Fog of words: A look at Trump's messaging on Iran war timeline, endgame and more
Trump said he thinks it may end "very soon" but also that U.S. will go further.
As his war with Iran stretches further into its second week, President Donald Trump and his top officials continue to send conflicting or confusing messages about its justification for the conflict and how long it may last.
Plus, the administration's messaging on who should control Iran and how that change happens has evolved since the war started on Feb. 28.
More recently, questions have emerged about Russia's role in the conflict and who is responsible for a strike near an Iranian girls' school that killed dozens of children.
Here's a closer look at what the administration's said.
How long the war will take
President Trump and his administration have offered different assessments of the timeline for this war.
Last week, the president said it could take four to five weeks. Days later, he warned Iran the U.S. had "virtually unlimited supply" of munitions and that it could fight a war "forever."
Over the weekend, Trump again brushed off his initial 4-5 week timeline -- telling reporters "whatever it takes."
The Defense Department said over the weekend and again Monday that the war is in its early stages. Secretary Pete Hegseth told CBS' "60 Minutes" on Sunday, "What I want your viewers to understand is this is only just the beginning."
"We have Only Just Begun to Fight," the Defense Department's Rapid Response X account posted Monday afternoon.
Then, as oil and gas prices spiked, President Trump contradicted the department.
Trump told CBS News on that same afternoon that the war is "very complete, pretty much." Then the president spoke the House Republican retreat at his club in Doral: "We took a little excursion because we felt we had to do that to get rid of some evil. And I think you'll see it's going to be a short term-excursion."
"Short-term," Trump said as the Republicans in the room applauded. "Short-term."
Minutes later, Trump held a press conference where he said "major strides towards completing our military objective" and "some people could say they're pretty well complete." Trump said the operation was "ahead of our initial timeline by a lot" and that it could be over "very soon."
ABC News White House Correspondent Selina Wang asked Trump at the press conference: "So, which is it and how long should Americans be preparing for this war to last for?"
"Well, I think you can say both, Trump said. "The beginning -- it's the beginning of building a new country, but they certainly, they have no navy, they have no air force, they have no anti-aircraft equipment."
"We could call it a tremendous success right now. As we leave here, I could call it. Or we could go further and we're going to go further."
On Tuesday, both Hegseth and White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said ultimately Trump will decide when the war is over.
On Wednesday, Trump told Axios in a phone interview that there is "practically nothing left to target" in Iran and that he’ll end the war "any time I want."
Iranian leadership and regime change
One day into the war, President Trump called on the Iranian people to act: "When we are finished, take over your government. It will be yours to take. This will be, probably, your only chance for generations. For many years, you have asked for America’s help, but you never got it ... So let’s see how you respond."
Hegseth claimed days later the war was not about regime change.
This past Sunday, Trump told ABC News that any replacement leader is "going to have to get approval from us. If he doesn’t get approval from us he’s not going to last long."
Later that day, Iran announced it had selected Mojtaba Khamenei, the son of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, to be the next supreme leader -- an outcome Trump had said would be "unacceptable."
"Does he have a target on his back?" ABC's Selina Wang asked Trump at Monday's press conference.
"Well, I don't want to -- I don't want to say that. But, you know, I was disappointed because we think it's going to lead to just more of the same problem for the country. So, I was disappointed to see their choice," Trump said.
Deadly strike near Iranian girls' school
President Trump has claimed on multiple occasions that Iran may have been responsible for the deadly strike near the girls' school, despite sourcing tell ABC News that U.S. forces were conducting strikes in the area at time and that the U.S. could be responsible.
"Based on what I’ve seen, that was done by Iran," Trump told reporters on Air Force One on Saturday. The president added, "They're very inaccurate, as you know, with their munitions. They have no accuracy whatsoever. It was done by Iran."
Hegseth, standing behind Trump at the time, said the U.S. was investigating the incident.
On Monday, after a newly surfaced video appeared to show a U.S.-made Tomahawk missile hitting a building in Iran adjacent to the girls' school, Trump took it further, saying it could have been a Tomahawk fired by Iran.
"And I will say that the Tomahawk, which is one of the most powerful weapons around, is used by, you know, it's sold and used by other countries, you know that," Trump said. "And whether it's Iran, who also has some Tomahawks, they wish they had more, but, whether it's Iran or somebody else, the fact that a Tomahawk -- a Tomahawk is very generic, it's sold to other countries. But that's being investigated right now."
Then, a reporter pressed Trump on why he was the only one in his administration making the far-fetched claim that Iran could have conducted this strike with a U.S.-manufactured Tomahawk missile.
"I just don't know enough about it," Trump responded.
"I think it's something that I was told is under investigation. But Tomahawks are --are used by others, as you know. Numerous other nations have Tomahawks. They buy them from us," Trump added.
The U.S. makes and sells Tomahawks to its closest allies, including the United Kingdom and Australia. But it has never sold the technology to Iran or other adversaries. While other countries like Russia use cruise missiles, only the U.S. makes Tomahawks which experts say can be seen in the video of the school strike. Israel, also involved in the war against Iran, doesn't use Tomahawks.
Russia's role
Last week, ABC News confirmed reports the U.S. believes that Russia has been providing Iran the locations of U.S. forces in the Middle East, including aircraft and ships, helping potentially target American troops.
The administration has switched from brushing aside the concerns, to denying it's true.
"If you take a look at what's happened to Iran in the last week, if they're getting information, it's not helping them much," Trump said on Saturday.
Then Steve Witkoff, White House special envoy, said Russians officials denied in a phone call on Monday with Trump that they are sharing intelligence with Iran -- and that the administration believes them.
"We can take them at their word," Witkoff said Tuesday during an interview with CNBC. "That's a better question for the intel people, but let's hope that they're not sharing."
"Yesterday on the call with the president, the Russians said that they have not been sharing. That's what they said," Witkoff said.
Strait of Hormuz
In another example of conflicting messages from the Trump administration, White House press secretary Leavitt confirmed to reporters on Tuesday that the U.S. Navy has not escorted an oil tanker through the Strait of Hormuz.
Leavitt's denial came after Energy Secretary Chris Wright posted on X earlier that afternoon that the U.S. Navy had "successfully escorted" an oil tanker through the Strait. He deleted the post several minutes later.
A spokesperson with the Department of Energy later said an incorrect caption by department staff led to the deleted post on Wright's official X account.
"A video clip was deleted from Secretary Wright’s official X account after it was determined to be incorrectly captioned by Department of Energy staff," the spokesperson said in a statement provided to ABC News. "President Trump, Secretary Wright, and the rest of the President’s energy team are closely monitoring the situation, speaking with industry leaders, and having the U.S. military draw up additional options to keep the Strait of Hormuz open, including the potential for our Navy to escort tankers."
Justifications for war and risk to homeland
The administration's given a long list of reasons why it says it started the war against Iran.
They include that Iran was prepared to "take over" all of the Middle East; an "imminent threat" of an Iranian attack on U.S. forces in the region and its allies; a mission to destroy Iran's missile capabilities and restarted nuclear ambitions; "retribution" for 47 years of Iranian-backed American bloodshed; and an opportunity to wipe out regime leaders who were meeting together.
The White House has also said that Iran "refused to negotiate in good faith" with the U.S.
When pressed on possible risks to the homeland due to the conflict, Trump has vacillated from people should worry "I guess," to saying, "I don't worry about anything."
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