President Donald Trump informed reporters on Friday he’s not keen on a ceasefire with Iran.
“We may have dialogue, however I do not need to do a ceasefire,” Trump stated from the White Home South Garden earlier than departing for Florida. “You understand you do not do a ceasefire whenever you’re actually obliterating the opposite facet.”
“They do not have a navy. They do not have an air power. They haven’t any gear,” Trump continued.
Trump’s feedback come practically three weeks into the U.S.-Israel warfare towards Iran, which has changed into a broader regional battle. They sign no fast finish to the battle, which despatched shares tumbling on Friday and has precipitated oil costs to soar.
US President Donald Trump speaks to journalists earlier than boarding Marine One as he departs from the South Garden of the White Home in Washington, DC, on March 20, 2026.
Brendan Smialowski | AFP | Getty Photos
Earlier Friday, Trump stated in a cellphone name with MS Now’s Stephanie Ruhle the U.S. may finish the warfare “proper now,” however that he deliberate to press on with the offensive.
“I believe we have received,” he stated Friday from the South Garden. “All they’re doing is obstructing up the Strait [of Hormuz]. However from a navy standpoint, they’re completed.”
Iran has successfully blocked off the Strait of Hormuz, a essential channel for oil and different items, for the reason that begin of the warfare. Trump has blasted NATO allies in an try and recruit extra assist to assist open the strait, which he stated once more Friday does not matter to the U.S.
The majority of the vitality shipments via the strait are destined for Asian markets. However the Dallas Fed, in a report launched Friday, stated the financial results of the closure will hit around the globe, together with within the U.S.
Trump, talking to reporters Friday afternoon, portrayed reopening the strait as easy supplied different firms come to the U.S.’s help.
“It is a easy navy maneuver, it is comparatively secure,” he stated. “However you want quite a lot of assist in the sense of you want ships, you want quantity. And NATO may assist us, however they up to now have not had the braveness to take action.” He additionally referred to as on China and Japan to become involved a day after Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi met with him on the White Home.
Trump stated earlier this week that he wouldn’t put put boots on the bottom in Iran. A number of information retailers reported Friday that the Pentagon is sending as much as 2,500 Marines to the Center East — the second such deployment within the final week.
