The US president’s allies fear he may pull out of the region and leave people to face the aftermath. How will the new ayatollah fare?
When George W Bush prematurely announced an end to the Iraq war in 2003, he was wearing a pilot’s uniform and strutting aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln under banners announcing “mission accomplished”.
It was a less grandiose affair when President Trump declared victory over Iran in his first press conference since launching the joint US-Israeli attacks on February 28. In a ballroom at his golf resort in Florida, he spoke conversationally, but to similar effect.
Update from CENTCOM Commander on Operation Epic Fury: pic.twitter.com/5KQDv0Cfxs
— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) March 11, 2026
