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.
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 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 said Friday from the South Lawn. “All they’re doing is blocking up the Strait [of Hormuz]. But from a military standpoint, they’re finished.”
Iran has effectively blocked off the Strait of Hormuz, a critical channel for oil and other goods, 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 afternoon, portrayed reopening the strait as simple provided other companies come to the U.S.’s aid.
“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 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.
