President Trump expressed an understanding during a Friday cabinet meeting that conventional military attacks will not break the will of the Iranian government, saying “most people would have given up by now.”

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Iran is doing very poorly. Just in case you read incorrect stories, they’re doing very, very poorly. They’re having a hard time. They’ve been very dishonest. They’ve been very dishonorable to deal with, but that makes no difference. They’re doing very, very poorly. … REPORTER: Back on Iran, there’s a report that you got a proposal from the military to go big and hit them hard over 10 or 14 days. Are you going to- DONALD TRUMP: We’ve already gone big. Look, I mean, what’s big? They had 159 ships. That was their entire navy – 159. Their entire navy is lying at the bottom of the sea. I’d say that’s going big. They had 200 airplanes. They’re all gone, every one of them. They don’t have one airplane. They had anti-aircraft weaponry – very good – but it didn’t work, and it’s all gone. Their radar is all gone. Their leaders are all gone. Everything’s all gone, but they’ll fight onward. … REPORTER: The CENTCOM CEO has said that those strikes were meant to degrade Iran’s ability to disrupt the Strait of Hormuz. How many more strikes will it take to significantly- DONALD TRUMP: You never know. Look, I mean, most people would have given up by now. They’ve got no navy. They’ve got no air force. Most people would have given up. They haven’t, so I give them credit for that. They’re known as being tough. They’re tough.
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