President Donald Trump on Tuesday pledged to strike every Iranian power plant and bridge in the coming weeks while noting any ground campaign would likely not involve U.S. troops.The president made the comments in an interview with Fox News’s Trey Yingst, where he gave his updated perspective on the conflict with Tehran following a fragile ceasefire agreement crumbling after Iran launched strikes on commercial ships, an action that has been met with a dayslong U.S. strike campaign.Trump laid out Iranian resources that would become targets over the next few weeks if Tehran does not come to an agreement with Washington to put an end to hostilities. He also said more strikes are heading for Iran on Tuesday night and each day after until Tehran sits for peace talks.
“I’ll save the energy targets for last, but ultimately we’ll hit energy targets,” Trump said. “We’re going to hit them very hard tonight. We’re going to hit them very hard tomorrow night. We’re going to hit them very hard the night after, and then next week it gets really bad for them because next week comes the power plants. Next week comes the bridges. We’re going to knock out all their power plants. We’re going to knock out all their bridges unless they get to the table and negotiate.”Trump made similar threats against Iranian energy infrastructure in the early days of the war. He had declared April 7 would be “plant day,” and then threatened energy assets again on April 19.Yingst asked the president if the objectives of barring Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon and reopening the Strait of Hormuz could be reached solely through air campaigns, or would a ground invasion be necessary to reach Washington’s goals.Trump said he sees U.S. objectives as being “completed,” but later said he wouldn’t rule out a ground operation if he decides to seize Kharg Island.TRUMP SAYS ‘I WOULD’ INVADE IRAN’S KHARG ISLAND IF ‘WE DEGRADE THEM’ ENOUGH“Sometimes you need a ground campaign, but we have other people that will do the ground campaign for us,” the president said.Trump reaffirmed that Tehran “wants to make a deal,” but noted, “every time they make a deal, they break it.” He added that his “representatives” talked to Iran about an hour before the president sat down for the interview, and Trump’s people urged Iran to make a deal. He also said U.S. forces are “being very careful with the civilian population.”
