U.S. President Donald Trump has praised Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth over the most recent strikes on Iran, as the Pentagon chief began extending troop deployments, suggesting the war could continue into 2027.
The U.S military unleashed around a dozen strikes on Iranian radar systems and military assets along a 300-mile stretch of the coast of the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday.
Iranian media reported that an American missile tore through a wedding party, killing at least four civilians, including two women and two children.
Despite Hegseth being under fire in recent weeks and the departure of the Secretary of the Army Dan Driscoll, Trump however admired his work, praising him in a speech in the White House Rose Garden Wednesday.
‘You did a good job in Iran last night, by the way. You knocked the hell out of them,’ he said to applause.
‘We’re winning that one very big by the way, in case you didn’t notice. We have to say it because the press hates to say it,’ he added, though he noted the New York Times said that Iran is ‘not looking too good.’
‘They don’t have any aircraft, anything having to do with aircraft or ships. They’re all at the bottom of the sea or at the bottom of a runway,’ Trump said of Tehran, adding that the country’s technology and weapons are decimated.
The war, however, could be going on a little while longer after the Pentagon began extending troop deployments overseas at Hegseth’s request, The Wall Street Journal reported.
The military is planning to keep 50,000 soldiers in the area to help with missions that involve intercepting missiles and protecting commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz.
The open-ended timeline is designed to maintain continuous regional pressure and preserve strategic options for President Trump, despite pushback from military commanders warning of force strain and maintenance backlogs.
