Trump hints 12 times that the Iran war is about to end

U.S. President Trump hinted on Monday that the Iran war could end soon—his latest remark in a series of insinuations that the conflict or the fighting would be brought to an end.

Trump’s comments about wrapping up the Iran war have been inconsistent; he has tried to convince the American public that the conflict will not turn into a long-term war.

The U.S. is currently in its fifth week of striking Iran, nearing the four-to-five-week timeline Trump initially set.

For this ongoing conflict, the U.S. has deployed 50,000 soldiers to the Middle East, and there are no signs that the fighting will end immediately. Although the White House has not clearly stated it will dispatch ground forces, multiple reports say the U.S. military may be considering occupying Qeshm Island and launching an advance into Iran to seize uranium materials.

Official statements

On March 25, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said: “We are about to achieve the core objectives of ‘Operation Epic Fury,’ and this military mission is still fully underway.” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Monday on the ABC morning show Good Morning America that all “objectives have been met either on schedule or ahead of schedule, with everything expected to be fully accomplished within the next few weeks.”

Below are the 12 remarks Trump has made referring to the end of the war:

2. On Monday, Trump threatened in a post on “Truth Social” that if he failed to reach a ceasefire agreement, he would “completely destroy” Iran’s energy and water infrastructure. He said: “If the Strait of Hormuz does not immediately ‘restore freedom of navigation,’ we will end Iran’s ‘pleasant stay’ by striking these facilities.”

3. At a cabinet meeting on March 26, Trump said: “They’ve been defeated and are powerless to retaliate.

4. On March 24, Trump claimed the war was over and that there would be a regime change in Iran. He told reporters: “We’ve won this war—the war has been won.”

5. On March 23, Trump posted an all-caps tweet on “Truth Social,” implying that the U.S. and Iran had begun “a very good and productive conversation” about a peace agreement. He also told reporters that if an agreement could not be reached, “then we keep on bombing to our heart’s content.”

6. On March 13, in an interview with Fox News, Trump said the war would end when he “feels it in his gut,” and that it “won’t last too long.”

7. On March 12, Trump offered a candid assessment of the fighting: “They’re basically out of options. That doesn’t mean we’ll end the war immediately—it’s just a matter of time.”

8. On March 11, Trump told Axios that the war with Iran would “end ‘very soon’” because “there are almost no targets left to hit.” He said the war “can be ended at any time, according to my wishes.”

9. The same day, Trump told a crowd at a rally: “Nobody wants to declare victory too early. But we won—the first hour of the war was already over.” A few minutes later, he added: “We don’t want to pull out early, right? We have to finish the job, right?”

10. At the March 9 Republican agenda conference speech, Trump implied the U.S. had already won the war. He said: “We’ve won in many ways, but not enough. We’ll move forward more steadfastly than ever, to achieve ultimate victory and end this long-term threat once and for all.”

11. On March 9, Trump said the Iran war would “end ‘very soon’,” and that Iran had been “utterly crushed. We can call it a huge success right now.”

12. On March 2, Trump again touted victory at a news briefing where he presented honors medals to three U.S. servicemen: “We’re going to win easily… no matter what it takes.”

13. A few days after the outbreak of the war, in an ABC News interview on March 2, Trump said the operation achieved a “complete win.” He said: “Nobody else could have done it besides me—you all know that.”

A massive amount of news and precise analysis—available on the Sina Finance app

责任编辑：丁文武