White House releases BIG statement on Donald Trump’s speech — read full statement here

By Samira Vishwas On Apr 2, 2026

Ahead of President Donald Trump’s prime-time address to the nation tonight at 9 PM ET (6:30 AM IST, Thursday April 2), the White House has released an official readout laying out the context and tone of what the president intends to say. The statement doubles down on the administration’s position that Operation Epic Fury has been an unqualified military success driven by clear, consistent, and unwavering objectives from day one.

Here is the full statement from the White House:

“President Trump’s clear and unchanging objectives drive decisive success against the Iranian regime.

Tonight, President Donald J. Trump will address the nation on Operation Epic Fury — a decisive campaign of American strength that is systematically dismantling the Iranian regime’s ability to threaten the United States and the free world. Under President Trump’s leadership, the US military is executing this mission with unmatched power and precision.
From day one, the objectives have been clear and unwavering: obliterate Iran’s ballistic missile arsenal and production capability, annihilate its navy, sever its support for terrorist proxies, and ensure the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism never acquires a nuclear weapon.
These objectives have remained unchanged, unambiguous, and consistent since the operation began.”

The White House readout is a carefully worded pre-speech document designed to frame tonight’s address as a victory lap rather than a course correction. By emphasising that objectives have been “clear and unchanging” since day one, the administration is pushing back against weeks of shifting narratives, contradictory statements on peace talks, and domestic criticism over the lack of a defined endgame. The address comes after weeks of uncertainty over when and how the US could extricate itself from the conflict that began when the US and Israel first began bombing Iran in late February, with the Trump administration giving shifting explanations of its goals and Trump’s descriptions of negotiations frequently being contradicted by Iran.

Top officials had already set the tone ahead of tonight’s speech. Defence Secretary Hegseth previously stated: “Operation Epic Fury is not an endless war. It’s a decisive campaign with clear objectives to destroy Iran’s offensive military capabilities and ensure they never obtain a nuclear weapon. Our objectives are clear: no nukes, no navy, and a complete dismantling of their missile program and defence industrial base.” Secretary of State Rubio added that Trump “defined very clearly on the first night of this operation what the goal was.”

On the ground, the administration is projecting confidence. Trump told CBS News on Tuesday that Operation Epic Fury was “two weeks ahead of schedule” and that “not much” more has to happen before declaring victory, pointing to regime change as a key factor. “We’ve had total regime change. These are different people than anyone has ever heard of before, and frankly they’ve been more reasonable,” he said. Tonight, Trump is expected to say the military is meeting or exceeding all operational benchmarks and reiterate that the operation will conclude in two to three weeks, while also expected to criticise NATO allies for failing to support the campaign.

Tonight’s speech is Trump’s first formal national address since Operation Epic Fury began over a month ago, and for Indian investors and traders, it lands just 45 minutes before pre-market activity begins on Dalal Street. Watch crude oil prices, Nifty futures, and the rupee closely as Trump speaks at 6:30 AM IST.