The president said U.S. forces are out to destroy Iran’s missile capabilities, wipe out its naval capacity, stop the country from obtaining a nuclear weapon and “ensuring that the Iranian regime cannot continue to arm fund and directors armies outside of their borders.”
He said U.S. attacks have already “knocked out” 10 ships, and that attacks on Iran’s missile capacity is ensuring they is destroyed while stopping “their capacity to produce brand ones.”
“This was our last, best chance to strike — what we’re doing right now — and eliminate the intolerable threats posed by this sick and sinister regime,” Trump said.
Meanwhile, as expected, oil prices were up slightly in the wake of the war activities in the Persian Gulf area.
The S&P 500 fell as much as 1.2% at the start of trading, and cruise lines and airlines led the way lower. But the index quickly erased most of the loss, in part because past military conflicts have not led to sustained drops for markets, and it fell 0.1% in afternoon trading.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 64 points, or 0.1%, as of 1:39 p.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.3% higher.
Prices for natural gas remained higher, meanwhile, which could raise heating bills for the remainder of the winter, after a major supplier of liquefied natural gas to Europe said it would stop production because of the war. Gold climbed 1.2% as investors looked for safer things to own and as U.S. officials tried to persuade the world that this war will not last forever.
