Donald Trump praised the military for completely destroying Iran and confirmed that the U.S. was not pressured by Israel to attack Iran, adding that he might have been the one pressuring Israel to launch an attack.
On Tuesday, 3 Mar 2026 GMT+7, Donald Trump, U.S. President, met with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz at the White House. During the meeting, Trump discussed the issue of Iran and allowed the media to ask questions.
Trump began by praising U.S. military operations in Iran, stating that “almost everything has been destroyed,” including Tehran's military bases and installations.
“Now they have no navy because it has been completely destroyed. They have no air force because that’s also been wiped out. They have no air detection systems because those have been destroyed as well. Their radar has been eliminated, and almost everything has been devastated,” the U.S. leader said.
Trump added, “We are doing very well. We have an excellent military, and they are performing amazingly.” He further said the U.S. launched new attacks targeting Iran’s new leadership, emphasizing that the impact was “very severe.”
However, Trump did not specify which members of Iran’s leadership were targeted or how many casualties resulted from the attacks.
When asked by reporters whether the U.S. was drawn into the Middle East conflict due to Israeli pressure, Trump argued that the U.S. was not pressured by Israel to attack Iran. Instead, he suggested that he might have pressured Israel to act.
“They were going to attack if we didn’t act first. They intended to be the first to strike,” Trump said referring to Iran. “I feel very confident about that.”
“To be clear, I might be the one who pressured Israel to take action. But Israel was ready, and so were we. We have created a very significant impact because nearly everything they had has been destroyed. Their missile stockpiles are now rapidly decreasing,” Trump said from the Oval Office.
Source:cnn