President Trump on Monday said Iran could be wiped out by the U.S. military in a single day, ramping up his rhetoric ahead of his Tuesday deadline for Tehran to make a deal or face devastating strikes on its infrastructure.
“The entire country can be taken out in one night, and that night might be tomorrow night,” Mr. Trump said at the White House.
The president made the threat during a press conference about a weekend effort to save American military pilots. He also spoke about the general state of the war, which is entering its sixth week and causing shocks to energy markets around the world.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Dan Caine and CIA Director John Ratcliffe joined the president at the White House.
Over the weekend, the U.S. retrieved an American pilot behind enemy lines in Iran, capping a tense two-day period after the airman’s F-15 fighter jet was downed late last week.
The rescue meant that both crew members of the F-15 Strike Eagle, believed to have been brought down by Iranian air defenses, were successfully extracted from behind enemy lines.
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Mr. Trump said the rescue mission involved dozens of aircraft and efforts to fool the Iranians.
“A lot of it was subterfuge,” Mr. Trump said. “We wanted them to look in different areas.”
Mr. Trump said, at one point, the U.S. struggled to get planes off the ground after rescuing the serviceman. Those planes were destroyed so Iran would not get them, and the American side brought in faster, lighter planes.
The president also fumed over the leak of information that revealed there was one serviceman still missing after the first one was retrieved.
“We are going to go to the media company that released it, and we are going to say, ‘National security, give it up or go to jail,’” Mr. Trump said.
Looking forward, Mr. Trump said he is ready to authorize major strikes against Iranian power plants and bridges on Tuesday if Tehran does not open the Strait of Hormuz, a strategically important waterway off Iran’s coast.
Iran has effectively closed the strait to commercial ship traffic since the start of the U.S. military campaign in late February.
The narrow waterway is a crucial maritime corridor for moving goods out of the Persian Gulf, especially oil. About 20% of the world’s oil flows through the strait. Its closure has driven rapidly rising fuel prices around the world.
On March 26, Mr. Trump gave Iran 10 days to open the strait or face strikes. That 10-day window expires Tuesday.
Mr. Hegseth said the U.S. would pound Iran harder on Monday compared to any other day since the start of the war.
“Tomorrow, even more than today,” Mr. Hegseth said. “And then Iran has a choice. Choose wisely, because this president does not play around.”
