President Donald Trump characterized victory in Iran around the crippling of its nuclear program rather than reopening the Strait of Hormuz in a recent interview.
The Iranian blockade of the Strait of Hormuz has cut off the flow of oil leaving the region, resulting in higher gas prices as Brent crude oil prices spike. The national gas average surged to $4 a gallon Tuesday. (RELATED: Iran War Sends Gas Over $4.00 A Gallon)
However, Trump told the New York Post that his focus is on halting Iran’s nuclear capability.
The outlet pressed him on a Wall Street Journal report that claimed Trump would be on board with ending the war even if the strait remained closed.
“I don’t think about it, to be honest,” Trump told the New York Post. “My sole function was to make sure that they don’t have a nuclear weapon. They’re not going to have a nuclear weapon. When we leave the strait will automatically open.”
Although Trump has been clear that Iran must not obtain a nuclear weapon, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Monday that “the full reopening of the Strait is something the administration is working towards, but the core objectives of the operation have been clearly defined for the American people by the commander in chief,” according to Time magazine.
A person points at a page on the Marinetraffic website that shows commercial boats traffic on the edge of the Strait of Hormuz near the Iranian coast, in Paris on March 4, 2026. (Photo by JULIEN DE ROSA / AFP via Getty Images)
Trump told the New York Post that because the U.S. uses minimal exports from the strait, other countries can figure out how to tackle the strait.
“I would imagine whoever’s controlling the oil will be very happy to open the strait,” Trump said.
Trump has set an April 6 deadline to open the strait — or the U.S. will launch airstrikes on Iranian power plants, the outlet reported.
The Pentagon announced that 11,000 targets have already been destroyed, according to the New York Post. Trump stated during the interview that the U.S. is “obliterating the sh*t out of them right now.”
“We won’t have to be there much longer — but we have more work to do in terms of killing their offensive, whatever offensive capability they have left,” he told the outlet.
Trump boasted of an overnight strike close to Isfahan, a location of one of Iran’s primary nuclear sites, according to The Hill.
Trump called the explosion a “beauty.”
He said the much larger-than-expected explosion suggested that it had contained material needed to build their nuclear capability.
“It was actually bigger than we thought, meaning they had a lot of stuff. Well, we’re taking away their nuclear capability, and we’ve achieved regime change,” Trump told the outlet. “You know, we’re dealing right now with a totally different group of people, and they’re much more reasonable than previous, much more reasonable.”
Trump declined to speak to specifics of what the strikes hit, according to the interview.
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