Steve Witkoff, the US special envoy for the Middle East, listens to Donald Trump during a press conference at Trump National Doral Miami, in Doral, Florida, on March 9, 2026. ROBERTO SCHMIDT/AFP
The United States has not yet completed its "little excursion" in Iran, but it will be "ended soon." Without setting a binding timeline, Donald Trump tried to reassure the American public and the rest of the world on Monday, March 9, regarding the ongoing war that has caused major disruptions to trade and energy markets. Speaking from Florida, first before House Republicans gathered for their annual retreat and then in front of the press, the US president touted the military successes already achieved. However, he failed to outline any clear exit strategy, letting a sense of improvisation persist as events unfolded.
"We could call it a tremendous success right now. Or we could go further. And we're going to go further. The big risk of that war has been over for three days," Trump argued. According to him, the US and Israel are far ahead of their operational schedule, already accomplishing what they had expected to achieve in a month.
Trump claimed that 90% of Iran's ballistic missile capabilities had been destroyed, and 80% of its drones as well. The latest assessment from the Pentagon cited 5,000 targets struck since February 28. Trump did not comment on the future of the new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, whose father, Ali Khamenei, was killed at the start of "Operation Epic Fury." He continues to favor an internal solution for a transition, similar to the recent model in Venezuela, but did not put forward any proposals to support that scenario, all while continuing to bomb the country.
