Overview
- In an MS NOW interview, President Donald Trump said Iran would take at least a decade to rebuild even if the U.S. left now, adding that staying longer would ensure it "never" rebuilds.
- He said regime change is not the primary aim of the campaign and defined the central objective as preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.
- Trump claimed Operation Midnight Hammer "totally obliterated" Iran’s bomb-making ability but acknowledged remaining "nuclear dust," while officials and experts dispute his assertion that Iran was two weeks from a weapon.
- He criticized NATO partners for declining U.S. requests to help defend shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and later called allies "COWARDS" in a social media post.
- Multiple outlets reported a new deployment of up to 2,500 Marines to the Middle East as the war has killed thousands, including U.S. troops, closed the Strait of Hormuz, and rattled global oil markets.