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Trump details how he’d hit Iran’s energy and bridges as he talks up ending war ‘immediately’
U.S. President Donald Trump has sharpened his rhetoric on the war with Iran, saying he could use force “right now,” describing Iran’s leadership as a “horrible” enemy, and outlining a plan to destroy the country’s energy, bridges and manufacturing capacity within days while insisting regional partners want a slower approach.
President Donald Trump’s latest comments on Iran lay out in unusually blunt terms how he sees the war and what kind of military action he is prepared to consider.
In interviews, Trump said that if he saw events with Iran developing “in the wrong direction,” he would use military force and “might do it right now,” describing this as a step he would take without hesitation. He called Iran “the number one state sponsor of terror in the world,” saying that label is widely used, including at the United Nations, and he referred to Iran’s leadership as an “evil enemy” that has killed many Americans, including soldiers and sailors. He stressed that he does not hate the Iranian people but considers the country’s leadership to have been “a horrible, horrible thing.”
Trump argued that Iran had been close to obtaining a nuclear weapon, saying he thought there was only “a small possibility” that Iran would not have used such a weapon if it had secured it and claimed Iran had been two weeks away from that point. In his view, the more likely outcome would have been the use of a weapon that could have devastated the Middle East and affected regions beyond.
He also described in detail how he sees potential U.S. military options against Iran’s infrastructure. Trump said the United States has allowed Iran’s electric manufacturing capability to continue operating and has not attacked its energy system. If he wanted to “take them out,” he said, he would strike Iran’s energy in one day, its bridges in another, and its manufacturing capability in a third day, asserting that each category could be disabled within a day.
On the broader conflict, Trump said the war with Iran “could end soon,” claiming that Washington had prevented Tehran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. He acknowledged that higher fuel prices have harmed Republicans politically. He said that, if not for other nations’ preferences, particularly in the Middle East, he would already have taken more extensive military action. When asked directly whether he would have “taken them out” without that pressure, he answered that he would.
Trump named Israel among the countries he says the United States is seeking to protect. He also cited Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain as states that, he says, have asked Washington to maintain the current course and timing. According to Trump, these governments prefer the conflict to continue in its present form for a while, and their stance is the reason he has not ordered the more sweeping strikes he described. He said Saudi Arabia, in particular, urged him to let the situation remain as it is because Iran is “disintegrating.”
Taken together, the remarks portray a president presenting himself as willing and able to expand attacks on Iran’s core infrastructure rapidly, while arguing that U.S. restraint so far reflects the wishes of regional partners. How closely future U.S. actions track the scenarios he laid out, and how those regional governments respond publicly or privately, will shape how seriously markets, militaries and diplomatic services treat the possibility of sudden escalation.