In an interview with Fox News on Tuesday, President Donald Trump said U.S. strikes on Iran will continue until he says “it’s enough,” threatening to bomb Iran’s bridges and power plants as soon as “next week.” The president also did not rule out the possibility of a ground campaign in Iran.
During the interview, Trump delivered mixed messages over the state of negotiations with Iran, saying “I don’t want to negotiate,” while also saying the strikes will continue “unless” Iran negotiates. Trump also claimed that U.S. negotiators had communicated with Iran earlier this afternoon and demanded they make a deal.
Regarding U.S. strikes and what’s next for the war, Trump said: “They’ll continue until I say it’s enough … You know the word the military likes to use is degrade. They’ve been degraded to a very low level,” Trump said.
When Trump was asked if his objectives could be completed in an air campaign alone, he claimed his objectives were already “completed.”
But moments later, Trump notably did not rule out a ground campaign.
Fox News’ Trey Yingst asked: “Are you ruling out a ground campaign in a limited capacity?”
Trump replied: “Well– I don’t want to say that either. But I would say no — if I, if I thought it was appropriate. Sometimes you need a ground campaign, but we have other people that will do the ground campaign for us.”