LIVE Donald Trump War Speech: “Iran has been decimated. We will finish the job very quickly. The Strait of Hormuz will open naturally”
With the war in Iran entering its fifth week and under pressure to find an exit amid rising fuel prices, US President Donald Trump addressed Americans to talk about the way forward in the Middle East.
War is “a real investment,” Trump says
Trump has asserted that the US is unstoppable as a military force. He also assured that the war is “a true investment” for American children and future generations.
He mentioned the length of wars in the 20th and 21st centuries, saying they lasted for years, but this conflict only lasted 32 days.
Americans are no longer threatened by Iranian aggression and the “specter of nuclear blackmail,” and the U.S. will be “safer, stronger and more prosperous” than it has ever been, he said.
The speech ended after 19 minutes.
Attack on allies
The president again criticized US allies for not participating in the operation against Iran and told them that they must take responsibility for reopening the Strait of Hormuz.
Trump has said in recent days that the US does not depend on this strait for oil supplies and therefore will not take responsibility for reopening this vital waterway.
“We'll send them back to the stone age”
While assuring that the US would finish the job quickly and that Iran had been decimated, Trump also said that US forces would hit Iran “very hard” in the next 2-3 weeks.
“We're going to hit them extremely hard in the next two to three weeks. We're going to send them back to the stone age, where they belong,” Trump said in a nationally televised speech.
“The Strait of Hormuz will open naturally”
Insisting that Iran had been virtually decimated, Trump said that the US's main strategic objectives were on the way to being met and that he was close to “getting the job done” in Iran.
He again set a deadline of “two to three weeks”.
“When the conflict ends, the Strait of Hormuz will naturally open,” Trump assured.
“I will never allow Iran to have nuclear weapons”
The President continues the speech by explaining why the war is necessary.
“Since the beginning of my 2015 presidential campaign, I have stated that I will never allow Iran to have nuclear weapons. This regime does not stop shouting 'Death to America, death to Israel!'” he said.
Iran has not given up its nuclear program and is rapidly developing longer-range missiles, Trump says.
They were “one step away” from developing a nuclear weapon, he says.
The president insisted that the Iran issue should have been resolved long before he came to the White House, and in the context he blamed the nuclear deal made by Barack Obama with Iran.
President praises “victories” in Iran
Trump began his speech by praising the US victories in Iran.
“The Iranian navy is gone. Their air force is in ruins… There are very few left,” he said.
He went on to praise the troops for the January operation to oust Nicolas Maduro from Venezuela.
“We are working with Venezuela … we are real partners and we get along incredibly well,” he said.
A complicated moment for the president
The speech comes at a crucial time for the US president, who has been accused of losing control of the conflict and failing to achieve the main goals of the war.
Trump continued to claim that the US had already won the war and refused to take responsibility for the economic consequences that spread worldwide.
Polls show Trump's approval rating has dipped below 40 percent and his disapproval rating has climbed to more than 55 percent as voters grow increasingly dissatisfied with both the war and its economic consequences, while support for the campaign against Iran itself is at an even lower level.
The economic situation aggravated the problem. U.S. gasoline prices topped $4 a gallon for the first time in years as consumer confidence waned, further damaging Trump's already fragile position on the economy.
Iran on Wednesday rejected Donald Trump's claim that its leadership had called for a ceasefire, calling the US president's statement “false” and “baseless”.
Tehran has repeatedly said there are no ongoing negotiations to end the war.
The New York Times reported that US intelligence agencies believe Iran is currently unwilling to engage in negotiations to end the war, and that despite a month-long bombing campaign by the US and Israel, the government in Tehran believes it is still in a strong position.
According to officials who spoke to the New York Times, Iran does not trust the US and does not believe that Donald Trump is serious about negotiations.
In a telephone interview with Reuters, Trump said one element of his speech would be expressing his “disgust” with NATO for what he sees as the alliance's lack of support for US objectives in Iran. He said he was “absolutely” considering trying to withdraw the United States from NATO, an organization ratified by the US Senate in 1949.
“We didn't have friends when we needed them,” Trump said. “We've never asked too much of them … it's a one-way street,” the White House leader added.
