President Donald Trump said Wednesday that the United States must complete its military campaign against Iran, declaring that American forces have already inflicted massive damage but that the mission is not yet finished.

Speaking during a rally in Kentucky, Trump praised the operation against Iran and described it as a decisive success so far.

“Operation Epic Fury – is that a great name? Well, it’s only good if you win. You know, you can only do it if you win – and we’ve won. Let me say: we’ve won. You never like to say it too early, but we won the bet in the first hour. It was over.”

Trump on Iran:

We don’t want to leave early, do we? We’ve got to finish the job, right?

Over the past 11 days, our military has virtually destroyed Iran. pic.twitter.com/25PvSIFrFe

— Clash Report (@clashreport) March 11, 2026

Trump said the speed and intensity of the American strikes caught Iranian leaders completely off guard.

“They don’t know what …. hit them. They don’t know. They got hit by the American military – they don’t know. They say, ‘What …. is happening?’ They didn’t expect anything like this.”

The president emphasized that the United States should not halt the campaign prematurely and must see the operation through to completion.

“we don’t want to leave early” and “we’ve got to finish the job”, adding that “over the past 11 days, our military has virtually destroyed Iran.”

He warned that abandoning the effort too soon could allow the threat to reemerge in the future.

“We don’t want to go back every two years. Because someday there will be a time when you don’t have me as president,” he added.

Earlier Wednesday, Trump addressed reporters outside the White House, saying the scale of the military campaign has exceeded expectations.

“we’re doing something that nobody ever thought was possible to do. Our military is the best; it’s the most powerful in the world, and they’re hitting them very hard. This is 47 years of abuse – and killing lots of people.”

Trump also told reporters that the joint U.S.–Israel campaign has already dismantled much of Iran’s military capability, including major branches of its armed forces and key leadership figures.

While noting that additional targets remain, he said the United States has deliberately refrained from striking certain assets.

“We could do a lot worse.”

According to the president, those remaining targets could be eliminated quickly if the United States chose to do so.

“We’re leaving certain things, which if we do, and we could take them out by this afternoon, in fact, within an hour, they will never be able to build that country back.”

Trump said the scope of the damage inflicted so far is unprecedented and suggested further strikes could still follow.

“We have hit them harder than virtually any country in history has been hit, and we’re not finished yet.”

In separate remarks earlier in the day, Trump told Axios that the war effort may reach its conclusion soon, pointing to the extensive damage already inflicted on Iranian military infrastructure.

According to Trump, the number of viable targets has dwindled sharply.

“The war is going great. We are way ahead of the timetable,” he told Axios. “We have done more damage than we thought possible, even in the original six-week period.”

He added that the campaign has been so extensive that there is now “practically nothing left to target.”

{Matzav.com}