18.10.2026 02:00
US President Donald Trump, arguing that they eliminated the country's nuclear capacity in attacks on Iran, said, "We can stay there a little longer." Emphasizing that they will not allow Iran to acquire nuclear weapons, Trump claimed that operations would end in a short time and that gasoline prices would then fall. US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, meanwhile, threatened that if Iran does not abandon its nuclear goals, it could face heavy destruction.
US President Donald Trump argued that attacks on Iran eliminated their nuclear capabilities and said, 'We can stay there a little longer.'
'WE CAN STAY THERE A LITTLE LONGER'
Trump spoke in Highlands Heights, Kentucky, where he went for the midterm election campaign to be held on November 3. Pointing to the attacks launched by the US and Israel on Iran on February 28, Trump said, 'You know, on that little trip I made to the beautiful Islamic Republic of Iran, we devastated them. But on that trip, we also eliminated their nuclear capabilities.' Repeating that Iran cannot have nuclear weapons, Trump said, 'We can stay there a little longer.' Arguing that Iran's weapons had been eliminated and that they would not come back, Trump said, 'We are doing that. (The weapons) will not come back. (This) will be over very quickly.'
PROMISE OF A DROP IN GASOLINE PRICES
Pointing also to rising fuel prices in the US, Trump said, 'By the way, when this (Iran) process is over, your gasoline prices will also fall to lower levels than before.'
HE CRITICIZED BIDEN OVER UKRAINE
Also touching on the war between Russia and Ukraine, Trump claimed that he rebuilt the US military during his first term, but former President Joe Biden gave a 'large part' of it to Ukraine.
Trump said, 'He gave too much. They were going to pay. All he had to do was ask the European Union for money. They were going to pay, and I came in and did this.'
'WE ARE TAKING HUNDREDS OF BILLIONS OF DOLLARS OUT OF VENEZUELA'
Regarding US-Venezuela relations, Trump also said, 'Do you know how much money we are taking out of Venezuela? We are taking hundreds of billions of dollars out of Venezuela.' Trump said, 'Add Greenland, Venezuela, the fact that Iran will not have nuclear weapons, jobs, everything—in less than two years, no two years like this have ever been seen anywhere in our country's history.'
HEGSETH'S 'DESTRUCTION' THREAT TO IRAN
Meanwhile, US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth argued that Iran has 'nuclear ambitions' and claimed that if the country does not give up its nuclear aims at the negotiating table, it will 'face destruction.' In a speech at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, US, Hegseth argued that Iran has 'nuclear ambitions' and 'has built a large conventional missile arsenal,' and said, '(Iran) was trying to follow a kind of North Korea strategy. (Their aim) was to develop nuclear weapons while building a large arsenal.' Noting that Iran needed to make a very quick decision 'on whether to give these up at the table,' Hegseth argued that otherwise it would 'face a kind of destruction that the US could rapidly bring about if necessary.'
'VENEZUELA IS NOW OUR STRATEGIC PARTNER'
Hegseth also said, 'The operation in Venezuela will have effects that last for generations. They are now our strategic partner. Our companies are establishing partnerships with Venezuelan companies. This means our dependence on Middle Eastern energy has decreased incomparably compared with before.'