President Trump on Wednesday made the case to a skeptical American public that the military operation in Iran is necessary because of the “intolerable threat” of Tehran having access to a nuclear weapon
“Operation Epic Fury is necessary for the safety of America and the security of the free world,” Mr. Trump said.
“This murderous regime also recently killed 45,000 of their open people who were protesting in Iran,” he said. “For these terrorists to have nuclear weapons would be an intolerable threat. The most violent and thuggish regime on earth would be free to carry out their campaigns of terror, coercion, conquest and mass murder from behind a nuclear shield.”
“I will never let that happen,” Mr. Trump said.
The president framed the war as necessary to keep America and its Middle Eastern allies safe, emphasizing repeatedly that the conflict is not about acquiring Iranian oil.
“We don’t have to be there. We don’t need their oil. We don’t need anything they have, but we’re there to help our allies,” he said.
Mr. Trump’s remarks were delivered in his first prime-time address to update the nation on Operation Epic Fury 33 days into the joint U.S.-Israeli military operation against Iran.
He delivered the 20-minute speech amid his repeated warnings that fighting will continue for a few more weeks and his threats to withdraw the U.S. from NATO, which has frustrated Mr. Trump with its unwillingness to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
Although he didn’t announce major new developments and largely reiterated themes he and his Cabinet officials had been making in press conferences and on social media in recent days, Mr. Trump’s willingness to give a prime-time address suggests his administration is aware that the American public isn’t sold on the war.
A CBS News poll found that 60% of respondents disapprove of the U.S. taking military action in Iran and 67% say they are unwilling to pay more for gasoline and energy because of the conflict.
The president said that from the start of his political career, he had vowed to “never allow” Iran to have a nuclear weapon and detailed several attacks by Iran’s Islamist regime that he said justified the military operation.
He also blamed past presidents for inaction, specifically taking aim at President Obama’s nuclear deal with Iran, which he suggested would have led to Iran already having attacked Israel with a nuclear weapon.
“I will never let that happen, and neither should any of our past presidents,” the president said of Iran acquiring a nuclear weapon. “This situation has been going on for 47 years, and should have been handled long before I arrived in office.”
The president said the U.S. is “nearing completion” on achieving its strategic objectives in Iran, but did not offer a specific time table. He’s previously said the war could last for another two to three weeks.
Mr. Trump’s assessment that the U.S. will end the operation in “two or three weeks” would put the military operation slightly beyond his initial assessment of four-to-six weeks, despite his insistence that the war is ahead of schedule. He said that the war could end sooner if Iran is willing to reach a deal.
The Pentagon has deployed hundreds of U.S. Special Operations Forces and thousands of Marines and Army paratroopers, expanding Mr. Trump’s military options if he chooses to escalate the conflict. Those forces could help reopen the Strait of Hormuz, invade Iran’s Kharg Island or storm Iran to capture their stockpile of enriched uranium.
The Strait of Hormuz is a narrow waterway off the coast of Iran through which 20% of the world’s oil supply passes. The average price of a gallon of gas surpassed $4 on Tuesday for the first time since 2022.
While Mr. Trump considers his military options, he has also lashed out at NATO allies. He is angered by their refusal to send warships to reopen the strait and by the refusal of some to let the U.S. use their military bases to launch attacks against Iran.
European leaders have said that any efforts to reopen the Strait of Hormuz would put their ships and troops in danger because Iran continues to attack tankers that they’ve deemed to be from unfriendly nations.
They also view the Iran war as one of Mr. Trump’s choosing and vented frustration that they were not consulted before the U.S. and Israel launched joint attacks against the Middle East nation.
On Tuesday, Mr. Trump warned Britain and France, two NATO allies, that the U.S. “won’t be there to help you anymore.”
In his Wednesday night speech, Mr. Trump drew a sharp, if implicit, contrast by thanking America’s Middle East allies, specifying Israel and several Arab states, for their assistance shortly before bemoaning Europe’s lack of aid and in some cases obstruction.
Earlier in the day, Mr. Trump said he was seriously considering pulling the U.S. out of NATO outright.
In an interview with Britain’s Telegraph newspaper, Mr. Trump said he was “never swayed” by NATO and considered the 77-year-old alliance to be a “paper tiger.”
Pressed on whether he was considering pulling the U.S. from the alliance after the Iran war, Mr. Trump said the issue is “beyond reconsideration.”
Mr. Trump made the remarks hours before delivering a prime-time address to the nation with an “important” announcement on the Iran war.
The comments underscore the president’s growing frustration with Washington’s long-standing allies over what he sees as a lackluster support on many issues, Iran being merely the latest.
Mr. Trump said he views NATO’s reluctance to assist in Iran as a betrayal because the U.S. has helped Ukraine during its 4-year-old war with Russia. He told The Telegraph that he expected NATO to assist the U.S. in Iran.
“Beyond not being there, it was actually hard to believe. And I didn’t do a big sale. I just said, ‘Hey, you know,’ I didn’t insist too much. I just think it should be automatic,” he said.
The U.S. has been a NATO member since its formation in 1949, with the primary aim of combating Soviet aggression. The cornerstone of the alliance is Article 5, which requires all members to respond to an attack on any member.
European leaders have argued that the Iran war does not constitute a defensive war to protect a member’s territory and thus would not trigger Article 5.
That article has been invoked only once in the alliance’s history, by the United States in 2001 in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Wars such as Argentina’s 1982 invasion of the Falkland Islands and India’s 1961 conquest of Goa did not lead Britain or Portugal to invoke Article 5.
Other members of the Trump administration, including Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, have voiced similar frustration with NATO allies for not committing enough resources to the Iran war.
Spain and France refused this week to allow U.S. warplanes to fly through their airspaces, in the most explicit European rejection of Washington’s war effort so far. Mr. Trump threatened to end all trade with Spain over the decision and harshly critiqued France for obstructionism.
“France has been VERY UNHELPFUL with respect to the ‘Butcher of Iran,’ who has been successfully eliminated! The U.S.A. will REMEMBER!!!” Mr. Trump posted.
Mr. Trump announced Wednesday that Iran’s president had requested a ceasefire with the U.S. but he would consider the proposal only after the Strait of Hormuz is reopened.
“Iran’s New Regime President, much less Radicalized and far more intelligent than his predecessors, has just asked the United States of America for a CEASEFIRE! We will consider when Hormuz Strait is open, free, and clear,” Mr. Trump said on Truth Social.
“Until then, we are blasting Iran into oblivion or, as they say, back to the Stone Ages!!!” he added.
It is unknown whether Mr. Trump was referring to Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian or someone else. Mr. Trump asserted earlier this week that his administration was communicating with a “third regime” in Iran that was much more receptive after the first and second regimes were eliminated.
The Iranian Foreign Ministry firmly denied Mr. Trump’s assertion that it had offered a ceasefire, according to state-affiliated media, calling it “false and baseless.”
Mr. Pezeshkian issued a statement “to the American people” that proposed a diplomatic solution to the conflict.
“Today, the world stands at a crossroads,” Mr. Pezeshkian wrote. “The choice between confrontation and engagement is both real and consequential; its outcome will shape the future for generations to come.”
Notably, Mr. Pezeshkian did not provide a diplomatic timeline, nor did he mention the Strait of Hormuz, which other Iranian officials have maintained will remain closed until a peace deal is achieved.
On Tuesday, Mr. Pezeshkian told the president of the European Council, Antonio Costa, that his country would consider a ceasefire agreement to reopen the Strait of Hormuz only after receiving guarantees from Washington that strikes would not resume during negotiations. His comments were publicized on social media, prompting markets to spike.
Meanwhile, reports indicate that the Pentagon has drawn up plans for possible ground incursions in Iran, including operations that could seize Kharg Island. The aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush is expected to join a growing naval armada in the Middle East this week.
At least 13 U.S. service members have been killed since the start of the war, and U.S.-Israeli strikes have killed nearly 2,000 people and injured and displaced thousands more in Iran. Iranian attacks have killed dozens across the Persian Gulf and in Israel.
Iranian officials made it clear Wednesday that the Strait of Hormuz would not be open to U.S.-linked vessels for the foreseeable future and would be accessible only to countries that adhere to the Islamic republic’s rules for the waterway.
Ebrahim Azizi, chair of Iran’s Supreme National Security Committee, said the strait will be reopened to the rest of the world eventually, “but not for Trump.”
“Trump reached his dream of regime change, but in the maritime order of the region,” Mr. Azizi said.
His comments are perhaps the clearest articulation yet of Iran’s postwar strategy for the Strait of Hormuz. At least 20% of the world’s oil and liquid natural gas passes through the strait each year, and its closure has sent massive shock waves through global markets.
Iranian officials have asserted that the strait remains open, but not to vessels linked to Tehran’s enemies. That seems to include tankers carrying oil and liquid natural gas from the Persian Gulf’s Arab states, which Iran has attacked with drones and missiles.
An Iranian cruise missile slammed into an oil tanker off Qatar’s coast without fatalities on Wednesday, according to the Qatari Defense Ministry. A day earlier, a Kuwaiti oil tanker was attacked off the coast of Dubai.
The United Arab Emirates and Kuwait also reported Iranian attacks on civilian sites on their territory. Jordan and Saudi Arabia claimed to have intercepted Iranian drones and missiles over their skies.
Several ships linked to Pakistan and China have reportedly passed through the strait safely over the past month. Both nations are frequent importers of Iranian oil. China alone is buying up 90% of Iran’s exports.
The Iranian government looks to systematize control over the strait with a fee system after the war.
Yahya Al-e Es’hagh, head of the Iran-Iraq Joint Chamber of Commerce, said the fee system could generate $70 billion to $80 billion a year for Iran. He said his country could collect “at least” a 10% fee from each ship traveling through the strait.
Iran’s parliament is considering legislation to establish an official fee system for the strait that would provide an additional revenue stream for the Islamic republic after the war.
Several vessels, including those linked to China, may have paid Iran an impromptu $2 million fee to safely traverse the strait last month.
• Mike Glenn and Kerry Picket contributed to this report.
