President Donald Trump said Saturday that U.S. military strikes severely damaged Iran’s principal oil export terminal at Kharg Island and suggested that American forces could target the location again.
In an interview with NBC News, Trump described the recent attack as highly destructive and indicated that additional strikes on the island remain possible. “We totally demolished Kharg Island. We may hit it a few more times just for fun,” Trump told NBC News in an interview.
The President also said the operation deliberately avoided critical energy transmission infrastructure. “I didn’t do anything having to do with the energy lines, because having to rebuild that would take years.”
Trump said Iran has shown interest in negotiating a ceasefire but indicated that he is not ready to agree to a deal under the current circumstances. “Iran wants to make a deal, and I don’t want to make it because the terms aren’t good enough yet,” he explained, adding that any terms will have to be “very solid.”
When asked what conditions might be included in an agreement to end the fighting, Trump declined to outline specifics. “I don’t want to say that to you.” He agreed, however, that a commitment from Iran to completely abandon any nuclear ambitions would be part of it.
The President also questioned whether Iran’s newly installed Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, is still alive. “I don’t know if he’s even alive. So far, nobody’s been able to show him,” said Trump.
Referencing reports about Khamenei’s status, Trump added, “I’m hearing he’s not alive, and if he is, he should do something very smart for his country, and that’s surrender.”
Speaking on Friday with Fox News Radio, Trump declined to offer a clear timeline for when the war with Iran might end, saying the decision would depend on his own judgment. He told the outlet the conflict would conclude when he feels it “in my bones.”
Trump also said he does not expect the war to drag on for an extended period but stressed that he alone will determine when it concludes.
During the same interview, Trump expressed confidence that the conflict may end soon but said the United States is prepared to continue operations for as long as necessary. He rejected concerns that the U.S. military could run short of munitions.
“Nobody has the technology or the weapons that we have,” he told Fox News’ Brian Kilmeade in the interview. “We’re way ahead of schedule. Way ahead.” He later assured that the US had “virtually unlimited ammunition. We’re using it, we’re using it. We can go forever.”
On Wednesday night, Trump spoke with reporters after returning from a rally in Kentucky and said Iran’s military capabilities have been severely degraded, describing the country as “pretty much at the end of the line”.
At the same time, Trump made clear that the United States is not prepared to immediately bring the conflict to a close.
“They’ve got no Navy. They’ve got no Air Force. They have no systems of control. We’re just riding free range over that country!” he said.
During his remarks at the Kentucky rally, Trump emphasized that the United States must see the conflict through to completion.
He added that the Iranians “don’t know what the hell hit them. They don’t know. They got hit by the American military – they don’t know. They say, ‘What the hell is happening?’ They didn’t expect anything like this.”
“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.