Trump ‘Not Happy’ With Iranian Leader; Hegseth Details Successes Of Operation
President Donald J. Trump made clear this week that the United States will not tolerate instability from Tehran, sharply criticizing Iran’s decision to install Mojtaba Khamenei as supreme leader following the death of his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in a targeted airstrike at the outset of Operation Epic Fury.
Speaking with characteristic bluntness, President Trump cast doubt on the new regime’s prospects for stability, warning that Mojtaba Khamenei “can live in peace” only under conditions Iran has yet to demonstrate it is willing to meet. At the same time, the president underscored the remarkable early success of coordinated U.S. and Israeli military efforts, noting operations are “way beyond expectation in terms of results this early.”
In a Truth Social post Monday, Trump issued a firm warning to Tehran: any attempt to disrupt global oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz would trigger devastating consequences. Iran, he said, would be struck “twenty times harder” if it interferes with international commerce. The president further emphasized that while he does not seek total destruction, the United States retains the capability to “take out easily destroyable targets that will make it virtually impossible for Iran to ever be built back” if provoked.
Operation Epic Fury, launched on February 28, has already demonstrated the administration’s doctrine of peace through strength. According to U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), more than 5,000 targets were hit in the opening phase alone, with over 50 Iranian naval vessels damaged or destroyed within the first ten days. The campaign has focused on crippling the regime’s core military infrastructure, including command centers, IRGC headquarters, missile launch sites, air defense systems, and naval assets.
Secretary of War Pete Hegseth reinforced the scale and precision of the campaign in remarks Thursday, calling it a decisive blow to a regime long viewed as a leading sponsor of global terrorism.
“To date, we’ve struck over 7,000 targets across Iran and its military infrastructure. That is not incremental. That is overwhelming force applied with precision. And again, today will be the largest largest strike package yet, just like yesterday was,” Hegseth said.
“As I’ve said from day one, our capabilities continued to build, Iran’s continue to degrade. We’re hunting and striking death and destruction from above. Iran’s air defenses, flattened. Iran’s defense industrial base, the factories, the production lines that feed their missile and drone programs, being overwhelmingly destroyed. We’ve hit hundreds of their defense industrial base directly,” he added.
Hegseth highlighted the dramatic collapse of Iran’s offensive capabilities, noting that missile and drone attacks against U.S. forces have dropped sharply.
“Their ability to manufacture new ballistic missiles has probably taken the hardest hit of all. Ballistic missile attacks against our forces down 90% since the start of the conflict, same with one-way attack UAVs, think kamikaze drones, down 90%. Now, the Iranians will still shoot, we know that, but they would shoot a lot more if they could. But they can’t,” he said.
Naval losses have also been severe, further eroding Iran’s ability to project power in the region.
“We have damaged or sunk over 120 of their navy ships with battle damage assessments pending for many more. See, oftentimes you have to wait a few days on battle damage assessment to get the real number. Their surface fleet is no longer a factor, their submarines, they once had eleven, are gone. Their military ports are crippled. Iran has terrorized the United States and our interests for 47 years,” Hegseth declared.
Framing the conflict in stark ideological terms, Hegseth argued that the Iranian regime’s priorities expose its true nature.
“Their core industries, not steel or agriculture, tourism, their core industries are state-sponsored terrorism, proxy militias, underground networks, ballistic missiles and a violent, Messianic, Islamist ideology chasing some sort of apocalyptic end game. A regime like that refusing to abandon its nuclear ambitions is not just a regional problem, it’s a direct threat to America, to freedom and to civilization,” he said.
He concluded with a pointed message to critics at home and abroad, asserting that the global community should rally behind American leadership.
“The world, the Middle East, our ungrateful allies in Europe, even segments of our own press should be saying one thing to President Trump: Thank you. Thank you for the courage to stop this terrorist state from holding the world hostage with missiles, while building or attempting to build a nuclear bomb. Thank you for doing the work of the free world.”