Trump shows flashes of vulnerability in wartime leader address

Telegraph

4 hours ago

In a three-and-a-half-minute address to the nation, Donald Trump threatened Iran with more strikes if it does not agree to a peace deal as he announced that its nuclear facilities had been 'completely obliterated.'
It was a flinty performance on the night he became a war-time president, although it came with flashes of vulnerability.
'Tonight I can report to the world that the strikes were a spectacular military success,' he said in the East Room of the White House, flanked by JD Vance, his vice-president, Marco Rubio, his secretary of state, and Pete Hegseth, his defence secretary.
'Iran's key nuclear enrichment facilities have been completely and totally obliterated,' Mr Trump said. 'Iran, the bully of the Middle East must now make peace. If they do not, future attacks will be far greater and a lot easier.'
The decision to send US service personnel into action came after eight days of strikes by Israel that aimed to degrade the country's air defences, weaken its offensive missile capabilities, and destroy its nuclear enrichment facilities.
But American and Israeli officials said that only US stealth bombers and the 13,500kg bunker buster bomb had any chance of hitting fortified sites deep underground.
And when it came, analysts and journalists were taken by surprise.
The White House had called a 'lid' on Saturday evening at 6.44pm local time, meaning that the president was expected to have no further public engagements. Reporters, producers and camera crews left for the night.
So the usual 'press pool' was not present to watch when the president strode down the red-carpeted cross corridor, before grasping both sides of his lectern with a stern-face and announcing 'massive precision strikes' on three key Iranian sites.
He thanked and congratulated Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, and the country's armed forces. It was a telling comment for a world leader with whom he has not always seen eye to eye.
'And most importantly, I want to congratulate the great American patriots who flew those magnificent machines tonight and all of the United States military on an operation the likes of which the world has not seen in many, many decades,' he said.
Mr Trump was elected on a promise to avoid foreign wars in favour of an ' America First ' agenda. He may have to reckon with some of his own allies in the weeks and months ahead over his decision.
The intelligence community has long assessed that Iran ended its nuclear weapons programme years ago, so Mr Trump will have to own his decision to send American forces into action.
He spelled out again what was at stake for Iran as he reminded viewers of how extremists had chanted 'death to America' for decades.
'There will be either peace or there will be tragedy for Iran far greater than we have witnessed over the last eight days,' he said.
'Remember, there are many targets left. Tonight's was the most difficult of them all, by far, and perhaps the most lethal.
'But if peace does not come quickly, we will go after those other targets with precision, speed and skill, most of them can be taken out in a matter of minutes.'
Just for a moment at the end of his address, he showed a moment of emotion.
Associates say last year's assassination attempt, which saw a bullet graze his ear, left a profound psychological mark. He believes he was spared in order to complete the mission he started during his first term.
'And I want to just thank everybody, and in particular God,' he said, his voice straining and his bottom lip quivering briefly under the weight of the moment. 'I want to just say we love you God and we love our great military. Protect them.'