Trump Press Conference Today: Iran War "Very Soon" Over, Stocks Reverse, Oil Slides From $119
President Trump held his first press conference since launching the US-Israel war on Iran at his Trump National Doral resort near Miami on Monday, March 9 — declaring major military objectives "pretty well complete" and predicting oil prices will fall, triggering one of the most dramatic single-session market reversals in recent history.
Trump Says Iran War Will End "Very Soon" at Doral Press Conference
Trump said the US has achieved "major strides toward completing our military objective" and told reporters: "We've wiped every single force in Iran out, very completely." He touted the destruction of more than 50 Iranian naval ships and the decimation of Iran's air force and anti-aircraft defenses.
Speaking before the formal press conference, Trump said: "We've already won in many ways, but we haven't won enough." He wants to reach a situation where Iran would need a long time before it can threaten the region again — but stopped short of naming specific end conditions or a timeline.
Asked to square his prediction of a quick end with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's comment that the war is "just beginning," Trump said both could be true. "It's the beginning of building a new country," he said, adding that he spoke with Vladimir Putin earlier Monday — and that Putin was "very impressed with what he saw."
Stocks Stage Massive Reversal — Then Give Back Gains Tuesday
Trump told CBS News reporter Weijia Jiang in a phone interview just after 3:15 p.m. Monday: "I think the war is very complete, pretty much. They have no navy, no communications, they've got no Air Force." The comments triggered an immediate selloff in energy markets as traders rushed to reprice the conflict. WTI crude fell as much as 6%, dropping from above $100 per barrel to a session low near $83.89.
The S&P 500 rose 0.8% Monday, reversing intraday losses. Asian equities climbed overnight following Wall Street's recovery. Ten-year Treasury yields halted a five-day increase and the dollar weakened on Trump's comments.
Tuesday morning the Dow is back in the red, down more than 400 points, as markets wrestle with whether Trump's optimistic language reflects battlefield reality or an attempt to calm financial markets.
Iran War Military Developments Behind Tuesday's Uncertainty
Satellite images taken Sunday show destroyed tunnel entrances at the Isfahan missile complex and additional damage at Iran's Natanz nuclear facility. The UN nuclear watchdog director confirmed an impact close to one of the Natanz tunnels, calling it "not a very major one."
The Pentagon identified the seventh American killed in the conflict as Sgt. Benjamin N. Pennington, 26, of Glendale, Kentucky, who died of wounds sustained during an enemy attack on March 1 at Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia. The US military has also lost 11 MQ-9 Reaper drones during Operation Epic Fury so far.
Dow Jones, S&P 500, Nasdaq Live Tuesday: Still Under Pressure
The Dow Jones Industrial Average is down more than 400 points Tuesday morning at approximately 47,093 — well below Monday's closing level of 47,740. The S&P 500 is at roughly 6,709 and the Nasdaq Composite is near 22,372. Trump suggested at his Doral press conference that the war was for the benefit of other nations, especially those dependent on oil shipped through the Strait of Hormuz — framing the military campaign as a global public good rather than a unilateral American operation.
Trump also said he is "disappointed" that Iran chose Mojtaba Khamenei to succeed his father as supreme leader — but declined to say whether he would seek to have him assassinated. He added he is considering reducing oil sanctions on Russia to help ease crude prices, a move that would represent a significant shift in US foreign policy.
