'America did not start this': Trump defends war with Iran

US President Donald Trump on Wednesday (local time) said the United States did not start the war with Iran, asserting that Tehran had been waging war against Washington since 1979. Defending his administration's military campaign, he said the US wanted to secure a "total victory" rather than settle for a partial outcome. Speaking at the 2026 National Veterans Day Ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery, Trump said the United States had fought back against Iran and claimed that American military operations had significantly damaged the country's capabilities. "America did not start a war with Iran. Iran has been waging war in America since 1979. This should have been taken care of a long time ago," Trump said. Defending his administration's approach to the conflict in West Asia, the US President said Washington had responded militarily and emerged victorious, but stressed that the objective was to achieve a complete outcome. "Under this administration and it was about time somebody fought back. All of us fought back. We fought back and we seriously fought back and we won. It's just a question of, wouldn't we want to end it? We want to make sure we have a total victory, not a 93 per cent victory. It's going to be total. It'll take them 25 years to rebuild back what we have destroyed. And hopefully we won't have to destroy any more of that country. We've got a lot of work to do to put it back," Trump said. Referring to the US military's use of B-2 bombers against Iran's nuclear programme, Trump said Washington had prevented Tehran from acquiring a nuclear weapon. "Iran, where we stopped them from having a nuclear weapon, the B2 bombers – they took them out. We began operations against Iran 7 months ago, of which only a few weeks were active hard fighting. We lost 18 beautiful souls. But when this conflict is over, and it will be soon, the entire world will be a much safer and better place, a more peaceful place, and a place without the kind of danger that we had to suffer," he said. Trump's remarks come amid the ongoing West Asia conflict, which he has repeatedly defended as a response to what he describes as decades of Iranian hostility. He has also threatened devastating military action against Iran while insisting that Tehran would eventually accept Washington's demands. The conflict has become a domestic political liability for the administration, with Republican candidates suffering setbacks in the midterm legislative contests. The war began on February 28 with US and Israeli strikes against Iran. It has so far claimed the lives of 23 US service members and left several hundred others wounded, according to the latest Pentagon figures.