President Donald Trump observes a military demonstration at Fort Bragg, North Carolina on Tuesday, June 10, 2025, during a visit to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Army. (Official White House Photo by Daniel Torok)
Donald Trump on Wednesday claimed that he can end the war in Iran "any time I want it," according to an exclusive interview with Axios, claiming that after nearly two weeks of costly strikes, there is "practically nothing left to target."
Trump has asserted frequently in the last week that the joint military operation against Iran with Israel is moving well ahead of schedule and could end very soon, though he has remained vague and scattered about what sorts of goals would signal a victory. Claims about trying to implement regime change have largely fallen flat, with the Iranian government replacing its previous supreme leader with his son, Mojtaba Khamenei, who reports indicate might be more hard-line than his father.
During a speech on Feb. 28, Trump claimed that the main goals involved the general decimation of Iran's military capabilities and the destabilization of its influence on "terrorist proxies" in the region. He also claimed that the strikes were aiming to destroy Iran's nuclear program, despite previously claiming that airstrikes last summer had already done so.
On Wednesday, Trump conducted a five-minute phone interview with Axios, where he made his claim about how quickly things could wrap, while again remaining mum on specifics.
"Little this and that. ... Any time I want it to end, it will end," Trump told the outlet. "The war is going great. We are way ahead of the timetable. We have done more damage than we thought possible, even in the original six-week period."
These claims come as global oil prices continue to skyrocket as a direct result of the conflict in Iran, with U.S. allies taking historic action in response. On Wednesday, BBC News reported that the 32-member states of the International Energy Agency (IEA) — including the U.S. and the U.K. — will release 400 million gallons of emergency reserve oil to address supply disruptions that are "unprecedented in scale." This plan dwarfs previous emergency releases, with the agency dispensing only 200 million gallons in response to the Russia-Ukraine war in 2022.
He further claimed that the campaign against Iran was "payback" for its conduct in the Middle East over the last several decades,
"They were after the rest of the Middle East," Trump said. "They are paying for 47 years of death and destruction they caused. This is payback. They will not get off that easy."
As Axios noted, American and Israeli officials have "no internal directive" for when the joint operation will conclude. During the phone call, Trump declined to give a timeline estimate, while officials are said to be preparing for at least another two weeks of military action.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz, meanwhile, signaled on Wednesday that the conflict could play out indefinitely, claiming that it is being carried out "without any time limit, for as long as necessary, until we achieve all the objectives and decisively win the campaign."