{"id":206189,"date":"2026-04-02T04:59:32","date_gmt":"2026-04-02T04:59:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/trump-says-iran-war-could-end-quickly-us-may-leave-nato-usa-today\/"},"modified":"2026-04-02T04:59:32","modified_gmt":"2026-04-02T04:59:32","slug":"trump-says-iran-war-could-end-quickly-us-may-leave-nato-usa-today","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/trump-says-iran-war-could-end-quickly-us-may-leave-nato-usa-today\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump says Iran war could end 'quickly,' US may leave NATO – USA Today"},"content":{"rendered":"

For coverage of President Donald Trump<\/a>‘s address to the nation about the war with Iran, follow this link.<\/a><\/strong><\/em>
President\u00a0Donald Trump<\/a>\u00a0promised the United States will soon end its war on Iran, as he threatened to pull out of NATO and sent conflicting messages on his strategy in the Middle East ahead of a\u00a0primetime address to the nation<\/a>.
Trump,\u00a0in a social media post on Wednesday<\/a>, said Iran\u2019s president asked for a ceasefire but added that he would only consider it when the Strait of Hormuz is open. Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson called the claim “false and baseless.”
In an interview with Reuters<\/a>, Trump said he anticipates the U.S. will end its military campaign in Iran \u201cpretty quickly,\u201d and said he no longer cares about Iran’s enriched uranium<\/a> because it’s buried deep underground and can be watched by satellites. The president has repeatedly said preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon was the war’s top objective.
Trump also said he is \u201cabsolutely\u201d considering pulling out of NATO after member countries refused to join the war effort. He told Reuters he will express his \u201cdisgust\u201d with the defense alliance during his 9 p.m. ET address.
The White House\u2019s move to signal the end of the war comes as Trump\u2019s original six-week estimate<\/a> approaches and as new polling<\/a> shows some two-thirds of Americans want the U.S. to quit its involvement even if it means the administration falls short of its objectives. Gas prices have risen precipitously since the war\u2019s start, topping $4 per gallon on average<\/a>.
Terry Collins
In a lengthy open letter addressed to the “people of the United States,” Iranian President\u00a0Masoud Pezeshkian\u00a0on April 1 denied his nation posed a threat to the U.S., and defended Iran’s actions in the ongoing war, citing it as “legitimate self-defense.”
In the translated four-page letter posted on X<\/a>, Pezeshkian wrote that the Iranian people “harbor no enmity toward other nations, including the people of America, Europe, or neighboring countries.”
“This is a deeply rooted principle in Iranian culture and collective consciousness \u2013 not a temporary political stance,” Pezeshkian said. “For this reason, portraying Iran as a threat is neither consistent with historical reality nor with present-day observable facts.”
Pezeshkian’s letter came hours before President Donald Trump<\/a>\u00a0will address the U.S. on the status of the war. Trump has repeatedly said his administration’s goal is to ensure Iran never obtains a nuclear weapon.\u00a0The president said on March 31 the war could be over in “two weeks, maybe three.”
In his letter, Pezeshkian also accused the U.S. of being a “proxy for Israel,” and said the U.S. launched “two acts of aggression” during negotiations to end the war. He encouraged Americans to question the Trump administration’s claims about Iran.
Additionally, Pezeshkian said the war is further damaging the “global standing” of the United States. \u00a0
Christopher Cann
The president said in a phone interview with Reuters that the U.S. has achieved its objective of preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.
Trump said Iran is \u201cincapable\u201d of producing a nuclear weapon. When asked about enriched uranium believed to be stored in an underground complex at Isfahan, he told the outlet \u201cThat’s so far underground, I don’t care about that.\u201d
The president previously said that as part of a deal with Iran, U.S. authorities would retrieve the enriched uranium that remains under the Islamic Republic’s control.
Cybele Mayes-Osterman
The U.S. military has struck more than 12,300 targets in Iran and destroyed at least 155 Iranian vessels since the war started on Feb. 28, according to an April 1 update from U.S. Central Command.
The military has flown more than 13,000 combat flights during the war, according to the update.
Christopher Cann
U.S. Ambassador to NATO Matthew Whitaker told Newsmax<\/a> that \u201cPresident Trump is reevaluating everything,\u201d including the United States\u2019 status as a central NATO member.
\u201cI think it is very clear that President Trump is reevaluating everything, whether that’s our involvement at NATO, whether that is or our support for European efforts in Ukraine,\u201d he said, adding: \u201cEverything is on the table.\u201d
Trump has recently told The Telegraph and Reuters that he is considering withdrawing the U.S. from the trans-Atlantic alliance it helped create. However, to do so, the president would need Congressional approval, which is unlikely given the alliance\u2019s strong support on Capitol Hill.
Christopher Cann
The President of Finland said he spoke with President Trump on Wednesday and that the two leaders discussed NATO and the war in Iran.
“Constructive discussion and exchange of ideas on Nato, Ukraine and Iran. Problems are there to be solved, pragmatically,” Alexander Stubb wrote on X<\/a>.
Saman Shafiq
President Trump is expected to address the nation at 9 p.m. ET on Wednesday, April 1 to “provide an\u00a0important update<\/a>\u00a0on Iran” in his address, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a post on X Tuesday evening<\/a>.
The announcement comes after Trump shared an updated timeline for the end of the war on Tuesday, telling reporters in the Oval Office that he expects it to be over within “two weeks, maybe three.”
Trump’s national address is likely to be broadcast on every major network, including ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN, Fox News and NewsNation at 9 p.m. ET on April 1. USA TODAY will also stream the address live<\/a>.
The address is also expected to stream live on The White House’s website<\/a> and YouTube channel<\/a>.
Christopher Cann
Iran\u2019s Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Esmail Baghaei, said Trump’s claim that Iran’s president asked for a ceasefire is \u201cfalse and baseless,” Iranian state media reported.
Trump earlier said Iran’s “new regime” president requested a ceasefire and that the U.S. would only consider a proposal if Iran opened the Strait of Hormuz.
Kate Perez and Kathryn Palmer
Award-winning\u00a0American journalist Shelley Kittleson<\/a>\u00a0was kidnapped in Iraq on March 31, according to\u00a0multiple news outlets.
Dylan Johnson, Assistant Secretary of State for Global Public Affairs, said on X that the United States was aware of the\u00a0reported kidnapping, though he did not refer to the journalist by name. Johnson said an individual with ties to the Iranian-aligned militia group Kataib Hezbollah is believed to be involved.
Iraq\u2019s Interior Ministry confirmed\u00a0in a statement\u00a0that a foreign journalist was abducted and said an immediate investigation was launched, leading to the arrest of one person believed to be involved.
Kittleson is an independent journalist based in the Middle East.<\/a> Her work has appeared in multiple international publications over the past decade, including Al-Monitor, Politico, New Lines Magazine and Foreign Policy, among others. Kittleson started out reporting from Afghanistan and, in the years since, reported extensively from the ground in Syria and Iraq, according to her New Lines biography.
Christopher Cann
President Donald Trump on Wednesday said Iran asked for a ceasefire that the U.S. will consider only when the regime opens the Strait of Hormuz.
“Iran\u2019s New Regime President, much less Radicalized and far more intelligent than his predecessors, has just asked the United States of America for a CEASEFIRE!” Trump said in a Truth Social Post. “We will consider when Hormuz Strait is open, free, and clear. Until then, we are blasting Iran into oblivion or, as they say, back to the Stone Ages!!!”
Trump has repeatedly changed his stance on the strait. On Wednesday, he said the U.S. could leave Iran and end its ongoing military campaign with the strait still closed, leaving it to U.S. allies to reopen the trade route.
It’s unclear who Trump is referring to as “Iran’s New Regime President.” The country’s president Masoud Pezeshkian has been in power since 2024.
Christopher Cann
The U.S. will leave Iran \u201cpretty quickly\u201d but will return if necessary, President Trump told Reuters on Wednesday, adding that he\u2019s \u201cabsolutely\u201d considering withdrawing from NATO and will address the alliance in his address to the nation.
Trump did not give a timeline for an end to the U.S. military campaign in Iran, but earlier said he could see it wrapping up in two or three weeks.
The president said he will express \u201cmy disgust\u201d with NATO in his address to the nation Wednesday evening. Trump has repeatedly blasted U.S. allies for not sending naval assets to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz, which has remained under firm Iranian control for over a month.
Christopher Cann
When speaking to reporters on Tuesday, President Donald Trump said a deal is not a prerequisite to end the war with Iran.
“Iran doesn’t have to make a deal, no,” he said, adding that he expects the U.S. will end its military campaign against Iran within two or three weeks.
The president also said he would leave Iran even if the Strait of Hormuz wasn’t open, leaving it to U.S. allied countries to open the critical shipping lane that’s been effectively shutdown by Iran, surging global energy prices.
This is a stark reversal from comments he made earlier in the week, when Trump threatened to bomb Iran’s civilian infrastructure \u2013 including water and power plants \u2013 if the Islamic Republic did not strike a deal and open the strait. Trump has twice delayed strikes on Iran’s energy sites, citing negotiations that Iran has repeatedly denied.
Michael Loria
Two-thirds of Americans want the U.S. to end its mission in Iran quickly, even if that means the country does not achieve the goals set by the Trump administration, a new\u00a0Reuters\/Ipsos poll<\/a>\u00a0found.
About 66% of respondents said they wanted U.S. officials to end the country\u2019s involvement in the conflict. Around 27% said the country should finish its mission, even if the war goes on for an extended period of time. About 6% of respondents did not answer the question.
The poll comes as the war stretches past the one-month mark. Trump had promised a quick operation but the war shows no signs of letting up and peace talks show no outward signs of progress.\u00a0
About 40% of Republican respondents supported ending the war soon even if the president does not achieve his goals. Around 57% supported a longer war.
The survey was conducted Friday through Sunday and polled 1,021 people.
Kim Hjelmgaard
President Donald Trump said in an interview with a British newspaper that he’s strongly considering pulling the United States out of the NATO military alliance because it did not join the U.S. and Israel war on Iran. Trump told The Telegraph<\/a> that the 32-member alliance that was founded in the aftermath of World War II to promote international cooperation and European security was a “paper tiger.”
\u201cOh yes, I would say (it\u2019s) beyond reconsideration,” Trump said in the interview when asked if he would reconsider U.S. membership in NATO after the war.
Trump has long disparaged NATO and sought to get other members of the alliance to boost their defense spending. “I was never swayed by NATO,” Trump said in the interview. “I always knew they were a paper tiger, and Putin knows that too, by the way.\u201d A spokesperson for the alliance did not immediately return a comment request.
Michael Loria
President Trump will deliver an address to the nation on Wednesday evening to “provide an important update on Iran,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt announced Tuesday evening.
“TUNE IN,” Leavitt said in a\u00a0statement<\/a>. “Tomorrow night at 9PM ET, President Trump will give an Address to the Nation to provide an important update on Iran.”
Trump\u2019s move to address the public comes as some two-thirds of Americans say they want the administration to end the fighting, even if it means the nation does not achieve the president\u2019s goals.<\/p>\n

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