A Democracy Drive Thread
He branded himself the president of peace — the man of “no new wars.” Then he started this one. Since combat began on February 28, 2026, the same war has been called won, over, nearly finished, and indefinitely ongoing — sometimes in the same week.
He campaigned as a peacemaker who would end America’s wars and start none of his own. This is a chronological record of the president’s statements about the war with Iran that came anyway — each with a source, in his own words, placed end to end so the shifts speak for themselves.
September 25, 2024
In his own words
He said, “If I were the president, I would inform the threatening country, in this case Iran, that if you do anything to harm this person, we are going to blow up your largest cities and the country itself.”
June 16, 2025
In his own words
Trump left the summit early. Iranians pointed out that most residents had no way or place to leave.
“Iran should have signed the “deal” I told them to sign. What a shame, and waste of human life. Simply stated, IRAN CAN NOT HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON. I said it over and over again! Everyone should immediately evacuate Tehran!”
June 17, 2025
In his own words
In March 2025, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard told Congress the intelligence community “continues to assess that Iran is not building a nuclear weapon.” Gabbard later said she and Trump were “on the same page.”
June 21, 2025
On the ground
Democratic leaders and some Republicans said the strikes violated the Constitution, which gives Congress the power to declare war. House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries said Trump “failed to seek congressional authorization for the use of military force.”
June 25, 2025
In his own words
He made the comparison while insisting the Iranian sites had been completely destroyed, as an early intelligence assessment found the damage less severe. The White House called that assessment “flat-out wrong.”
August 22, 2025
On the ground
Hegseth also fired Navy Reserve chief Vice Adm. Nancy Lacore and Rear Adm. Milton Sands, head of Naval Special Warfare Command.
February 28, 2026
In his own words
“A short time ago, the United States military began major combat operations in Iran. Our objective is to defend the American people by eliminating imminent threats from the Iranian regime — a vicious group of very hard, terrible people.”
In his own words
“We're going to destroy their missiles and raze their missile industry to the ground ... We're going to annihilate their navy ... And we will ensure that Iran does not obtain a nuclear weapon.”
On the ground
On February 28, 2026, the opening day of the war, two missile strikes hit the Shajareh Tayyebeh primary school and an adjacent IRGC base in Minab, southern Iran, killing at least 168 people — roughly 110 of them children. A preliminary U.S. military investigation, first reported by Reuters, found American forces were likely responsible; the Pentagon has not acknowledged findings.
March 2, 2026
In his own words
“We're already substantially ahead of our time projections.”
March 5, 2026
In his own words
“The United States military, together with the wonderful Israeli partners, continues to totally demolish the enemy far ahead of schedule.”
March 6, 2026
In his own words
Russia reportedly passed Iran the locations of U.S. warships and aircraft. Press secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News: “Whether or not this happened, frankly, it does not really matter, because President Trump and the United States military are absolutely decimating the rogue Iranian terrorist regime.”
“Whether or not this happened, frankly, it does not really matter.”
March 7, 2026
In his own words
“We're winning the war by a lot. We've decimated their whole evil empire.”
In his own words
“We don’t need people that join Wars after we’ve already won!”
In his own words
“We're achieving major strides toward completing our military objective. And some people could say they're pretty well complete.”
March 11, 2026
In his own words
“We won. We won the -- in the first hour, it was over.”
In his own words
“The war will be over 'soon' because there is 'practically nothing left to target'.”
March 12, 2026
On the ground
The 30-day licenses ran from March 12 to June 17. Russia took in at least $12.8 billion in oil taxes in the first half of April, double its March haul, and the IEA said its oil export revenue jumped to $19 billion a month, from a post-invasion low of $9.75 billion in February.
In his own words
Zelensky had offered the interceptors at an August 18 White House meeting; two U.S. officials told Axios that snubbing the offer was one of the administration’s biggest tactical miscalculations of the war. Ukraine sent drone experts to three Middle East countries and to help protect U.S. bases in Jordan.
“The last person we need help from is Zelensky.”
In his own words
“I'm still not declaring it over.”
March 16, 2026
In his own words
“Yeah, sure [the war could be wrapped up in a week].”
In his own words
Calling on allies to help secure the strait, Trump said: “I predicted all of it. I predicted Osama bin Laden would knock out the World Trade Center. I made that prediction a year before he did it,” adding, “I wrote it in a book.” His 2000 book, The America We Deserve, mentions bin Laden once, in passing, in a critique of U.S. foreign policy; it does not predict the 9/11 attacks or say bin Laden should be stopped. CNN, CBS News and FactCheck.org have debunked the claim repeatedly since 2015.
“I predicted all of it. I predicted Osama bin Laden would knock out the World Trade Center. I made that prediction a year before he did it.”
March 17, 2026
In his own words
“Iran is something that was essentially largely over in two or three days.”
In his own words
“We don't need them, but they should have been there ... a very foolish mistake.”
March 20, 2026
In his own words
“Oh, I think we won. ... From a military standpoint, they're finished.”
In his own words
“We are getting very close to meeting our objectives as we consider winding down.”
In his own words
“NATO are cowards. Without America the alliance is a 'paper tiger.'”
March 22, 2026
In his own words
“If Iran doesn't FULLY OPEN, WITHOUT THREAT, the Strait of Hormuz, within 48 HOURS ... the United States of America will hit and obliterate their various POWER PLANTS.”
March 23, 2026
In his own words
“Instructed the Defense Department to postpone strikes... for five days.”
In his own words
“If it goes well, we're going to end up with settling this. Otherwise, we'll just keep bombing our little hearts out.”
March 24, 2026
In his own words
“This war has been won.”
March 25, 2026
As Trump swung between threatening to “destroy” Iran and announcing pauses and ceasefires, Axios and others documented an eerie pattern: roughly $580 million in oil futures hit the market about sixteen minutes before he announced a pause in strikes on Iranian sites, with no public news to explain it, and more than $500 million in crude futures traded in the roughly fifteen minutes before an earlier March 23 pause. On other occasions, traders placed hundreds of millions in bets that oil would fall just ahead of ceasefire announcements. The trades are real and the timing is documented; who placed them, and on what information, is what Democrats say they intend to investigate. The White House calls any implication of insider trading “baseless.”
March 26, 2026
In his own words
“The Iranian regime is now admitting to itself that they have been decisively defeated.”
March 29, 2026
In his own words
“I think we'll make a deal with them, pretty sure." / "But it's possible we won't.”
March 30, 2026
In his own words
“Serious discussions with A NEW, AND MORE REASONABLE, REGIME to end our Military Operations in Iran.”
March 31, 2026
In his own words
“Buy from the U.S., we have plenty ... build up some delayed courage, go to the Strait, and just take it.”
April 1, 2026
In his own words
“We are on track to complete all of America's military objectives shortly, very shortly.”
In his own words
“We're going to bring them back to the Stone Ages, where they belong.”
In his own words
“We're going to hit them extremely hard over the next two to three weeks.”
On the ground
The threat targeted the PURL program, through which European partners pay for U.S. weapons for Ukraine.
April 3, 2026
In his own words
“With a little more time, we can easily OPEN THE HORMUZ STRAIT, TAKE THE OIL, & MAKE A FORTUNE.”
April 4, 2026
In his own words
“48 hours before all Hell will reign down on them.”
In his own words
“Tuesday will be Power Plant Day, and Bridge Day... Open the F-----’ Strait, you crazy bastards, or you’ll be living in Hell.”
April 6, 2026
In his own words
“It could end very quickly, the war, if they do what they have to do.”
In his own words
“We've had total regime change.”
April 7, 2026
On April 7, 2026, minutes before Trump posted that the U.S. and Iran had reached a ceasefire reopening the Strait of Hormuz, thousands of short positions against oil prices hit the market, according to a Snopes review of trading data. Snopes could not confirm a viral claim that a single Trump-linked trader made a $51 million bet, and it remained unclear who was behind the shorts. Days earlier, CNBC reported the White House had warned staff about placing bets in prediction markets on the Iran war, and traders separately wagered hundreds of millions that oil would drop ahead of ceasefire extensions. The specific culprits are unproven; the recurring, minute-before precision is not.
In his own words
“A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again.”
In his own words
“Agreed to the 'complete, immediate, and safe opening' of the Strait of Hormuz... suspend attacking Iran for two weeks.”
April 8, 2026
In his own words
“A big day for World Peace! Iran wants it to happen, they’ve had enough!”
In his own words
“If the agreement isn’t reached, the 'shootin’ starts'.”
April 12, 2026
In his own words
“Most points were agreed to, but the only point that really mattered, NUCLEAR, was not.”
In his own words
Citing intelligence reports of Chinese shoulder-fired missiles bound for Iran, Trump told Fox News: “if they are caught, we will impose a 50% tariff.” The April 8 threat came hours after a two-week U.S.–Iran ceasefire.
April 16, 2026
In his own words
“The war in Iran is going along swimmingly... it should be ending pretty soon.”
In his own words
“The Strait of Hormuz is completely open and ready for business... process should go very quickly.”
April 19, 2026
In his own words
“NO MORE MR. NICE GUY!”
April 21, 2026
In his own words
“Extended the ceasefire indefinitely "until such time as their proposal is submitted, and discussions are concluded.”
April 23, 2026
In his own words
“I have ordered the United States Navy to shoot and kill any boat ... putting mines in the waters of the Strait of Hormuz. There is to be no hesitation.”
April 24, 2026
In his own words
“We were in Vietnam, like, for 18 years. We were in Iraq for many, many years.”
April 28, 2026
In his own words
“Iran just informed us they are in a State of Collapse.”
May 1, 2026
In his own words
“The hostilities that began on February 28, 2026, have terminated.”
In his own words
“I'm not satisfied with it [the deal], so we'll see what happens.”
May 4, 2026
In his own words
“We either make the right deal or we win very easily from the military standpoint. We've already won that.”
May 6, 2026
In his own words
“If they don't agree, the bombing starts, and it will be, sadly, at a much higher level and intensity than it was before.”
May 7, 2026
In his own words
“I call it a skirmish because that's what it is ... we're doing unbelievably well, as we did in Venezuela.”
In his own words
“Finished. Now they can make a deal or they get annihilated.”
May 15, 2026
In his own words
“We had a total military victory ... I actually think it's sort of treasonous what you write.”
May 18, 2026
In his own words
“For Iran, the Clock is Ticking, and they better get moving, FAST, or there won't be anything left of them.”
May 23, 2026
In his own words
“An Agreement has been largely negotiated, subject to finalization.”
May 27, 2026
In his own words
“I think we're doing very well... if they won't [give us things], then the man on my left is going to finish them off.”
June 1, 2026
In his own words
“Iran really wants to make a deal.”
In his own words
“All shooting will stop — That Israel will not attack them, and they will not attack Israel.”
In his own words
“I don’t care if they’re over, honestly. I really don’t care. I couldn’t care less.”
In his own words
“Talks are continuing, at a rapid pace, with the Islamic Republic of Iran.”
June 3, 2026
In his own words
“I've ended eight wars, and will soon end a ninth. It could be ten.”
In his own words
“Iran has agreed to not have a nuclear weapon ... but they can change their mind.”
June 4, 2026
In his own words
“I don't want to meet with the Ayatollah, but if I did meet him, I would be honored. I would be respectful.”
June 7, 2026
In his own words
“I call the shots. I call all the shots. He doesn't call the shots.”
In his own words
“You've shot your missiles, that's enough. Get back to the table and make a deal.”
June 11, 2026
In his own words
“Based on the fact that discussions with the Islamic Republic of Iran have been brought to the highest level of Iranian leadership and approved, I have, as President of the United States of America, cancelled the scheduled strikes and bombings against Iran this evening.”
June 12, 2026
On the ground
As reported terms of a ceasefire circulated, Trump dismissed them as fake and called the leak dishonorable — days before signing a memorandum along similar lines.
June 14, 2026
In his own words
“The Deal with the Islamic Republic of Iran is now complete.”
June 17, 2026
On the ground
The U.S. and Iranian presidents signed a memorandum of understanding establishing a 60-day extension of the ceasefire to negotiate final terms of a deal.
June 19, 2026
In his own words
“We didn't meet out of desperation, Iran did. They are FINISHED!”
June 20, 2026
In his own words
“Radical Left fools and Dumocrats realize how well we have done in our War against Iran, with their Country being completely defeated militarily.”
June 21, 2026
In his own words
“Iran must immediately stop their highly paid PROXIES in Lebanon from causing trouble. If they don't, we'll hit Iran very hard again, just like we did last week, only harder!!!”
In his own words
In a Fox News interview, Trump threatened Iranian officials and said the U.S. might seize the Strait of Hormuz and “blow the s*** out of” Iran if it interfered. Iran said it would not continue negotiations after the threats aired.
“...won't even make it back to their f***ing country.”
On the ground
The technical phase of negotiations in Switzerland was halted after Trump’s threats aired; Iran’s foreign ministry said it would not continue under those conditions. (Reporting differs on the exact date — the Switzerland session was reported postponed June 18, with the suspension tied to the June 21 Fox interview.)
June 23, 2026
On the ground
On June 23, 2026, during a visit to the United Arab Emirates, Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned Iran it could not levy fees on ships in the Strait of Hormuz, calling it settled international law. Three weeks later, on July 13, Trump announced that the United States itself would collect a 20% toll on all cargo transiting the Strait — directly contradicting his own top diplomat.
“It’s an international waterway. No country is allowed to charge tolls or fees on an international waterway.”
June 24, 2026
In his own words
Asked about the strike on the Minab girls’ school — which a preliminary U.S. military inquiry tied to American forces — the president said it might never be known who was responsible. In September 2026 a UN fact-finding mission found reasonable grounds to believe the U.S. carried out the February strikes on the school and a sports facility, which killed 120 children, and called them war crimes.
“I don’t know that they are ever going to solve that problem in terms of whose fault it was, because there were missiles flying all over the place… Maybe it wasn’t our missile, but I have seen nothing to lead me to believe it was.”
June 25, 2026
On the ground
After Oman and the International Maritime Organization announced a new shipping corridor through the strait without consulting Tehran, Iran’s IRGC Navy rejected it as “unacceptable and dangerous,” declaring that only Iran-designated routes are permitted and that coordination with Iranian forces is mandatory.
On the ground
A cargo vessel was hit by a projectile in the Strait of Hormuz amid Iran’s renewed passage warnings. Iran had waived planned transit fees for 60 days during talks with the U.S. in Switzerland and suggested charges could follow; Secretary of State Marco Rubio rejected the idea, saying no country may charge tolls on an international waterway.
July 7, 2026
On the ground
On July 7, 2026, U.S. Central Command announced “a series of powerful strikes against Iran” in retaliation for Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps attacks over the previous two days on three commercial vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz, calling Iran’s actions “a clear violation of the ceasefire.” The administration also revoked the general license permitting Iranian oil exports. The escalation came barely three weeks after Trump had signed a preliminary agreement extending the ceasefire and waved shipping back into the strait — “Ships of the World, start your engines. Let the oil flow!” — casting the conflict as all but settled. Iran’s foreign ministry accused the U.S. of breaking that memorandum, and Tehran threatened a “decisive” response.
July 8, 2026
On the ground
On July 8, 2026, the U.S. military struck Iranian targets near the Strait of Hormuz for the second consecutive day, in a wider campaign than the previous day’s. U.S. Central Command said the strikes hit Iranian military coastal radars, anti-ship missile positions, and air-defense systems, aiming to stop Tehran from firing on commercial ships. American cruise missiles also hit two railway bridges in northeastern Iran — the first time U.S. forces had struck Iranian infrastructure since the April 8 ceasefire.
In his own words
Hours after the second day of U.S. strikes — and three weeks after signing a peace deal he had called Iran’s “unconditional surrender” — Trump declared the ceasefire over at a NATO summit press conference in Ankara, even as he said U.S. negotiators would be allowed to keep talking.
“I think it’s over. I don’t want to deal with them anymore. They’re scum. As far as I’m concerned, it’s just a waste of time dealing with them.”
July 10, 2026
In his own words
Two days after declaring the ceasefire dead at the NATO summit, Trump used a Truth Social post to acknowledge that Iran had asked to keep negotiating — and, in the same breath and in capital letters, to insist the ceasefire was “OVER!” anyway.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran has asked us to continue ‘talks.’ We have agreed to do so, but the United States has stated to them, in no uncertain terms, that the Cease Fire is OVER!”
July 11, 2026
In his own words
After open calls for his killing at Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s funeral, and Israeli intelligence warning Washington that Tehran was exploring assassination plots, Trump posted on Truth Social that any attempt on his life would trigger the total destruction of Iran — saying the orders were already in place.
“1000 Missiles are Locked and Loaded and aimed at the Islamic Republic of Iran, with thousands of more to immediately follow, should the Iranian Government act on its threat… to assassinate, or attempt to assassinate, the sitting President of the United States of America.”
July 13, 2026
In his own words
With U.S. and Iranian forces again trading strikes over the waterway, Trump proposed that the United States permanently “run” the Strait of Hormuz and be paid for it — floating on Truth Social a 20% toll on all cargo passing through, and on Fox News a new nickname for the arrangement.
“We become the guardian of the strait. Maybe we’ll call it the guardian angel of the strait, and we should be reimbursed for that.”
On the ground
On July 14, 2026, Trump announced the war with Iran was “back on,” posting on Truth Social that the “U.S.A. will be, from this point forward, known as ‘THE GUARDIAN OF THE HORMUZ STRAIT’” and that he was “reinstating THE IRANIAN BLOCKADE.” The stated objective was no longer defense but control: taking over the Strait and, in his words, being “reimbursed, at the rate of 20% on all cargo shipped, for any and all costs.” “We’ll probably run it,” he said on Fox & Friends. “We’ll become the guardian of the strait.” Asked on Hugh Hewitt’s radio show why talks had failed, he said, “We gave them a chance.” The same day, the White House released a War Powers letter — dated July 10 — notifying Congress that U.S. “military action commenced on July 7 against the government of the Islamic Republic,” language that still stopped short of the word “war.” Both chambers had already voted to order him to end the fighting or seek authorization. Months earlier he had called the same conflict “won,” “over,” and a mere “skirmish.”
July 14, 2026
In his own words
One day after announcing that the United States would seize control of the Strait of Hormuz and charge a 20% toll on every ship passing through, Trump abandoned the plan. Meeting with the Iraqi prime minister at the White House, he told reporters he had received calls from “kings and Emirs” asking him not to impose the tolls — a fee the U.N.’s maritime agency had already called illegal and that had blindsided Gulf allies — and posted on Truth Social that he would replace it with unspecified trade and investment deals instead.
“Based on highly productive conversations with Middle East leadership, I have decided to replace the 20% United States Reimbursement Fee with Trade and Investment Deals that the various Gulf States will be making into the United States.”
July 15, 2026
On the ground
On July 15, 2026, days of back-and-forth strikes shredded the interim deal Trump had signed in April. The U.S. military reimposed its naval blockade of Iran’s ports — first imposed in April, then lifted in June under the truce — and stepped up airstrikes that Iranian officials said had killed more than 30 people in recent days, including seven troops in a barracks strike in Sistan and Baluchestan province, with more than 260 wounded. Iran’s Revolutionary Guard answered by threatening to halt all energy exports from the region, warning that “the export of oil and gas from the region will be either for everyone or for no one.” Iran also fired missiles toward Jordan, Bahrain, and Kuwait, with Jordan saying it shot down three. Brent crude, which had dipped to $78 after Trump dropped the toll, climbed back toward $85.
In his own words
The same day the U.S. reimposed its blockade and Iran threatened to cut off the region’s energy exports, Trump told a Fox Business interview that Iran had reached out to negotiate — “We received a call just as I was coming here that they want to meet” — while casting doubt on whether a deal was possible: “I just don’t know if they’re worthy of making a deal.” Iran’s foreign ministry denied it had requested any new talks, saying only that it had agreed to receive a Qatari delegation.
“We received a call just as I was coming here that they want to meet.”
October 5, 2026
In his own words
On Monday night, October 5, 2026, at a campaign rally in Grand Island, Nebraska, Trump was defending the high gas prices caused by his war with Iran. He called them "a small price to pay for keeping the world safe," then said Iran "can take out a city" and named two American ones, Los Angeles and San Diego. The crowd cheered. California Gov. Gavin Newsom called the remarks "deranged and dangerous" and "disgusting and disqualifying." Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass: "That’s a president of the United States, inviting a country that we are at war with to attack an American city." San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria: "San Diego is not collateral damage. We are not expendable." The White House Rapid Response account replied: "No, he didn’t, you buffoons. He was saying the U.S. is fighting to STOP Iran from having the ability to take out LA and San Diego with a nuclear weapon."
“It’s a small price to pay for keeping the world safe, keeping our country safe. They can take out a city. Let them take out Los Angeles. Let them take out San Diego.”
In his own words
At the same Grand Island, Nebraska rally where he said Iran could "take out" Los Angeles and San Diego, Trump predicted the war would be over soon. He conceded gas prices are "a little bit high," and mocked Iran’s claim that it has "a big threshold for pain."
“Essentially almost over with. It’s going to end very soon, and it’ll end one way or the other.”