'Trump Prepared to Unleash Hell' if Iran Miscalculates 'Again', White House Says

ERBIL (Kurdistan24) - The White House declared Wednesday that the United States is prepared to escalate its military campaign against Iran to unprecedented levels if diplomatic efforts fail, warning that any further violence will be the direct result of Tehran's refusal to accept its military defeat.

Addressing the ongoing negotiations and the 25-day-old military offensive known as Operation Epic Fury, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt stated, “But if Iran fails to accept the reality of the current moment, if they fail to understand that they have been defeated militarily and will continue to be, President Trump will ensure they are hit harder than they have ever been hit before. President Trump does not bluff, and he is prepared to unleash hell. Iran should not miscalculate again. Their last miscalculation cost them their senior leadership, their navy, their air force, and their air defense system. Any violence beyond this point will be because the Iranian regime refused to understand they have already been defeated and refused to come to a deal.”

The administration confirmed that while a temporary pause on strikes against Iranian energy infrastructure remains in effect amid productive talks, the broader military mission to dismantle Iran's defense capabilities continues unabated.

The forceful diplomatic warning follows a recent tactical adjustment initiated by Washington. Earlier in the week, the U.S. President announced a temporary postponement of planned military strikes specifically targeting Iranian power plants and vital energy infrastructure.

According to the press secretary, this operational pause was ordered after three days of what the administration characterized as highly productive conversations with Iranian representatives.

The White House noted that Tehran's willingness to engage in dialogue was precipitated by a severe threat issued by the U.S. President the preceding Saturday, which compelled the remaining elements of the Iranian regime to seek an exit ramp from the devastating conflict.

The administration indicated that Iranian officials have a distinct opportunity to cooperate with Washington to permanently dismantle their nuclear ambitions and cease all activities that threaten the United States and allied nations.

However, the White House firmly rejected reports circulating in Iranian state media that Tehran had officially rebuffed a 15-point American peace framework. The press secretary cautioned the press corps against relying on anonymous sources and speculative reporting regarding the diplomatic negotiations.

While acknowledging that the published reports contained certain elements of truth, the administration clarified that the White House had never confirmed the entirety of the 15-point plan and that some publicized details were factually inaccurate.

Citing the highly sensitive nature of the diplomatic back-channeling, the administration declined to publicly negotiate or disclose the specific parameters currently being litigated between the two nations.

Simultaneously, the administration provided a comprehensive public assessment of the battlefield successes achieved during Operation Epic Fury. Currently operating in its 25th day, the military campaign was initially projected by the Department of War to require a timeframe of approximately four to six weeks to secure its primary strategic objectives.

The White House asserted that the U.S. armed forces are operating significantly ahead of that estimated schedule, achieving what the administration described as a resounding military triumph.

According to the statistical update provided during the press briefing, the United States military has successfully executed strikes on more than 9,000 distinct enemy targets within Iranian territory since the commencement of hostilities. The administration reported that this sustained aerial and naval bombardment has severely degraded the Iranian military's offensive projection capabilities.

Specifically, the White House noted that the frequency of Iranian ballistic missile and unmanned aerial drone attacks has plummeted by roughly 90 percent when compared to the initial days of the operation.

The destruction of the Iranian maritime forces has been particularly thorough. The press secretary announced that the United States has eliminated the Iranian navy, successfully destroying more than 140 naval vessels over the past three weeks of combat. This operational total includes the targeted destruction of nearly 50 specialized mine-laying ships.

The administration characterized this systematic targeting of the Iranian maritime fleet as the largest elimination of a national navy over a three-week period anywhere on the globe since the conclusion of World War II.

Beyond the maritime domain, U.S. forces have focused intensely on systematically dismantling Iran's broader defense industrial base. The administration stated that this extensive infrastructural targeting is designed to permanently prevent future security threats from emanating from the region. Furthermore, the White House assessment concluded that the Iranian air force and its integrated air defense networks have been effectively neutralized.

A paramount strategic objective of the U.S. military campaign remains the stabilization and security of the Strait of Hormuz, a critical maritime chokepoint essential for the free flow of global energy supplies. Over the recent weekend, the United States military significantly escalated its kinetic strikes on coastal infrastructure threatening international shipping.

According to the administration, U.S. forces deployed several 5,000-pound munitions to destroy an underground military facility located along the coastline of the strategic strait.

The White House detailed that this subterranean installation was actively utilized by Iranian forces to store critical coastal defense weaponry, including highly advanced anti-ship cruise missiles and mobile missile launch platforms. The administration asserted that these precise, high-yield strikes are steadily degrading the Iranian military's capacity to threaten merchant vessels operating in the waterway.

When questioned regarding a potential timeline for commercial oil tankers to resume unhindered navigation through the Strait of Hormuz, the press secretary declined to establish a specific date but affirmed that the administration is working toward achieving that maritime objective as rapidly as logistical and security conditions permit.

Furthermore, when asked if the U.S. President would consider extending the current five-day pause on energy infrastructure strikes contingent upon a tanker successfully transiting the strait, the administration deferred the decision exclusively to the Commander in Chief.

The press briefing additionally addressed the degraded status of Iran's nuclear development infrastructure.

The administration declared that the regime's long-standing ambitions to construct a functional nuclear weapon have been decisively crushed.

To contextualize the scale of the current devastation, the press secretary drew a direct comparison to previous military interventions, noting that the destruction inflicted upon the nuclear program during Operation Epic Fury significantly exceeds the operational outcomes achieved during Operation Midnight Hammer, which was executed in June 2025.

Regarding the ultimate geopolitical disposition of Iran's existing stockpile of highly enriched uranium, the White House declined to explicitly confirm whether the long-term strategy requires the United States to take direct physical possession of the radioactive material.

The administration maintained that the protocols necessary to ensure the permanent prevention of a nuclear-armed Iran remain an active point of ongoing diplomatic discussion and will ultimately be determined by presidential directive.

The operational decapitation of the Iranian government also emerged as a central focus of the briefing, with the administration addressing whether the United States had effectively enacted regime change through its targeted military campaign. The White House confirmed definitively that the entirety of Iran's previous senior leadership has been killed in the strikes.

When challenged by reporters on the technical definition of regime change, the press secretary noted that the international community has not legitimately heard from or seen the alleged new leader of the Iranian state, thereby confirming a de facto change in the regime's operational leadership structure.

However, the administration cautioned that it is premature to determine whether the current personnel attempting to govern Iran represent a leadership cohort that the United States finds acceptable for long-term diplomatic engagement.

In managing these sensitive diplomatic communications with the remaining Iranian officials, U.S. Vice President JD Vance was confirmed to be functioning as a primary participant.

The White House dismissed external reports suggesting the Vice President was uninvolved, emphasizing that he remains a central, continuous figure within the administration's national security team and actively advises the President on all major foreign and domestic policy matters.

Recognizing the conflict's severe impact on global energy markets and domestic fuel prices, the White House outlined an extensive series of emergency economic countermeasures implemented to stabilize supplies. The administration characterized recent domestic gasoline price increases as short-term fluctuations directly linked to the combat operations, asserting that prices would rapidly decline once the military engagement concludes.

To insulate the domestic and global economy, the administration has authorized multiple federal agencies to intervene in the energy sector. The United States International Development Finance Corporation has been formally directed to provide reasonably priced political risk insurance for commercial tankers attempting to navigate the Strait of Hormuz.

In the broader international market, the administration issued a temporary waiver permitting allied nations to purchase heavily sanctioned Russian oil to alleviate immediate global supply pressures. Concurrently, the U.S. government is coordinating with the International Energy Agency to facilitate the strategic release of an additional 400 million barrels of crude oil.

The cascading geopolitical ramifications of the conflict have also necessitated significant adjustments to the administration's international diplomatic schedule. The White House formally announced that a previously postponed presidential trip to the People's Republic of China has been officially rescheduled for May 14 and May 15.

The initial delay was directly attributed to the outbreak of the war, with the administration noting that Chinese President Xi Jinping acknowledged the logistical necessity for the U.S. President to remain domestically situated during major combat operations. The administration clarified that securing an agreement on the war's conclusion was not established as a precondition for securing the new diplomatic meeting dates in Beijing.

The press briefing concluded with inquiries regarding tangential regional violence intrinsically linked to the broader Middle Eastern conflict. Acknowledging a Wall Street Journal report regarding a military strike on a medical clinic in Iraq that reportedly resulted in the deaths of seven Iraqi soldiers, the press secretary deferred all immediate comment.

She stated she would require consultation with the Pentagon before providing an official response regarding the Iraqi government's reported plans to lodge a formal diplomatic protest with Washington.

Similarly, regarding the volatile security situation in Lebanon—where ongoing Israeli military offensives have reportedly displaced upwards of one million civilians—the administration declined to comment on the specifics of U.S. logistical or military support for the Israeli operations. Nevertheless, the White House reiterated the administration's overarching strategic goal of rapidly eliminating the regional threat posed by the Iranian regime and its associated proxy networks.

The administration explicitly identified Hezbollah as a primary proxy entity that has terrorized Lebanon for an extended period, signaling the administration's continued support for efforts to dismantle the organization's regional influence.

Through its extensive military deployments and aggressive diplomatic posturing, the U.S. administration expressed absolute confidence in its ability to align international allies with its strategic objectives as the conflict progresses toward an eventual conclusion. Pointing to prior diplomatic successes in the region, the White House asserted that the current administration retains the unique diplomatic capability to ensure allied nations consistently support outcomes deemed beneficial to long-term global security.