President Donald Trump declared the recent U.S. bombing of three major Iranian nuclear facilities a “spectacular military success” in a brief Saturday night address, but warned that more strikes could follow if Iran refuses to negotiate.
“Iran’s key nuclear enrichment facilities have been completely and totally obliterated,” Trump asserted, implying that less significant targets remain if Iranian leaders do not back down. Standing in the White House Cross Hall, with Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth behind him, Trump conveyed a willingness to escalate into a “deeper, wider conflict,” despite stopping short of declaring war.
He pressed Iran, calling them “the bully of the Middle East,” to “make peace,” threatening that “future attacks will be far greater and a lot easier” if they do not comply. This marks a dramatic shift from weeks prior, when Trump seemed confident of a diplomatic solution to constrain Iran’s nuclear program. On Saturday, however, he insisted “many targets left” and vowed to strike them quickly if Iran remained defiant. “There will be either peace or there will be tragedy for Iran far greater than we have witnessed over the last eight days,” he stated.
Trump’s remarks came hours after his TruthSocial post announcing the strikes. For days, he had hinted at U.S. assistance to Israel, which lacks the “bunker-buster” bombs used in Saturday’s operation, to permanently dismantle Iran’s nuclear facilities. The news of U.S. involvement still came as a surprise, especially given a White House statement just two days prior that Trump might take up to two weeks to decide on military action.
During his speech, Trump commended the military generals who planned the attack, the service members who executed it, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, with whom he stated he “worked as a team.” Notably, Trump did not attempt to justify his decision to his MAGA base, which largely opposes foreign interventions, nor did he address the constitutionality of acting without congressional consultation – a point many Democrats on Capitol Hill have raised.
Instead, he announced a Pentagon press conference for Sunday morning and concluded his remarks with a word of appreciation: “I want to just thank everybody. And in particular God, I want to just say, we love you, God, and we love our great military.”
