When will Iran war end? See Trump’s shifting timeline Since the Iran war Feb. 28, President Donald Trump has said military operations would last four, five or six weeks; other times, he’s left it open-ended. Here’s what he said and when. President Donald Trump speaks at a news conference, March 9, 2026, at Trump National Doral Miami in Doral, Fla. Since the start of the U.S. and Israel war on Iran on Feb. 28, reporters have asked President Donald Trump how long the conflict will last. The day after the war began, he said combat"will continue until all of our objectives are achieved." Then he threw out four to five weeks . Sometimes, on the same day, Trump declares victory while saying that the war continues. During one month of war, 13 U.S. soldiers have been killed and hundreds of U.S. service members injured. Human rights activists recorded at leastWith the war in its fifth week, PolitiFact compiled a timeline of Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s shifting expectations for how long the war would last.that"combat operations continue at this time in full force, and they will continue until all of our objectives are achieved." Whenasked him how long the United States and Israel would continue the attacks, Trump said:"Well, we intended four to five weeks."at a White House ceremony:"We're already substantially ahead of our time projections. But whatever the time is, it's OK." He repeated that the initial projection was"four to five weeks, but we have capability to go far longer than that.","This is not Iraq. This is not endless. ... This is the opposite. This operation a clear, devastating, decisive mission: destroy the missile threat, destroy the navy, no nukes." Hegseth added:"Trump has all the latitude in the world to talk about how long it may or may not take. Four weeks, two weeks, six weeks. It could move up, it could move back." A group of men inspects the ruins of a police station struck Monday amid the U.S.–Israeli military campaign in Tehran, Iran, March 3, 2026. at an event to celebrate soccer champions Inter Miami CF:"The United States military, together with the wonderful Israeli partners, continues to totally demolish the enemy far ahead of schedule and at levels that people have never seen before.","Our munitions are full up, and our will is ironclad, which means our timeline is ours and ours alone to control as long as it takes to ensure the United States of America achieves these objectives.""We're winning the war by a lot. We've decimated their whole evil empire. It'll continue, I'm sure, for a little while."When asked how long he expected the attacks to continue, Trump didn’t directly answer the question."Well, I think we've accomplished more in one week than anyone thought possible."President Donald Trump, first lady Melania Trump, Vice President JD Vance and his wife, Usha Vance, attend a ceremony for the soldiers who were killed in a drone strike at a command center in Kuwait after the U.S. and Israel launched its military campaign against Iran, March 7, 2026, at Dover Air Force Base, Del. in Doral, Florida, Trump said,"We're achieving major strides toward completing our military objective. And some people could say they're pretty well complete."interview, Trump said,"The war is very complete, pretty much. If you look, they have nothing left. There's nothing left in a military sense."of a missile with a text overlay saying"no mercy." The post’s caption read,"We have Only Just Begun to Fight.", a reporter asked Hegseth how far the U.S. is into its air campaign against Iran. Hegseth responded:"From the beginning, from this podium, we haven't stated how long it will take." He added that Trump"gets to control the throttle… and so it’s not for me to posit whether it’s the beginning, the middle, or the end" of the conflict., a reporter asked Trump if Iran is a"little excursion" or a"war" — two labels he used at the event. Trump replied:"Well, it's both. It's both. It's an excursion that will keep us out of a war." For Iran, it’s a war, he said, and for the U.S., it"turned out to be easier than we thought.""Let me tell you, we've won. You know, you never like to say too early you won. We won. We won the -- in the first hour, it was over."that the war will be over"soon" because there is"practically nothing left to target." He said"any time I want it to end, it will end.""I can’t tell you that. I mean, I have my own idea. But what good does it do? It'll be as long as it's necessary.","I don't think it's gonna be long" and said he would know when it is over when"I feel it in my bones."that militarily,"we've essentially defeated Iran. Uh, I guess they can have a little bit of fight back, but not much. Not much." He added that the U.S. was involved in diplomatic talks with Iran and that Iran wanted to make a deal. When asked if he was ready to officially declare victory against Iran, Trump said,"no" that "they're decimated … But I'm still not declaring it over."Trump if Iran was obliterated as he said, whether the war could be wrapped up in a week. Trump responded"Yeah, sure. We could."Trump replied:"I don't think so, but it'll be soon, won't be long. And we're going to have a much safer world when it's wrapped up, it'll be wrapped up soon.","Iran is just a military operation to me. Iran is something that was essentially largely over in two or three days, because the Navy was wiped out almost immediately. The Air Force came next; the anti-aircraft came next." When a reporter asked if he had a day-after plan, Trump said,"Look, if we left right now, it would take 10 years for them to rebuild. But we're not ready to leave yet, but we'll be leaving in the near future. We'll be leaving in pretty much the very near future. But right now, they've been decimated from every standpoint."g with the prime minister of Japan, Sanae Takaichi, Trump said that Iran"is close to demolished. The only thing is the strait," referring to the Strait of Hormuz.A man walks along the shore as oil tankers and cargo ships line up in the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from Khor Fakkan, United Arab Emirates on March 11, 2026. Trump replied:"Oh, I think we won. We've knocked out their Navy, their Air Force. We've knocked out their anti-aircraft. We've knocked out everything. We're roaming free. From a military standpoint, all they're doing is clogging up the strait. But from a military standpoint, they're finished."that the U.S. and Iran had two days of productive conversations and had instructed the Defense Department to postpone strikes against Iranian power plants and energy infrastructure for five days, subject to ongoing successful discussions."But we'll at some point very, very soon meet. We're doing a five-day period. We'll see how that goes. And if it goes well, we're going to end up with settling this. Otherwise, we'll just keep bombing our little hearts out."for Markwayne Mullin as Homeland Security secretary, Trump said that Iran was a"tremendous success" and that the country wants to make a deal. When asked how hopeful he was for a peace deal with Iran, Trump said,"Well, I think we're going to end it" and added"we've won this -- this war has been won.", Trump said that Iran is"begging to work out a deal. I don't know if we'll be able to do that. I don't know if we're willing to do that." "We estimated it would take approximately four to six weeks to achieve our mission, and we're way ahead of schedule. … The Iranian regime is now admitting to itself that they have been decisively defeated."Trump said that the U.S. is in"serious discussions with A NEW, AND MORE REASONABLE, REGIME to end our Military Operations in Iran." If a deal is not"shortly reached" and the Strait of Hormuz is not immediately open, he said, the U.S. will blow up and obliterate Iran’s electric plants, oil wells and Kharg Island. The SAVE America Act “requires everyone to re-register to vote in person and your driver’s license, REAL ID, or military ID aren’t even good enough.” "Right now we're focused on Minneapolis because that's where we have the highest concentration of people who have violated our immigration laws." Protesters against the federal immigration crackdown in Minnesota are conducting “fake protests done by agitators and professional insurrectionists. …They're professional troublemakers.” A letter sent to postal service employees about working during emergencies such as civil unrest is a sign that President Donald Trump will impose martial law. “By federal law, if you sign someone up for Medicaid, you also give them the right to vote. … This is political patronage at the expense of Medicaid.”The SAVE America Act “requires everyone to re-register to vote in person and your driver’s license, REAL ID, or military ID aren’t even good enough.”“In the modern era, no American president has ordered more military strikes against as many different countries as Donald Trump.”