WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump delivered his first major speech since launching a war with Iran, assuring Americans that all of his military goals will be accomplished “very soon” and urging an increasingly skeptical electorate to give him a little more time.
In a speech late on Wednesday, Trump dialed back the bluster that has dominated his rhetoric in recent days as world markets roiled and a battered Iran continued to carry out effective strikes against infrastructure in its Gulf neighbors and U.S. bases.
But the Republican president’s pledge to “get the job done” struggled to build confidence in jittery markets as oil prices soared and Asian stocks fell and he vowed that the United States would continue to crack down on Iran.
He gave no details on the status of talks with Iran that could lead to the end result he has promised, insisting it could be completed within weeks. He also stopped short of publicly blasting NATO allies for failing to line up to help him reopen the critical Strait of Hormuz waterway – which White House officials said would be a major part of his roughly 20-minute speech.
He said the United States would continue to strike hard against Iran in the next two to three weeks, but did not say how long the war would last. But he called on Americans to show a little patience.
“We conducted a 32-day military campaign against one of the most powerful countries, so powerful, so brilliant, that had been hollowed out and essentially no longer a threat,” Trump said. “This is a real investment in the future of your children and grandchildren. The whole world is watching and they can’t believe the strength, the power, the brilliance.”
But Trump finds himself not only negotiating with an enemy that refuses to concede defeat, but also grappling with America’s tolerance for conflict.
According to an Associated Press-NORC poll conducted in mid-March, weeks after the war began, a majority of Americans believe recent U.S. military action against Iran goes too far, and many worry about being unable to afford gasoline. Although Trump is deploying more warships and troops to the Middle East, about 59% of Americans say that U.S. military actions in Iran are excessive.
Meanwhile, 45% are “extremely” or “extremely” worried about being able to afford natural gas in the coming months, compared with 30% in an AP-NORC poll conducted shortly after Trump won re-election on a promise to improve the economy and lower the cost of living.
Trump pointed out that Americans did show patience during times of war.
He said: “The United States’ participation in the First World War lasted one year, seven months and five days. The Second World War lasted three years, eight months and 25 days. The Korean War lasted three years, one month and two days. The Vietnam War lasted 19 years, five months and 29 days. The Iraq War lasted eight years, eight months and 28 days.”
Hours before his speech, Trump appeared to reflect on the domestic pressure he feels to end the war.
Speaking at a private lunch at the White House celebrating Easter, Trump said the United States could “very easily” use the moment to seize Iranian oil. “Unfortunately,” he lamented, the American people seemed impatient for such an effort.
“They want to see it end,” he said. He added, “People in this country are going to say, ‘Just win. You won so big. Just win. Go home.'” I agree with that, too. “
Democrats slam Trump for failing to provide coherent argument for conflict
Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., said Trump’s speech was “based on a reality that exists only in the mind of Donald Trump.”
Democrats are outraged, but the president has offered no plan on how to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Despite Trump’s claims that the Strait of Hormuz has been defeated, battered Iran has effectively blocked the key waterway for oil tankers.
For allies concerned that the global economy is reeling from rising oil prices, Trump suggested they “buy oil from the United States” and “gather up some belated courage” and help the United States secure the strait. Trump has made no attempt to respond to his European critics who say he chose to wage war against Iran without consulting allies around the world, but now expects the world to help him address the unintended damage caused by that war.
“We are losing this war,” Murphy added. “We cannot destroy all of their missiles or drones, nor their nuclear program. Iran is projecting greater power in the region than before the war, especially if they now permanently control the Strait of Hormuz. We are spending billions of dollars we don’t have and losing American lives in a war that destabilizes the world and makes us look weak and incompetent.”
President avoids hinting that deployment of ground troops may be imminent
Trump expressed cautious optimism that, after more than a month of U.S. and Israeli attacks, those now in power in Iran are “less radical and more rational” and that much of the pre-war Islamic republic’s hierarchy has been dismantled. He did not explicitly mention the deadline he set on Monday for Iran to open the strait or face a U.S. attack on its energy infrastructure, though he made clear he was still willing to target the heartbeat of Tehran’s economy.
“If there’s no deal, we’re going to hit every single one of their power plants very hard, probably at the same time,” Trump said. “We haven’t hit their oil yet, even though that’s the easiest target because it doesn’t give them even a small chance of survival or rebuilding. But we can hit it and it’ll be gone.”
Notably, Trump has also given no indication that he is making any preparations for a ground invasion by U.S. troops.
He appeared to sidestep the possibility of sending ground troops to protect Iran’s nearly 1,000 pounds (450 kilograms) of highly enriched uranium, saying it would “take months” for Iran to reach the uranium because it was buried under debris from last year’s U.S. bombing of Iran’s nuclear facilities.
Trump has offered different reasons for going to war, but he has always made clear that the main goal of military action with Israel is to ensure that Iran “never possesses a nuclear weapon.”
But over the course of the conflict, he has become more cautious about how far he is willing to go on his promise to destroy Iran’s weapons program once and for all, including by seizing or destroying the near-bomb-grade nuclear material it possesses.
“We have strict satellite surveillance and control of it,” Trump said in a prime-time speech. “If we see them taking action, even if they take action, we will hit them hard with our missiles again. We have all the cards, but they don’t.”
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Associated Press writers Collin Binkley, Michelle L. Price and Konstantin Toropin contributed to this report.
