‘Not looking for a ceasefire, but a total and complete victory,’ says Trump on Iran war

US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that he is not looking for a ceasefire in the Iran-Israel war but a total and complete victory, which he clarified means ‘no nuclear weapon’. Trump further said that he believes Iran was “a few weeks away” from having a nuclear weapon.

Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, Trump said, “We’re not looking for a ceasefire. We’re looking for a total and complete victory. Again, you know what the victory is: no nuclear weapon.”

Replying to a question when asked what he would say to Americans who don’t want the US to get involved in another war overseas, Trump said, “I don’t want to get involved either, but I’ve been saying for 20 years, maybe longer, that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon. I’ve been saying it for a long time, and I think they were a few weeks away from having one,” he said.

“Iran can’t have a nuclear weapon, too much devastation. And they’d use it,” he added. “You know, I believe they’d use it. Others won’t use it, but I believe they’d use it. So that’s it. It’s very simple.”

The president then suggested that he hasn’t yet made a final decision on how to handle the conflict between Israel and Iran.

“I have ideas as to what to do,” he said. “I like to make the final decision one second before it’s due, because things change, especially with war. Things change with war. It can go from one extreme to the other.”

The president then told reporters that he has another meeting in the White House Situation Room in an hour.

“We’re having a meeting in an hour. I have a meeting in the war room in a little while, Situation Room, as some people call it,” he told reporters in the Oval Office.

Trump also claimed that Iran wants to come to the White House to discuss potential negotiations. “They want to meet, but it’s late to meet,” he reiterated.

On being asked if the US would play a role in dismantling Iran’s Fordow nuclear facility, Trump said, “We’re the only ones that have the capability to do it, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to do it—at all.”

“For 40 years, they’ve been saying ‘death to America’. If you go back 15 years, I was saying we cannot let Iran have a nuclear weapon. I’m not looking to fight, but if it’s a choice between fighting and them having a nuclear weapon, you have to do what you have to do. And maybe we won’t have to fight.”

Meanwhile, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said in a testimony earlier on Wednesday that the department is prepared to execute any military decisions that Trump makes as president, but declined to share details about plans under consideration when it comes to Iran.