WATCH: Trump Discusses Progress On Iran Conflict In National Address

The president began by highlighting the success of U.S. strikes in degrading Iran’s combat capabilities, including the thorough annihilation of the regime’s air force and naval capabilities. Trump also pointed to the degradation of the regime’s ballistic missile capabilities, which he has long cited as a necessary step towards a ceasefire.

He then shifted attention to Iran’s nuclear weapons program, noting that he has long vowed that the regime must never be allowed to obtain a nuclear weapon. “From the very first day I announced my campaign for President in 2015, I avowed that I would never allow Iran to have a nuclear weapon,” he said.

Trump further noted that Iranian leaders chant “death to America” and have long conducted attacks on American forces in the region, particularly through proxy groups in Iraq and elsewhere. “Their proxies were behind the murder of 241 Americans and the Marine Barracks bombing in Beirut, the slaughter of hundreds of our service members with roadside bombs,” he continued.

“They were involved in the attack on the USS Cole and they carried out the countless other heinous acts, including the blood, just horrible, bloody atrocities of October, 7th and Israel, something that most people have never seen anything like it,” Trump went on, further noting that the Iranian regime killed thousands of their own people during anti-government protests earlier this year.

The president emphasized that Iran could never be allowed to obtain a “nuclear shield,” which they could use to project power and threaten U.S. interests.

He then contrasted his approach with that of his predecessor, Barack Obama, whom he criticized for providing the regime with “$1.7 billion in cash” through sanctions relief. “They laughed at our president and went on with their mission to have a nuclear bomb,” Trump said.

“His Iran deal would have led to a colossal arsenal of massive nuclear weapons for Iran, and they would have had them years ago, and they would have used them, would have been a different world.”

Trump also stated that Iran was in the process of developing ballistic missiles that could have reached the United States. “They were also rapidly building a vast stockpile of conventional ballistic missiles and would soon have had missiles that could reach the American homeland, Europe, and virtually any other place on Earth. Iran’s strategy was so obvious,” the president went on.

“They wanted to produce as many missiles as possible, and they did, with the longest range possible, and they had some weapons that nobody believed they had.”

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