(Bloomberg) — President Donald Trump said he foresaw ending the war on Iran within two to three weeks, suggesting the US had largely accomplished its military goals and would leave it to other nations to resolve issues with the Strait of Hormuz.
“I would say that within two weeks, maybe two weeks, maybe three,” Trump told reporters at the White House on Tuesday. “We’ll leave because there’s no reason for us to do this.”
Trump indicated that it was possible that Iran could still reach a deal with the US during that timeframe but said an agreement with Tehran was not necessary for the war to end. Trump added the US would leave when Iran was not able to obtain nuclear weapons and claimed the regime now in power was better than the leadership before the war.
“We have had regime change now. Regime change was not one of the things I had as a goal. I had one goal. They will have no nuclear weapon, and that goal has been attained. They will not have nuclear weapons,” Trump said.
On Tuesday night, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a post on X that Trump would address the nation Wednesday night “to provide an important update on Iran.” She did not provide further details.
Oil contracts were slightly firmer after the president’s remarks in early action. Asian stocks bounced back from their worst month in more than 17 years on optimism the conflict that jolted global markets may be nearing a conclusion.
It remains unclear how firm Trump’s timeline is. He often sets two-week deadlines and regularly blows past them. The US has also moved additional troops into the region, preserving the option of further escalation.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in an interview with Fox News the US “can see the finish line” in Iran, but added the administration’s objectives won’t be achieved within the next day or two. Rubio also said the US will have to “re-examine the value” of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization after the Iran conflict is over.
The president again expressed frustration with US allies for not helping reopen the Strait of Hormuz, the critical waterway largely closed since the start of the conflict. Trump has told associates that he is angry with NATO members and other allies, said people familiar with his thinking.
“What happens to the strait? We’re not going to have anything to do with because these countries, China, China, will go up, and they’ll fuel up their beautiful ships, and they’ll leave and they’ll take care of themselves,” Trump said in the Oval Office. “There’s no reason for us to do it.”
Trump has vacillated between claiming progress in diplomatic talks with Tehran and threatening to escalate strikes as he becomes increasingly insistent about obtaining a ceasefire. Even as he signaled a looming exit on Tuesday, he also indicated the US could target bridges within Iran in a bid to push the country to the negotiating table.
The president realizes that the current situation is untenable, according to another person familiar with his thinking who requested anonymity to discuss private deliberations.
In an interview with Al Jazeera, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said his country was ready for any confrontation with American forces. He confirmed direct contact with US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, but also said that “does not mean that we are in negotiations.” He added that Iran had zero trust in Washington and doesn’t expect any talks to produce results.
Trump’s team has recently suggested reopening Hormuz — which carries about 20% of seaborne oil — may not be necessary to end the war.
An exit could calm investors, but leaving the strait’s status unresolved — especially with Tehran demanding sovereignty — risks continued volatility. Brent has surged about 60% since the war began, and US gasoline has topped $4 a gallon for the first time since 2022.
The developments suggest the war Trump started with Israel is no longer fully under his control, posing a risk that his Republican Party could lose control of Congress in November’s midterm elections.
“President Trump has always been clear about short-term disruptions as a result of Operation Epic Fury. America’s long-term economic trajectory, however, remains solid with the Administration focused on implementing the President’s proven economic agenda of tax cuts, deregulation, and energy abundance,” White House spokesman Kush Desai said in a statement.
Critics say the US underestimated the disruption to energy flows. Trump has tried to separate the threat posed by Iran from the war’s impact on shipping and shift responsibility to countries more reliant on Middle East energy.
Trump said earlier Tuesday the US had reduced Iran’s military threat, which could allow the strait to reopen on its own.
“They have no strength left, and let the countries that are using the strait, let them go and open it,” the president told the New York Post.
That suggestion could alarm Gulf states, which were heartened by Trump’s claim made on Fox News last week that the US would continue to protect Gulf allies even “if we don’t stay” in Iran.
“They’d probably like us to stay,” he said. “If we don’t stay, we’re going to be protecting them.”
While the US could conceivably end military operations and leave Hormuz to a separate coalition task force, doing so would reduce the leverage Washington has over Tehran — particularly since European and Gulf allies are only interested in a narrower mission aimed at opening up the strait, rather than achieving broader strategic goals by bombing Iranian assets.
At the same time, a third US aircraft carrier strike group is heading to the Middle East, according to a US official familiar with the matter. The USS George H.W. Bush departed Norfolk, Virginia, on Tuesday.
During the negotiations before the current war, Trump moved an unprecedented array of military assets — from warplanes to aircraft carrier strike groups — into the Middle East, but still failed at getting Iran to cave on certain US demands, such as abandoning its missile program or support for proxy groups such as Hezbollah or Hamas.
The UAE is the only Gulf Arab country that has said it will join a naval force to try to reopen Hormuz or provide escorts. Bahrain is working on a UN Security Council resolution to give a mandate to a naval task force.
–With assistance from Derek Wallbank, John Harney, Arsalan Shahla, Jon Herskovitz, Natalie Choy and Justin Sink.
(Updates with Secretary of State Rubio in paragraph eight.)
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