resident Donald Trump insisted om Wednesday that the United States was nearing victory in Iran as he laid out his case more than a month into a war that has sent his approval rating tumbling.
In an evening speech from the White House, Trump broke little new ground on how the war would end and vowed two to three weeks further of “extremely hard” strikes against Iran.
“We are going to finish the job, and we’re going to finish it very fast. We’re getting very close,” he said in remarks that largely rehashed his daily streams of social-media postings and rapid media interviews.
With his approval rating hitting new lows and Americans feeling a pinch from soaring oil prices, Trump offered a retroactive explanation on why he joined Israel in the attack launched on February 28.
Standing before American flags, Trump delivered the type of speech most presidents would offer at the start of a conflict. Trump on February 28 instead released a video in which he was wearing a baseball cap and no tie.
In his Wednesday address, Trump said the United States was aiming to crush Iran’s military, end the clerical state’s support for regional armed groups and prevent it from obtaining a nuclear bomb — a prospect that the UN nuclear watchdog and many observers say was not imminent.
“I’m pleased to say that these core strategic objectives are nearing completion,” Trump said in a 19-minute speech.
