The US military’s Operation Epic Fury has been a “resounding success,” according to the Trump administration. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt praised the president's action in a press briefing on Wednesday, March 4, four days into the air strikes across Iran. Leavitt reiterated the objectives President Donald Trump laid out on Saturday morning:
“Number one, destroy the regime’s deadly ballistic missiles, and completely raze their missile industry to the ground. Number two, annihilate the Iranian regime’s navy. And so far we have destroyed 20 Iranian ships, including their top submarine last night, using a torpedo for the first time since World War II.
There’s not a single Iranian ship underway in the Arabian Gulf, Strait of Hormuz, or the Gulf of Oman. Number three, Operation Epic Fury will ensure the regime’s terrorist proxies in the region can no longer destabilize the region, or the free world, and attack our armed forces. And thus far, Iran’s proxies are hardly putting up a fight. Number four, this mission will guarantee that Iran can never obtain a nuclear weapon.”
American forces have struck more than 2,000 targets, she said, and destroyed hundreds of ballistic missiles, launchers, and drones.
Earlier on Wednesday, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth also briefed the press, with Joint Chiefs Chair Gen. Dan Caine, about the successes and status of Epic Fury:
“Starting last night, and to be completed in a few days, in under a week, the two most powerful air forces in the world will have complete control of Iranian skies - uncontested airspace. … It means we will fly all day, all night, day and night, finding, fixing, and finishing the missiles and defense industrial base of the Iranian military … until we decide it’s over.”
The press secretary came armed with rebuttals to the mainstream media’s reporting. Leavitt reminded reporters of June’s Operation Midnight Hammer and Iran’s commitment to rebuilding its nuclear program. She then pointed out that the Middle Eastern country tried to stall President Trump’s negotiators to buy time to continue building ballistic missiles and other deadly weaponry that threatened US military personnel in the region.
Bringing Americans home
Leavitt also said President Trump intends to attend the dignified transfer of the six American soldiers who were killed in Epic Fury and “stand in grief alongside their families.” More than 17,500 Americans have safely returned home from the Middle East, she noted, with more than 8,500 US citizens returning home on Tuesday. Leavitt then reiterated Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s message to US citizens in the Middle East, calling on them to register with the State Department at step.state.gov.
She also fielded several questions from reporters asking if the administration could have planned better for Americans to return before launching Operation Epic Fury. The press inquired about a message on a State Department hotline Tuesday night, which said Americans would have to make their own plans. Leavitt outlined the State Department’s travel warnings from January and claimed the administration remedied the hotline issue.
“Unlike the previous administration, we actually have a number, we actually have identified the number of people in the region who have requested help. We are in direct contact and engagement with them. And you have to keep in mind: There's a few thousand people who have requested assistance to come home in comparison to the millions who we understand are in the region. So, we will help every single American who wants to come home, if they're making that request of the State Department.”
By contrast, former White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki, between August 24 and 25, 2021, could not provide a precise number – to a more friendly press corps – of US citizens who remained in Afghanistan during the chaotic final week of the American withdrawal. Psaki said the number of Americans at that time was “dynamic” and that it was “irresponsible to say Americans are stranded. They are not.”
