President Donald Trump threatened that the United States would bring Iran "back to the Stone Ages where they belong" as he made the case for the war on Iran in a primetime address to the nation on April 1.
Trump claimed that "we are on track to complete all of America's military objectives shortly," but did not give a timeframe on when the war would end. He said that the command of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps is "being decimated as we speak" and that "their missiles are just about used up or beaten."
Al Jazeera and The Times of Israel both reported that Iran launched missiles at Israel shortly after the speech concluded.
The president claimed that gas prices, a pain point for Americans during the war, would go down once the United States withdrew from the war and that the Strait of Hormuz would reopen "automatically." He also called on countries that are reliant on oil that passes through the waterway to "grab it" and "take the lead in protecting the oil."
The speech came as domestic support for the war is low, and as Trump's personal approval rating has fallen for his second term. White House officials leading up to the event were already signaling they planned to withdraw from the fight soon.
