US President Donald Trump said Iran has been “militarily defeated," while cautioning that the conflict may not yet be over, during an interview with Full Measure.
In the wide-ranging interview, Trump discussed the state of Iran’s military capabilities, the status of Iran’s nuclear program, the possibility of additional military operations, and the role of the US and NATO in the region.
Asked by host Sharyl Attkisson whether the war with Iran was over, paused, or still active, Trump said Iran had suffered a major military defeat, while emphasizing that the situation could still evolve.
Trump responded, “Well, they’re militarily defeated. In their own minds, maybe they don’t know that. But I think they do because I deal with them."
“And we cannot ever let Iran have a nuclear weapon," he added. “But they are militarily defeated. They have no Navy. They have no Air Force. They have no anti-aircraft weaponry. They have no radar."
Trump also stated that Iran’s leadership structure had been severely damaged.
“They have no leaders. Their leaders are gone. The first set, the A team is gone, the B team is gone, and part of the C team is gone," he said.
Trump said that from a military standpoint, “if we left today, it would take them 20 years to rebuild."
Attkisson later asked Trump about Iran’s enriched uranium and whether the material had been secured.
Trump responded, “Well, we’ll get that at some point, whatever we want. We’ll have it surveilled."
Referring to the US Space Force, he added, “If anybody got near the place, we will know about it. And we’ll blow them up."
Pressed on whether combat operations had concluded, Trump said the conflict could continue if necessary.
“No, I didn’t say that. I said they are - they are defeated, but that doesn’t mean they are done," Trump replied.
“We could go in for two more weeks and do every single target," he continued. “We have certain targets that we wanted, and we’ve done probably 70 percent of them."
Trump added that even without additional strikes, “it would take them many years to rebuild."
The President repeatedly returned to the issue of Iran’s nuclear ambitions during the interview.
“We cannot let Iran have a nuclear weapon because they’re crazy. We cannot let them have access to nuclear," Trump said.
He criticized the Iran nuclear agreement reached under former President Barack Obama, saying, “If I didn’t terminate the Iran nuclear deal, they would have had it. And they would have used it on Israel and the Middle East right now."
Trump also referenced the killing of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani, calling him “an evil genius" and “an evil guy."
Trump also spoke at length about US strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities and defended the decision to carry out the operation.
“When those beautiful B-2 bombers attacked eight months ago and attacked their potential nuclear site, they would have had a nuclear weapon within two weeks if we didn’t," he said.
“That’s why I had to go in," he said. “I knew that they were going to have a nuclear weapon."
Trump stated that the attack “obliterated" the site, adding, “If we didn’t do that, they would have already blown up Israel, in my opinion."
Toward the end of the interview, Attkisson asked Trump about the future role of the US and NATO following the conflict.
“Well, NATO has proven to be a paper tiger," Trump said.
He said the US intervention was carried out “to help Israel and Saudi Arabia and Qatar and UAE and others," while arguing that the United States does not rely on the strategic waterway in question.
Trump also said the United States is “now producing more oil and gas than Russia, and Saudi Arabia put together," adding that “by the end of this year, that number will probably double."