The speech of US President Donald Trump gave an update on the progress made in achieving his goals in the war with Iran, which he said is to destroy the country’s missile production and the Navy, to ensure that its proxies will no longer be able to destabilize the region and to ensure that Iran does not get a nuclear weapon.
Earlier on Wednesday, Trump said that the Iranian President wanted a ceasefire before his speech to the American people. He made the claim on his Truth Social website. A spokesman for Iran’s Foreign Ministry said Trump’s remarks were “false and baseless.”
The aircraft carrier USS George HW Bush is expected to head to the Middle East along with three destroyers, two US officials said. The carrier strike group consists of more than 6,000 sailors. As this happens, thousands of soldiers from the 82nd Airborne Division have also started pouring into the Middle East, according to two other American officials, who also spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the military’s critical plans.
Meanwhile, US gasoline prices jumped to $4 a liter for the first time since 2022 on Tuesday, as the war in Iran continues to push up global fuel prices. Analysts say those higher fuel costs will trickle down to stores as transportation and packaging costs for businesses pile up.
Here’s the latest:
‘We are here to help our allies’: Trump again changes thinking on Iran war
Trump and members of his administration have presented many reasons and reasons why the US joined Israel on February 28 in launching a war against Iran. In his first address to the nation since the start of the Iran war, Trump says the military action is not to secure the country’s infrastructure, including oil, but rather to help America’s allies.
“We are now completely independent in the Middle East, but we are here to help,” he said. “We don’t have to be there, we don’t need their oil, we don’t need anything they have.”
But, he added, “we are here to help our partners.”
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Trump begins speech on Iran hailing ‘swift, decisive, stunning victory’
Speaking in the Cross Hall at the White House, Trump said Wednesday night that the actions of Operation Epic Fury last month meant that “Iran’s ability to launch missiles and drones has been greatly reduced, and their weapons factories and rocket launchers have been blown to pieces.”
Trump also said that “the country’s navy is dead, their air force is a wreck,” and the country’s leaders, “are dead.”
He also said that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps “is disappearing as we speak.”
Trump says he is not sure the US people have the ‘patience’ for the war on Iran to continue
In his private speech at the Easter luncheon at the White House, the president appeared to reflect the domestic pressure he feels to end the war. He said the US could “easily” take over Iran’s oil but said it was “sad” that the American people don’t seem to have the patience for such an effort.
“They want to see it end,” he said.
Trump said he would prefer to take Iran’s oil “but people in the country say, ‘Just win. You win big. Just win. Come home.’ I live with that too,” he said.
A video of the speech was posted online by a Business Insider reporter who said the White House had uploaded a video of the closed-door event and downloaded it before it was made private. The White House did not respond to requests for comment from The Associated Press about why it took down the video.
The United Arab Emirates warned the public early Thursday about the threat of missiles from Iran
A series of explosions were heard in Dubai as air defenses worked to contain the Iranian aggression.
The attack happened shortly before US President Donald Trump delivered his speech to the American people about the war.
Trump says that China, Japan and South Korea must also participate in opening the Strait of Hormuz
The President has previously directed his anger at NATO allies for their reluctance to get involved in the defense of the Strait of Hormuz until the US and Israel end their war with Iran.
But in his speech at a private Easter lunch at the White House on Wednesday, Trump also expressed frustration with other Asian countries that are more dependent on Gulf oil than the US.
“Let South Korea, you know, we only have 45,000 troops at risk there, next to a nuclear force – let South Korea do it,” Trump said. “Let Japan do it. They get 90% of their oil from the road. Let China do it.”
Trump at private lunch before Iran speech mocks NATO as ‘worst ally’ and ‘paper tiger’
“NATO has hurt us very badly, and you have to remember it because it will hurt us again if we ever need them,” Trump said in renewed anger about the alliance. “And hopefully we won’t need them. I don’t think we will. I don’t think they’ll do much.”
Trump added, “NATO wouldn’t exist if we had a bigger one.”
The president’s poignant comments came as he spoke at a private luncheon Wednesday at the White House that Trump was hosting to celebrate the upcoming Easter holiday. A video of the speech was posted online by a Business Insider reporter who said the White House had uploaded a video of the closed-door event and was downloading it before the White House made it private.
The White House did not respond to requests for comment from The Associated Press about why it took down the video.
3 children were injured in central Israel during the first Iranian missile attack on Thursday
Israeli emergency services said a 12-year-old child and two 7-month-olds were slightly injured when glass shattered in central Israel during a missile launch Thursday from Iran.
A 24-year-old man was also slightly injured in a similar overnight incident in Bnei Brak, a city east of Tel Aviv that has been hit repeatedly during the war, according to Magen David Adom of the rescue service. On Wednesday morning there, an 11-year-old girl was injured by explosives in another missile strike and is in critical condition, said health officials.
The Israeli military said it was working to intercept another missile fired from Iran early Thursday morning.
Israel’s military says Iran has launched its first missile of the day
Early Thursday morning, Israel’s military said Iran fired missiles into the country, for the first time in a day.
Sirens rang out in Tel Aviv, central Israel and parts of the West Bank.
Secretary-General Rutte will visit Washington next week as Trump continues to criticize NATO
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte is expected to visit Washington next week as Trump continues to berate members of the military for rejecting the US leader’s request to open the Strait of Hormuz.
Rutte’s visit was confirmed by a White House official who was not authorized to comment on the visit yet to be officially announced and spoke on condition of anonymity.
Trump and Rutte have a good relationship, but the president has sounded increasingly angry with the members of the coalition as the war with Iran continues, especially the United Kingdom and France.
The changes create uncertainty and concern about the alliance’s future, the value of which Trump has long questioned.
