CBS News opened a special report as President Donald Trump requested time to address the nation about the war with Iran. Anchor Tony Dokoupil noted the national gas average had topped $4 per gallon and reported that Iran had effectively blocked the Strait of Hormuz, disrupting global oil shipments. The network said the conflict began Feb. 28 with U.S. and Israeli strikes and that U.S. forces have since struck thousands of targets; government figures were cited regarding U.S. casualties.
In his televised address, Trump first praised NASA’s Artemis II launch, then outlined what he called Operation Epic Fury, a campaign he said began a month earlier to degrade Iran’s nuclear and military capabilities. He described recent U.S. actions as “swift, decisive, overwhelming victories,” saying American forces had damaged Iran’s navy, air force, missile and drone arsenals and its defense industrial base. The president said many Iranian leaders had been killed, that Tehran’s ability to project power had been “decimated,” and that a separate campaign he named “Midnight Hammer” had seen B-2 bombers destroy Iranian nuclear sites.
Trump framed the campaign around preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. He called the regime “fanatical,” blamed it for decades of attacks and proxy violence, and repeated his criticism of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, saying it was a mistake he withdrew from while president in his first term.
He said the United States had rebuilt its military and, together with allies, had struck numerous Iranian targets. The president announced a timetable, saying the U.S. would “hit them extremely hard over the next two to three weeks” and that forces were “on track” to complete their objectives soon. He warned that, if necessary, the U.S. could hit Iran’s electric-generating plants “very hard and probably simultaneously” and that Iranian oil infrastructure could be destroyed, though he said the U.S. had not targeted oil because doing so would “not give them even a small chance of survival.”
Addressing energy prices, Trump attributed recent U.S. gas price increases to Iranian actions — including attacks on oil tankers and the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz — and said U.S. energy production and new supplies (he mentioned Venezuela) reduced America’s dependence on Middle Eastern oil. He urged countries that rely on Hormuz to “take the lead” in protecting the strait and suggested they could buy oil from the United States if they needed supplies.
Trump said the objective was not regime change, though he added that regime change had “occurred” because many of Iran’s original leaders had been killed. He warned that if “no deal” were reached, the U.S. had further targets. He used stark language to describe U.S. military effects, saying operations were returning Iran to an earlier state and suggesting the campaign would be much shorter than past wars. He also discussed visiting Dover Air Force Base to meet families of fallen service members, urged continued support for the mission, and closed by praising the U.S. military and offering blessings for the troops and the nation.
After the address, Tony Dokoupil summarized key points: the president 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 be short. Cordes noted the administration’s contention that Iran was closer to a nuclear weapon than many experts had believed and reported international skepticism about the suggestion that other countries should seize the strait or that it would “open up naturally.” She added that the United Kingdom was hosting a summit with 35 countries to discuss securing oil supplies after the conflict.
CBS concluded the special report by returning to regular programming.