President Donald Trump told reporters on Friday he is not interested in a ceasefire with Iran.
“We could have dialogue, but I don’t want to do a ceasefire,” Trump said from the White House South Lawn before departing for Florida. “You know you don’t do a ceasefire when you’re literally obliterating the other side.”
“They don’t have a navy. They don’t have an air force. They don’t have any equipment,” Trump continued.
In a Truth Social post later Friday afternoon, Trump claimed that the U.S. is “getting very close to meeting our objectives as we consider winding down our great Military efforts in the Middle East.”
He also asserted that the Strait of Hormuz, the key shipping lane for much of the world’s oil trade, “will have to be guarded and policed, as necessary, by other Nations who use it — The United States does not!”
“If asked, we will help these Countries in their Hormuz efforts, but it shouldn’t be necessary once Iran’s threat is eradicated. Importantly, it will be an easy Military Operation for them,” Trump wrote in the post.
Trump’s comments come nearly three weeks into the U.S.-Israel war against Iran, which has turned into a broader regional conflict. They signal no quick end to the conflict, which sent stocks tumbling on Friday and has caused oil prices to soar.
US President Donald Trump speaks to journalists before boarding Marine One as he departs from the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, DC, on March 20, 2026.
Brendan Smialowski | AFP | Getty Images
Earlier Friday, Trump said in a phone call with MS Now’s Stephanie Ruhle that the U.S. could end the war “right now” but that he planned to press on with the offensive.
“I think we’ve won,” he later said on the South Lawn. “All they’re doing is blocking up the Strait. But from a military standpoint, they’re finished.”
Iran has effectively blocked off the strait since the start of the war. Trump has blasted NATO allies in an attempt to recruit additional support to help open the strait, which he said again Friday doesn’t matter to the U.S.
The bulk of the energy shipments through the strait are destined for Asian markets. But the Dallas Fed, in a report released Friday, said the economic effects of the closure will hit around the world, including in the U.S.
Trump, speaking to reporters Friday, portrayed reopening the strait as simple, provided other countries come to the aid of the U.S.
“It’s a simple military maneuver, it’s relatively safe,” he said. “But you need a lot of help in the sense of you need ships, you need volume. And NATO could help us, but they so far haven’t had the courage to do so.” He also called on China and Japan to get involved a day after Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi met with him at the White House.
Trump said earlier this week that he would not put boots on the ground in Iran. Multiple news outlets reported Friday that the Pentagon is sending up to 2,500 Marines to the Middle East — the second such deployment in the last week.