President Trump says U.S. campaign has 'decimated' Iranian forces but declines specifics on ground troops

President Trump said at a Dover press event that U.S. strikes have "decimated" Iran's military capabilities and repeatedly framed current operations as producing decisive results. "We're winning the war, buddy, a lot," he said, adding that the U.S. had "wiped out their Navy 44 ships," destroyed their air force and hit missile-manufacturing sites hard. (President Trump, S2)

The president described the campaign as having progressively removed Iran's leadership tiers and said the strikes had reduced Iran's drone and missile output. He framed those developments as increasing U.S. negotiating leverage: "With every passing day, we have more and more leverage because we have more and more capabilities," he said. (President Trump, S2)

Reporters asked whether the president anticipated sending U.S. ground troops. When pressed, President Trump declined to discuss operational details: "I don't even wanna talk about it now. I mean, that's, I don't think it's an appropriate question... I'm not gonna answer it." He added it was possible U.S. forces could be used later "for very good reason," but said any such force would leave Iranian ground forces unable to continue fighting. (President Trump, S2)

A staff member present said diplomatic options remained, but that negotiations would ultimately be up to the president. The staff member recalled earlier Iranian positions on enrichment and said Iran had told U.S. negotiators that they would yield only to pressure they could not withstand militarily. (Staff member, S7)

The president repeatedly framed operational choices as contingent and time-sensitive: he said decisions about additional strikes or filling strategic reserves would be made when circumstances warranted. He also said he would prefer not to return repeatedly for ceremonies honoring fallen service members but recognized it as "part of war." (President Trump, S2)

The figures cited by the president — including ship, aircraft and launcher counts and percentages of production capacity — were presented as his assessment on the record; the administration did not provide independent verification of those numbers during the event. The session closed after the president reiterated that recent Iranian apologies to neighboring states amounted to a form of surrender and thanked those present. (President Trump, S2)

Outcome and next steps: No formal actions, orders or policy changes were announced at the event. Reporters will seek additional detail from administration channels and official briefings for verification of the battlefield claims.