President Donald Trump said Monday the war against Iran could end “very soon,” arguing that U.S. and Israeli forces have devastated the regime’s military capabilities while warning Tehran that any renewed aggression would trigger even harsher retaliation.
Speaking at a press conference at Trump National Doral Miami in Florida, Trump said the campaign is “ahead of our initial timeline by a lot” after more than a week of strikes targeting Iran’s military infrastructure.
“We are achieving major strides toward completing our military objective,” Trump said, referring to the campaign known as Operation Epic Fury.
“We are close to finishing,” Trump said, while clarifying that the war would not end this week but could conclude soon.
Trump said much of Iran’s naval capability has already been destroyed. “Most of Iran’s naval power has been sunk,” he said, adding that he had just been informed that 51 Iranian ships had been taken out since the campaign began.
Trump said the operation has sharply degraded Iran’s capabilities, pointing to the destruction of naval assets, missile infrastructure, and drone production facilities.
“Their missile capability is down to about 10 percent, maybe less,” Trump said.
He added that U.S. forces are striking the facilities where the regime produces drones and missiles “one after another,” saying the campaign is working to “annihilate the manufacturing base” behind Iran’s weapons programs.
“We could call it a tremendous success right now,” Trump said, while adding that the United States could still expand operations if necessary.
He said the United States has deliberately held back some of the regime’s most damaging targets in case the conflict escalates further.
“We’ve left some of the most important targets for later,” Trump said, referring to infrastructure that could take “many years” for Iran to rebuild if destroyed.
“So we’re not looking to do that if we don’t have to,” he added. “But they’re the kind of targets that are very easy to hit and very devastating if they are hit.”
Earlier Monday, Trump suggested the war was already approaching its end during a phone interview with CBS News.
“I think the war is very complete, pretty much,” Trump said, arguing Iran now has “no navy, no communications, no air force,” and little remaining military capability.
Asked what “winning enough” would look like, Trump said the objective is to ensure Iran no longer has the capacity to develop weaponry that could threaten the United States or its allies.
“When basically I can see that they will no longer have any capacity whatsoever for a very long period of time of developing weaponry that could be used against the United States or any of our allies,” Trump said.
Trump also defended the earlier U.S. strike campaign against Iran’s nuclear facilities, arguing it prevented Tehran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.
“If we didn’t do that B-2 attack, Israel would have been wiped out,” Trump said.
Trump said Iran had been rapidly expanding its ballistic missile program alongside its nuclear ambitions, arguing the buildup was designed to shield the regime’s pursuit of a nuclear weapon.
“The regime’s intention was to use this exponentially growing ballistic missile threat to make it virtually impossible to prevent them from obtaining a nuclear weapon,” Trump said. “The situation was very quickly approaching the point of no return, and the United States found this intolerable.”
He added that Iran had rejected diplomatic proposals before the strikes, including an offer that would have provided nuclear fuel for civilian reactors without enabling weapons development.
“They even turned down an offer for unlimited free nuclear fuel forever for civilian purposes,” Trump said. “They weren’t interested in that because they wanted to build a nuclear weapon.”
Trump said intelligence indicated Tehran attempted to rebuild elements of its nuclear program after the strikes, seeking to develop a new underground facility hardened deeper below the surface.
According to Trump, the site was being constructed further underground and protected by granite while the regime simultaneously accelerated missile production.
Trump also argued that Iran’s actions in the region backfired strategically.
He said Iranian missile attacks on neighboring states, including Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates, ultimately pushed those countries closer to Washington and against Tehran.
“They were supposed to be this big powerful country,” Trump said. “We wrapped the hell out of them.”
Trump also warned Iran against threatening global oil supplies through the Strait of Hormuz, the critical maritime chokepoint through which roughly 20 percent of the world’s oil passes.
Trump said Iran and its proxies had attacked hundreds of commercial vessels in recent years and vowed the United States would ensure safe passage through the Gulf. He said Washington is offering political risk insurance for tankers operating in the region and added that the U.S. Navy and its partners are prepared to escort ships through the Strait of Hormuz if necessary.
“If Iran does anything that stops the flow of oil within the Strait of Hormuz, they will be hit by the United States of America twenty times harder than they have been hit thus far,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post later Monday.
He added that the United States could strike additional targets that would make it “virtually impossible” for Iran to rebuild.
“Death, fire, and fury will reign upon them,” Trump wrote, adding that he hopes such escalation will not be necessary.
Trump also addressed the leadership transition in Tehran after Mojtaba Khamenei, the son of former Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, was named Iran’s new supreme leader.
“I have no message for him,” Trump said.
Earlier Monday, speaking to Republican lawmakers at an event before the press conference, Trump said the campaign had already inflicted major damage on the Iranian regime.
“We’ve already won in many ways,” Trump said, while adding that the United States would continue operations until the threat from Iran is decisively eliminated.
Trump also said the administration is closely monitoring potential Iranian sleeper-cell activity inside the United States.
“We’ve been very much on top of it,” Trump said, adding that authorities have “very good intelligence” on the issue.
Trump closed by reiterating that while the conflict may soon end, the United States will respond forcefully if Iran launches further attacks.
“It’s going to be ended soon,” Trump said. “And if it starts up again, they’ll be hit even harder.”
Joshua Klein is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at jklein@breitbart.com. Follow him on Twitter @JoshuaKlein.