Trump Iran speech recap: President again says war is nearly over, vows ‘extremely hard’ hits in coming weeks

Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham said that President Trump gave a "compelling explanation" on why the U.S. had to act against Iran's "evil regime."

Graham said in a post on X that it was "the best speech I could've hoped for," adding that it informed Americans and the world that the U.S. is "2-3 weeks from reaching our military objectives, which is the destruction of Iran's missile and nuclear weapon programs."

He said that "the most compelling and biggest takeaway of all" was that Trump's declaration to use military force to destroy the Iranian regime's economy, guaranteeing "they will never go back to their old ways."

Sen. Ted Cruz in his post on X said the U.S. was "on the cusp of ending Iran's nuclear blackmail," which makes America "much, much safer."

He agreed with Trump that "Operation Epic Fury is an investment in the future of our children and our grandchildren."

Sen. Mark R. Warner, D-Va, said, "President Trump's address tonight did little to answer the most basic questions the American people deserve when our nation is engaged in a costly and dangerous conflict with Iran."

Warner, who is vice chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, said Trump and his administration, from the beginning of the war, "have offered a moving target of justifications for this war of choice – none matched by the serious planning required to manage its predictable consequences."

The Democrat said the fallout from the war has been rising prices of gas, diesel, fertilizer, aluminum, and "other essentials, with consequences that will continue to ripple through the economy for a long time to come."

"There is still no clear plan to secure Iran's nuclear material, its ballistic missile capabilities remain a threat, and the Strait of Hormuz remains closed," Warner said. "At the same time, the administration is easing oil sanctions in a way that is sending billions of dollars back to the very regime we are confronting."

Warner, noting 13 U.S. service members have been killed in the war, said, "We owe them, their families, and every man and woman in uniform clarity, accountability, and a strategy worthy of their sacrifice."

— Dan Mangan

Asia-Pacific markets reversed gains on Thursday as investors assessed Trump's address.

Japan's Nikkei 225 was down 1.4% after Trump's address, while the Topix fell 0.94%.

South Korea's Kospi dropped 2.82% and the small-cap Kosdaq was down 3%.

Australia's S&P/ASX 200 started the day in positive territory, but was also down 0.48%.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng index opened 0.5% lower shortly after the speech, while the CSI 300 index on mainland China was flat.

— Lim Hui Jie

Trump does not appear to have a serious plan to stop gas prices from rising further, according to Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy.

The average unleaded gas price in the U.S. surpassed $4 per gallon this week for the first time since 2022, according to AAA. Gallon prices have jumped more than $1 over the last month.

"I really just don't see any real plan to prevent gasoline prices from unnecessarily rising to $5/gal," De Haan wrote on X.

"Americans will start changing their summer travel plans — and they will NOT forget why when they head to the polls in November," De Haan said.

De Haan also said the speech did not adequately address the blockage of the Strait of Hormuz, which has prompted a surge in crude oil prices.

— Alex Harring

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., slammed Trump's address and asked if there has "ever been a more rambling, disjointed, and pathetic presidential war speech?"

"Donald Trump's actions in Iran will be considered one of the greatest policy blunders in the history of our country, failing to articulate objectives, alienating allies, and ignoring the kitchen table problems Americans are facing," Schumer said in a post to X.

The Democratic leader warned Trump is "completely unfit to be Commander-in-Chief and the whole world knows it."

— Garrett Downs

Secretary of State Marco Rubio applauded Trump's speech and reiterated what the administration has insisted are its clear goals in Iran:

But those objectives have shifted and been reshaped from where they stood in the opening days of the war. The White House on March 12 identified the four objectives as follows:

— Kevin Breuninger

Trump's speech made no mention of two main potential routes to ending the war: conducting negotiations or sending ground troops.

The president has repeatedly said his staff is in discussions with Iranian officials, and this morning said Iran's "new regime president" had asked for a ceasefire. Iran denies it is negotiating.

Meanwhile, the U.S. is amassing a force of Marines and other service members that it could deploy to seize territory in Iran. Trump in the speech made no mention of any plans to to use them.

—Matt Peterson

Trump said that the U.S. is "getting very close" to ending its military operations against Iran.

"Tonight, I'm pleased to say that the core strategic objectives are nearing completion," he said.

Trump later floated a two-to-three-week timeframe to either reach a deal with Iran — or bombard their infrastructure.

— Kevin Breuninger

Trump finished his address in under 20 minutes.

"When it's all over, the United States will be safer, stronger, more prosperous and greater than it has ever been before," Trump said.

"May God bless the men and women of the United States Armed Forces, and may God bless the United States of America. Thank you very much, and good night," he signed off.

— Dan Mangan

Trump said the U.S. is going to "hit" Iran "extremely hard" over the next two or three weeks, likely dashing hopes for those who hoped the war would end imminently.

"We're going to hit them extremely hard over the next two to three weeks," Trump said. "We're going to bring them back to the stone ages, where they belong."

Despite the apparent escalation, Trump said that "discussions are ongoing," leaving a diplomatic resolution on the table.

— Garrett Downs

Stock futures dropped as Trump finished speaking, a reversal from the recovery rally seen on Wall Street over the last two sessions.

Dow Jones Industrial Average futures slid more than 260 points, or 0.6%, shortly after 9:20 p.m. ET. Futures tied to the broad S&P 500 lost 0.7%, while Nasdaq 100 futures slid 0.8%.

— Alex Harring

Trump said if there is no deal with Iran, "we are going to hit each and every one of their electric generating plants very hard, and probably simultaneously."

Trump said the U.S. would follow through on that threat in two to three weeks if no deal is struck, adding, "we could hit" their oil.

— Kevin Breuninger

Oil prices jumped back above $100 per barrel as Trump said the war will continue for up to three weeks.

U.S. crude oil rose 2.24% to $102.36 per barrel, while Brent gained 3.24% to $104.44 per barrel.

"Thanks to the progress we've made, I can say tonight that we are on track to complete all of America's military objectives shortly, very shortly, we're going to hit them extremely hard," Trump said.

"Over the next two to three weeks, we're going to bring them back to the stone ages where they belong," the president said.

— Spencer Kimball

Trump said he took actions that none of his predecessors would on Iran.

"Essentially, I did what no other president was willing to do," Trump said. "They made mistakes, and I am correcting them."

Trump said there would be "no Middle East and no Israel" if he had not terminated former President Barack Obama's nuclear deal with Iran.

— Alex Harring

Trump blamed Iran for surging prices at the pump in the U.S.

"Many Americans have been concerned to see the recent rise in gasoline prices here at home," the president said.

"This short-term increase has been entirely the result of the Iranian regime launching deranged terror attacks against commercial oil tankers and neighboring countries that have nothing to do with the conflict," Trump said.

Gasoline prices have soared more than 30% to top $4 per gallon since the war began.

— Spencer Kimball

An Iranian crackdown on its citizens prior to the current U.S. military operation killed 45,000 people, Trump said. That figure is significantly higher than previous mainstream estimates. Trump didn't give a source for the figure.

A report by the U.K. newspaper The Guardian estimated there may have been as many as 30,000 deaths in the crackdown. Other estimates were significantly lower.

Journalists aren't free to report in Iran, making casualty counts for the regime's repression difficult.

—Matt Peterson

Trump said, "We are systematically dismantling the regime's ability to threaten America or project power outside of their borders."

— Dan Mangan

Trump laid out his case for why "Operation Epic Fury" was necessary even after his administration claimed that Iran's nuclear sites had been destroyed by U.S. strikes during last year's "Operation Midnight Hammer."

"We totally obliterated those nuclear sites," Trump said. "The regime then sought to rebuild their nuclear program at a totally different location, making clear they had no intention of abandoning their pursuit of nuclear weapons."

— Kevin Breuninger

Trump said the U.S. war against Iran is not about oil.

"We're now totally independent of the Middle East, and yet we are there to help," the president said. "We don't have to be there. We don't need their oil. We don't need anything they have. We're there to help our allies."

The U.S. overthrew Venezuela's former President Nicolas Maduro in January and has effectively taken control of the South American nation's oil exports.

The Iran war has triggered the largest oil supply disruption history as the Islamic Republic has basically closed the Strait of Hormuz. Asians nations that are heavily dependent on Middle East crude are expected to face fuel shortages in the coming weeks. Europe is expected to face supply problems next.

— Spencer Kimball

Trump said in the four weeks since the U.S. began Operation Epic Fury, "our armed forces have delivered swift, decisive, overwhelming victories on the battlefield, victories like few people have ever seen before."

"Tonight, Iran's navy is gone. Their air force is in ruins. Their leaders, most of them terrorists, the regime they led, are now dead," he said. "Their command and control of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps is being decimated as we speak. Their ability to launch missiles and drones is dramatically curtailed, and their weapons factories and rocket launchers are being blown to pieces. Very few of them left."

— Dan Mangan

Trump began his national address by congratulating NASA on the successful launch of Artemis II for a 10-day trip around the moon.

"Let me begin by congratulating the team at NASA and our brave astronauts on the successful launch of Artemis II. It was quite something. It will be traveling further than any manned rocket has ever flown," he said.

— Kevin Breuninger

Oil prices fell below $100 as Trump began his address to the nation on the Iran war.

U.S. crude oil fell 1.78% to $98.34 per barrel. Global benchmark Brent dropped 1.33% to $99.81 per barrel.

— Spencer Kimball

Major global currencies were largely unchanged ahead of Trump's address to the nation.

The U.S. dollar index was down 0.13% at 99.52, while the greenback weakened slightly against the Euro at 1.16.

The pound was little changed, trading at 1.33 against the U.S. dollar.

In Asia, the Japanese yen strengthened marginally to trade at 158.72 against the dollar, while the South Korean won rose 0.15% to 1,510.50.

The Chinese onshore yuan was flat at 6.872, and the offshore yuan was at 6.874 against the greenback.

— Lim Hui Jie

Former Vice President and 2024 Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris said she's "watching what [Trump] does instead of listening to what he says" ahead of the president's primetime address.

Harris said in a post on X she will not be able to watch the address herself, but slammed Trump for bringing "America into a war the people do not want."

"He has put American troops in harms way, costs are rising by the day, and meanwhile, he has done nothing to address the needs of the people of America," Harris said. "I bet you he's going to try and claim victory tonight, but the reality is we're watching what he does instead of listening to what he says."

— Garrett Downs

Leading Democrats announced moments before Trump's speech that they are suing the president over his new executive order cracking down on mail-in voting in advance of the midterm elections.

"Donald Trump, with record low poll numbers, should take no solace in believing he can undo a fair election with this outlandish executive order," said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., one of the plaintiffs in the suit filed in U.S. District Court in Washington.

"Senate Democrats have led the fight against Donald Trump's voter suppression efforts before and won. We will see him in court and we will beat him again."

Other plaintiffs in the case are the Democratic National Committee, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York, the Democrats' House and Senate campaign arms, and the Democratic Governors Association.

— Dan Mangan

Tonight's speech marks Trump's first address to the nation on the war, 33 days after it began on Feb. 28.

That's a different approach to wartime communications than many of his predecessors followed.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt, for instance, delivered his famous "day of infamy" speech to a joint session of Congress on Dec. 8, 1941, one day after Japanese forces attacked Pearl Harbor.

President George W. Bush delivered an Oval Office address on Oct. 7, 2001, to announce that the U.S. had carried out strikes on the Taliban in Afghanistan.

— Kevin Breuninger

Trump and the White House leading up to his war remarks posted repeatedly about the launch of Artemis II, the first crewed rocket bound for the moon since the 1970s.

"Artemis II, among the most powerful rockets ever built, is launching our Brave Astronauts farther into Deep Space than any human has EVER gone. We are WINNING, in Space, on Earth, and everywhere in between — Economically, Militarily, and now, BEYOND THE STARS," Trump posted to Truth Social.

The Artemis II took off just after 6:30 p.m. ET and is slated for a 10-day mission.

—Justin Papp

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said on X that he spoke with Trump on Wednesday about "developments in the Middle East" and other issues.

"Earlier this evening I spoke with President Trump and congratulated him on the successful launch of Artemis II," Carney posted.

"We discussed the courage of the astronauts, including Colonel Jeremy Hansen, the value of cooperation in space, and developments in the Middle East conflict."

— Dan Mangan

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., in an appearance on MS Now's "The Beat" slammed Trump for the cost of the war and said he's interested to hear in the president's address whether a deal had been struck with allies to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

"It will be interesting to see if the president has articulated a plan to bring our allies together in order to get the situation in terms of the Strait of Hormuz under control," Jeffries said. The strait is a vital shipping channel that has been effectively closed since the start of the war, threatening the global supply of oil.

"The war clearly has not made us safer, but it has made life more expensive in this country, and it needs to end," Jeffries said.

—Justin Papp

Corporate America has scrambled to adjust to higher oil prices amid the war, raising prices for their customers in the process.

JetBlue hiked checked bag fees by at least $4. United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby said in a memo that the air carrier would cut back on running some lower-profit routes due to higher fuel prices.

FedEx and UPS upped fuel surcharges placed on deliveries. The U.S. Postal Service sought regulatory approval last week to add an 8% surcharge on package and express mail deliveries.

DoorDash and Lyft last week rolled out "relief" programs for contractors that include expanded gas station reward offerings.

— Alex Harring

Trump's speech is expected to take a triumphal tone, but that risks coming across at odds with Americans' worries about rising gas prices and potentially reignited inflation. The oil industry has warned that if the Strait of Hormuz isn't opened soon, supply disruptions will spread, raising price further.

Further rises in energy prices could make Trump's precarious political position significantly worse, much as it did for one-term President Jimmy Carter in the 1970s.

"The oil shock of the '70s was planted in the maybe subterranean part of our brains," said Jay Hakes, a presidential historian who led the U.S. Energy Information Administration in the 1990s during the Clinton administration. The Iran war is shaping up to be the same kind of jolt to the system, he said.

Read the full analysis here.

—Matt Peterson

Oil tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz remains at a near standstill during the fifth week of the war.

No tankers transited the strait on Tuesday, though two bulk carriers did make the voyage, according to data from Lloyd's List. Three refined product tankers transited Monday among six other vessels. Three oil tankers made the trip on Sunday with four other commercial ships.

Iran has managed to sharply reduce traffic by attacking vessels. Trump said this morning he will not agree to a ceasefire unless the Islamic Republic reopens the vital sea route.

The strait connects the Persian Gulf to world markets. About 20% of global oil supplies passed through the narrow waterway before the war.

— Spencer Kimball

Trump earlier in the day told attendees at a White House Easter lunch that 'I'm going to tell everybody how great I am" during his speech to the nation, according to a video that the White House appeared to upload and then make private.

The video, however, continues to circulate online, including one broadcast of the event from Forbes.

"And tonight I'm making a little speech at 9:00 and basically ... I'm going to tell everybody how great I am," Trump said at the lunch, which was closed to the media.

Trump also said "the war's going to be over in three days," during an aside about the lack of support from the U.K. and other NATO allies.

"We're sort of pretty much winding that up," Trump said of the war. "Have to take a few more hits."

— Garrett Downs

Prediction market participants are betting millions on what Trump will or won't say.

A Kalshi market worth more than $6.3 million has 93% odds that Trump will say "epic fury," the name for the U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran, as of around 7:30 p.m. ET.

Bettors put a 78% probability on Trump saying "oil," while assigning a 51% likelihood to him mentioning "gas" or "gasoline."

A similar market on Polymarket with total volume above $1.25 million assigned a 54% chance to Trump mentioning a "ceasefire" or "peace deal."

The market also suggested 6% odds that Trump will say "six seven," an apparent reference to the popular internet meme.

— Alex Harring

Oil prices fell ahead of Trump's address, but remain at their highest levels since 2022 and are unlikely to return to pre-war prices anytime soon.

U.S. crude oil and global benchmark Brent are hovering around $100 per barrel. Brent will likely remain at that level for the rest of the year due to the massive supply disruption triggered by the war, according to a Bank of America forecast.

Gasoline prices, meanwhile, have surged more than 30% to top $4 per gallon for the first time in more than three years. Diesel prices are above $5 per gallon, a major threat to the economy as the fuel is used by trucks and trains to transport all the goods families and businesses need.

— Spencer Kimball

Iran is seeking a guaranteed ceasefire to end the war permanently, Reuters reported.

According to a senior Iranian source cited by Reuters, intermediaries contacted Iran on Tuesday.

Trump said on social media on Wednesday that Iran had asked for a ceasefire and that the U.S. would consider it once the Strait of Hormuz is reopened.

Trump said on Tuesday that the war in Iran could end in "weeks."

—Justin Papp

Paramount's CBS will split a special two-hour "Survivor" episode into two parts on Wednesday, with Trump's address expected to interrupt the show at 9 p.m. ET.

The long-running reality show is expected to feature a "dreaded blood moon" that "leads to a historic tribal council," but viewers will be interrupted for roughly 20 minutes, according to a CBS programming advisory.

"Survivor" will return after the president's speech, and will be followed by an episode of "AMERICA'S CULINARY CUP," according to the programming note.

— Garrett Downs

Wall Street extended its relief rally with Trump's address looming.

The S&P 500 jumped 3.7% over the last two sessions, its biggest two-day increase since May 2025. The Magnificent Seven, a group of megacap technology stocks, has collectively added more than $1 trillion in market cap during that period.

To be sure, the market still has ground to regain after surging oil prices dragged on equities. The S&P 500 dropped more than 5% in March, marking its steepest monthly decline in a year. The broad index is down about 4% year to date.

— Alex Harring, Nick Wells

The war has given rise to new forms of propaganda, as both the U.S. and Iran wield social media and pop-culture-steeped memes in the fight for messaging dominance.

Iran's prime target is Trump, with state media and top officials alike relentlessly mocking and amplifying criticisms of the U.S. leader.

Among the most striking examples: a series of seemingly AI-generated videos depicting Iranian military successes against the U.S. and Israel in a Lego-esque cartoon art style.

The meme war isn't one-sided: Official U.S. government accounts have shared videos splicing clips from sports, movies and video games into real footage of military strikes since the early days of the war.

Despite criticism, the Trump administration has no intention of changing its strategy. Case in point: Ahead of Trump's address, White House spokesman Kaelan Dorr posted an AI-generated image featuring a character similar to Gru from the "Despicable Me" films wearing a red MAGA hat, waving a U.S. flag and riding a missile plastered with pro-Trump stickers.

Read the full story here.

— Kevin Breuninger

Trump has long mused about the U.S. leaving the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, and he is expected to reiterate his frustrations with the Western military bloc during his address on Wednesday.

But Trump may be blocked from unilaterally jettisoning the U.S. from NATO thanks to a 2023 bill authored in part by his own Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, then a Republican senator from Florida.

Tucked into the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2024 was a provision blocking the U.S. president from unilaterally exiting NATO, requiring a two-thirds majority in the Senate or an act of Congress for any move to leave the alliance. Rubio led the bill with Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., and it was signed into law in December 2023.

That means any move by Trump to leave NATO would be in immediate legal peril. The alliance was founded in 1949, following World War II.

"The Senate should maintain oversight on whether or not our nation withdraws from NATO. We must ensure we are protecting our national interests and protecting the security of our democratic allies," Rubio said at the time the bill passed.

Rubio, in a recent interview with Al Jazeera, struck a notably harsher tone toward the alliance.

"If NATO is just about us defending Europe if they're attacked but then denying us basing rights when we need them, that's not a very good arrangement. That's a hard one to stay engaged in and say this is good for the United States. So all of that is going to have to be reexamined," he said.

— Garrett Downs

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, in a letter Wednesday addressed to the American people, defended his country's actions in the war against the U.S. and Israel as "legitimate self-defense" while slamming the "delusions of a foreign aggressor."

"The Iranian people harbor no enmity toward other nations, including the people of America, Europe, or neighboring countries," Pezeshkian said in the letter, published by Iranian state media ahead of a scheduled address by President Donald Trump.

The leader framed the U.S. for unjust aggression and intervention against Iran spanning decades and argued the current war is damaging America's "global standing."

He also accused the U.S. of being a "proxy for Israel" and encouraged Americans to question their government's claims about Iran.

— Kevin Breuninger