Since the start of the U.S. and Israel war on Iran on Feb. 28, reporters have asked President Donald Trump how long the conflict will last.His answers are inconsistent. The day after the war began, he said combat “will continue until all of our objectives are achieved.” Then he threw out four to five weeks (and later six). Sometimes, on the same day, Trump declares victory while saying that the war continues. During one month of war, 13 U.S. soldiers have been killed and hundreds of U.S. service members injured. Human rights activists recorded at least 1,443 civilian deaths, including 217 children, through March 23 as a result of airstrikes on Iran from Israel and the U.S.With the war approaching the two-month mark, PolitiFact compiled a timeline of Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s shifting statements about how long the war would last.This story was originally published on PolitiFact. Read the article here.Feb. 28: Trump announced the start of Operation Epic Fury, without specifying an end date.March 1: Trump said in a speech that “combat operations continue at this time in full force, and they will continue until all of our objectives are achieved.” When The New York Times asked him how long the United States and Israel would continue the attacks, Trump said: “Well, we intended four to five weeks.”March 2: Trump said at a White House ceremony: “We’re already substantially ahead of our time projections. But whatever the time is, it’s OK.” He repeated that the initial projection was “four to five weeks, but we have capability to go far longer than that.”In a press conference, Hegseth said, “This is not Iraq. This is not endless. … This is the opposite. This operation (has) a clear, devastating, decisive mission: destroy the missile threat, destroy the navy, no nukes.” Hegseth added: “Trump has all the latitude in the world to talk about how long it may or may not take. Four weeks, two weeks, six weeks. It could move up, it could move back.” March 5: Trump said at an event to celebrate soccer champions Inter Miami CF: “The United States military, together with the wonderful Israeli partners, continues to totally demolish the enemy far ahead of schedule and at levels that people have never seen before.”Hegseth said, “Our munitions are full up, and our will is ironclad, which means our timeline is ours and ours alone to control as long as it takes to ensure the United States of America achieves these objectives.”March 7: Trump told reporters on Air Force One, “We’re winning the war by a lot. We’ve decimated their whole evil empire. It’ll continue, I’m sure, for a little while.”He called it “a short excursion.”When asked how long he expected the attacks to continue, Trump didn’t directly answer the question. “Well, I think we’ve accomplished more in one week than anyone thought possible.”On Truth Social he said victory already occurred. “We don’t need people that join Wars after we’ve already won!” March 8: On CBS News’ “60 minutes,” Hegseth said, “What I want your viewers to understand is this is only just the beginning.”March 9: At a press conference in Doral, Florida, Trump said, “We’re achieving major strides toward completing our military objective. And some people could say they’re pretty well complete.”When pressed on a timeline, he said that the war would be over “very soon.”In a Time magazine interview, Trump said, “The war is very complete, pretty much. If you look, they have nothing left. There’s nothing left in a military sense.”Trump told CBS News, “I think the war is very complete, pretty much.” He also said, “We’re very far ahead of schedule.”Speaking to Republican lawmakers, Trump said, “We’ve already won in many ways, but we haven’t won enough.” An X account for the Defense Department posted a photo of a missile with a text overlay saying “no mercy.” The post’s caption read, “We have Only Just Begun to Fight.”March 10: In a press conference, a reporter asked Hegseth how far the U.S. is into its air campaign against Iran. Hegseth responded: “From the beginning, from this podium, we haven’t stated how long it will take.” He added that Trump “gets to control the throttle… and so it’s not for me to posit whether it’s the beginning, the middle, or the end” of the conflict. March 11: In Ohio, a reporter asked Trump if Iran is a “little excursion” or a “war” — two labels he used at the event. Trump replied: “Well, it’s both. It’s both. It’s an excursion that will keep us out of a war.” For Iran, it’s a war, he said, and for the U.S., it “turned out to be easier than we thought.”At a rally in Kentucky, Trump again declared victory. “Let me tell you, we’ve won. You know, you never like to say too early you won. We won. We won the — in the first hour, it was over.”But he also said, “we got to finish the job, right?”Trump told Axios that the war will be over “soon” because there is “practically nothing left to target.” He said “any time I want it to end, it will end.”March 13: When asked about how long the war will last, Trump told reporters, “I can’t tell you that. I mean, I have my own idea. But what good does it do? It’ll be as long as it’s necessary.”Trump told Fox News Radio, “I don’t think it’s gonna be long” and said he would know when it is over when “I feel it in my bones.”March 15: Speaking to reporters on Air Force One, Trump said that militarily, “we’ve essentially defeated Iran. Uh, I guess they can have a little bit of fight back, but not much. Not much.” He added that the U.S. was involved in diplomatic talks with Iran and that Iran wanted to make a deal.When asked if he was ready to officially declare victory against Iran, Trump said, “no” that “they’re decimated … But I’m still not declaring it over.”March 16: During a task force meeting about fraud in federally-funded programs, a reporter asked Trump if Iran was obliterated as he said, whether the war could be wrapped up in a week. Trump responded “Yeah, sure. We could.” “Will we?” a reporter asked.Trump replied: “I don’t think so, but it’ll be soon, won’t be long. And we’re going to have a much safer world when it’s wrapped up, it’ll be wrapped up soon.”March 17: At a meeting with the leader of Ireland, Micheál Martin, Trump said, “Iran is just a military operation to me. Iran is something that was essentially largely over in two or three days, because the Navy was wiped out almost immediately. The Air Force came next; the anti-aircraft came next.”When a reporter asked if he had a day-after plan, Trump said, “Look, if we left right now, it would take 10 years for them to rebuild. But we’re not ready to leave yet, but we’ll be leaving in the near future. We’ll be leaving in pretty much the very near future. But right now, they’ve been decimated from every standpoint.”March 19: In a meeting with the prime minister of Japan, Sanae Takaichi, Trump said that Iran “is close to demolished. The only thing is the strait,” referring to the Strait of Hormuz.(The strait, where about one-fifth of the world’s oil passes, effectively closed to tankers after the war started.)In a press conference, Hegseth said he “wouldn’t want to set a definitive timeframe” for the war’s end.March 20: A reporter asked Trump what he meant saying the war was militarily won in Iran.Trump replied: “Oh, I think we won. We’ve knocked out their Navy, their Air Force. We’ve knocked out their anti-aircraft. We’ve knocked out everything. We’re roaming free. From a military standpoint, all they’re doing is clogging up the strait. But from a military standpoint, they’re finished.”He added, “We’ve defeated the enemy, and they are an enemy.”Trump rejected Pope Leo XIV’s call for a ceasefire, saying “you don’t do a ceasefire when you’re literally obliterating the other side.”In a Truth Social post, Trump said, “We are getting very close to meeting our objectives as we consider winding down” military efforts in Iran.March 21: On Truth Social, Trump threatened that if Iran didn’t fully open the strait he would obliterate its power plants. March 23: On Truth Social, Trump said that the U.S. and Iran had two days of productive conversations and had instructed the Defense Department to postpone strikes against Iranian power plants and energy infrastructure for five days, subject to ongoing successful discussions.Speaking to reporters, Trump said the U.S. had “very, very strong talks” with Iran and that the countries wanted to make a deal.”But we’ll at some point very, very soon meet. We’re doing a five-day period. We’ll see how that goes. And if it goes well, we’re going to end up with settling this. Otherwise, we’ll just keep bombing our little hearts out.”March 24: At the swearing-in ceremony for Markwayne Mullin as Homeland Security secretary, Trump said that Iran was a “tremendous success” and that the country wants to make a deal.When asked how hopeful he was for a peace deal with Iran, Trump said, “Well, I think we’re going to end it” and added “we’ve won this — this war has been won.”March 26-27: During a Cabinet meeting, Trump said that Iran is “begging to work out a deal. I don’t know if we’ll be able to do that. I don’t know if we’re willing to do that.””We estimated it would take approximately four to six weeks to achieve our mission, and we’re way ahead of schedule. … The Iranian regime is now admitting to itself that they have been decisively defeated.”Hegseth repeated at this meeting that the operation is not an endless war but a “decisive campaign with clear objectives.” In a speech at a Saudi investment conference in Miami, Trump said that Iran is negotiating.March 29: Speaking to reporters on Air Force One, Trump said that Iran sent the U.S. 10 boats of oil “out of a sign of respect.””I think we’ll make a deal with them, pretty sure,” Trump said. “But it’s possible we won’t.”Trump told the Financial Times that he wants to “take the oil in Iran” and could attack Kharg Island, a major fuel hub.March 30: In a Truth Social post, Trump said that the U.S. is in “serious discussions with A NEW, AND MORE REASONABLE, REGIME to end our Military Operations in Iran.” If a deal is not “shortly reached” and the Strait of Hormuz is not immediately open, he said, the U.S. will blow up and obliterate Iran’s electric plants, oil wells and Kharg Island. April 1: In a Truth Social post, Trump said Iran asked for a ceasefire.In a primetime White House address, Trump said, “We are on track to complete all of America’s military objectives shortly, very shortly. We’re going to hit them extremely hard over the next two to three weeks — we’re going to bring them back to the Stone Ages, where they belong.” April 2-3: Iran shot down two U.S. military aircraft; those on the planes were rescued.. Trump repeated threats against Iran in the days that followed.April 4: Trump said in a Truth Social post, “Remember when I gave Iran ten days to MAKE A DEAL or OPEN UP THE HORMUZ STRAIT. Time is running out – 48 hours before all Hell will reign down on them. Glory be to GOD!”April 5: In a profanity laced Easter Day statement, Trump threatened Iran: “Tuesday will be Power Plant Day, and Bridge Day, all wrapped up in one, in Iran. There will be nothing like it!!! Open the (expletive) Strait, you crazy bastards, or you’ll be living in Hell – JUST WATCH! Praise be to Allah.”April 6: At an Easter egg roll event, a reporter asked Trump what was stopping him from ending the war. He replied, “Well, it could end very quickly, the war, if they do what they have to do. They have to do certain things. They know that. They’ve been negotiating, I think in good faith. We’ve had total regime change.”During a press conference, a reporter asked Trump what Iran had to do to meet Trump’s deadline. “Do they have to make a deal, open the Strait or both?” the journalist asked.Trump replied: “We have to have a deal that’s acceptable to me and part of that deal is going to be we want free traffic of oil and everything else.”April 7: Trump threatened in a morning Truth Social post, “A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again. I don’t want that to happen, but it probably will.”In the evening, Trump said that Iran agreed to the “complete, immediate, and safe opening” of the Strait of Hormuz, therefore he agreed to suspend attacking Iran for two weeks. “Total and complete victory. 100%. No question about it,” Trump told Agence France-Press.April 8: At 12:01 a.m., Trump posted an optimistic message on Truth Social: “A big day for World Peace! Iran wants it to happen, they’ve had enough! Likewise, so has everyone else! The United States of America will be helping with the traffic buildup in the Strait of Hormuz. There will be lots of positive action! Big money will be made. Iran can start the reconstruction process. We’ll be loading up with supplies of all kinds, and just “hangin’ around” in order to make sure that everything goes well. I feel confident that it will.”Hours later, Trump threatened that U.S. military forces and weapons “will remain in place in, and around, Iran, until such time as the REAL AGREEMENT reached is fully complied with.” If the agreement isn’t reached, Trump said, the “shootin’ starts.”April 12: After failed negotiations, Trump said “most points were agreed to, but the only point that really mattered, NUCLEAR, was not.” Trump said the U.S. would begin blocking ships entering or leaving the Strait of Hormuz.”Any Iranian who fires at us, or at peaceful vessels, will be BLOWN TO HELL!” Trump added “we are fully “LOCKED AND LOADED,” and our Military will finish up the little that is left of Iran!”April 16: At a tax event in Nevada, Trump said, “The war in Iran is going along swimmingly. We can do whatever we want. And it should be, it should be ending pretty soon. It was perfect. I mean, it’s perfect.” At a press conference, Hegseth threatened a continued blockade. “The War Department will ensure that Iran never has a nuclear weapon,” he said. “We prefer to do it the nice way, through a deal led by our great vice president and negotiating team; or we can do it the hard way. We urge this new regime to choose wisely.”April 17: In a Truth Social post, Trump said in all capital letters, “The Strait of Hormuz is completely open and ready for business and full passage, but the naval blockade will remain in full force and effect as it pertains to Iran, only, until such time as our transaction with Iran is 100% complete. This process should go very quickly in that most of the points are already negotiated.”During a Turning Point USA rally in Phoenix, Trump said, “Iran has just announced that the Strait of Hormuz is fully open and ready for business and full passage.” But Trump said that the naval blockade would remain in force until “our transaction with Iran is 100% complete and fully signed.”He said the process “should go very quickly and that most of the points are already negotiated and agreed to.”April 19: On Truth Social, Trump said Iran fired in the Strait of Hormuz the day before and violated the ceasefire agreement.”We’re offering a very fair and reasonable DEAL, and I hope they take it because, if they don’t, the United States is going to knock out every single Power Plant, and every single Bridge, in Iran. NO MORE MR. NICE GUY!”April 20: Trump said in a Truth Social post that the deal the U.S. is working on will be “far better” than the 2015 Iran nuclear deal negotiated under President Barack Obama. (During his first term, Trump broke his promise to renegotiate the deal.)A PBS reporter asked Trump what happens if a ceasefire expires April 21 evening “Then lots of bombs start going off,” he said. He told a Bloomberg reporter that it was “highly unlikely” that he’d extend a ceasefire without a deal and said it expires on the evening of April 22.In another Truth Social post, Trump said that past wars, including both world wars and Vietnam, lasted for years. Democrats “like to say that I promised 6 weeks to defeat Iran, and actually, from the Military standpoint, it was far faster than that, but I’m not going to let them rush the United States into making a Deal that is not as good as it could have been.” He said he was “under no pressure whatsoever” to make a deal, “although, it will all happen, relatively quickly!”
Since the start of the U.S. and Israel war on Iran on Feb. 28, reporters have asked President Donald Trump how long the conflict will last.
His answers are inconsistent.
The day after the war began, he said combat “will continue until all of our objectives are achieved.” Then he threw out four to five weeks (and later six). Sometimes, on the same day, Trump declares victory while saying that the war continues.
During one month of war, 13 U.S. soldiers have been killed and hundreds of U.S. service members injured. Human rights activists recorded at least 1,443 civilian deaths, including 217 children, through March 23 as a result of airstrikes on Iran from Israel and the U.S.
With the war approaching the two-month mark, PolitiFact compiled a timeline of Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s shifting statements about how long the war would last.
This story was originally published on PolitiFact. Read the article here.
Feb. 28: Trump announced the start of Operation Epic Fury, without specifying an end date.
March 1: Trump said in a speech that “combat operations continue at this time in full force, and they will continue until all of our objectives are achieved.” When The New York Times asked him how long the United States and Israel would continue the attacks, Trump said: “Well, we intended four to five weeks.”
March 2: Trump said at a White House ceremony: “We’re already substantially ahead of our time projections. But whatever the time is, it’s OK.” He repeated that the initial projection was “four to five weeks, but we have capability to go far longer than that.”
In a press conference, Hegseth said, “This is not Iraq. This is not endless. … This is the opposite. This operation (has) a clear, devastating, decisive mission: destroy the missile threat, destroy the navy, no nukes.”
Hegseth added: “Trump has all the latitude in the world to talk about how long it may or may not take. Four weeks, two weeks, six weeks. It could move up, it could move back.”
March 5: Trump said at an event to celebrate soccer champions Inter Miami CF: “The United States military, together with the wonderful Israeli partners, continues to totally demolish the enemy far ahead of schedule and at levels that people have never seen before.”
Hegseth said, “Our munitions are full up, and our will is ironclad, which means our timeline is ours and ours alone to control as long as it takes to ensure the United States of America achieves these objectives.”
March 7: Trump told reporters on Air Force One, “We’re winning the war by a lot. We’ve decimated their whole evil empire. It’ll continue, I’m sure, for a little while.”
He called it “a short excursion.”
When asked how long he expected the attacks to continue, Trump didn’t directly answer the question. “Well, I think we’ve accomplished more in one week than anyone thought possible.”
On Truth Social he said victory already occurred. “We don’t need people that join Wars after we’ve already won!”
March 8: On CBS News’ “60 minutes,” Hegseth said, “What I want your viewers to understand is this is only just the beginning.”
March 9: At a press conference in Doral, Florida, Trump said, “We’re achieving major strides toward completing our military objective. And some people could say they’re pretty well complete.”
When pressed on a timeline, he said that the war would be over “very soon.”
In a Time magazine interview, Trump said, “The war is very complete, pretty much. If you look, they have nothing left. There’s nothing left in a military sense.”
Trump told CBS News, “I think the war is very complete, pretty much.” He also said, “We’re very far ahead of schedule.”
Speaking to Republican lawmakers, Trump said, “We’ve already won in many ways, but we haven’t won enough.”
An X account for the Defense Department posted a photo of a missile with a text overlay saying “no mercy.” The post’s caption read, “We have Only Just Begun to Fight.”
March 10: In a press conference, a reporter asked Hegseth how far the U.S. is into its air campaign against Iran. Hegseth responded: “From the beginning, from this podium, we haven’t stated how long it will take.” He added that Trump “gets to control the throttle… and so it’s not for me to posit whether it’s the beginning, the middle, or the end” of the conflict.
March 11: In Ohio, a reporter asked Trump if Iran is a “little excursion” or a “war” — two labels he used at the event. Trump replied: “Well, it’s both. It’s both. It’s an excursion that will keep us out of a war.” For Iran, it’s a war, he said, and for the U.S., it “turned out to be easier than we thought.”
At a rally in Kentucky, Trump again declared victory. “Let me tell you, we’ve won. You know, you never like to say too early you won. We won. We won the — in the first hour, it was over.”
But he also said, “we got to finish the job, right?”
Trump told Axios that the war will be over “soon” because there is “practically nothing left to target.” He said “any time I want it to end, it will end.”
March 13: When asked about how long the war will last, Trump told reporters, “I can’t tell you that. I mean, I have my own idea. But what good does it do? It’ll be as long as it’s necessary.”
Trump told Fox News Radio, “I don’t think it’s gonna be long” and said he would know when it is over when “I feel it in my bones.”
March 15: Speaking to reporters on Air Force One, Trump said that militarily, “we’ve essentially defeated Iran. Uh, I guess they can have a little bit of fight back, but not much. Not much.” He added that the U.S. was involved in diplomatic talks with Iran and that Iran wanted to make a deal.
When asked if he was ready to officially declare victory against Iran, Trump said, “no” that “they’re decimated … But I’m still not declaring it over.”
March 16: During a task force meeting about fraud in federally-funded programs, a reporter asked Trump if Iran was obliterated as he said, whether the war could be wrapped up in a week. Trump responded “Yeah, sure. We could.”
“Will we?” a reporter asked.
Trump replied: “I don’t think so, but it’ll be soon, won’t be long. And we’re going to have a much safer world when it’s wrapped up, it’ll be wrapped up soon.”
March 17: At a meeting with the leader of Ireland, Micheál Martin, Trump said, “Iran is just a military operation to me. Iran is something that was essentially largely over in two or three days, because the Navy was wiped out almost immediately. The Air Force came next; the anti-aircraft came next.”
When a reporter asked if he had a day-after plan, Trump said, “Look, if we left right now, it would take 10 years for them to rebuild. But we’re not ready to leave yet, but we’ll be leaving in the near future. We’ll be leaving in pretty much the very near future. But right now, they’ve been decimated from every standpoint.”
March 19: In a meeting with the prime minister of Japan, Sanae Takaichi, Trump said that Iran “is close to demolished. The only thing is the strait,” referring to the Strait of Hormuz.
(The strait, where about one-fifth of the world’s oil passes, effectively closed to tankers after the war started.)
In a press conference, Hegseth said he “wouldn’t want to set a definitive timeframe” for the war’s end.
March 20: A reporter asked Trump what he meant saying the war was militarily won in Iran.
Trump replied: “Oh, I think we won. We’ve knocked out their Navy, their Air Force. We’ve knocked out their anti-aircraft. We’ve knocked out everything. We’re roaming free. From a military standpoint, all they’re doing is clogging up the strait. But from a military standpoint, they’re finished.”
He added, “We’ve defeated the enemy, and they are an enemy.”
Trump rejected Pope Leo XIV’s call for a ceasefire, saying “you don’t do a ceasefire when you’re literally obliterating the other side.”
In a Truth Social post, Trump said, “We are getting very close to meeting our objectives as we consider winding down” military efforts in Iran.
March 21: On Truth Social, Trump threatened that if Iran didn’t fully open the strait he would obliterate its power plants.
March 23: On Truth Social, Trump said that the U.S. and Iran had two days of productive conversations and had instructed the Defense Department to postpone strikes against Iranian power plants and energy infrastructure for five days, subject to ongoing successful discussions.
Speaking to reporters, Trump said the U.S. had “very, very strong talks” with Iran and that the countries wanted to make a deal.
“But we’ll at some point very, very soon meet. We’re doing a five-day period. We’ll see how that goes. And if it goes well, we’re going to end up with settling this. Otherwise, we’ll just keep bombing our little hearts out.”
March 24: At the swearing-in ceremony for Markwayne Mullin as Homeland Security secretary, Trump said that Iran was a “tremendous success” and that the country wants to make a deal.
When asked how hopeful he was for a peace deal with Iran, Trump said, “Well, I think we’re going to end it” and added “we’ve won this — this war has been won.”
March 26-27: During a Cabinet meeting, Trump said that Iran is “begging to work out a deal. I don’t know if we’ll be able to do that. I don’t know if we’re willing to do that.”
“We estimated it would take approximately four to six weeks to achieve our mission, and we’re way ahead of schedule. … The Iranian regime is now admitting to itself that they have been decisively defeated.”
Hegseth repeated at this meeting that the operation is not an endless war but a “decisive campaign with clear objectives.”
In a speech at a Saudi investment conference in Miami, Trump said that Iran is negotiating.
March 29: Speaking to reporters on Air Force One, Trump said that Iran sent the U.S. 10 boats of oil “out of a sign of respect.”
“I think we’ll make a deal with them, pretty sure,” Trump said. “But it’s possible we won’t.”
Trump told the Financial Times that he wants to “take the oil in Iran” and could attack Kharg Island, a major fuel hub.
March 30: In a Truth Social post, Trump said that the U.S. is in “serious discussions with A NEW, AND MORE REASONABLE, REGIME to end our Military Operations in Iran.” If a deal is not “shortly reached” and the Strait of Hormuz is not immediately open, he said, the U.S. will blow up and obliterate Iran’s electric plants, oil wells and Kharg Island.
April 1: In a Truth Social post, Trump said Iran asked for a ceasefire.
In a primetime White House address, Trump said, “We are on track to complete all of America’s military objectives shortly, very shortly. We’re going to hit them extremely hard over the next two to three weeks — we’re going to bring them back to the Stone Ages, where they belong.”
April 2-3: Iran shot down two U.S. military aircraft; those on the planes were rescued.. Trump repeated threats against Iran in the days that followed.
April 4: Trump said in a Truth Social post, “Remember when I gave Iran ten days to MAKE A DEAL or OPEN UP THE HORMUZ STRAIT. Time is running out – 48 hours before all Hell will reign down on them. Glory be to GOD!”
April 5: In a profanity laced Easter Day statement, Trump threatened Iran: “Tuesday will be Power Plant Day, and Bridge Day, all wrapped up in one, in Iran. There will be nothing like it!!! Open the (expletive) Strait, you crazy bastards, or you’ll be living in Hell – JUST WATCH! Praise be to Allah.”
April 6: At an Easter egg roll event, a reporter asked Trump what was stopping him from ending the war. He replied, “Well, it could end very quickly, the war, if they do what they have to do. They have to do certain things. They know that. They’ve been negotiating, I think in good faith. We’ve had total regime change.”
During a press conference, a reporter asked Trump what Iran had to do to meet Trump’s deadline. “Do they have to make a deal, open the Strait or both?” the journalist asked.
Trump replied: “We have to have a deal that’s acceptable to me and part of that deal is going to be we want free traffic of oil and everything else.”
April 7: Trump threatened in a morning Truth Social post, “A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again. I don’t want that to happen, but it probably will.”
In the evening, Trump said that Iran agreed to the “complete, immediate, and safe opening” of the Strait of Hormuz, therefore he agreed to suspend attacking Iran for two weeks.
“Total and complete victory. 100%. No question about it,” Trump told Agence France-Press.
April 8: At 12:01 a.m., Trump posted an optimistic message on Truth Social: “A big day for World Peace! Iran wants it to happen, they’ve had enough! Likewise, so has everyone else! The United States of America will be helping with the traffic buildup in the Strait of Hormuz. There will be lots of positive action! Big money will be made. Iran can start the reconstruction process. We’ll be loading up with supplies of all kinds, and just “hangin’ around” in order to make sure that everything goes well. I feel confident that it will.”
Hours later, Trump threatened that U.S. military forces and weapons “will remain in place in, and around, Iran, until such time as the REAL AGREEMENT reached is fully complied with.” If the agreement isn’t reached, Trump said, the “shootin’ starts.”
April 12: After failed negotiations, Trump said “most points were agreed to, but the only point that really mattered, NUCLEAR, was not.” Trump said the U.S. would begin blocking ships entering or leaving the Strait of Hormuz.
“Any Iranian who fires at us, or at peaceful vessels, will be BLOWN TO HELL!” Trump added “we are fully “LOCKED AND LOADED,” and our Military will finish up the little that is left of Iran!”
April 16: At a tax event in Nevada, Trump said, “The war in Iran is going along swimmingly. We can do whatever we want. And it should be, it should be ending pretty soon. It was perfect. I mean, it’s perfect.”
At a press conference, Hegseth threatened a continued blockade. “The War Department will ensure that Iran never has a nuclear weapon,” he said. “We prefer to do it the nice way, through a deal led by our great vice president and negotiating team; or we can do it the hard way. We urge this new regime to choose wisely.”
April 17: In a Truth Social post, Trump said in all capital letters, “The Strait of Hormuz is completely open and ready for business and full passage, but the naval blockade will remain in full force and effect as it pertains to Iran, only, until such time as our transaction with Iran is 100% complete. This process should go very quickly in that most of the points are already negotiated.”
During a Turning Point USA rally in Phoenix, Trump said, “Iran has just announced that the Strait of Hormuz is fully open and ready for business and full passage.” But Trump said that the naval blockade would remain in force until “our transaction with Iran is 100% complete and fully signed.”
He said the process “should go very quickly and that most of the points are already negotiated and agreed to.”
April 19: On Truth Social, Trump said Iran fired in the Strait of Hormuz the day before and violated the ceasefire agreement.
“We’re offering a very fair and reasonable DEAL, and I hope they take it because, if they don’t, the United States is going to knock out every single Power Plant, and every single Bridge, in Iran. NO MORE MR. NICE GUY!”
April 20: Trump said in a Truth Social post that the deal the U.S. is working on will be “far better” than the 2015 Iran nuclear deal negotiated under President Barack Obama. (During his first term, Trump broke his promise to renegotiate the deal.)
A PBS reporter asked Trump what happens if a ceasefire expires April 21 evening “Then lots of bombs start going off,” he said. He told a Bloomberg reporter that it was “highly unlikely” that he’d extend a ceasefire without a deal and said it expires on the evening of April 22.
In another Truth Social post, Trump said that past wars, including both world wars and Vietnam, lasted for years.
Democrats “like to say that I promised 6 weeks to defeat Iran, and actually, from the Military standpoint, it was far faster than that, but I’m not going to let them rush the United States into making a Deal that is not as good as it could have been.” He said he was “under no pressure whatsoever” to make a deal, “although, it will all happen, relatively quickly!”
