President Donald Trump told reporters Friday that he has no interest in a ceasefire with Iran.
“We can have a dialogue, but we don’t want a ceasefire,” President Trump said on the South Lawn of the White House before leaving for Florida. “You know you don’t do a ceasefire when you’re literally annihilating the other side.”
“They don’t have the navy, they don’t have the air force, they don’t have the equipment,” Trump continued.
In a post on Truth Social late Friday afternoon, President Trump claimed that the United States is “considering a reduction in large-scale military efforts in the Middle East and is very close to achieving that goal.”
He also argued that the Strait of Hormuz, a critical shipping route for much of the world’s oil trade, “needs to be policed and policed as necessary by other countries that use it, and not the United States!”
“If asked, we will support these countries in their efforts against Hormuz, but there will be no need to do so once the Iranian threat is eradicated. Importantly, it will make military operations easier for them,” Trump wrote in the post.
President Trump’s comments come about three weeks after the U.S. and Israel’s war against Iran escalated into a broader regional conflict. These signals that an early end to the conflict is unlikely, with stock prices plummeting on Friday. Crude oil prices soar.
US President Donald Trump speaks to journalists before boarding Marine One as it departs from the South Lawn of the White House on March 20, 2026 in Washington, DC.
Brendan Smialowski AFP | Getty Images
Earlier Friday, President Trump said in a phone call with MS Now’s Stephanie Ruhl that the United States could end the war “right now,” but would continue to attack.
“I think we won,” he said later on the South Lawn. “All they’re doing is closing off the Channel. But from a military perspective, they’re done.”
Iran has effectively blocked the strait since the start of the war. President Trump accused NATO allies of trying to drum up additional help to open the strait, but also said Friday it was not important to the United States.
The majority of energy shipments through the strait are destined for Asian markets. But the Dallas Fed said in a report released Friday that the economic impact of the shutdown will be felt around the world, including the United States.
President Trump told reporters Friday that reopening the strait would be easy as long as other countries agree to U.S. assistance.
“This is a simple military operation and relatively safe,” he said. “But we need a lot of help, in the sense that we need ships, we need supplies. NATO could also help us, but they don’t have the courage to do that right now.” Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi spoke at the White House a day after he also called on China and Japan to get involved.
President Trump said earlier this week that he would not make people wear shoes in Iran. Multiple news outlets reported Friday that the Pentagon is sending up to 2,500 Marines to the Middle East. This is the second such dispatch in the last week.
