Nearly two weeks after the United States and Israel began their joint military strikes on Iran, U.S. President Donald Trump issued another threat to Iran on Wednesday afternoon.
Trump told reporters that Iran’s navy and air force have suffered significant damage. He added that Iran now lacks anti-aircraft systems or radar, suggesting these losses would prevent Iran from defending itself against more strikes. “Their leaders are gone,” Trump said. “And we could do a lot worse.”
Trump added, “We could take them out by this afternoon, in fact. Within an hour, they literally would never be able to build that country back.”
PRESIDENT TRUMP: “They’ve lost their navy. They’ve lost their air force. They have no anti-aircraft apparatus at all. They have no radar. Their leaders are gone. And we could do a lot worse.”
“We could take them out by this afternoon, in fact, within an hour, they literally… pic.twitter.com/j8maBGWr1B
— Fox News (@FoxNews) March 11, 2026
No Iranian representatives had responded to Trump as of publication.
The New York Times reported that over 1,800 people have died in Iran and elsewhere, including seven U.S. military members, since the strikes began on Feb. 28. Many senior Iranian leaders, including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, died during the initial strikes. At least another 140 U.S. military members are believed to have been injured.
Arguably, the most notable incident came hours into the first set of attacks, when a missile killed at least 165 people at an all-girls elementary school in southern Iran. Trump has since blamed Iran when he spoke with reporters about the strike on the Shajarah Tayyebeh Girls’ School, and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth confirmed that an investigation is underway.
Israel has publicly denied involvement. Trump and members of his administration, including Hegseth and White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, have insisted that Iran is responsible for a significant amount of civilian deaths. Pentagon chief spokesman Sean Parnell called Iran “increasingly desperate” in an X post last weekend.
“This is a blatant and intentional tactic: using innocent Iranian civilians as human shields,” Leavitt wrote. “We’ve seen this cowardly strategy before — it’s no accident.”
The Iranian regime is growing increasingly desperate, deliberately positioning missile and drone launchers in densely populated civilian neighborhoods, near distribution centers, and inside residential areas.
This is a blatant and intentional tactic: using innocent Iranian…
— Sean Parnell (@SeanParnellASW) March 8, 2026
Leavitt then accused Iran of “launching indiscriminate attacks” on civilians throughout the Gulf region. She claimed the targets include neighborhoods, hotels, and international airports, among others. “Unlike Iran, the United States never targets civilians, and we will continue to act with precision, targeting only those who threaten us and our allies, and we will not relent,” Leavitt wrote.
Trump has not announced when Israel or Iran could potentially stop the joint military strikes. South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham recently suggested that Trump and the U.S. military will target Havana, Cuba, when they are done in Iran.
As of March 11, Trump has not publicly said whether the U.S. will move its military to Cuba anytime soon. Trump previously launched a military operation in Venezuela on Jan. 3, capturing Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores. The two pleaded not guilty to drug trafficking and narco-terrorism charges in January, and their next court date is set for March 17 in New York.
