President Donald Trump said Monday that U.S. strikes against Iran have already crippled key parts of the regime’s military, arguing during a Florida press conference that the opening phase of the conflict has moved far faster than many expected and left Tehran in a dramatically weakened position.
The roughly 34-minute briefing focused heavily on the early results of the U.S. campaign against Iran, with Trump pointing to strikes against Iranian naval forces, missile infrastructure, and drone production facilities that he said have sharply reduced the regime’s ability to operate militarily.
Several of the most pointed moments from the briefing quickly circulated online, including Trump’s blunt assessment of Iran’s military position as the conflict entered its early stages.
.@POTUS on Iran: "They have no navy, they have no air force... and they have no leadership... We could call it a tremendous success right now as we leave here... or we could go further... but the big risk on that war has been over... we wiped them out in the first two days." pic.twitter.com/uszgOpHZSr
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) March 9, 2026
Throughout the press conference, Trump repeatedly returned to the damage inflicted on Iran’s naval forces and missile systems, arguing the opening phase of the campaign had already crippled much of the regime’s conventional military capability.
“We've wiped every single force in Iran out very completely. Most of Iran's naval power has been sunk. It's on the bottom of the sea. It's almost 50 ships. I was just notified it's 51 ships.”
Earlier Monday, Trump had already suggested the conflict was moving ahead of schedule, saying Iran’s remaining military capability had been sharply reduced.
During the briefing, he also pointed to the ongoing campaign against Iran’s missile infrastructure and the repeated strikes against facilities tied to missile production and logistics.
“Their missile capability is down to about 10 percent, maybe less.”
Trump said the operation has already been successful across many military targets.
“We've struck over 5,000 targets to date, some of them very major targets.”
Taken together, the president argued, the opening phase of the campaign had already knocked out much of Iran’s conventional military capability and left the regime far weaker than it had been at the start of the conflict.
He also suggested the most dangerous phase of the confrontation may already be behind the United States, saying the early strikes removed much of the initial risk surrounding the conflict.
“We could call it a tremendous success right now as we leave here. Or we could go further. But the big risk on that war has been over. We wiped them out in the first two days.”
Trump also linked the campaign to long-running concerns about attacks tied to Iran and its proxy groups against international shipping.
.@POTUS on oil and the Strait of Hormuz: "In recent years, the regime and its terror proxies have launched attacks on hundreds of commercial vessels. We're putting an end to all of this threat once and for all—and the result will be lower oil prices for American families... In… pic.twitter.com/9KCEtY3baf
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) March 9, 2026
"In recent years, the regime and its terror proxies have launched attacks on hundreds of commercial vessels. We're putting an end to all of this threat once and for all—and the result will be lower oil prices for American families... In the meantime, during this brief disruption, the United States is offering political risk insurance to any tankers operating in the Gulf... We are also waiving certain oil related sanctions to reduce prices... when the time comes, the U.S. Navy and its partners will escort tankers through the Strait if needed."
The Strait of Hormuz has been a central concern throughout the conflict. The narrow waterway carries roughly a fifth of the world’s oil shipments and has long been vulnerable to Iranian harassment and electronic attacks on commercial vessels.
Read More: Trump: Iran Conflict Way Ahead of Schedule, Is 'Very Complete, Pretty Much'
Trump also addressed the longer-term objective of the campaign, arguing the goal is not simply defeating Iran in the current confrontation but ensuring the regime cannot rebuild the type of military capability that could threaten the United States or its allies in the future.
“When I can see that they will no longer have any capacity whatsoever, for a very long period of time, of developing weaponry that could be used against the United States or any of our allies.”
.@POTUS on the potential for Iranian sleeper cells: "We've been very much on top of it. One of the things we have to do is get the Democrats to stop the Democrat shutdown because, as you know, the apparatus that looks into that (@DHSgov), Schumer the Democrats have shut it down." pic.twitter.com/n8Z5T5ZoNM
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) March 9, 2026
“We've been very much on top of it.”
Trump also criticized congressional Democrats during the briefing, arguing that political disputes in Washington were complicating national security efforts.
“One of the things we have to do is get the Democrats to stop the Democrat shutdown because, as you know, the apparatus that looks into that, DHS, Schumer, the Democrats have shut it down.”
Much of the briefing centered on what Trump described as a dramatically weakened Iranian military and the argument that the opening phase of the campaign had already severely degraded the regime’s ability to threaten the United States or its allies as the conflict continues.
Editor's Note: For decades, former presidents have been all talk and no action. Now, Donald Trump is eliminating the threat from Iran once and for all.
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