President Trump Gives Timeline on Fall of Iran

President Donald Trump’s primetime address gave an update on the U.S. military’s objectives of destroying Iran’s nuclear capabilities – yet gave no timeline for an end date. But the President did vow that U.S. forces will “finish the job.”

As reported by the Associated Press:

President Donald Trump said U.S. forces will “finish the job” in Iran soon as “core strategic objectives are nearing completion,” offering a full-throated defense of the war Wednesday night in his first national address since the conflict began more than a month ago.

He used his platform before a wide audience to tout the success of the U.S. operations and argue that all of Washington’s objectives have so far been met or exceeded, but said Iran would continue to face a barrage of attacks in the short term.

“We are going to hit them extremely hard over the next two to three weeks,” Trump said. “We’re going to bring them back to the Stone Ages, where they belong.” . . .

“Tonight, I’m pleased to say that these core strategic objectives are nearing completion,” Trump said. He also acknowledged American service members who had been killed and added: “We are going to finish the job, and we’re going to finish it very fast. We’re getting very close.”

The President stopped short of laying out a detailed, step-by-step timeline. There was no big “here’s exactly what happens next” announcement. But reading between the lines – or truthfully, just listening closely – he made it sound fairly clear that this conflict with Iran is, in his view, nearing its end. He put a rough window on it, saying we could be looking at another two to three weeks.

The Administration is saying Operation Epic Fury is nearing completion. The tone, though, remains aggressive. The President continued using strong language toward Iran, including talk of unleashing overwhelming force, and even incendiary phrases like “bring them back to the Stone Ages.”

There’s also this growing narrative from the Administration that regime change has effectively already happened, pointing to new leadership structures in place. But honestly, I’m not sure that’s the kind of “regime change” people – especially those demonstrators risking their freedom and their lives in the streets of Iran – actually had in mind.

What stood out to me most, though, is that this was a very direct speech in terms of mission. The goal was clearly stated: to prevent Iran from ever obtaining a nuclear weapon. That’s been the stated objective of multiple Administrations, but President Trump’s argument is that, this time, it’s not just talk. This time, it’s action.

Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo joined us on the broadcast and offered his reaction to the President’s address:

President Trump was very clear. We’ve done amazing work so far. Our military has done remarkable work. We have decimated the regime’s military capabilities, its navy, its air force, its missile launcher systems, all the drone capabilities. We’ve decimated them. But there’s work to do, and he talked about a couple, three weeks.

By the way, that jives with what he said initially, right? He was talking about the middle to the end of April. That’s about consistent. But then he reminded people this is lightning speed. We’ve all become so used to Netflix episodes that wrap up in 27 minutes. This is the real world, and so there remains work to do.

Second, he was urging our allies to get serious about this. The threat to them is real as well. Europe has just as much risk from an Iran that is nuclear-armed or even with ballistic missiles that can reach them now. They’re just as much threatened as we are in the United States, and so they ought to take on their proportionate role of the responsibility.

And then, finally, he made clear to our allies in the region [that] we’re going to protect them as well. We’re going to make sure that in the aftermath of this, ships can sail through the Strait of Hormuz. People in Dubai or Kuwait City or in Oman can live their lives safely. He’s going to make sure that we secure their peace so that we can live in a much more stable, peaceful world in the aftermath of this conflict, which was so necessary and so timely.

At the end of the day, the address did give us a clearer sense of where things are headed.

Today’s Sekulow broadcast included more analysis of President Trump’s address on the current situation in Iran, including more with Sec. Mike Pompeo. We were also joined by Special Presidential Envoy Ric Grenell for his singular insight into the speech.

Watch the full broadcast below: