In a wartime address marking one month of Operation “Epic Fury,” President Donald Trump presented an overwhelmingly positive assessment of U.S. military operations against Iran, asserting that American forces had effectively destroyed Iran’s navy and severely degraded its air force, missile capabilities, and defense infrastructure. He framed the campaign as essential to preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons and protecting U.S. and allied security, while emphasizing that core objectives were nearing completion. Trump credited U.S. military strength, highlighted support from regional allies including Israel and Gulf states, and linked recent energy market disruptions to Iranian actions. He maintained openness to a diplomatic resolution but warned of further strikes if no deal is reached, stressing that the U.S. remains economically resilient and militarily dominant as the conflict approaches a decisive phase.
The following is a full text of the statement.
As we speak this evening, it has been just one month since the United States military began Operation “Epic Fury,” targeting the world’s number-one state sponsor of terror, Iran. In these past four weeks, our armed forces have delivered swift, decisive, overwhelming victories on the battlefield, victories like few people have ever seen before.
Tonight, Iran’s navy is gone, their air force is in ruins. Their leaders, most of them, the terrorist regime they led, are now dead. Their command and control of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps is being decimated as we speak. Their ability to launch missiles and drones is dramatically curtailed, and their weapons factories and rocket launchers are being blown to pieces. Very few of them are left.
Never in the history of warfare has an enemy suffered such clear and devastating large-scale losses in a matter of weeks. Our enemies are losing, and America, as it has been for five years under my presidency, is winning, and now winning bigger than ever before.
Before discussing this current situation, I also want to thank our troops for the masterful job they did in taking the country of Venezuela in a matter of minutes. That hit was quick, lethal, violent, and respected by everyone all over the world. After rebuilding our military during my first term, we have, by far, the strongest military anywhere in the world.
Tonight, I want to provide an update on the tremendous progress our warriors have made in Iran and discuss why Operation ‘Epic Fury’ is necessary for the safety of America and the security of the free world.
From the very first day I announced my campaign for president in 2015, I have vowed that I would never allow Iran to have a nuclear weapon. This fanatical regime has been chanting ‘Death to America, Death to Israel’ for 47 years. Their proxies were behind the murder of 241 Americans in the Marine barracks bombing in Beirut, the slaughter of hundreds of our service members with roadside bombs, and they were involved in the attack on the USS Cole. They carried out countless other heinous acts, including the bloody atrocities of October 7th in Israel.
This murderous regime also recently killed 45,000 of their own people who were protesting in Iran. For these terrorists to have nuclear weapons would be an intolerable threat. The most violent and thuggish regime on Earth would be free to carry out terror, coercion, conquest, and mass murder from behind a nuclear shield. I will never let that happen.
My first preference was always diplomacy, yet the regime continued its relentless quest for nuclear weapons and rejected every attempt at an agreement. For this reason, I ordered a strike on Iran’s key nuclear facilities in Operation ‘Midnight Hammer.’ We totally obliterated those nuclear sites.
Our objectives are very simple and clear. We are systematically dismantling the regime’s ability to threaten America or project power beyond its borders. That means eliminating Iran’s navy, hurting their air force and missile program, and annihilating their defense industrial base. We’ve done all of it. Their navy is gone. Their air force is gone. Their missiles are just about used up or beaten.
Taken together, these actions will cripple Iran’s military, crush its ability to support terrorist proxies, and deny it the ability to build a nuclear bomb. Tonight, I’m pleased to say these core strategic objectives are nearing completion.
We think especially of the 13 American warriors who gave their lives in this fight. Every single one of their loved ones said, ‘Please, sir, please finish the job.’ And we are going to finish the job, and we are going to finish it very fast.
I want to thank our allies in the Middle East, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the UAE, Kuwait, and Bahrain. We will not let them get hurt or fail in any way.
Many Americans have been concerned about rising gasoline prices. This short-term increase is the result of Iranian attacks on commercial oil tankers and neighboring countries. This is further proof that Iran can never be trusted with nuclear weapons.
The United States has never been better prepared economically to confront this threat. We built the strongest economy in history. We are the number one producer of oil and gas on the planet, and we are totally independent of Middle Eastern oil.
The United States imports almost no oil through the Strait of Hormuz and will not in the future. Countries that rely on that passage must take responsibility for protecting it. We will be helpful, but they should take the lead.
We have made clear from the beginning that we will continue until our objectives are fully achieved. We are on track to complete them shortly. We are going to hit them extremely hard over the next two to three weeks.
Regime change was not our goal, but it has occurred because their original leaders are dead. The new group is less radical and more reasonable. Yet if no deal is made, we have our eyes on key targets. We could hit their electric generating plants very hard, and we could also hit their oil infrastructure.
Their radar is annihilated. They have no effective air defenses. We are unstoppable as a military force.
It is important to keep this conflict in perspective. We have been engaged in this operation for 32 days, and Iran has been eviscerated and is no longer a significant threat.
Tonight, every American can look forward to a day when we are finally free from the threat of Iranian aggression and nuclear blackmail. Because of the actions we have taken, we are on the cusp of ending that threat.
When this is over, the United States will be safer, stronger, more prosperous, and greater than ever before.
May God bless the men and women of the United States Armed Forces, and may God bless the United States of America. Thank you, and good night.
Source: “President Trump Delivers an Address to the Nation, Apr. 1, 2026,” White House, (April 1, 2026).