President Donald Trump gave CNN’s Kaitlan Collins his assessment of where the war with Iran stands, which he said was in contrast with her network’s unfavorable coverage.
Speaking to reporters from the Oval Office on Wednesday, Collins asked the president which war he thought would end first — the war in Iran or in Ukraine.
Trump seemed pleased that she had asked a reasonable question, given her past barbed inquiries, and then responded that he thought the wars might be on a similar timetable to wrap up, giving his assessment of where things stood in the Iran war.
“They had 159 ships. Every ship is, right now, underwater. Typically, that’s pretty good… It should be hard for them to make a naval comeback,” he said.
“Now, they have an air force — every one of their planes has been shot down or has been decimated. They have missiles, about 82 percent are gone. And they have drones, and most of them are gone. Most of the factories are mostly gone,” Trump continued.
.@POTUS on Iran: “Militarily, they’re defeated. You wouldn’t know that by reading the Fake News… they had 159 ships. Every ship is, right now, underwater… they have an air force — every one of their planes has been shot down or has been decimated.” pic.twitter.com/9a7RTpWZRh
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) April 29, 2026
The president went on to note that the U.S. has deployed anti-drone technology, including lasers, and a “new very special machine gun that knocks them out of the air like flies. And we use bullets instead of million-dollar missiles.”
Trump then asserted that Iran’s economy is crashing with “valueless” money and high inflation. “Other than that, they’re doing quite well,” he said.
“If you read The New York Times, you’d say they’re doing wonderfully, because it’s fake news,” Trump asserted.
He then looked toward Collins, saying, “Or if you watch CNN, I mean, you cover it all the time. You think they’re doing well.”
Trump then asked Collins directly, “Do you think they’re doing well where they have no navy, no air force, no anti-aircraft apparatus, other than what they may have put there?”
Last week, Collins interviewed frequent Trump foe, New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman, who said, “My sense is the president would like to just be done with this, and he has other things he’d like to focus on.”
“Don’t rush me,” President Trump says when asked about Iran. “So were in Vietnam for 18 years. Iraq, many, many years….I’ve been doing this for…six weeks.”
— Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) April 23, 2026
Another reporter asked Trump on Wednesday how long he anticipates the U.S. naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz to continue.
“The blockade is genius. The blockade has been 100 percent foolproof. It shows how good our Navy is, I can tell you that. Nobody is going to play games. We have the greatest military in the world, and I built much of it during my first term — and we’ve been building it since,” he said.
.@POTUS: “The blockade is genius. The blockade has been 100% foolproof. It shows how good our Navy is, I can tell you that. Nobody is going to play games. We have the greatest military in the world, and I built much of it during my first term—and we’ve been building it since.” pic.twitter.com/T75dRffTTZ
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) April 29, 2026
Trump said that Iran’s leaders “have to cry ‘uncle,’ that’s all they have to do. Just say, ‘We give up. We give up.’ But their economy is really in trouble. It’s a dead economy.”
The Wall Street Journal reported earlier this month that the U.S. naval blockade is costing Iran an estimated $435 million a day, including $276 million in lost exports, mostly of crude oil and petrochemicals.
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