Trump Says Iran War Is Won and Will End Soon in Veterans Day Speech

President Donald Trump used the national Veterans Day ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery on Wednesday to defend the war with Iran. He told veterans and their families that the United States had already won and that the war would be over soon, according to The Independent and Fox News.

The speech came eight days after voters gave Democrats control of both chambers of Congress. The Independent reported that Trump has said the war helped shape that result, and that about six in 10 voters in the AP's Election Day survey called the decision to use force against Iran the wrong one.

What Trump said at Arlington

Most of the address honored veterans' service, The Independent reported. Near the end, Trump turned to Iran. He said the U.S. did not start the conflict and argued that Iran has been waging war against America since 1979. In his telling, someone should have confronted Tehran long ago.

Trump said the U.S. had won but that the open question was when to end the fighting. He said he wanted a total victory, not a 93% victory, according to both outlets.

He said operations against Iran began seven months ago and that only a few weeks involved active hard fighting. He acknowledged that 18 American service members were lost. The Independent reported that U.S. strikes on Iran began Feb. 28.

Both outlets reported that Trump said the conflict would end soon and that the world would be safer afterward. The Independent noted that he has made similar predictions since the spring and offered no evidence for them. He also said it would take Iran 25 years to rebuild what had been destroyed.

To open the argument, Trump introduced Dale Garner, a Marine veteran who survived the 1983 Beirut barracks bombing by Iranian-backed Hezbollah militants. That attack killed 241 American service members, The Independent said.

How the administration describes its strategy

Fox News reported that Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio have moved away from plans to escalate the conflict again after the midterm elections. Administration officials have pointed instead to economic and diplomatic approaches.

Rubio told reporters on Tuesday that military strikes are unnecessary if the same objective can be reached through economic pressure. He rejected the idea that the two countries are at a stalemate. He said sanctions, the naval blockade and other measures are steadily weakening Tehran, and that Iran is bleeding economically.

The Venezuela comparison and the arch

According to The Independent, Trump listed the length and death toll of the Korean, Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan wars and said the country got very little from them. He contrasted them with the U.S. operation to remove Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro in January, which he said was won in 48 minutes. He also claimed the U.S. is taking in billions of dollars of Venezuelan oil and that the war's cost had been repaid many times over.

He also promoted a planned 250-foot gilded arch between the Lincoln Memorial and the cemetery, saying it would honor veterans. The Independent reported that veterans groups and preservationists have criticized the project, saying it would disrupt the sightline between Arlington and the Lincoln Memorial and snarl traffic on the Arlington Memorial Bridge.

U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan ordered a 14-day pause in construction last week and is weighing a longer delay. That followed an 8-4 vote by the National Capital Planning Commission approving the project. Members of the Kennedy family have filed a separate suit to block it.

Why it matters: a war without a stated end date

For Americans following the conflict, the speech shows how the White House is framing it after the elections. Trump describes the war as already won while saying he wants a complete victory, and he has not said what would mark the end. The Independent noted his repeated claims that the war will end soon came with no supporting evidence.

The administration's stated approach, as Rubio described it, relies on sanctions and the naval blockade rather than new military strikes. Fox News reported that officials have moved away from re-escalation plans. Neither outlet reported a timetable for ending the conflict or for lifting the blockade.

The politics have also shifted. Democrats will control both chambers of Congress, and exit-poll data cited by The Independent shows a majority of voters called the decision to use force wrong. The sources do not say what Congress plans to do about the war.

Around Prague, based on reporting by The Independent, Fox News, Mezha.net

Cover photo: Shealeah Craighead / Wikimedia Commons (public domain)

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