A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
President Trump addressed the nation Wednesday night, making the case for war with Iran more than a month after he ordered attacks against Iran.
STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
He contends the war is a success and that it will end after another round.
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PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: We're going to hit them extremely hard over the next two to three weeks. We're going to bring them back to the Stone Ages, where they belong.
MARTÍNEZ: NPR White House correspondent Deepa Shivaram joins us now. What was the president's message?
DEEPA SHIVARAM, BYLINE: Yeah. Well, the president wasn't very specific in his remarks, but he said the war was ending shortly and provided a two- to three-week timeline on that, which is something he's said before. He said Iran was completely decimated militarily and economically. And for most of his remarks, A, he explained why Iran was a threat. He said it would be intolerable if Iran had a nuclear weapon, and he said U.S. involvement in Iran was an investment in the future.
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TRUMP: This is a true investment in your children and your grandchildren's future. The whole world is watching, and they can't believe the power, strength and brilliance. They just can't believe what they're seeing.
SHIVARAM: I think it's important to point out that this was Trump's first formal address to the nation about this war. And five weeks in, his message on what the U.S. was doing in Iran, what the plan was, how long it would take, it's all been kind of muddled. Polling shows that this war is unpopular with Americans, and the war has also led to a sharp increase in gas prices, which has been politically difficult for Trump and Republicans heading into the midterm elections in six months.
MARTÍNEZ: When it comes to his goals, though, for the war, he said he wanted to remove Iran's nuclear capabilities. He also wants the Strait of Hormuz open. If, indeed, the war is winding down, does the administration see those goals getting accomplished at the same time?
SHIVARAM: Yeah. I mean, this point is a little unclear, and it's part of the reason, you know, we've been talking about it all week because Trump has been saying so many different things, and thousands of U.S. troops are still in the region. Whether those troops will be used in any significant ground operations in the time that the U.S. is allegedly winding down the war is not something that the president talked about at all. But he did seem to indicate that the U.S. could take future action in Iran if the country moves to try and make a nuclear weapon.
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TRUMP: If we see them make a move, even a move for it, we'll hit them with missiles very hard again. We have all the cards.
SHIVARAM: And on the Strait of Hormuz, which is a really critical route for oil that Iran clamped down on as a result of these strikes that the U.S. started, Trump is now calling on other countries to do the work of reopening the strait. He didn't name any countries specifically, but he has been really critical of NATO allies in particular for not helping with U.S. operations in Iran. He said other countries should take care of the passage and cherish it.
MARTÍNEZ: Yeah. And it's interesting that he said other countries should take it because for a while, the U.S. talked about taking it, and in his same speech, Trump said it would open - his word - naturally.
SHIVARAM: Yeah. This is just another example of Trump saying a lot of different things but then not providing any specifics. Trump said in his speech last night that the U.S. didn't need the oil coming through the strait. And he's basically tasked other countries with reopening this passage that Iran closed during the war. But because the strait is how more than 20% of the world's oil gets transported, it's still affecting oil prices here in the U.S. Trump claims, though, that once the strait is opened, the price of gas in the U.S. will lower again. But in the meantime, he wants other countries to deal with this, and that likely includes NATO allies. He's been really unhappy with them and has recently been bringing up again leaving NATO, though that's up to Congress to decide. A White House official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to speak on the record said that NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte is meeting with Trump at the White House next week.
MARTÍNEZ: All right. That's NPR's Deepa Shivaram. Thanks a lot.
SHIVARAM: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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