During his first address to the nation on the Iran war, U.S. president Donald Trump claimed the war was “nearing completion” and that almost all of America’s military objectives were accomplished.
However, the President offered little clarity on how he would wind down the war that has led to a dip in his approval ratings in the U.S.
Trump said: Tonight, I’m pleased to say that these core strategic objectives are nearing completion … In these past four weeks, our armed forces have delivered swift, decisive, overwhelming victories on the battlefield – victories like few people have ever seen before.”
He added: “The countries of the world that … receive oil through the Hormuz Strait must take care of that passage. Just take it, protect it, use it for yourselves.”
He also thanked “our allies in the Middle East – Israel, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the UAE, Kuwait and Bahrain. They’ve been great, and we will not let them get hurt or fail in any way, shape or form”.
He, however, threatened to strike Iran “extremely hard” over the next two to three weeks and bring “them back to the Stone Ages, where they belong”.
This is not the first time Trump has trumpeted “two to three weeks” as a timeline to end a crisis. Over his years at the helm of affairs in the U.S., there have been several times when he has touted this as a deadline to end any conflict.
Last year, as tensions with Iran escalated, the president said that he would decide on whether to order US warplanes to strike Iranian nuclear facilities within the next two weeks, depending on whether or not Tehran engages in talks over ending their nuclear weapons program.
In a statement relayed through White House Press Secretary, Karoline Leavitt, Trump said: “ Based on the fact that there’s a substantial chance of negotiations that may or may not take place with Iran in the near future, I will make my decision whether or not to go within the next two weeks.”
Before this, in May last year, when Trump was pressed on whether Russian President Vladimir Putin was serious about ending the war in Ukraine, he said: “We’ll know in about two weeks,” setting a short deadline that ultimately passed without a breakthrough.
“Within two weeks. We’re gonna find out whether or not (Putin is) tapping us along or not. And if he is, we’ll respond a little bit differently,” the president said.
Then again in July, Trump said he was “very disappointed” with Putin and shortened Russia’s deadline from 50 days to about 10–12 days to make progress on ending the Ukraine war or face tougher sanctions.
Throughout his campaign and presidency, Trump has repeatedly promised to end the war quickly – initially claiming he could do it in 24 hours, before shifting to longer timelines, including weeks.
In January this year, Trump revived the infamous “two weeks” timeline when he was asked about his proposed deal involving Greenland. Flying back from Davos, he promised yet another major announcement on his “concept of a deal” on Greenland.
“We’ll have something in two weeks,” he said, according to Mediaite. “There’s a good spirit to get something done, and we have to have a strong freedom.
“We have to have the ability to do exactly what we want to do. We have a great military. I built a great military. I did this in my first term and continuation, big continuation.”
