Fact check: Trump’s speech on war against Iran and familiar claims that don’t hold up

By Press TV Website Staff

US President Donald Trump’s speech on Thursday had built anticipation that a major announcement would be made regarding the war against Iran.

Many expected him either to signal an end to the costly military campaign or to announce a significant escalation. Instead, the remarks – and the claims – were largely familiar, echoing what he has repeatedly told friendly media outlets and posted on social media.

In the 20-minute address, he largely regurgitated the same talking points that fueled this unprovoked and unjustified war in the first place.

Here, we examine – and debunk – some of the key claims made in the speech.

Trump said US military has nearly completed its goals in the Iran war

This claim does not withstand scrutiny. As the US president searches for an off-ramp after more than a month of a costly military campaign, the reality is increasingly clear: the aggressor has failed to achieve its stated objectives despite deploying overwhelming force.

According to observers, the war’s primary goals – widely described as unprovoked and unnecessary – have all fallen short. These include “regime change,” curbing Iran’s missile capabilities, dismantling its nuclear program, and, more recently, reopening the strategic waterway of the Strait of Hormuz.

The Islamic Republic remains intact and operational. A new Leader has assumed office and continues to steer the system, while assassinated military commanders have been replaced, as also seen during the 12-day war, with successors actively directing operations.

Iran’s missile capabilities also remain intact, evidenced by sustained, high-intensity operations against American and Israeli targets across the region. Key infrastructure, including underground missile bases, remains largely unaffected, while Iranian forces continue to impose costs on their adversaries.

Iran’s nuclear program – peaceful in nature – has likewise endured. Despite illegal and unjustified strikes on certain nuclear facilities and the assassination of nuclear scientists, the underlying indigenous expertise and technological base remain in place.

Finally, the Strait of Hormuz remains closed to US and allied vessels. Efforts to reopen it have thus far failed, with even Washington signaling a shift in its priorities.

Trump said the US is "systemically dismantling the regime's ability to threaten America or project power outside of their borders."

Iran has never posed a threat to the US or any of the regional countries. In fact, unlike the US, Iran has never initiated a war in its history. The Islamic Republic has always acted in self-defense, which is its legitimate right under international law.

In the True Promise 1 and 2, Iranian armed forces struck the occupied territories in self-defense after the Israeli regime attacked Iranian commanders and assets in the region.

In the True Promise 3, it was the Israeli regime, followed by the US, that initiated an unprovoked and illegal aggression against the Islamic Republic, leading to the assassination of a number of Iranian commanders, nuclear scientists, and ordinary citizens.

This time, again, it was the Israeli-American war machine that attacked the Islamic Republic and assassinated the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, along with some top-ranking military commanders and political leaders.

As Iran had previously warned, it retaliated powerfully against Israeli military and strategic facilities and US military bases scattered across the region.

Trump said US objectives are largely achieved, claiming Iran's military, missile, and nuclear capabilities have been "decimated."

This claim is a rehash of what the US president has repeatedly stated in his social media posts over the past four weeks, with facts on the ground scoffing at his assertions.

Iranian military capabilities, including its missile launches, are very much in place, which is demonstrated by the fact that it continues to launch barrages of missiles and drones at Israeli and American targets across the region every single day and night.

Already, 90 waves of missile and drone strikes have been conducted under Operation True Promise 4, decimating Israeli-American military infrastructure in the region.

It has been acknowledged by military observers worldwide that the Iranian missile arsenal is by far the most expansive in the world, featuring a number of underground missile cities.

Iran's indigenous nuclear program is also intact, despite multiple fresh strikes against some nuclear facilities in the past few weeks.

As Iranian officials have emphasized, it cannot be eliminated with a few strikes on physical sites or the assassination of nuclear scientists. The knowledgeable are indestructible.

Trump said Iran's navy and air force are gone and missiles are depleted

The Iranian Navy is still there, despite the cowardly American attack on one of its frigates in international waters that led to the martyrdom of over 100 sailors.

The Iranian Navy is still there, despite the assassination of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) commander Brigadier General Alireza Tangsiri and other commanders with him.

The Iranian Navy is very much alive and stronger than ever, which was demonstrated by the operations it carried out in the past few days, especially on Wednesday, involving the launch of more than 100 heavy missiles, attack drones, and 200 rockets across a vast operational radius spanning tens of thousands of kilometers throughout West Asia, from north to south of the occupied territories, targeting American and Zionist positions.

These strikes targeted locations in "Eilat," "Tel Aviv," and "Bnei Brak," focusing on military sites and gatherings of Israeli forces. A hideout of US occupation forces in Bahrain, housing 80 personnel, was also struck with a precision missile.

Two early warning air radar systems operated by US forces in the region, stationed on a maritime structure in the waters and islands of the UAE, were destroyed with high precision.

An oil tanker belonging to the Israeli regime, operating under the trade name "Aqua 1," was also precisely targeted and is currently burning in the central Persian Gulf region.

A secret and covert assembly point of US forces outside the perimeter of the enemy's Fifth Fleet in Bahrain was struck with multiple attack drones and ballistic missiles. According to field reports, a large number of senior naval officers were transferred to hospitals in the city of Manama following the attack.

The "Chinook" helicopter preparation center and its equipment storage hangars at Al-Udeid base were struck using a combination of ballistic missiles and drones.

Several formations of attack drones were also launched at the "Abraham Lincoln" carrier strike group in the northern Indian Ocean, which, according to documentation and satellite imagery, has fled its previous position and retreated deeper into the Indian Ocean.

Similarly, the Iranian Air Force is very much there, which is demonstrated by its daily missile and drone strikes at targets across the occupied territories and the wider region.

Trump said "regime change" has already occurred in Iran

This is a claim he has repeated in his interviews and social media posts as well, and it has already been debunked by many, including Western journalists and political pundits.

The war of aggression, launched amid indirect nuclear talks between Tehran and Washington under Omani mediation on February 28, was initially aimed at "regime change" in Iran. The first wave specifically targeted the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, and some top-ranking military commanders.

Unlike the 12-day war in June last year – which also came in the middle of nuclear diplomacy – when all overt and covert attempts to assassinate the Leader failed, this time "regime change" proponents in Washington and Tel Aviv presumed the foundations of the Islamic Republic had been shaken and that its collapse was imminent.

Immediately after launching the so-called 'Operation Epic Fury,' Trump expressed hope that the Iranian people would overthrow their government once the US-Israeli strikes ended.

"When we are finished, take over your government. It will be yours to take," he said, addressing Iranians, while not ruling out American boots on the ground.

According to one observer who spoke to Press TV, the plan was to reenact the Venezuela scenario in Iran, albeit with far greater military force than was deployed in Caracas.

Last week, after nearly all US military bases and assets in the region were decimated in Iranian retaliatory strikes, Trump claimed that "regime change" had already occurred in Iran, referring to the election of Ayatollah Seyyed Mojtaba Khamenei as the new Leader.

Many social media users mocked the claim, saying the US-Israeli war machine failed to even change the revolutionary slogans, let alone bring about "regime change."

The Islamic Republic is not individual-centric but system-centric. Regimes fall, and democratic republics only become stronger.

Trump said Iran was 'right at the doorstep' of making a nuclear weapon

Before the war, Trump repeatedly framed Iran's nuclear program as a central threat and threatened military action to dismantle Iranian nuclear infrastructure – over eight months after he had claimed the program was "obliterated."

In his State of the Union address on February 24, the US president – rebuffing his own intelligence agency – accused Iran of restarting its nuclear program and claimed it was pursuing capabilities capable of threatening Europe and even the United States.

The fact is that Iran has repeatedly asserted that it is not pursuing nuclear weapons and that its nuclear program is purely for peaceful purposes, rooted in the fatwa (religious decree) issued by the martyred Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Khamenei.

It was Trump who unilaterally walked out of the Iran nuclear deal in May 2018 and reimposed crippling sanctions on Iran. In response, Iran was forced to ramp up its uranium enrichment, but it remains nowhere close to weapons-grade.

Unlike the Israeli regime, which is not a signatory to the NPT, Iran has signed the treaty and has allowed regular inspections of its nuclear sites. And so far, the UN agency has found nothing that would give the impression that Iran's nuclear program is not peaceful in nature.

Even IAEA chief Rafael Grossi, who is closely aligned with the Zionist regime, has acknowledged that Iran is nowhere close to making a nuclear bomb.

Trump said his first preference was always the path of diplomacy

The latest war of aggression was launched in the middle of indirect nuclear talks between Tehran and Washington under Omani mediation on February 28. The war in June last year was also launched by the Israeli regime, with American permission, in the middle of talks.

Both times, Iran's good faith was betrayed by the Trump administration, resorting to foolhardy military adventurism in the middle of nuclear diplomacy.

In the recent talks in Muscat and Oman, Iranian mediators went out of their way to reassure that the Iranian nuclear program had no diversions and was completely peaceful. They maintained that Iran was not looking to build a nuclear weapon. In fact, both sides and the Omani mediators had acknowledged progress in the talks.

It was Trump who pulled the US from the landmark 2015 nuclear deal, under which Iran had agreed to restrict its nuclear enrichment in exchange for sanctions relief.

So, it is clear who is in favor of diplomacy to resolve the issues. It is not the US, nor the Trump administration. It has always been the Islamic Republic of Iran.

The wars have been imposed on the Islamic Republic since the Trump administration was hijacked by Zionist interests. This is even admitted by Western commentators. 'Israel First' has effectively replaced 'America First.'

Trump said the US imports 'almost no oil' through the Strait of Hormuz

According to the US Energy Information Administration, as cited by some US media outlets as well, the US imported 0.5 million barrels per day of crude oil and condensate through the Strait of Hormuz in 2024.

That accounted for 7 percent of US crude oil and condensate imports and 2 percent of petroleum liquids consumption. So, contrary to Trump's claim, the US does receive oil through the Strait of Hormuz, which has now been halted in the wake of the unprovoked and illegal war against Iran.

The effective shutdown of the strait has disrupted global supply and triggered a sharp surge in oil prices, with Brent crude climbing toward record levels. Analysts warn prices could reach $200 per barrel if the war of aggression persists and the US refuses Iranian demands.

The rise in crude prices has quickly filtered into the US gasoline market. Average prices have climbed above $4 per gallon, while diesel has approached $5–$6 per gallon in many states – levels not seen in years. This surge is fueling growing discontent across the United States.

Beyond crude, the closure of the strait to US and allied vessels has also disrupted LNG, fertilizer, and other key commodities. Logistics costs and insurance premiums have surged, intensifying inflationary pressures in the US, particularly through higher transportation, food, and industrial costs.

American consumers are increasingly feeling the strain, both at the pump and in their household budgets, as rising energy prices ripple through everyday expenses, according to US media reports.

Democrats in the US, and some Republicans too, have sharply criticized Trump and his administration over the spike in energy prices. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) posted on X a screenshot of a New York Times article, stating that the "White House failed to prepare for rising oil prices from his reckless war."

Trump said Iran's ballistic missiles could have reached the US soon

This is another claim that fails the fact-check test. The range of Iranian missiles is limited to 2,000 kilometers, and that hasn't changed up to this moment. The recent claim about an Iranian attack on Diego Garcia island, roughly 5,000 km away, was denied by Iran.

So, to this day, Iran has not developed an ICBM that could hit targets across continents, because Iran has no intention of doing so. Iranian missiles are meant for self-defense and primarily to deter the Israeli regime.

As witnessed, Iranian armed forces have targeted Israeli and American assets in the region during this war, not the mainland US. That proves Trump's claim is unsubstantiated.

As observers note, Trump's claim is rooted in remarks by Israeli premier Benjamin Netanyahu, who previously claimed that Iran was developing missiles that could reach American cities. It was meant to instill fear in Americans and push the US government into direct confrontation with the Islamic Republic.

Trump said the war is "a true investment" for American children and future generations

This claim is debunked by Americans themselves. They are firmly opposed to the war against Iran and similar military adventures across the world that do not serve US interests.

Trump's approval rating has dropped to 36 percent amid this war, the lowest since his return to the White House, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Monday.

Another poll by Fox News placed Trump's disapproval rating at 59 percent, the highest recorded across both of his terms, amid mounting dissatisfaction over the war against Iran.

The survey, published on Wednesday, found that nearly 60 percent of Americans disapprove of Trump's performance – the highest level since his initial election in 2016.

A striking 59 percent of respondents said they disapprove of Trump's performance as president, while 47 percent indicated that they "strongly disapprove."

This weekend, more than seven million Americans took to the streets across the US in 'No Kings' demonstrations against Trump's disastrous domestic and foreign policies, particularly the unprovoked and illegal war against the Islamic Republic of Iran.

More than 3,200 marches were held across all 50 states, with organizers describing it as the "single largest non-violent day of action" in American history – against Trump.

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