Asked about further military action, Trump said Washington had already "bombed out all of their potential nuclear power." He referred to Operation Midnight Hammer, the 2025 American strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities. He described the underground Pickaxe Mountain site as an easy target. "Now, we might have to go after Pickaxe [Mountain], but that's not a big deal," he said. "We can do that in one hour, okay, as soon as we want, at any time we want."
He rejected the idea that the confrontation amounts to a war. "When was the last time you saw us fighting with them? We go months and months. We talk," he said. He argued that Iran's economy is "cratering because of us." He cited 301 percent inflation and said the regime is not paying its soldiers or police.
He also described the conflict as "a very soft war" and added that earlier American strikes had wiped out Iran's navy, with "159 ships" gone. "It could happen if they don't make a deal, but they want to make a deal very badly, there's a very good chance we make a deal,"
Trump did not directly address the Qeshm Island strike. The Wall Street Journal reported that the strike belonged to a previously undisclosed campaign of limited US strikes on Iranian targets that has run for several weeks. Some officials described the operations as defensive, intended to keep Iran from threatening commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz. One official said the administration had kept the attacks quiet so that they would not appear to mark a return to major combat.
A senior American official told Axios that an IRGC anti-aircraft missile had been fired from a position on the island. A US fighter jet then knocked out the surface-to-air launcher at that site. Fox News reported that the Iranian fire had been aimed at an American aircraft. A US official called the strike defensive and said it was not the start of a broader attack. The Pentagon referred questions to US Central Command, which did not immediately comment.
Ynet reported that Iranian media described several explosions on Qeshm, and residents reported aircraft overhead. The Revolutionary Guards claimed they used electronic warfare to bring down two MQM-170 drones south of the island. They also said they shot down an MQ-9 drone east of Hormuz. Those claims could not be independently verified.
Earlier Monday, Trump answered "No" when reporters asked whether he would resume strikes after Tuesday's midterm elections. "We had a war with Iran. We won," he said. On Truth Social, he credited a drop of almost $10 a barrel in oil prices to expectations that there would be no war. "Iran wants a settlement, as soon as possible. It could happen!" he wrote.
