Tony Dokoupil opened a CBS News Special Report as President Donald Trump requested time to address the nation about the war with Iran. The network noted the national gas average had topped $4 per gallon and that Iran had effectively blocked the Strait of Hormuz, disrupting global oil shipments. CBS reported that the conflict began Feb. 28 with U.S. and Israeli strikes and that U.S. forces have since hit thousands of targets; government figures were cited for U.S. casualties.
In his address, Trump began by praising NASA’s Artemis II launch and then reviewed what he called Operation Epic Fury, which he said the U.S. began a month earlier to target Iran’s nuclear and military capabilities. He described recent U.S. military actions as “swift, decisive, overwhelming victories,” and said U.S. forces had degraded Iran’s navy, air force, missile and drone capabilities, and its defense industrial base. The president claimed many Iranian leaders were dead, asserted that Iran’s ability to project power had been “decimated,” and said the U.S. had struck Iranian nuclear sites earlier in a separate campaign he called “Midnight Hammer,” asserting B-2 bombers had “obliterated” Iranian nuclear facilities.
Trump emphasized that his objective was to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons, calling the regime “fanatical” and blaming it for decades of attacks and proxy violence. He repeated claims about Iran’s violent history and said the U.S. would never allow Iran to have a nuclear weapon. He also criticized the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, saying it was a mistake and asserting he had withdrawn from it during his first term in office.
The president said the United States had rebuilt its military and, together with allies, had struck many Iranian targets. He claimed the campaign was nearing completion and announced a timetable: he said the U.S. would “hit them extremely hard over the next two to three weeks,” and declared that American forces were “on track” to complete military objectives shortly. He added that the U.S. could, if necessary, hit Iran’s electric-generating plants “very hard and probably simultaneously,” and said Iran’s oil infrastructure could be destroyed if desired. He stated that the U.S. had not targeted Iran’s oil because doing so would “not give them even a small chance of survival” but suggested U.S. forces were capable of such strikes.
Trump addressed the impact of the conflict on U.S. gas prices, saying recent increases were a short-term result of Iranian actions — attacks on oil tankers and the Strait of Hormuz blockade — and argued that U.S. energy production and new oil supplies (he referenced Venezuela) made the United States less dependent on Middle Eastern oil. He encouraged countries that rely on oil passing through Hormuz to “take the lead” in protecting the strait and suggested they should “buy oil from the United States” if they needed supplies.
Trump framed the campaign as necessary to prevent a nuclear-armed Iran, reiterated that regime change was “not our goal” though he said regime change had “occurred” because of the deaths of many original Iranian leaders, and warned that, if “no deal” were reached, the U.S. had additional targets in mind. He described U.S. military success in stark terms — “bringing them back to the Stone Ages” — and compared the current operation’s duration to longer past wars to suggest this conflict would be short.
He also spoke about visits to Dover Air Force Base to meet the families of fallen U.S. service members and urged continued support for the mission. He closed by praising U.S. military strength and promising to finish the mission, then offered “May God bless the men and women of the United States Armed Forces” and “May God bless the United States of America.”
After the address, CBS’s Tony Dokoupil summarized key points: Trump said military objectives were on track to be completed in two to three weeks; he blamed Iran’s blockade of the Strait of Hormuz for higher oil and gas prices; and he urged some regional allies to “go and take” the strait if they needed oil. Chief White House Correspondent Nancy Cordes said the president sought to put the conflict in historical perspective and reassure Americans it would not last long. Cordes noted the administration’s contention that Iran was closer to a nuclear weapon than many experts had believed, and she reported international skepticism about Trump’s suggestion that other countries should “take” the strait or that it would “open up naturally.” She said the UK was hosting a summit with 35 countries to discuss how to secure oil supplies once the conflict ends.
CBS closed the special report with the note that regular programming would resume.