Trump: We’re getting close to meeting our objectives as we consider winding down Iran war

US President Donald Trump says, “We are getting very close to meeting our objectives as we consider winding down our great military efforts in the Middle East with respect to the terrorist regime of Iran.”

Writing on Truth Social, Trump then proceeds to list what he says are the US military objectives.

“(1) Completely degrading Iranian missile capability, launchers and everything else pertaining to them. (2) Destroying Iran’s defense industrial base. (3) Eliminating their navy and air force, including anti-aircraft weaponry. (4) Never allowing Iran to get even close to nuclear capability, and always being in a position where the USA can quickly and powerfully react to such a situation, should it take place. (5) Protecting, at the highest level, our Middle Eastern allies, including Israel, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Kuwait, and others,” Trump says.

Destroying Iran’s defense industrial base, eliminating Iran’s air force and anti-aircraft weaponry and protecting US allies in the Mideast were not among the objectives that US officials have given for the war to date.

While the list has fluctuated, US officials have generally stuck to the destruction of Iran’s missile program, the destruction of Iran’s navy, the ending of Iran’s support for armed proxies and ensuring that Iran can never obtain a nuclear weapon.

As for the Strait of Hormuz, Trump writes that it will “have to be guarded and policed, as necessary, by other nations who use it.”

“The United States does not! If asked, we will help these countries in their Hormuz efforts, but it shouldn’t be necessary once Iran’s threat is eradicated. Importantly, it will be an easy military operation for them,” Trump says.

NATO countries have balked at Trump’s calls to help the US secure the Iran-blocked Strait of Hormuz, saying they are willing to help secure the key oil transport channel, but not in the middle of the war, which they didn’t start, and not after the US president spent much of the last year alienating Western allies over his policies toward Ukraine and Greenland.

While the US doesn’t ship oil through the Strait, the channel’s continued closure does significantly impact the world economy and, by extension, the US.