WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump launched a full-throttle media blitz to defend and define Operation Epic Fury on Monday, offering shifting timelines for the U.S.-led strikes on Iran even as his administration sought to project a unified mission and steady command of the campaign.
After a weekend dialing into television interviews from Florida, Trump returned to the White House and appeared on CNN and Fox News before midday. He told one outlet the assault could end in “two or three days with a deal.” On CNN, he said the United States was “ahead of schedule” and “knocking the crap” out of Iran. By lunchtime, the horizon had moved again. “We projected four to five weeks, but we have the capability to go far longer than that,” he said at the White House.
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The oscillating timelines came as a new CNN poll showed a majority of Americans disapprove of the action in Iran and do not believe the president has a clear plan. Trump brushed aside the survey, saying he does not care about polling.
While the White House framed the day as a chance to clarify aims, administration officials fanned out across Washington and Virginia in a high-stakes effort to steady the narrative after a weekend of relative silence. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth opened with a forceful Pentagon briefing, defending the president’s latitude to describe the pace of the operation and insisting this would not be another open-ended Middle East war for the United States.
Hegseth outlined what he called a “clear” three-part mission for Operation Epic Fury: destroy Iran’s offensive missile capabilities, cripple its navy and prevent Tehran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. At times snapping at reporters, he maintained the campaign’s scope was limited and its objectives achievable.
On Capitol Hill, Hegseth and senior intelligence and defense leaders delivered a classified update to congressional leaders known as the “Gang of Eight.” Speaking to reporters beforehand, the secretary suggested the strikes were pre-emptive, citing concern about Iranian retaliation after an Israeli attack. “We knew that there was going to be an Israeli action,” he said. “We knew that that would precipitate an attack against American forces, and we knew that if we didn’t pre-emptively go after them before they launched those attacks, we would suffer higher casualties.”
The rationale added a new layer to an already shifting set of explanations for the joint U.S.-Israeli operation. Democrats quickly criticized the administration for repeatedly changing the operation’s goals and timeline.
Images from Tehran showed smoke rising in the distance after explosions were reported in the city, underscoring the campaign’s immediate impact even as the White House tried to keep the country focused on stated objectives.
Vice President JD Vance, an “America First” voice who has long cautioned against war with Iran, had remained conspicuously silent through the weekend. The White House released photos of him seated at the head of the Situation Room table, monitoring the operation’s progress, but he issued no public statements as the president ordered action, U.S. service members were reported killed and the supreme leader was reported killed. The silence fueled speculation about internal alignment.
Vance broke that silence on Fox News late Monday, arguing the United States would not be drawn into a years-long conflict and stating that Trump had one clear objective: to ensure Iran can never obtain a nuclear weapon.
For now, the administration says the mission is defined and on track. But as timelines shift and justifications layer on top of one another, the White House faces a dual test: sustaining battlefield momentum abroad while convincing a skeptical public, and some within its own ranks, that the strategy is coherent and the endgame is within reach.
By Abdiwahab Ahmed
Axadle Times international–Monitoring.
