President Donald Trump promised to strike Iran “a lot harder, and a lot more violently” if it did not make a deal with the United States following what Trump suggested was an unprovoked attack on U.S. Navy vessels in the Strait of Hormuz.
“Three World Class American Destroyers just transited, very successfully, out of the Strait of Hormuz, under fire. There was no damage done to the three Destroyers, but great damage done to the Iranian attackers. They were completely destroyed along with numerous small boats, which are being used to take the place of their fully decapitated Navy. These boats went to the bottom of the Sea, quickly and efficiently,” Trump posted on Truth Social.
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“Missiles were shot at our Destroyers, and were easily knocked down. Likewise, drones came, and were incinerated while in the air. … A normal Country would have allowed these Destroyers to pass, but Iran is not a normal Country. They are led by LUNATICS, and if they had the chance to use a Nuclear Weapon, they would do it, without question — But they’ll never have that opportunity,” he continued.
The president concluded his post with a threat to escalate strikes if Iran did not agree to a deal with the U.S.
“Just like we knocked them out again today, we’ll knock them out a lot harder, and a lot more violently, in the future, if they don’t get their Deal signed, FAST!” Trump said.
Iranian forces launched missiles, drones, and small boats at the USS Truxtun, USS Rafael Peralta, and USS Mason, which were transiting from the strait to the Gulf of Oman at the time, according to U.S. Central Command.
The U.S. responded by targeting military facilities, including missile and drone launch sites, command and control locations, and intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance nodes, which CENTCOM said were responsible for the attacks.
Trump described the retaliatory attacks on Iran as a “love tap” in an interview before his Truth Social, insisting they would not disturb the ceasefire between the two countries as the administration pursues a deal to end the dueling blockades of the strait and a longer-term agreement.
“No, no, the ceasefire is going. It’s in effect,” he told ABC News’s Rachel Scott.
The statement from CENTCOM noted that “CENTCOM does not seek escalation but remains positioned and ready to protect American forces.”
On Sunday, President Donald Trump announced U.S. forces would help guide commercial vessels through the strait, an operation he dubbed “Project Freedom.” But it only lasted until Tuesday evening, when the president announced he’d pause the plan.
In that time, the U.S. military was able to escort two ships through the strait as Iran conducted several attacks on commercial and American naval vessels, as well as against the United Arab Emirates.
At least one Iranian drone attack hit the Fujairah Oil Industry Zone, which is the UAE’s major oil port in the Gulf of Oman. The nation’s Defense Ministry said it intercepted 12 ballistic missiles, three cruise missiles, and four drones.
The U.S. Navy also intercepted and disabled an Iranian tanker on Wednesday that ignored repeated warnings.
Despite those attacks, both War Secretary Pete Hegseth and Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said neither rose to the level of violating the April 7 ceasefire agreement. Caine said the attacks remain “below the threshold” of what would push them to restart “major combat operations at this point.”
THE LONG UNANSWERED QUESTION OF THE WAR POWER ACT’S CONSTITUTIONALITY
Trump said there was no deadline for an Iranian agreement.
“Never a deadline. It’ll happen,” he told reporters in the Oval Office on Wednesday. But in a social media post hours earlier, he warned that if Iran does not agree to a deal with the U.S., “the bombing starts, and it will be, sadly, at a much higher level and intensity than it was before.”
