Trump Addresses Nation After Bombing Iran

President Trump gave a brief address to the nation Saturday night to explain his decision to have US bombers strike three Iranian nuclear sites—and he warned that more strikes would follow unless Iran acquiesced. "Iran, the bully of the Mideast, must now make peace," he said, reports the Washington Post.

• Trump made the case that the move is intended to keep America safe, not just Israel. "For 40 years, Iran has been saying, 'Death to America, death to Israel,'" Trump said while flanked by Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, per the New York Times. "I decided a long time ago that I will not let this happen."

• The president said he and Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu had worked closely together on the plan. "Our objective was the destruction of Iran's nuclear enrichment capacity," he said. In a video after the US strikes, Netanyahu praised Trump, asserting he had "acted to deny the world's most dangerous regime the world's most dangerous weapons."
• Trump said that the targets struck on Saturday had been "obliterated," per the Wall Street Journal, and that the US had more targets in mind. "If peace does not come quickly, we will go after those other targets with precision, speed, and skill." It could take some time to confirm the extent of damage.
• "There will be either peace or there will be tragedy for Iran, far greater than we have witnessed over the last eight days," said Trump.