What you need to know: 5 key takeaways from Trumps Iran address

President addressed the nation Wednesday night, saying the United States “core strategic objectives” in Iran are “nearing completion”—just a month after began, and warned that the U.S. will hit Tehran “extremely hard” over the next several weeks.

“Tonight, Im pleased to say that these core strategic objectives are nearing completion,” the president said, touting the United States military and their “extraordinary” efforts.

Here are the top five takeaways from the presidents address: 

President Trump told Americans Wednesday night that after 32 days of Operation Epic Fury, Iran is “essentially really no longer a threat.” 

The president, upon the announcement of Operation Epic Fury, detailed the United States objectives. Trump said, “We are systematically dismantling the regimes ability to threaten America or project power outside of their borders.”

“That means eliminating Irans Navy, which is now absolutely destroyed, hurting their Air Force and their missile program at levels never seen before, and annihilating their defense industrial base,” the president said Wednesday night.

“Weve done all of it,” he continued. “Their Navy is gone. Their Air Force is gone. Their missiles are just about used up or beaten. Taken together, these actions will cripple Irans military, crush their ability to support terrorist proxies and deny them the ability to build a nuclear bomb.” 

“Our Armed Forces have been extraordinary,” the president said. “Theres never been anything like it militarily. Everyone is talking about it.” 

“And tonight, Im pleased to say that these core strategic objectives are nearing completion,” he said.

Meanwhile, the president thanked U.S. allies in the Middle East— “Israel, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the UAE, Kuwait and Bahrain.”

“They’ve been great and we will not let them get hurt or fail in any way, shape or form,” he said.

“I’ve made clear from the beginning of Operation Epic Fury that we will continue until our objectives are fully achieved, thanks to the progress we’ve made,” he said. “I can say tonight that we are on track to complete all of America’s military objectives shortly. Very shortly.”

The president warned that the U.S. is “going to hit them extremely hard over the next 2 to 3 weeks.”

“We’re going to bring them back to the Stone Ages where they belong,” he said. “In the meantime, discussions are ongoing. Regime change was not our goal. We never said regime change, but regime change has occurred because of all of their original leaders’ deaths. They’re all dead. The new group is less radical and much more reasonable.”

Since Operation Epic Fury began, gas prices in the United States have increased. The president acknowledged that development, and expressed confidence that those increases are “short term.”

The average price of a gallon of gas surpassed $4 Tuesday, a first since 2022. 

“Many Americans have been concerned to see the recent rise in gasoline prices here at home,” the president said. “The short-term increase has been entirely the result of the Iranian regime launching deranged terror attacks against commercial oil tankers and neighboring countries that have nothing to do with the conflict.”

“This is yet more proof that Iran can never be trusted with nuclear weapons. They will use them and they will use them quickly. It would lead to decades of extortion, economic pain, and instability worse than we can ever imagine,” the president said. “The United States has never been better prepared economically to confront this threat. You all know that we built the strongest economy in history.”

The president touted the economy under his leadership, saying that he has “taken a dead and crippled country—I hate to say that, but we were dead and crippled country after the last administration—and made it the hottest country anywhere in the world by far, with no inflation, record-setting investments coming into the Un