Trump Reassures Nation and Highlights Sweeping Military Victories During Primetime Address on Iran Conflict

President Donald Trump addressed the nation live from the White House late Wednesday, providing detailed updates on the conflict in Iran and reassuring the public that hostilities are expected to last just a few more weeks.

Trump began his remarks by congratulating the three Americans and one Canadian aboard Artemis II, the NASA rocket that successfully lifted off from Florida yesterday and is expected to carry the astronauts past the Moon and further into space than ever before. “They are on the way and God bless them, these are brave people,” Trump said. “God bless those four unbelievable astronauts.”

The President next turned his attention toward Iran, touting “swift, decisive, overwhelming victories on the battlefield” over the past month. “Tonight, Iran’s navy is gone,” Trump said. “Their air force is in ruins. Their leaders… are now dead. 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.”

While most of the mainstream coverage of the Iran conflict has suggested that the United States is struggling to subdue Iran, the details Trump provided pointed to the opposite conclusion. Far from another Middle East “forever war,” Trump painted a compelling picture of sweeping military victory that has forced the remanent of the Iranian regime to the negotiating table.

“Never in the history of warfare has an enemy suffered such clear and devastating large-scale losses in a matter of weeks,” Trump said. “Our enemies are losing and America, as it has been for five years under my presidency, is winning, and now winning bigger than ever before.”

Democrats and even some Republicans have accused Trump of breaking his “America First” pledge by launching the strikes on Iran. But as Trump explained, ensuring that Iran does not obtain a nuclear weapon is vital to the security of the American people, and is in fact in line with one of his very first campaign promises all the way back in 2015.

“From the very first day I announced my campaign for president in 2015, I vowed that I would never allow Iran to have a nuclear weapon,” Trump said. “This fanatical regime has been chanting, ‘Death to America, death to Israel’ for 47 years. Their proxies were behind the murder of 241 Americans in the Marine barracks bombing in Beirut, the slaughter of hundreds of our service members with roadside bombs… For these terrorists to have nuclear weapons would be an intolerable threat.”

While American strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities buried deep in the mountains last year severely decimated the regime’s ability to quickly enrich enough nuclear material to build a bomb, the stockpiles of uranium remain. Trump revealed that immediately following those attacks, the regime started rebuilding its nuclear program at a different location, making clear that they were determined to build a weapon.

“They were also rapidly building a vast stockpile of conventional ballistic missiles, and would soon have had missiles that could reach the American homeland, Europe and virtually any other place on Earth,” Trump said. “Iran’s strategy was so obvious, they wanted to produce as many missiles as possible.”

The President also took time to honor the sacrifices of the 13 Americans who have perished in the conflict thus far. He called on the country to “honor them by completing the mission for which they gave their lives.”

Trump next turned his attention to rising gas prices. With the national average recently topping $4 per gallon, he made clear that he understood the pain but emphasized that it is only temporary. Once the conflict is over, he said, gas prices will come down “rapidly.” Importantly, while prices are up, the United States is not at risk of any shortages (unlike much of Europe) because Trump’s policies have made America energy independent.

Finally, Trump provided a timeline for the end of the conflict – and a stark warning to the Iranian regime if it does not cooperate with American demands.

“We are going to hit them extremely hard over the next two to three weeks. We’re going to bring them back to the Stone Ages, where they belong,” Trump said. “If there is no deal, we are going to hit each and every one of their electric generating plants very hard and probably simultaneously… We have all the cards. They have none.”

“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,” Trump concluded. “Because of the actions we have taken, we are on the cusp of ending Iran’s sinister threat to America and the world.”