President Donald Trump during a visit to a Venezuelan restaurant on March 9, 2026, in Doral, Fla.
| Photo Credit: AP
U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday (March 10, 2026) pushed the idea of the Iran war ending soon, but remained vague on a timeline for ending the attacks that have rocked West Asia and shaken the global economy.
Markets jumped when Mr. Trump suggested to CBS News that the U.S.-Israeli assault was “very complete,” but during a later speech and press conference he offered shifting accounts of what to expect.
Israel-Iran war LIVE
“I think soon. Very soon,” Mr. Trump told reporters at his Doral National golf club near Miami, Florida, when asked if he thought the war could end in days or weeks. “Everything they have is gone including their leadership.”
But Mr. Trump also pressed for what he called “ultimate victory” against Tehran’s clerical establishment, which over the weekend picked the son of slain supreme leader Ali Khamenei as its new chief.
Mr. Trump said the United States was saving some of the “most important” targets in Iran for possible later strikes if needed, including the country’s electrical grid.
On oil supplies via Strait of Hormuz
The U.S. leader also threatened an attack of “incalculable” size if Tehran blocks oil supplies coming through the Strait of Hormuz, as crude prices spike over the war in West Asia.
“And if Iran does anything to do that, they’ll get hit at a much, much harder level,” Mr. Trump told the news conference. “We will hit them so hard that it will not be possible for them or anybody else helping them to ever recover that section of the world, if they do anything.”
At the same time Mr. Trump played down the scale of the conflict, which has not been approved by the U.S. Congress, repeatedly calling it an “excursion” rather than a war.
Republican Trump has faced criticism over the mixed messages coming from his administration about the goals of the Iran war, particularly over whether he is seeking full-scale regime change or not.
He declined to say whether new leader Mojtaba Khamenei had a target on his back, saying only that his appointment was “not good.”
But the U.S. President, who has said he should be involved in picking Iran’s new leader in the same way as with Venezuela in January, said he preferred an “internal” candidate rather than an external one.
‘Positive’ call with Putin
Mr. Trump added that he had a “positive phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the Ukraine and Iran wars.
“He wants to be helpful” on West Asia , he said of Mr. Putin, who backs Iran and invaded Ukraine in 2022.
Perspectives on the West Asian conflict
Mr. Trump latest comments came about an hour after the Pentagon posted on social media that the United States had “only just begun to fight.”
Yet in his speech to Republican leaders at Doral shortly after the CBS interview, he again appeared to hint at more conflict to come. “We’ve already won in many ways, but we haven’t won enough,” Mr. Trump said.
Published – March 10, 2026 05:27 am IST
