\n President Donald Trump insisted Wednesday that the United States was nearing victory in Iran as he laid out his case more than a month into a war that has sent his approval rating tumbling.\n<\/p>\n
\n In an evening speech from the White House, Trump broke little new ground on how the war would end and vowed two to three weeks further of \"extremely hard\" strikes against Iran.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"We are going to finish the job, and we're going to finish it very fast. We're getting very close,\" he said in remarks that largely rehashed his daily streams of social-media postings and rapid media interviews.\n<\/p>\n
\n With his approval rating hitting new lows and Americans feeling a pinch from soaring oil prices, Trump offered a retroactive explanation on why he joined Israel in the attack launched on February 28.\n<\/p>\n
\n Standing before American flags, Trump delivered the type of speech most presidents would offer at the start of a conflict. Trump on February 28 instead released a video in which he was wearing a baseball cap and no tie.\n<\/p>\n
\n In his Wednesday address, Trump said the United States was aiming to crush Iran's military, end the clerical state's support for regional armed groups and prevent it from obtaining a nuclear bomb -- a prospect that the UN nuclear watchdog and many observers say was not imminent.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"I'm pleased to say that these core strategic objectives are nearing completion,\" Trump said in a 19-minute speech.\n<\/p>\n
\n Israel on the first day of the conflict killed Iran's longtime supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and Trump boasted how \"their leaders -- most of them\" in the Islamic republic are dead.\n<\/p>\n
\n But Iran has also responded by taking control over the Strait of Hormuz, the passageway out of the Gulf for one-fifth of the world's oil, which was open before the war.\n<\/p>\n
\n Gasoline prices in the United States have surged above $4 a gallon (over $1 a liter) for the first time in years, while consumer confidence has weakened, dragging down Trump's already fragile standing on the economy.\n<\/p>\n
\n Oil prices again surged in early trading Thursday and share prices tumbled, with Trump's speech dashing hopes he would call a quick end to the war.\n<\/p>\n
\n Democratic US Senator Chris Murphy said: \"Anyone watching that speech has no idea whether Trump is escalating or deescalating the war with Iran.\"\n<\/p>\n
\n \"But to be fair, neither does he so,\" Murphy wrote on X.\n<\/p>\n
\n - Bomb to 'Stone Ages' -\n<\/p>\n
\n Trump again threatened that if Iran does not reach a negotiated settlement with him, the United States would \"hit each and every one of their electric generating plants.\"\n<\/p>\n
\n Attacks on civilian energy infrastructure are widely considered to be illegal under the laws of war and could constitute a war crime.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"Over the next two to three weeks, we are going to bring them back to the Stone Ages, where they belong,\" Trump said.\n<\/p>\n
\n There was little in his address about actual diplomacy.\n<\/p>\n
\n Earlier Wednesday, Trump claimed that Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian -- an elected moderate long considered in the shadow of the military and clerical establishment -- was seeking a ceasefire.\n<\/p>\n
\n This was swiftly denied by Iran's foreign ministry, which also accused Washington of making \"maximalist and irrational\" demands.\n<\/p>\n
\n Boasting of American military might, the 79-year-old former real estate developer used one of his favorite analogies: \"We have all the cards. They have none.\"\n<\/p>\n
\n Trump offered conciliatory words to Gulf Arab allies, saying he would not let them \"get hurt or fail\" -- even though they have already been hit by more than a month of Iranian retaliatory fire that has shattered their reputation for stability.\n<\/p>\n
\n Trump again berated European allies that have balked at supporting his war -- on which he did not consult them in advance -- as he noted that they are more dependent on Gulf oil.\n<\/p>\n
\n The countries that \"receive oil through the Hormuz Strait must take care of that passage,\" Trump said, urging them to \"build up some delayed courage.\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
President Donald Trump insisted Wednesday that the United States was nearing victory in Iran as he laid out his case more than a month into a war that has sent his approval rating tumbling. In an evening speech from the White House, Trump broke little new ground on how the war would end and vowed […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":60,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[553],"tags":[],"ji_location":[],"class_list":["post-157321","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-live-feed"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n