent ground invasion. He said the U.S. had not hit Iran’s oil yet and suggested that striking it would deprive Iran of any chance of survival or rebuilding, while warning that if Iran makes a move involving near-bomb-grade material, the U.S. would hit it again. Trump told the AP account that the U.S. has Iran’s nuclear sites under “intense satellite surveillance and control,” and he said “we have all the cards. They have none.”
At the same time, Trump’s address, as described by the AP, notably did not signal preparations for American ground troops to secure Iran or its uranium—an omission that comes as he has continued to articulate a central objective of preventing Iran from developing a nuclear weapon.