President Trump declared Monday that the Iran war will charge ahead just moments after he suggested the conflict could soon come to an end. Trump ordered more than two dozen new B2 bombers and said the US military has already struck 5,000 targets in a conflict that has now stretched into its second week. The president delivered a sweeping update on the Iran war from his Doral, Florida, golf resort. ‘We could call it a tremendous success right now … or we could go further, and we’re going to go further,’ he said. ‘We will not relent until the enemy is totally and decisively defeated.’ The president did not indicate how long the war could continue, remaining ambiguous about future US military operations in the region. Iran’s Revolutionary guard simply stated: ‘We are the ones who will determine the end of the war.’
Death, fire, and fury
Trump’s comments were made just moments after he said the war was ‘very complete,’ while claiming US forces were ‘very far ahead of schedule.’ ‘I think the war is very complete, pretty much,’ Trump told CBS News. ‘They have no navy, no communications, they’ve got no Air Force … Wrapping up is all in my mind.’ During a press conference, Trump was confronted about his administration’s vacillating messages on the war. ‘You said the war is “very complete.” But your defense secretary says “this is just the beginning.” So which is it?’ a reporter asked Trump. The president responded with a blunt, but perplexing, answer. ‘You could say both,’ he replied. Trump followed up on Monday night by warning Iran with ‘Death, Fire, and Fury’ if they close off the Straight of Hormuz.
Hormuz takeover
‘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 said in a Truth Social post. ‘Additionally, we will take out easily destroyable targets that will make it virtually impossible for Iran to ever be built back, as a Nation, again — Death, Fire, and Fury will reign upon them — But I hope, and pray, that it does not happen!’ Meanwhile, Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corp responded to Trump by releasing a blunt take on the war’s future. ‘We are the ones who will determine the end of the war,’ the statement read. After Trump’s earlier remarks about an end to the conflict, the stock market clawed back from a brutal session. US oil plunged to $86 per barrel from $91 after he floated a takeover of the Strait of Hormuz.
The Dow closed up 200 points after dropping nearly 900 points at its session low, while the S&P jumped 0.8 percent and the Nasdaq rebounded to 1.4 percent after crashing by as much as 1.5 percent. The President insisted that the Islamic Republican now has ‘no Navy’ with 46 of its ships sunk on the Gulf’s floor and off the shore of Sri Lanka. One of Operation Epic Fury’s key objectives was to wipe out the Navy, Trump has said. He also said that Iran has ‘no air force,’ and without radar, telecommunications, anti-aircraft systems, and most importantly, leadership. Iran’s military drone capacity is down to 25 percent and is soon expected to go to zero while the country’s missiles are mostly destroyed, he added. But the country’s second in command, Vice President JD Vance, has been ‘less enthusiastic’ about the war, Trump admitted. Vance, 41, a veteran of the Iraq war who has long had outspoken anti-interventionist views, is ‘philosophically a little bit different’ than the President, Trump shared. ‘We get along very well on this. He was, I would say, philosophically a little bit different than me. I think he was maybe less enthusiastic about going, but he was quite enthusiastic.’
Trump quickly added: ‘But I thought it was something we had to do. I didn’t feel we had a choice.’ The President claimed that before the US struck Iran was attempting to take over the Middle East. He also remarked how the Islamic Republic’s counterstrikes on Gulf nations was a critical mistake that has since driven the countries closer to the US. For the first time the president was quizzed on reports about a girls school in Tehran reportedly being hit with a US-made Tomahawk missile, killing at least 170. ‘Just don’t know enough about it. I think it’s something that I was told is under investigation, but Tomahawks are used by others,’ Trump said, trying to point out how Tomahawks are sold to other countries. ‘But I will certainly – whatever the report shows – I’m willing to live with that report,’ he said. Democrats in Congress have called for an investigation into the tragedy.
Trump told the New York Post he had a blunt message for Iran’s new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei: ‘I have no message for him. None, whatsoever.’ Trump said Monday he was ‘not happy with’ Khamenei as the Islamic regime’s new dictator. When asked what he would do to the Islamic leader, Trump responded: ‘Not going to tell you…Not going to tell you. I’m not happy with him.’ Trump went further by telling close aides he would support killing Iran’s new supreme leader if he refuses to abandon the country’s nuclear program. Mojtaba, 56, the second son of the late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was appointed by the regime’s 88-person assembly on Sunday and announced as his successor, despite previous opposition from his father.
Earlier in the day Trump had a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin in which the two discussed the Iran war and Ukrainian invasion. The Republican said the Russian wanted to be ‘helpful’ with regards to Iran, but real ‘hatred’ remains between Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky – both of whom Trump has been corresponding with to end the war, now in its fourth year. ‘We obviously talked about the Middle East, and he wants to be helpful,’ Trump said of the call with Putin at the press conference. The stock market clawed back from a brutal session after Trump’s remarks, with US oil plunging to $86 per barrel from $91 after he floated a takeover of the Strait of Hormuz. The Dow closed up 200 points after dropping nearly 900 points at its session low, while the S&P jumped 0.8 percent and the Nasdaq rebounded to 1.4 percent after crashing by as much as 1.5 percent.
