“In June, we obliterated Iran’s nuclear capacity in Operation Midnight Hammer,” Trump stated, addressing recent US military operations. “People had been waiting for 22 years to do that… They were about a month away from having a nuclear weapon. We had to do it.”
“There’s another beautiful armada floating beautifully towards Iran right now,” Trump added, sharing that he hopes Iran will “make a deal” and “should have made a deal the first time.”
On Friday, Trump told reporters present on Air Force One that the US is watching Iran closely and has “a massive fleet heading in that direction.”
On Tuesday, US Central Command (CENTCOM) released a statement announcing that it was preparing to conduct multi-day readiness exercises “designed to enhance asset and personnel dispersal capability, strengthen regional partnerships and prepare for flexible response execution throughout CENTCOM.”
The exercises are additionally aimed at demonstrating CENTCOM’s “credible, combat-ready, and responsible presence designed to deter aggression, reduce the risk of miscalculation, and assure partners.”
CENTCOM’s announcement followed a Sunday meeting between CENTCOM head Adm. Brad Cooper and IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Eyal Zamir aimed at “strengthening the defensive cooperation between the two states.”
On Monday, a US source confirmed to The Jerusalem Post that the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier strike group had arrived in CENTCOM waters in the Indian Ocean.
According to a Reuters report on Thursday, the USS Abraham Lincoln group included other US warships, destroyers, and fighter aircraft.
James Genn, Jacob Laznik, Yonah Jeremy Bob, and Reuters contributed to this report.
