The Daily Populous Tuesday March 10th, 2026 morning edition
Authored by cbsnews.com and submitted by bummed_athlete

In a phone interview with CBS News on Monday afternoon, President Trump said the U.S. war with Iran could almost be over.

"I think the war is very complete, pretty much," the president said, speaking from his Doral, Florida, golf club. "[Iran has] no navy, no communications, they've got no air force. Their missiles are down to a scatter. Their drones are being blown up all over the place, including their manufacturing of drones."

The U.S. military said it struck more than 3,000 Iranian targets in the first week of operations.

"If you look, they have nothing left. There's nothing left in a military sense," Mr. Trump said.

Late Sunday, Iran announced that Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei would replace his father as Iran's supreme leader.

"I have no message for him. None, whatsoever," the president said, adding that he has someone else in mind to lead the country.

Commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, through which about 20% of the global oil supply flows, has effectively ground to a halt.

The president said the U.S. "could do a lot" about the strait and threatened Iran if it inhibits the waterway. "They've shot everything they have to shoot, and they better not try anything cute or it's going to be the end of that country. … If they do anything bad, that would be the end of Iran and you'd never hear the name again." The president also said the strait is open now and claimed ships have been entering the strait, but said he is still "thinking about taking it over."

The U.S. benchmark for crude oil dropped as much as 13.7%, or just around $13 per barrel, shortly after CBS News' interview, before rebounding somewhat a few hours later. Oil prices are now down slightly since Friday, after surging by double-digit margins earlier Monday, though oil prices remain above pre-war levels. Major stock indices also closed in positive territory Monday after spending most of the day in the red.

Mr. Trump initially estimated the war would take about a month to complete.

"We're very far ahead of schedule," he told CBS News on Monday.

The same afternoon that the president said the war is "very complete, pretty much," the Department of Defense posted on X, "We have Only Just Begun to Fight" and "no mercy."

So far, seven Americans have died in combat. Later Monday, Vice President JD Vance will attend a dignified transfer of the remains of U.S. Army Sgt. Benjamin Pennington, who died of injuries he suffered in a March 1 attack at Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia.

Asked whether he thought the war could wrap up soon, the president said, "Wrapping up is all in my mind, nobody else's."

mycatisgrumpy on March 9th, 2026 at 22:23 UTC »

As I've been saying so many times in the last few weeks, if it was really that easy we would have done it already.

oskich on March 9th, 2026 at 21:56 UTC »

How is that going to work, is he going to annex the northern shore with American troops to prevent drone launches?

vovap_vovap on March 9th, 2026 at 21:50 UTC »

I do not think anybody include him knows what it means.