President Trump on Wednesday hailed the newly reached ceasefire with Iran as a “total and complete victory” for the United States, even as questions remain about the durability of the agreement and the scope of concessions secured from Tehran.
In a brief interview with Agence France-Presse (AFP), Trump was unequivocal in claiming success.
“Total and complete victory. 100 percent. No question about it,” he said.
Trump added that there is “no question” the outcome represents a U.S. win and suggested China played a behind-the-scenes role in bringing Iran to the negotiating table.
“We have a 15-point transaction, of which most of those things have been agreed on,” he said. “We’ll see what happens. We’ll see if it gets there.”
The ceasefire—brokered just hours before Trump’s self-imposed Tuesday deadline to escalate attacks—marks a dramatic turn in the Iran Conflict, which has intensified for weeks around the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a critical global shipping route.
The agreement, which also involves Israel, includes Iran’s key concession to allow shipping to resume through the strait. A regional official told The Associated Press that vessels from Iran and Oman will pay fees that will go toward Iran’s reconstruction.
Trump also claimed that Iran’s enriched uranium would be secured under the deal, though he did not provide specifics.
“Iran’s enriched uranium will be perfectly taken care of, or I wouldn’t have settled,” he said.
Stopping Iran’s nuclear program and preventing Tehran from developing a nuclear weapon has been a central objective of the Trump administration throughout the conflict, though Iran has long maintained its program is for peaceful purposes.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt echoed the president’s framing, arguing the agreement was made possible by military pressure.
“The success of our military created maximum leverage, allowing President Trump and the team to engage in tough negotiations that have now created an opening for a diplomatic solution and long-term peace,” she wrote on X. “Additionally, President Trump got the Strait of Hormuz reopened.”
However, Vice President Vance characterized the two-week ceasefire deal between the U.S. as “a fragile truce” while speaking in Hungary on Wednesday.
“If the Iranians are willing in good faith to work with us, I think we can make an agreement,” Vance said.
“If they’re going to lie, if they’re going to cheat, if they’re going to try to prevent even the fragile truce that we’ve set up from taking place, then they’re not going to be happy,” he continued.
“Because what the president has also shown is that we still have a clear military, diplomatic, and maybe most importantly we have extraordinary economic leverage,” he said. “The president has told us not to use those tools. He’s told us to come to the negotiating table, but if the Iranians don’t do the exact same thing, they’re going to find out that the president of the United States is not one to mess around.”
The ceasefire follows a period of sharp escalation in rhetoric and military activity. In the hours leading up to the deadline, Trump warned that Iran’s “whole civilization” could be destroyed if a deal was not reached—remarks that drew widespread backlash from Democrats and some conservative figures, who accused the president of threatening actions that could constitute war crimes.
Asked whether he would revive that threat, Trump told AFP: “You’re going to have to see.”
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth reinforced the administration’s victory narrative during a Pentagon briefing Wednesday, describing the U.S. campaign—dubbed “Operation Epic Fury”—as decisive.
“Operation Epic Fury was a historic and overwhelming victory on the battlefield, a capital V military victory by any measure,” Hegseth said. “Epic fury decimated Iran’s military and rendered it combat ineffective for years to come.”
Hegseth said Iran had been driven to negotiate by the threat of further strikes on critical infrastructure.
“You see, had Iran refused our terms, the next targets would have been their power plants, their bridges and oil and energy infrastructure, targets they could not defend and could not realistically rebuild,” he said. “President Trump had the power to cripple Iran’s entire economy in minutes.”
He further claimed that U.S. and Israeli forces had “achieved every single objective,” citing more than 800 strikes that he said dismantled Iran’s defense industrial base.
“In less than 40 days, [U.S. Central Command], using less than 10 percent of America’s total combat power, dismantled one of the world’s largest militaries,” Hegseth said.
Still, officials acknowledged the situation remains fluid. Joint Chiefs of Staff Chair Gen. Dan Caine noted that the ceasefire is only a pause for now and that U.S. forces remain prepared for further action if needed.
Regional tensions also appeared far from resolved. Missile and drone activity continued in the hours after the deal was announced, with the United Arab Emirates intercepting incoming threats and Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Bahrain issuing alerts. An Iranian missile strike in southern Israel triggered additional warnings across the country early Wednesday, according to local reports.
The agreement’s long-term implications remain uncertain. While Iran has agreed to a temporary ceasefire and to participate in talks on a broader peace framework—reportedly set to begin Friday in Islamabad—it has not publicly committed to curbing uranium enrichment or surrendering nuclear material, key demands of U.S. hardliners. The deal also leaves Iran’s current leadership structure intact.
Trump indicated the United States would play an active role in managing the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.
“We’ll be loading up with supplies of all kinds, and just ‘hangin’ around’ in order to make sure that everything goes well,” he wrote on Truth Social.
For now, the ceasefire has halted the immediate trajectory toward wider escalation. But with core disputes unresolved and both sides maintaining military readiness, the Iran Conflict appears to be entering a new, uncertain phase.
Well pardon us regular Americans that have seen every deal with Iran reneged on over the last 47 years. One thing we learned, never declare any victory unless every Muslim is removed by force from any conflict. They are a death cult. The latest proof of that is the encouragement for their people to go out and stand on the targets as Islamic human Shields, AGAIN.