Trump says US ‘won’ Iran war in first hour, vows forces will stay until mission complete

US President Donald Trump on Wednesday asserted that the United States had already secured victory in the war with Iran, claiming the outcome had been determined within hours of the first military strikes. Addressing supporters at a rally in Hebron, Kentucky, Trump said the campaign had quickly tilted in Washington’s favour, though American forces would remain deployed until the mission was fully completed.

“You never like to say too early you won. We won,” Trump told supporters. “In the first hour, it was over.”

Claims of heavy damage to Iran’s military

During his remarks, Trump said the US military had dealt a major blow to Iran’s naval capabilities during the conflict. “We knocked out 58 Iranian naval ships,” Trump said, describing the attacks as a decisive hit to Tehran’s military assets.

Trump also spoke about the name chosen for the campaign, telling the crowd how the military operation came to be called “Operation Epic Fury.”

“Is that a great name? Well, it’s only good if you win, and we’ve won,” he said.

The president added that he had initially rejected several suggested names for the mission before approving the final one. “They gave me like 20 names, and I’m falling asleep. I didn’t like any of them. Then I saw ‘Epic Fury.’ I said, ‘I like that name,’” Trump said.

Conflict enters second week

The comments came as fighting involving the United States, Israel and Iran continues to dominate the Middle East. The conflict began nearly two weeks ago when large-scale strikes targeted Iran’s military installations and nuclear programme.

Although Trump suggested the war had already been decided, he made clear that US forces would remain engaged until Washington’s objectives were achieved.

“We don’t want to leave early, do we? We’ve got to finish the job,” he said.

Trump has also previously suggested that the military campaign had significantly degraded Iran’s military infrastructure, at one point claiming there was “practically nothing left to target.”

Energy market concerns

The conflict has also unsettled global oil markets. In a separate interview with WKRC-TV in Cincinnati, Trump said the administration could release oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve if necessary to stabilise prices.

“We’ll reduce it a little bit, and that brings the prices down I filled it up once and I’ll fill it up again,” Trump said.

He acknowledged that the war had caused some market disruption but predicted that energy prices would stabilise soon. “We’ll be back on track in a pretty short while, oil will be coming down,” Trump said.

Remarks on Iran’s leadership

Earlier, while speaking to reporters during a stop in Ohio, Trump also commented on the impact of the strikes on Iran’s leadership structure.

“We knocked out twice their leadership,” Trump said.

He suggested that new leadership figures were now emerging in Tehran following the attacks. “Now they have a new group coming up. Let’s see what happens to them,” the president said.