In a telephone interview with CBS News on Monday afternoon, President Trump said: US war with Iran could almost be over.
“I think the war is pretty much over,” the president said from his golf club in Doral, Florida. “(Iran has) no navy, no communications, they have no air force. Their missiles are just scattered. Their drones are being blown up everywhere, including making drones.”
The US military said it struck more than 3,000 Iranian targets in the first week of operations.
“If you look, they have nothing left. In a military sense, there’s nothing left,” Trump said.
Late Sunday, Iran announced that Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei would replace his father as Iran’s supreme leader.
“I have no message for him. None at all,” the president said, adding that he had someone else in mind to lead the country.
Merchant shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, through which approximately 20% of the world’s oil supply flows, has effectively come to a standstill.
The president said the U.S. could “do a lot” about the strait and threatened Iran if it blocked the waterway. “They shot everything they had to shoot, and they better not try anything sweet, otherwise it would be the end of this country. … If they did anything bad, it would be the end of Iran and the name would never be heard again.” The president also said the strait was now open and claimed that ships had entered the strait, but said he was still considering taking it over.
The U.S. crude oil benchmark fell as much as 13.7%, or nearly $13 a barrel, shortly after the CBS News interview before recovering slightly a few hours later. Oil prices have now fallen slightly since Friday after rising by double digits the previous Monday, although oil prices remain above pre-war levels. Major stock indexes also closed higher on Monday after spending most of the day in the red.
Mr. Trump initially estimated the war would last about a month.
“We are way ahead of schedule,” he told CBS News on Monday.
That same afternoon, the president said the war was “pretty much over,” the Defense Department said Posted on X“We’ve just begun to fight” and “No Mercy.”
Until now, seven Americans died in battle. Later Monday, Vice President JD Vance will attend a dignified relocation of the remains of U.S. Army Sgt. Benjamin Pennington, who died from injuries sustained in a March 1 attack on Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia.
Asked if he thought the war could end soon, the president replied: “I only think about the conclusion, no one else.”
