Trump Warns Iran War Nearing End—Yet Vows to Press Until Total Victory

President Donald Trump on Monday delivered sharply conflicting signals about the trajectory of the U.S.-led military campaign against Iran, suggesting the conflict could conclude within days while simultaneously pledging to continue until Tehran’s leadership is “totally and decisively defeated.” Speaking from his golf club in Doral, Florida, Trump told CBS News that the war appeared “very complete, pretty much,” arguing that American and Israeli strikes had already decimated Iran’s military infrastructure. “If you look, they have nothing left. There’s nothing left in a military sense,” he claimed. Hours later, addressing Republican lawmakers at a House policy retreat, Trump struck a far more aggressive tone. “We’ve already won in many ways, but we haven’t won enough,” he declared to applause. “We go forward more determined than ever to achieve ultimate victory that will end this long-running danger once and for all.” The President repeatedly described the campaign as a “short-term excursion” aimed at eliminating “evil,” claiming that U.S. forces had destroyed 80% of Iran’s missile launchers and sunk 46 Iranian naval vessels. “Iran’s drone and missile capability is being utterly demolished. The Navy is gone. It’s all lying at the bottom of the ocean,” Trump stated. Yet the Pentagon’s messaging contradicted the President’s assessment, with the Defense Department posting on social media that “We have only just begun to fight.” This disconnect reflects an administration still struggling to articulate clear objectives for a war now entering its second week. Senior officials have offered shifting justifications, from concerns about Iran’s nuclear ambitions to protecting American troops and allies in the region. Secretary of State Marco Rubio initially suggested the U.S. moved in part because Israel was preparing its own attack, but Trump later rejected that framing, claiming he believed Iran itself was preparing to strike first. The conflict has already produced a widening humanitarian toll across the Middle East. The Iranian Red Crescent Society reports approximately 1,300 people killed in strikes inside Iran, while Iranian attacks across the region have killed more than 30 people. Israeli operations have expanded into Lebanon, killing nearly 500 people according to Lebanese officials and displacing hundreds of thousands of civilians. When pressed about the war’s duration, Trump predicted it would end “very soon” but declined to commit to a specific timeline. “We’re going to have a much safer world as soon as it’s finished,” he said. “It’s going to be finished pretty quickly.”