“It’s going to be ended soon, and if it starts up again they’ll be hit even harder,” Trump told a news conference.
He also told Republican lawmakers at his golf club in Doral that the war against Iran would be a “short-term excursion.”
Trump’s latest comments cast further uncertainty over his timeline after he said in a CBS News interview that the conflict was “very complete, pretty much.”
The 79-year-old repeated his boasts about the destruction of the Iranian navy, air force and missile programme.
But Trump – whose earlier CBS comments indicating an end to the war was in sight had caused stocks to jump and oil prices to drop – added that the United States and Israel had more to do.
“We’ve already won in many ways, but we haven’t won enough,” Trump said, calling for “ultimate victory” against Iran.
Referring to the killing of former supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and other Iranian leaders, Trump added that the United States “will not relent until the enemy is totally and decisively defeated.” (Agencies)
Edited by Cecil Wong
