Donald Trump says Iran’s navy is ‘gone,’ urges oil-importing nations to ‘just take’ Hormuz

US President Donald Trump delivered a televised address from the White House at 9 p.m. ET on Wednesday, April 1, offering an update on the US and Israel’s war on Iran. Trump described the ongoing US campaign, dubbed Operation Epic Fury, as a success and said Washington was “winning bigger than ever before.” He opened his address by congratulating NASA on the launch of Artemis II, which he said would travel farther than any previous crewed rocket.

“Let me begin by congratulating the team at NASA and our brave astronauts on the successful launch of Artemis II. It was quite something. It will be traveling further than any manned rocket has ever flown,” he said.

Calls for countries to ‘just take’ Strait of Hormuz

Despite declaring progress in the conflict, Trump urged oil-importing nations in the region to secure the Strait of Hormuz, which he said had been blocked by Iran. He suggested countries dependent on Gulf oil should take responsibility for protecting the critical shipping route.

“Build up some delayed courage,” he said in a message directed at those nations.
“[They] should have done it before, should have done it with us, as we asked. Go to the strait and just take it, protect it.”

Trump also indicated that countries reliant on the waterway could alternatively purchase oil from the United States, saying the US had ample supply.

Claims of weakened Iranian military

With the call for taking over the Strait of Hormuz, The US president asserted that Iran’s military capabilities had been significantly degraded, claiming the Iranian Navy was “gone” and that the country had only limited missile-launching capacity remaining.

“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 left,” Trump said.

He added that Iran’s air force was in ruins, many leaders were dead, and the US was “winning bigger than ever before.”

‘We are gonna finish the job’

Trump said the conflict was nearing its conclusion and thanked regional partners for their support.

“We are gonna finish the job. We are getting very close,” he said.
“I want to thank our allies in the Middle East – Israel, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the UAE, and Bahrain. They’ve been great and we will not let them fail in any way shape or form.”