President Donald Trump said Monday that Washington initially expected the war with Iran to last four to five weeks but has the capacity to continue “far beyond that” if necessary, insisting he is in no rush to end the conflict. Speaking at the White House in his first live appearance since the campaign began, Trump sought to justify the decision to launch the assault on Tehran’s regime, declaring: “This was our last and best opportunity to act as we are acting now and remove the intolerable threats posed by this sick and evil regime; and they are sick and evil.” He added, “We will win easily.”
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President Trump at the White House this evening. “Our country was under threat.”
(Photo: SAUL LOEB / AFP)
The remarks came during a Medal of Honor ceremony for veterans of the Vietnam and Afghanistan wars. In the first two days after hostilities erupted, Trump communicated only through prerecorded videos, posts on his Truth Social platform and telephone interviews with U.S. media outlets. His address came as new polling underscored the political risks of the campaign. A Reuters/Ipsos survey conducted after the strikes began on Saturday found that 27% of Americans support the war, 43% oppose it and 29% are unsure.
Trump argued that after the United States “destroyed” Iran’s nuclear program in last June’s “Midnight Hammer” operation and warned Tehran not to attempt to rebuild it elsewhere, the regime ignored the warning and continued pursuing nuclear weapons. He said Iran’s ballistic missile program had also expanded rapidly and dramatically, creating what he described as a clear and growing threat to the United States and its forces abroad.
“The regime already had missiles capable of striking Europe and our bases, both in the region and overseas, and it was close to obtaining missiles capable of reaching our beautiful America,” he said.
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A US destroyer fires toward Iran during the current operation. “The regime was close to obtaining missiles that could reach America.”
(Photo: AFP PHOTO /US NAVY and US CENTRAL COMMAND / HANDOUT)
According to Trump, the purpose of Iran’s expanding missile program was to shield its nuclear ambitions and deter outside intervention. “An Iranian regime equipped with long-range missiles and nuclear weapons would have been an intolerable threat to the Middle East and to the American people. Our country was under threat,” he said.
He maintained that he had tried to resolve the crisis diplomatically. “We thought we had a deal,” Trump said. “But then they backed out. I said you can’t negotiate with these people. You have to act the right way.”
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He attacked the agreement brokered by Obama: “We signed with them in our great stupidity.” Trump at the White House.
(Photo: Jim WATSON / AFP)
Outlining the war’s objectives, Trump said the campaign would continue “as long as required.”
He set four main goals:
• Destroying Iran’s missile capabilities and its ability to produce new missiles
• Destroying its navy
• Preventing it from obtaining nuclear weapons
• Ensuring the Iranian regime can no longer arm, fund or direct terrorist armies beyond its borders
He did not formally list regime change as one of the war’s objectives, though he again called on Iranians to rise up against their leaders. Trump signaled that he is prepared for a prolonged conflict. “Someone in the media said, ‘I think he’ll get bored after about a week or two.’ No, we don’t get bored. I never get bored. If I got bored, I wouldn’t be standing here right now,” he said. “We also estimated it would take four weeks to eliminate the military leadership, and as you know that was done in about an hour. So we’re well ahead of schedule there.”
Earlier Monday, in an interview with the New York Post, Trump declined to rule out deploying U.S. ground forces to Iran. “I don’t take a knee-jerk position like every president who says, ‘There will be no troops on the ground.’ I’m not saying that,” he said. “I’m just saying it’s unlikely we’ll need them, or if they’re necessary.”
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“Arab states want to fight.” The president speaks at the medal ceremony.
(Photo: AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
He insisted he had done “the right thing” in launching the operation and dismissed unfavorable polling. “I think the poll numbers are very good, but I don’t care about the polls. I have to do the right thing. It should have been done a long time ago,” he said, arguing that allowing “crazy people” to obtain nuclear weapons would have been worse than a regional war.
In a separate interview with CNN, Trump said “the big wave hasn’t even happened. The big one is coming soon,” suggesting the campaign could intensify. He also said he was surprised by what he described as Iranian attacks on Arab states in the region, saying Gulf countries that were initially expected to play only a limited role now “want to fight” and are doing so aggressively. Speaking to Fox News about the opening strike against senior Iranian officials, Trump claimed that Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei was killed while meeting his closest associates for breakfast, believing that the United States and Israel would not strike in daylight. The claim could not be independently verified.