President Donald Trump speaks about the Iran war from the Cross Hall of the White House on Wednesday, April 1, 2026, in Washington.
| Photo Credit: AP
“Tonight, I’m pleased to say that these core strategic objectives are nearing completion,” Mr. Trump said in his first prime-time address since the start of the conflict in late February.
Trump on strikes on Iran
“In these past four weeks, our armed forces have delivered swift, decisive, overwhelming victories on the battlefield — victories like few people have ever seen before,” he said.
Mr. Trump said on Wednesday (April 1) that Washington will strike Iran “extremely hard” over the next two to three weeks and hit the country into the “Stone Ages.”
“We are going to hit them extremely hard over the next two to three weeks. We are going to bring them back to the Stone Ages, where they belong,” Mr. Trump said.
Trump on Strait of Hormuz
President Donald Trump called on Wednesday (April 1) for countries that receive oil through the Strait of Hormuz to show “courage” and seize the key waterway, while saying Washington will not allow its West Asia allies to be harmed.
“The countries of the world that… receive oil through the Hormuz Strait must take care of that passage,” Mr. Trump said in his first prime-time address since the start of the war with Iran. “Just take it, protect it, use it for yourselves.”
He also thanked “…Israel, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the UAE, Kuwait and Bahrain,” saying: “They’ve been great, and we will not let them get hurt or fail in any way, shape or form.”
Trump on West Asia allies
Mr. Trump said that the military action is not for getting any of the country’s vast resources, including oil, but instead to help America’s allies.
“We’re now totally independent of the Middle East, and yet we are there 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’re there to help our allies.”
Speaking in the Cross Hall at the White House, Mr. Trump said on Wednesday (April 1) night that Operation Epic Fury’s actions over the past month meant that Iran’s “ability to launch missiles and drones is dramatically curtailed, and their weapons factories and rocket launchers are being blown to pieces.” Mr. Trump also said that the country’s “navy is gone, their air force is in ruins,” and the country’s leaders, “are now dead.” He claimed that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps “is being decimated as we speak.”
(With inputs from AFP, AP, Reuters)
Published – April 02, 2026 07:07 am IST
