Trump defends war with Iran, says ‘we cannot let lunatics have a nuclear weapon’ – Fox News

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President Donald Trump on Friday defended Operation Epic Fury against Iran, telling an audience in Florida that “we cannot let lunatics have a nuclear weapon.” He added that Tehran’s military capabilities have been significantly degraded.
Covered by: Greg Norman-Diamond, Sophia Compton, Brittany Miller, Efrat Lachter, Paul Tilsley, Jasmine Baehr and Alexandra Koch
President Donald Trump said Friday that he is “not satisfied” following reports that Iran delivered its latest negotiation plan to Pakistan regarding an end to the war. Pakistan has served as a key mediator in talks between the Iranian regime and the Trump administration. 
President Donald Trump said in a letter to Congress Friday that “hostilities” that began on Feb. 28 with Operation Epic Fury “have terminated” and there has been no exchange of fire between the U.S. and Iran since April 7. The White House argues the 60-day war powers deadline therefore doesn’t apply amid the ceasefire.
The U.S. Treasury warned shippers on Friday that they could face sanctions if they pay the Iranian regime any tolls to cross the Strait of Hormuz.
U.S. Central Command said that so far, “45 commercial vessels have been directed to turn around or return to port to ensure compliance” with an ongoing blockade of Iranian ports.

Two top Republican lawmakers are sounding the alarm over a recent Pentagon decision to withdraw roughly 5,000 U.S. troops from Germany, warning the move could send the “wrong signal” to Russian President Vladimir Putin and undermine transatlantic security.
Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Roger Wicker, R-Miss., and House Armed Services Committee Chairman Mike Rogers, R-Ala., issued a joint statement Friday expressing concern over the plan to pull a U.S. brigade out of Germany and cancel the planned deployment of a long-range fires battalion.
The GOP chairmen argued that “prematurely reducing America’s forward presence in Europe” before NATO allies can fully build up their own military capabilities “risks undermining deterrence and sending the wrong signal to Vladimir Putin.”
While acknowledging that European allies are moving toward spending 5% of their GDP on defense, the lawmakers cautioned that translating those funds into actual deterrence capability will take time.
They also praised Germany for stepping up following President Donald Trump’s calls for greater burden-sharing, noting that Berlin has significantly increased defense spending and provided U.S. forces with seamless access during Operation Epic Fury.
Rather than pulling the troops out of Europe completely, Wicker and Rogers proposed shifting the 5,000 service members further east.
“Allies there have made substantial investments to host U.S. troops, reducing costs for the U.S. taxpayer while strengthening NATO’s front line to help deter a far more costly conflict from ever beginning,” the lawmakers wrote in the statement.
The chairmen also criticized the Pentagon for a lack of transparency, arguing that major changes to the U.S. force posture require a deliberate review process and close coordination with Congress.
They said they are expecting the Defense Department to engage with congressional oversight committees in the coming days to explain the implications of the withdrawal on U.S. deterrence.
Fox News correspondent Lucas Tomlinson reported on Saturday a UAE-owned oil tanker has been hijacked off the Yemen coast.
Armed bandits allegedly took the ship into Somali waters, according to Tomlinson.
President Donald Trump said he is skeptical about negotiations, noting the blockade will remain in place until Iran makes nuclear concessions and reopens the Strait of Hormuz.
Former Defense Secretary Mark Esper issued a stark warning Saturday on “Fox News Live” about the country’s military readiness, saying he believes the U.S. defense industrial base is “not in the shape it needs to be” if America finds itself in an extended conflict with China.
Esper noted that his primary concern is not the current tensions with Iran, but the massive expenditure of high-end THAAD, Patriot, JASM and LRASM missiles.
He said the critical weapons have been heavily depleted by ongoing conflicts and efforts to supply allies like Ukraine and Israel, leaving the U.S. overextended across multiple global hotspots.
The vulnerability is compounded by concerns over America’s standing in the hypersonic arms race, with the U.S. experiencing developmental hurdles while Russia and China are already in possession of the weapons, according to Esper.
The new U.S. “Dark Eagle” hypersonic missile has suffered from launch failures and production quality issues, and the Pentagon’s testing office indicated it may not have enough data to fully evaluate its combat effectiveness until early 2027.
To accelerate progress, Esper suggested that current conflicts in the Middle East could serve as a “testing ground” for developing weapon systems.
The U.S. stockpile concerns come as the military manages widespread global commitments, from stationing Patriot missiles in Poland, to promising defensive weapons to Taiwan — prompting the Pentagon’s $1.5 trillion budget request.
Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told “Fox News Live” on Saturday that the Trump administration has to “finish the job here” with Iran as China and Russia are watching. 
“Make no mistake about it, we have to finish the job here. The Chinese are watching. The Russians are watching. Everyone sees that the West is now being challenged by the theocracy in Iran, and we have to win this,” Pompeo said. 
“You have to start with the proposition that there’s no such thing as an Iranian leader who’s a moderate. These are all radicals,” Pompeo said. “And so sometimes there’s this ‘Well, the moderates will find a solution.’ Don’t buy that storyline. They’re going to stay at this until they have to make a really difficult choice.” 
“The ayatollah described it before when he did it as drinking from the poison chalice. There will come a point where they will realize that the game is over and they will have to accede to our demands,” Pompeo also said.  
“President Trump is going to gain us decades of security if we stay the course, whether we have to go strike them again, I think that’s going to be up to President Trump,” Pompeo added. 
Trump has said repeatedly that the Iranian regime cannot have a nuclear weapon. 
Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy said Saturday that now-shuttered Spirit Airlines was in “dire straits long before the war with Iran,” arguing that the conflict was not the catalyst for its demise. 
“Why are we here today?” Duffy asked. “There was a proposed merger between JetBlue and Spirit, and Joe Biden and [Biden Transportation Secretary] Pete Buttigieg, along with the Biden DOJ, decided that they did not want that merger to take place.”
Duffy pointed out Saturday that once the proposed Spirit-JetBlue merger fell apart in 2024, “Spirit filed for bankruptcy immediately after the denial.” 
“And then last August, Spirit again filed for bankruptcy. So, Spirit was in dire straits long before the war with Iran,” Duffy said. 
“Multiple times they had filed for bankruptcy. Their model wasn’t working,” he continued. “They couldn’t get the fiscal health. So this, this was not the impetus. The war was not the impetus for Spirit.” 
The U.S. conflict with Iran has impacted the airline industry, as the war sent jet fuel and gasoline prices rising around the world.
Prices remain elevated Saturday as shipping companies are hesitant to travel through the Strait of Hormuz. The Strait carries around 20 million barrels of oil per day.
Iran announced the hangings of two men on Saturday, claiming they were convicted of spying for Israel. 
The Iranian judiciary’s news outlet, Mizanonline, identified the men as Yaghoub Karimpour and Nasser Bekrzadeh. 
It claimed that Karimpour was accused of sending “sensitive information” to an officer in Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency, while Bekrzadeh was alleged to have sent details about government and religious leaders as well as information about Natanz.  
The central Iranian city is home to a nuclear enrichment facility that was bombed by Israel and the U.S. last year. 
Israel launched Operation Roaring Lion against Iran on Feb. 28 in coordination with the United States’ Operation Epic Fury.
In mid-April, Mossad Director Dadi Barnea declared that Israel’s operations against Iran will end “only once the extremist regime in Iran is replaced.” 
The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

Anwar Gargash, a diplomatic advisor to the United Arab Emirates’ president, warned Saturday that “no unilateral Iranian arrangements can be trusted” when it comes to the Strait of Hormuz.
Gargash made the remark after the U.S. Treasury warned shippers on Friday they could face sanctions if they pay Iran any tolls to cross the key waterway.
“In the ongoing discussion surrounding the Strait of Hormuz, the collective international will and provisions of international law emerge as the primary guarantor of freedom of navigation through this vital passage, serving the stability of the region and the global economy in the post-war phase,” Gargash wrote on X.
“And, of course, no unilateral Iranian arrangements can be trusted or relied upon following its treacherous aggression against all its neighbors,” he added.
Iran has launched numerous attacks on its neighbors in the Middle East since the beginning of the joint U.S.-Israel military operation on Feb. 28.

U.S. Central Command said Saturday that 48 ships have now been redirected over the last 20 days as part of the U.S. military’s blockade of Iranian ports. 
CENTCOM released an image of the USS New Orleans sailing in the Arabian Sea as part of the effort. 
The U.S. blockade on Iranian ports began April 13 as part of a broader effort to pressure Iran into renegotiating limits on its nuclear program. 
The blockade has unfolded in stages, starting with naval deployments and restricted maritime enforcement to limit Iran’s oil exports and economic activity. 
Fox News Digital’s Emma Bussey contributed to this report. 

President Donald Trump appeared to joke during remarks at the Forum Club of the Palm Beaches in Florida Friday that the U.S. would be “taking over” Cuba “almost immediately,” while recognizing attendees including former Rep. Dan Mica.
“And he comes from, originally, a place called Cuba, which we will be taking over almost immediately,” Trump said.
“Cuba’s got problems. We’ll finish one first. I like to finish a job.”
Trump then riffed on a hypothetical show of American force.
“On the way back from Iran, we’ll have one of our big — maybe the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier — the biggest in the world,” he said. 
“We’ll have that come in, stop about 100 yards offshore, and they’ll say, ‘Thank you very much, we give up.’”

German defense minister Boris Pistorius said Saturday that “It was anticipated that the U.S. might withdraw troops from Europe, including Germany,” amid President Donald Trump’s escalating feud with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.
“The Secretary of War has ordered the withdrawal of approximately 5,000 troops from Germany,” chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell told Fox News Digital on Friday. 
The redeployment comes amid Trump’s feud with Merz and other NATO allies after tensions over their response to the conflict involving Iran. Merz, speaking Monday, criticized the U.S. approach to Iran, saying Washington was being “humiliated by the Iranian leadership” and expressing hope the conflict would end “as quickly as possible.”
“It was anticipated that the U.S. might withdraw troops from Europe, including Germany,” Pistorius said Saturday, according to Politico. 
He reportedly added that “if we are to remain transatlantic, we must strengthen the European pillar within NATO.”
Fox News Digital’s Brittany Miller contributed to this report.
An Israeli military spokesperson said Saturday that the Israel Defense Forces have carried out approximately 50 airstrikes against the Iran-backed Hezbollah terrorist group in Lebanon over the last 24 hours. 
“The Israel Defense Forces continue to target terrorist infrastructure and eliminate saboteurs in southern Lebanon,” Lt. Col. Ella Waweya wrote on X. 
“Among the targets that were attacked: command headquarters from which saboteurs of the terrorist organization set out, buildings used for military purposes, and additional terrorist infrastructure,” she added. “The headquarters and military buildings that were attacked were used by saboteurs of the terrorist organization Hezbollah to advance terrorist plots against the Israel Defense Forces and the State of Israel.” 
IDF Arabic spokesperson Avichay Adraee also issued a warning Saturday for residents of multiple Lebanese towns and villages to evacuate. 
“In light of the terrorist Hezbollah party violating the ceasefire agreement, the Defense Army is compelled to act against it forcefully. The Defense Army does not intend to harm you,” he said. 

A senior Iranian official indicated Saturday that the regime is pushing for a deal that would reopen the Strait of Hormuz and lift the U.S. blockade on Iranian ports, while tabling negotiations on Tehran’s nuclear program for later, Reuters reported. Iran submitted a new proposal to Pakistan on Friday, as a second round of face-to-face talks with the U.S. there has twice failed to materialize in the past few weeks.
President Donald Trump has consistently rejected the notion of lifting the U.S. military’s blockade on Iranian ports without a deal ensuring the regime would not be able to obtain a nuclear weapon.
Trump told reporters at the White House on Friday, “They’re asking for things that I can’t agree to.”
“They want to make a deal,” Trump said. “I’m not satisfied with it… Iran wants to make a deal because they have no military left, essentially.”
The senior Iranian official categorized the new framework’s shifting of nuclear talks to a later stage as a significant step towards achieving a deal to end the war, Reuters reported. The regime’s terms are that the war ends with the U.S. lifting the blockade on Iranian ports, Iran opening the Strait of Hormuz and a guarantee that the U.S. and Israel would not attack again.
Future talks would then be held on Iran limiting its nuclear program in exchange for the lifting of sanctions, with Iran also asking the U.S. to recognize its right to enrich uranium for peaceful purposes, Reuters reported. The official said this proposal had been formally presented to the U.S. through mediators.
“Under this ​framework, negotiations ⁠over the more complicated nuclear issue have been moved to the final stage to create a more conducive atmosphere,” the Iranian official told Reuters.
Fox News Digital has reached out to the White House for comment.
Trump told reporters at the White House Friday that the U.S. has “tremendous respect” for the Pakistani mediators in Islamabad and the negotiations were continuing “telephonically,” noting Iran’s leadership is “very disjointed.”
“They all want to make a deal, but they’re all messed up,” Trump said.
In remarks in Florida later Friday, Trump reiterated his stance. “You cannot give Iran a nuclear weapon,” Trump said. “Because they will use it on a place called Israel very quickly, and they would use it in the Middle East, and they’d use it in Europe, and I guess we’d be next. And it’s not going to happen.”
Fox News Digital’s Danielle Wallace contributed to this report.

Iran is once again being accused of playing a deadly role in yet another conflict, this time by supplying attack drones to one of the sides in the predominantly Muslim nation of Sudan’s deadly civil war — drones that are indiscriminately killing women and children.
The war, now in its fourth year, has, according to some accounts, seen as many as 400,000 deaths since the conflict began on April 15, 2023. More than 11 million have been displaced, giving rise to the worst displacement crisis in the world.
Mariam Wahba, research analyst at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) told Fox News Digital that, “Iran has supplied the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) with drones, specifically the Mohajer-6, manufactured by Qods Aviation Industries, a U.S.-sanctioned entity, since 2013.”
The State Department has hit out against the use of drones against civilians in the ongoing war in Sudan, with the SAF alleged to use Iranian drones widely against the population. An Iranian woman is also in federal custody in California after being arrested earlier this month for an alleged plot to supply Sudan with more Iranian drones.
Documented cases show both the SAF and the rebel militia they are fighting, the Rapid Support Forces, (RSF), are increasingly using drones against civilians.
Wahba said that “between Dec. 2023 and July 2024, at least seven cargo flights traveled between Iran and Sudan, likely transporting drones and component parts. On April 19, an Iranian-born U.S. resident was arrested at LAX (Los Angeles International airport) for allegedly brokering a $70 million deal to supply Mohajer-6 systems and other hardware to Sudan’s Ministry of Defense, indicating the transfers are likely ongoing.”

U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk on Tuesday accused Iran’s regime of dramatically intensifying its crackdown on dissent in the wake of the February conflict, warning that Tehran has carried out executions, mass arrests, torture and one of the world’s longest internet shutdowns while invoking national security.
In a sharply worded statement from Geneva, Türk said at least 21 people have been executed and more than 4,000 arrested on national security-related charges since Feb. 28, as the regime faces mounting scrutiny over what he described as a sweeping assault on fundamental rights. 
“I am appalled that, on top of the already severe impacts of the conflict, the rights of the Iranian people continue to be stripped from them by the authorities, in harsh and brutal ways,” Türk said.
Since the start of the conflict two months ago, the U.N. said nine people have been executed in connection with the January 2026 protests, 10 for alleged membership in opposition groups, and two on espionage charges. It’s estimated that some 40,000 people were killed by regime forces during January’s uprising.
Türk warned that Iran’s broad use of vaguely defined national security laws has enabled authorities to fast-track prosecutions, deny legal counsel, and rely on coerced confessions.
“Even where national security is invoked, human rights can only be limited where strictly necessary and proportionate,” he said, calling on Tehran to halt executions, impose a moratorium on capital punishment, and immediately release those arbitrarily detained.
The Pentagon will withdraw 5,000 U.S. troops from Germany, a spokesperson confirmed to Fox News Digital.
The redeployment comes amid President Donald Trump’s escalating feud with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and other NATO allies after tensions over their response to the conflict involving Iran.
“The Secretary of War has ordered the withdrawal of approximately 5,000 troops from Germany,” chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell told Fox News Digital. 
“This decision follows a thorough review of the Department’s force posture in Europe and is in recognition of theater requirements and conditions on the ground.
“We expect the withdrawal to be completed over the next six to twelve months.”
About 38,000 U.S. troops are stationed in Germany, where U.S. European Command is headquartered at Ramstein Air Base. The base and other American installations have long served as key logistics hubs and command centers supporting U.S. military operations in Europe and the Middle East.
Merz, speaking Monday in Marsberg, criticized the U.S. approach to Iran, saying Washington was being “humiliated by the Iranian leadership” and expressing hope the conflict would end “as quickly as possible.”

President Donald Trump on Friday defended the war with Iran as necessary to prevent the regime from having a nuclear weapon.
“We cannot let lunatics have a nuclear weapon,” Trump said during remarks at The Villages in Florida.
The president acknowledged he expected more severe economic fallout but said he had to do “what’s right.”
“I thought the numbers would be much worse. I thought the stock market would go down much more. I thought the oil prices would go up much more,” Trump said. “I said, ‘But we have no choice. Whether it does or doesn’t, I have to do what’s right.’ We can’t let them have a nuclear weapon.”
Trump also claimed Iran’s military capabilities have been significantly degraded.
“They’re getting decimated. They have no Navy. They have no air force, they have no anti-aircraft equipment. They have no radar. They have no leaders. Their leaders are all gone.”
Yesterday’s Fox News Digital liveblog has additional coverage of the Iran conflict.
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This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. ©2026 FOX News Network, LLC. All rights reserved. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. Market data provided by Factset. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. Legal Statement. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by LSEG.

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