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'Nobody wants to be leader of Iran', says Trump; praises US military strength

'Nobody wants to be leader of Iran', says Trump; praises US military strength

U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a ceremony awarding the Commander-in-Chief Trophy to the Navy Midshipmen football team in the East Room of the White House March 20 Photograph: (AFP)

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US President Donald Trump says that America is ‘doing extremely well in Iran’, claims major military losses, and vows Iran won’t get nuclear weapons

At the Commander-in-Chief Trophy presentation at the White House, US President Donald Trump on Friday (March 20) said the United States is ‘doing extremely well in Iran’. He claimed Iran has ‘no navy anymore’ and that 58 ships were ‘knocked down’ in just two days, while emphasizing that the US has the ‘greatest navy anywhere in the world’. “We're doing really well,” he said, adding that the US will not allow Iran to develop nuclear weapons because 'if they had them, they'd use them'.

Trump went on to list Iran’s military assets, including its navy, air force, anti-aircraft systems, radar, and leadership, saying ‘they are all gone’. "Now nobody wants to be a leader over there anymore," he added. “We want to talk to them, but we have nobody to talk to.” "We like it that way," he said. He also asserted that Iran aimed to dominate the Middle East, repeating that ‘if they had a nuclear weapon, they would have used it’. The US had to intervene, he said, and it "should have been done long ago'.

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Donald Trump was presenting the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy to the Navy Midshipmen football team during the ceremony at the White House on Friday afternoon. The trophy is awarded each year to the winner of the college football series between the Army, Navy, and Air Force academies. In December 2025, the US Navy claimed its second straight title with a narrow 17–16 victory over the Army on December 13, 2025. Trump attended that championship game alongside Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Army Secretary Dan Driscoll, Navy Secretary John Phelan, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Dan Caine.

Disclaimer: WION takes utmost care to accurately and responsibly report ongoing conflicts in West Asia involving Israel, Iran, the US, Gulf nations, and non-state actors like Hezbollah, Hamas, Houthis, Islamic State, and others. Claims and counterclaims, disinformation and misinformation are being made online and offline. Given this context, WION cannot independently verify the authenticity of all statements, social media posts, photos, and videos.

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Jatin Verma

With over 12 years of experience in journalism, Jatin is currently working as Senior Sub-Editor at WION. He brings a dynamic and insightful voice to both the sports and the world o...Read More