Hours after ordering a high-stakes U.S. military operation that obliterated key Iranian nuclear facilities, President Donald Trump addressed the nation with a clear message for Tehran: make peace or face devastating consequences.
Speaking from the White House at 10:00 p.m. on Saturday, President Trump was flanked by Vice President JD Vance, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio. The address came just hours after he confirmed via Truth Social that U.S. forces had executed successful strikes on Iran’s Fordow, Natanz, and Esfahan nuclear sites.
“All planes are now outside of Iran airspace,” Trump wrote earlier in the evening. “A full payload of bombs was dropped on the primary site, Fordow. All planes are safely on their way home. Congratulations to our great American warriors. There is not another military in the world that could have done this.”
In his televised remarks, Trump declared the operation “a spectacular military success,” stating that Iran’s key nuclear enrichment facilities were “completely and totally obliterated.”
“For 40 years, they’ve been calling for death to America and death to Israel,” Trump said. “They’ve been killing our people, blowing off their arms, blowing off their legs with roadside bombs. That was their specialty.”
He praised Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the coordinated effort between the U.S. and Israeli forces: “We worked as a team, like perhaps no team has ever worked before.” Trump also thanked the Israeli military and “the great American patriots” who carried out the strikes.
The president warned that Saturday’s strikes may only be the beginning if Iran refuses to come to the table. “There will be either peace, or there will be tragedy for Iran far greater than we’ve witnessed over the last eight days,” he said. “Tonight’s strike was the most difficult and perhaps the most lethal. But if peace does not come quickly, we will go after the remaining targets with precision, speed, and skill.”
Trump announced that Defense Secretary Hegseth will provide additional briefings during a Sunday morning press conference at the Pentagon.
Closing his address, Trump said, “I want to thank everybody, and in particular, God. We love our great military—protect them. God bless the Middle East, God bless Israel, and God bless America.”
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt had previously indicated the president was weighing his options, noting Thursday that a decision on further action could come within two weeks. But following Iran’s brazen missile strike on an Israeli hospital—an attack Israel’s health minister called “an act of terrorism and a crossing of a red line”—Trump accelerated the timetable.
Earlier in the week, the president had warned that the U.S. knows “exactly where the so-called ‘Supreme Leader’ is hiding” and made clear that no option was off the table.
With tensions at a breaking point and Tehran still refusing to negotiate, Trump’s Saturday night address marked a decisive escalation—and a final warning.
Watch President Trump’s full remarks below:
President Trump’s full address to the nation tonight:pic.twitter.com/OErRxYeIc3
— Daily Wire (@realDailyWire) June 22, 2025