President Donald Trump said that Iran wants to make a deal with the United States, but that it is not good enough for him to accept.
“The Fake News Media hates to report how well the United States Military has done against Iran, which is totally defeated and wants a deal – But not a deal that I would accept!” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
Trump’s announcement comes just over a week after he said there would be no deal made with Tehran to end Operation Epic Fury “except UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER.” He told Axios that unconditional surrender could mean that the Iranians “announce it” or “when they can’t fight any longer because they don’t have anyone or anything to fight with.”
TRUMP ENDORSEMENT TRACKER: HERE’S WHO THE PRESIDENT HAS PICKED IN GOP MIDTERM ELECTION PRIMARIES
This week, the Trump administration has celebrated that with not much left to strike in Iran, the end of the war could soon be in sight. The President echoed this in his overnight Truth Social post, saying Iran is “totally defeated.” War Secretary Pete Hegseth said Friday that with the near-complete obliteration of the Iranian military, the next phase of the war is to destroy Iran’s arms manufacturing supply chain.
“But it’s not just that Iran doesn’t have a functioning air force, or that their entire navy is at the bottom of the Persian Gulf, or their missile force is shrinking daily. Even more importantly, they also don’t have the ability to build more. That’s the most important component I’d like to emphasize today,” Hegseth said in a Friday morning press conference.
TRUMP LAUNCHES STRIKES ON IRANIAN OIL LIFELINE KHARG ISLAND
The U.S. military mission and its attacks on Iranian regime facilities are still in full force, as the U.S. military struck military targets on Kharg Island on Friday. Trump said the bombing raid “totally obliterated every MILITARY target” on the Iranian oil lifeline.
Since the operation began on Feb. 28, 13 American service members have died in the war. Six of these service members died on Thursday, when a refueling aircraft crashed in Iraq. About 200 American service members have been injured in the war, 30 of whom have not been cleared to return to duty.