Washington: President Donald Trump said Wednesday that American forces have inflicted devastating damage on Iran’s military infrastructure, claiming that Tehran has lost much of its naval and air defence capability as US strikes intensified during the ongoing conflict.
Speaking to reporters before departing the White House, Trump described the operation as unprecedented in scale and effectiveness, asserting that Iranian military assets had been severely degraded.
“Our military is the best. It’s the most powerful in the world, and they’re hitting them very hard,” Trump said. “Right now, they have lost their navy, they’ve lost their airport. They have no anti-aircraft at all. They have no radar. Their leaders are gone, and we can do a lot worse.”
The President suggested that the United States had deliberately refrained from destroying certain remaining targets, warning that further action could cripple Iran’s ability to rebuild.
“We’re leaving certain things that if we take them out, and we can take them out by this afternoon, in fact, within an hour, they literally would never be able to build that country,” he said.
Trump also highlighted what he described as the destruction of much of Iran’s naval capability during the campaign.
“I would say it was big and ineffective. But every one of their ships, just about all of their navy is gone,” he said.
The President later reiterated the scale of the military action, claiming US forces had dismantled several layers of Iranian defence.
“Well, we’ve knocked out their navy, we’ve knocked out the Air Force. We’ve knocked out all of their anti-defence,” Trump said. “Nobody has ever seen anything like it.”
Asked whether the United States was prepared to halt operations if Iran did not meet US conditions, Trump signalled that the campaign could continue.
“We have hit them harder than virtually any country in history has been hit, and we’re not finished yet,” he said.
During the exchange with reporters, Trump urged Congress to pass the proposed SAVE AMERICA Act, a major election reform bill focused on voter identification requirements.
“It is the SAVE AMERICA Act. It’s the most popular bill I think I’ve ever put before,” he said. “It’s voter ID, and it’s voter you have to be able to be a citizen to vote. It’s called citizenship.”
The President added that the legislation would include provisions restricting transgender participation in women’s sports and tightening rules around mail-in voting.
On foreign policy beyond Iran, Trump criticised Spain’s defence contributions within NATO, suggesting Washington could reconsider trade ties.
“I think they’ve been very bad. Very bad, not good at all,” Trump said. “We may go to trade with Spain; all trade with them. I don’t know what Spain is doing. They’ve been very bad to NATO.”
Trump also touched on the Middle East, saying the United States was working to curb the influence of Hezbollah in Lebanon.
“We love Lebanon. We love the people of Lebanon, and we’re working very hard. We got to get rid of the Hezbollah has been a disaster for many years,” he said.
Separately, the President praised plans for a major oil refinery project in Texas, calling it an unprecedented development in the US energy sector.
“It’s going to be the greatest anywhere in the world. There’s never been anything like it,” Trump said.
