Trump says Iran war won't last 'much longer', Hormuz will reopen 'automatically' after US exit
U.S. President Donald Trump told The New York Post on Tuesday that he believes the Iran war is likely to end soon and that other nations can reopen the Strait of Hormuz themselves — after he posted to social media a video of huge explosions near Isfahan that he said hit “a lot of stuff.”
“We’re not going to be there too much longer. We’re obliterating the s–t out of them right now, it’s a total obliteration,” the U.S. president said in a phone interview.
“But we won’t have to be there much longer — but we have more work to do in terms of killing their offensive, whatever offensive capability they have left.”
“Well, I think it’ll automatically open, but my attitude is, I’ve obliterated the country. They have no strength left, and let the countries that are using the strait, let them go and open it… because I would imagine whoever’s controlling the oil will be very happy to open the strait," he said.
Trump has railed against U.S. allies for not volunteering for a multinational flotilla to force the crucial waterway open.
Pressed on a Wall Street Journal report that said he was willing to end the war without reopening the strait, Trump said: “I don’t think about it, to be honest. My sole function was to make sure that they don’t have a nuclear weapon. They’re not going to have a nuclear weapon. When we leave the strait will automatically open.”
Trump declined to divulge what exactly the overnight airstrikes hit near Isfahan, a major city outside of which Iran operated a nuclear facility, but said he was surprised at the size of the explosion, which he said showed a substantial on-the ground payload.
“I’d rather not say, but you’ll learn soon enough. They were rather large, weren’t they?” Trump said.
“It’ll come out, but it was just another one of their wonderful areas that we took care of,” he went on.
“That was a beauty. That was a beauty. That was stuff that we blew up. That was some explosion,” Trump marveled.
“It was actually bigger than we thought, meaning they had a lot of stuff. Well, we’re taking away their nuclear capability, and we’ve achieved regime change. You know, we’re dealing right now with a totally different group of people, and they’re much more reasonable than previous, much more reasonable," he added.
“And that is truly regime change.”
Trump declined to say if he was considering dispatching his negotiating team — including special envoy Steve Witkoff and Vice President JD Vance — to Pakistan or another country.
“I don’t want to say that,” Trump said. “I can’t talk to you about this stuff, all of it. Okay? I just can’t talk to you. It’s so ridiculous, right? What do you want me to give, my strategy? Do you want me to give you my strategy?”
Despite forecasting a rapid end to the war, Trump has left his options open by also deploying thousands of U.S. troops to the region for possible land assaults — including two Marine Corps amphibious ready groups and Army parachute specialists.