Mar 09, 2026
U.S. President Donald Trump hinted on Monday that the war in the Middle East could be over soon — though not this week, he specified — even as hardliners pledged loyalty to their new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei in a sign that they are not ready to back down any time soon.
But just a few minutes later, in remarks made during a news conference in Doral, Fla., Trump suggested things could get worse in the region, as he threatened to increase attacks if Iran made any attempt to disrupt the world's oil supply.
The conflicting signals sent markets on a rollercoaster, with oil prices surging and stock markets nosediving before swinging in the other direction after Trump's comments and reports of a possible ease in sanctions on Russian energy.
Trump said the war would continue until Iran is "totally and decisively defeated," but predicted that would come soon.
"It's going to be finished pretty quickly," he said in an earlier speech to Republican lawmakers, also in Doral. "We've already won in many ways, but we haven't won enough," he said.
'It's all been blown up': Trump
Later, in his first formal news conference since the U.S. and Israel lauched their attack on Feb. 28, he told reporters that Iran no longer has a navy, air force, or anti-aircraft equipment.
"It has all been blown up," he said. "They have no radar, they have no telecommunications and they have no leadership."
"If we take Trump to his word, which is really, really difficult because it is, frankly, all over the place and constantly changing, he makes it sound as though the missiles have been depleted," Bessma Momani, fellow at the NATO Defence College, told CBC's Power and Politics.
"It's really not clear how much more they still have in their arsenal," she said. "Certainly there's been a lot of attacks to neighbouring countries using drones, so nothing sophisticated there."
But Momani said she finds the argument that Iran's nuclear capabilities had been reestablished in the few months since the U.S. claimed to have "obliterated them" last June "really dubious."
New supreme leader
On Sunday, Khamenei, 56, was named as successor to his father, who was killed on the first day of the attack on Iran.
Trump has decalred the Shia cleric unacceptable and demanded Iran's unconditional surrender.
Iranian state media showed large crowds in several cities rallying behind the new leader, waving Iranian flags and holding portraits of his father Ali Khamenei.
In the absence of capitulation, however, Trump did not define exactly what victory in the war would look like.
Israel says its aim is to overthrow Iran's system of clerical rule. U.S. officials mainly say Washington's aim is to destroy Iran's missile capabilities and nuclear program, but Trump has said the war can end only with a compliant Iranian government.
Randa Slim, director of the Middle East program at the Stimson Center, a Washington-based think-tank, believes other factors — including very weak support for the war among Americans and higher gas prices potentially leading to higher inflation — will start to influence Trump's decision.
"He's thinking about, you know, his political fortune and those of his party as we head into the midterm elections in November," she said on Power and Politics. "And in my opinion, they are going to be playing a major role in determining his decision to end this."
Trump claims Iran might have bombed school
Trump also claimed Monday that Iran has access to the American Tomahawk cruise missile. Thos was the weapon likely used to strike a girls' school in Iran, that state television says killed 165 people, mostly children.
Asked if the U.S. would accept responsibility for the strike, Trump argued that the cruise missile, which is made by the American defence contractor Raytheon, is "sold and used by other countries" and that Iran "also has some Tomahawks."
"Whether it's Iran or somebody else," he said, "a Tomahawk is very generic."
While Raytheon sells the missile to allied countries like Japan and Australia, there is no evidence to suggest that Iran has gotten its hands on the cruise missile.
When asked why he was the only person in his administration making the claim, Trump replied: "Because I just don't know enough about it."
He added that "whatever the report shows, I'm willing to live with that report."
U.S. President Donald Trump hinted on Monday that the war in the Middle East could be over soon — though not this week, he specified — even as hardliners pledged loyalty to their new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei in a sign that they are not ready to back down any time soon.
But just a few minutes later, in remarks made during a news conference in Doral, Fla., Trump suggested things could get worse in the region, as he threatened to increase attacks if Iran made any attempt to disrupt the world's oil supply.
The conflicting signals sent markets on a rollercoaster, with oil prices surging and stock markets nosediving before swinging in the other direction after Trump's comments and reports of a possible ease in sanctions on Russian energy.
Trump said the war would continue until Iran is "totally and decisively defeated," but predicted that would come soon.
"It's going to be finished pretty quickly," he said in an earlier speech to Republican lawmakers, also in Doral. "We've already won in many ways, but we haven't won enough," he said.
'It's all been blown up': Trump
Later, in his first formal news conference since the U.S. and Israel lauched their attack on Feb. 28, he told reporters that Iran no longer has a navy, air force, or anti-aircraft equipment.
"It has all been blown up," he said. "They have no radar, they have no telecommunications and they have no leadership."
"If we take Trump to his word, which is really, really difficult because it is, frankly, all over the place and constantly changing, he makes it sound as though the missiles have been depleted," Bessma Momani, fellow at the NATO Defence College, told CBC's Power and Politics.
"It's really not clear how much more they still have in their arsenal," she said. "Certainly there's been a lot of attacks to neighbouring countries using drones, so nothing sophisticated there."
But Momani said she finds the argument that Iran's nuclear capabilities had been reestablished in the few months since the U.S. claimed to have "obliterated them" last June "really dubious."
New supreme leader
On Sunday, Khamenei, 56, was named as successor to his father, who was killed on the first day of the attack on Iran.
Trump has decalred the Shia cleric unacceptable and demanded Iran's unconditional surrender.
Iranian state media showed large crowds in several cities rallying behind the new leader, waving Iranian flags and holding portraits of his father Ali Khamenei.
In the absence of capitulation, however, Trump did not define exactly what victory in the war would look like.
Israel says its aim is to overthrow Iran's system of clerical rule. U.S. officials mainly say Washington's aim is to destroy Iran's missile capabilities and nuclear program, but Trump has said the war can end only with a compliant Iranian government.
Randa Slim, director of the Middle East program at the Stimson Center, a Washington-based think-tank, believes other factors — including very weak support for the war among Americans and higher gas prices potentially leading to higher inflation — will start to influence Trump's decision.
"He's thinking about, you know, his political fortune and those of his party as we head into the midterm elections in November," she said on Power and Politics. "And in my opinion, they are going to be playing a major role in determining his decision to end this."
Trump claims Iran might have bombed school
Trump also claimed Monday that Iran has access to the American Tomahawk cruise missile. Thos was the weapon likely used to strike a girls' school in Iran, that state television says killed 165 people, mostly children.
Asked if the U.S. would accept responsibility for the strike, Trump argued that the cruise missile, which is made by the American defence contractor Raytheon, is "sold and used by other countries" and that Iran "also has some Tomahawks."
"Whether it's Iran or somebody else," he said, "a Tomahawk is very generic."
While Raytheon sells the missile to allied countries like Japan and Australia, there is no evidence to suggest that Iran has gotten its hands on the cruise missile.
When asked why he was the only person in his administration making the claim, Trump replied: "Because I just don't know enough about it."
He added that "whatever the report shows, I'm willing to live with that report."
