During his prime-time speech about the war on Iran, US President Donald Trump says nations that rely on oil from the Strait of Hormuz should “build up some delayed courage” and get involved in its security.
President Trump said in a prime-time address Wednesday that the U.S. will complete its military mission in Iran “very shortly,” and that the U.S. will hit Iran “extremely hard” over the next two to three weeks. https://t.co/ZToUkhWpV6 pic.twitter.com/1KtsQf7S5M
— CBS News (@CBSNews) April 2, 2026
President Trump claimed that regime change was never the goal of the war in Iran, despite having called for a popular uprising on the day the U.S. launched its bombing campaign. He reiterated that regime change has effectively taken place due to the killing of several senior government figures, adding, “the new group is less radical and much more reasonable.”
“Yet if during this period of time no deal is made, we have our eyes on key targets. If there’s no deal, we are going to hit each and every one of their electric-generating plants very hard and probably simultaneously,” he added.
The president did not give a hard deadline for the U.S. to complete its operation, though the White House had previously said he would tell Americans the war would be done within two to three weeks. The U.S. is now more than a month into a conflict that Trump initially said would last four to five weeks. His approval ratings have sunk to all-time lows as the war drags on, with gas prices above $4 a gallon for the first time since August 2022.
Trump predicted the economy would bounce back quickly once the war concludes, stating the Strait of Hormuz, shut down by Iran since the start of the war, would “open naturally” once the U.S. ended its military campaign. “The hard part is done. So it should be easy, and in any event, when this conflict is over, the Strait will open up naturally. It’ll just open up naturally,” he said.
The president did not mention the possibility of sending ground troops to capture Kharg Island or recover weapons-grade nuclear material, risky operations he has reportedly considered. He again advised European countries to either buy American oil or reopen the Strait of Hormuz on their own.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer called on Wednesday for an international meeting to plan an intervention in the waterway, which previously facilitated 20 percent of the world’s energy trade. Iran has denied Trump’s claim that it is engaged in active negotiations with the United States.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian released a letter addressed to “the people of the United States of America” hours before Trump’s address, warning of consequences. “Attacking Iran’s vital infrastructure—including energy and industrial facilities—directly targets the Iranian people,” he wrote. “Beyond constituting a war crime, such actions carry consequences that extend far beyond Iran’s borders.”
Trump concluded his address saying, “We are on the cusp of ending Iran’s sinister threat to America and the world.” He added, “Tonight, every American can look forward to a day when we are finally free from the wickedness of Iranian aggression and the specter of nuclear blackmail because of the actions we have taken.”
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