Donald Trump has said he is considering winding down the strikes on Iran and ending the war in the Middle East, as he gets one step closer to destroying Tehran’s military capabilities.
The president wrote in a Truth Social on Friday evening: ‘We are getting very close to meeting our objectives as we consider winding down our great Military efforts in the Middle East with respect to the Terrorist Regime of Iran.
‘(1) Completely degrading Iranian Missile Capability, Launchers, and everything else pertaining to them.
‘(2) Destroying Iran’s Defense Industrial Base.
‘(3) Eliminating their Navy and Air Force, including Anti Aircraft Weaponry.
‘(4) Never allowing Iran to get even close to Nuclear Capability, and always being in a position where the U.S.A. can quickly and powerfully react to such a situation, should it take place.
In his post Friday, Trump added a fifth: ‘Protecting, at the highest level, our Middle Eastern Allies’ and listed America’s Gulf partners: Israel, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Kuwait, and others.’
He then went on to describe how he sees the future for the Strait of Hormuz – the shipping waterway that is crucial to international trade.
Donald Trump has said he is considering winding down the strikes on Iran and ending the war in the Middle East, as he gets one step closer to destroying Tehran’s military capabilities
A plume of smoke rises from the site of a strike in Tehran on March 17, 2026
Trump added: ‘The Hormuz Strait will have to be guarded and policed, as necessary, by other Nations who use it — The United States does not!
‘If asked, we will help these Countries in their Hormuz efforts, but it shouldn’t be necessary once Iran’s threat is eradicated.
‘Importantly, it will be an easy Military Operation for them. Thank you for your attention to this matter! President DONALD J. TRUMP.’
The post seemed at odds with his administration’s move to bolster its firepower in the region and request another $200 billion from Congress to fund the war.
The US is deploying three more amphibious assault ships and roughly 2,500 additional Marines to the Middle East, a US official told The Associated Press.
Two other US officials confirmed that ships were deploying, without saying where they were headed.
All three spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive military operations.
The news of the deployment comes just days after the US redirected another group of amphibious assault ships carrying another 2,500 Marines from the Pacific to the Middle East.
Iranian families gather behind the ruins of a building in Tehran
The Marines will join more than 50,000 US troops already in the region.
Trump has said he has no plans to send ground forces into Iran but also has asserted that he retains all options.
US and Israeli leaders say weeks of strikes have decimated Iran’s military.
In addition to Iran’s supreme leader, airstrikes have also killed the head of its Supreme National Security Council and a raft of other top-ranking military and political leaders.
General Ali Mohammad Naeini, a spokesman for Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, was quoted by a state-run newspaper Friday saying Iran continues to manufacture missiles despite Israel’s claim that it had destroyed Iran’s production capabilities.
Iranian state television later said that Naeini was killed in an airstrike.
As Israeli airstrikes landed in Tehran, Iran launched more attacks on Israel and energy sites in neighboring Gulf Arab states Friday, and the region marked one of the holiest days on the Muslim calendar.
Iranians were also celebrating the Persian New Year, known as Nowruz, a normally festive holiday.
JD Vance (pictured center) leads a briefing in the Situation Room with Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard
Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli air strike that targeted an area in the southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital Beirut
With little information coming out of Iran, it was not clear how much damage its arms, nuclear or energy facilities have sustained in the punishing US and Israeli strikes that began February 28 — or even who was truly in charge of the country.
But Iran’s attacks are still choking off oil supplies and denting the global economy, raising food and fuel prices far beyond the Middle East.
The US and Israel have offered shifting rationales for the war, from hoping to foment an uprising that topples Iran’s leadership to eliminating its nuclear and missile programs.
There have been no public signs of any such uprising and no end in sight to the war.
So far, 13 American soldiers have died in the conflict.
