← Back to all diffs
NPR

Trump says U.S. is 'achieving major strides' in Iran toward military objectives

View original article →
+449 words added -494 words removed
Special Series Middle East conflict Conflict in the Middle East has been escalating. These stories provide context for current developments and the history that led up to them. Saige Miller President Trump speaks to reporters during a news conference at Trump National Doral Miami on March 9 in Doral, Fla. Trump spoke on his administration's strikes on Iran. Roberto Schmidt/Getty Images hide caption President Trump on Monday touted the success of the military as the U.S.
− enters its second week of strikes in Iran and amid soaring oil and gas prices as a result.
+ enters its second week of strikes in Iran but didn't cite a firm endpoint for the conflict.
"We're achieving major strides toward completing our military objective. And some people could say they're pretty well complete," he said at a press conference at his resort in Doral, Fla., his first since the beginning of the U.S.-Israel-led war.
− "We've wiped every single force in Iran out, very completely, most of Iran's naval power powers been sunk." Trump said the military effort is "ahead of our initial timeline by a lot.
+ "We've wiped every single force in Iran out, very completely, most of Iran's naval powers have been sunk." Trump also said the U.S.
− I would say that we probably would not have thought after a month we'd be here." Middle East conflict The U.S. names its 7th dead soldier, Iran names a new supreme leader on Day 10 of war Trump also said they have held off hitting "some of the most important targets" such as electricity production.
+ has held off hitting "some of the most important targets" such as electricity production sites.
− "So we're not looking to do that if we don't have to.
+ Middle East conflict The U.S.
+ names its 7th dead soldier, Iran names a new supreme leader on Day 10 of war "So we're not looking to do that if we don't have to.
But they're the kind of things that are very easy to hit, but very devastating if they are hit. We are waiting to see what happens before we hit them, we could take them all out in one day," he said.
− Trump also added that the rising oil and gas prices are affecting other countries more than the U.S.
+ He did add that the U.S. has begun hitting Iran's drone facilities as well as the facilities where Iranian missiles are made and delivered.
− "It doesn't really affect us," he said, though U.S.
+ But Trump didn't cite a firm endpoint to the conflict, at once signaling the U.S.
− gas prices have spiked in recent days.
+ success and an open-ended goal.
− "In the long run, oil supplies will be dramatically more secure without the threat of Iranian ships, drones, missiles, nuclear menace or anything," he said.
+ "We could call it a tremendous success right now, as we leave here, I could call it, or we could go further, and we're going to go further," he said.
− Trump faces reporters as the average price of a gallon of gas has spiked, a growing political problem for Trump, who has raved about how he has lowered gas prices since returning to office.
+ Later, when pressed about when the war would end, he said victory would be "where they're not going to be starting the following day to develop a nuclear weapon." Trump also brushed off a question from reporters about whether or not the U.S.
− Crude oil prices nearly hit $120 a barrel on Monday before falling again. But Trump told CBS News ahead of the press conference Monday that he thinks "the war is very complete, pretty much." Iran has "no navy, no communications, they've got no air force.
+ would take responsibility for an air strike that killed more than 150 people at an Iranian girls' school.
− Their missiles are down to a scatter. Their drones are being blown up all over the place, including their manufacturing of drones," he said.
+ There is a growing amount of evidence, including video footage, that indicates it was an American Tomahawk missile that likely destroyed the school.
− Middle East conflict What to know about Mojtaba Khamenei, Iran's new supreme leader Trump's latest assessment comes after he told reporters over the weekend that he wasn't worried about the price of gas.
+ Middle East conflict What to know about Mojtaba Khamenei, Iran's new supreme leader Trump said hadn't seen the video and that it could have been Iran's or another country's Tomahawk missile.
− "We figured oil prices would go up, which they will.
+ "A Tomahawk is very generic.
− Uh, they'll also come down. They'll come down very fast," he said.
+ It's sold to other countries, but that's being investigated right now," he said, though Iran is not known to have Tomahawks.
− Trump added the administration is looking into ways to ease the cost burden on Americans, but that spike in oil prices is worth it because the U.S.
+ If the investigation finds that the U.S.
− and Israel are working to "get rid of a major, major cancer on the face of the earth," referring to the Iranian regime.
+ was behind the strike, Trump added "I'm willing to live with that report." Trump did not spend a lot of time discussing the spiking oil and gas prices given the outsized political toll they might take, but said they are affecting other countries more than the U.S.
− "This is a short excursion into something that should have been done for 47 years. 47 years it's taken to do this and no president had the guts to do it," Trump said.
+ "It doesn't really affect us," he claimed.
− But the rising price at the pump isn't the only tough sell Trump has to make.
+ But the price of crude oil skyrocketed to above $100 a barrel Monday before settling just below that number as a result of Iran's closure of the Strait of Hormuz, effectively choking off a key shipping route.
− The Trump administration has given varied messages on their motivations for striking Iran and in some cases conflicting reasoning, potentially harming their ability to rally public support.
+ In the same breath, Trump said Iran cannot "hold the world hostage and attempt to stop the globe's oil supply." If Iran tries, Trump warned Iran that the U.S.
− A recent NPR/PBS News/Marist poll found the majority of Americans oppose U.S. military action in Iran and disapprove of how Trump is dealing with the middle eastern country. Sponsor Message Become an NPR sponsor
+ will "take them out so quickly, they'll never be able to recover, ever." Sponsor Message Become an NPR sponsor