Trump’s ‘Four-To-Five Week’ Iran ‘Excursion’ Now Appears Open-Ended

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Thursday would not provide a time frame for ending President Donald Trump’s war against Iran, which the former Fox News host earlier this month said could be over by Saturday.

Hegseth told reporters at a Pentagon briefing that while the United States’ largest war in two decades was “on track,” it would end only when Trump wanted it to end and that he could not set a date.

“It will be at the president’s choosing ultimately where we say, hey, we’ve achieved what we need to on behalf of the American people to ensure our security. So no, no time set on that, but we’re very much on track,” he said.
At a White House photo opportunity a few hours later with visiting Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, Trump was not asked about the duration of the Iran war but claimed, yet again, that it was going better than planned. “I would say we are substantially ahead of schedule,” he said.
Trump at the outset of the attacks said the war was “projected” to last four to five weeks but that the United States had the “capability” to continue waging it for far longer.