by WorldTribune Staff, April 30, 2026 Non-AI Real World News
The U.S. naval blockade on Iranian ports will remain in place until the regime in Teheran agrees to a deal to give up its pursuit of nuclear weapons, President Donald Trump said on Wednesday.
“The blockade is somewhat more effective than the bombing. They are choking like a stuffed pig. And it is going to be worse for them. They can’t have a nuclear weapon,” Trump said in an interview with Axios.
[caption id="attachment_155228" align="alignleft" width="424"]
Joint Chiefs chair Air Force Gen. Dan Caine details the U.S. naval blockade of Iran. / Video Image[/caption]
Trump said he considered the blockade “somewhat more effective than the bombing.”
U.S. Central Command Adm. Brad Cooper said Wednesday afternoon that U.S. forces had achieved a “significant milestone” after successfully redirecting the 42nd ship trying to bypass the naval blockade.
“Right now there are 41 tankers with 69 million barrels of oil that the Iranian regime can’t sell. That’s an estimated $6 billion-plus from which Iran’s leadership cannot financially benefit,” Cooper said in a statement. “The blockade is highly effective and U.S. forces remain fully committed to total enforcement.”
Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Wednesday that the United States had destroyed roughly 80% of Iran’s missiles and missile factories, and warned that he would wipe out the rest “very quickly if we don’t make a deal.”
He added that Russian President Vladimir Putin offered to help with Iran.
“He told me he’d like to be involved with enrichment if he can help us get it,” the president said. “I said, ‘I’d much rather have you be involved with ending the war with Ukraine. To me, that would be more important.’ ”
Putin “doesn’t want to see [Iran] have a nuclear weapon,” Trump added.
In testimony before the House Armed Services Committee on Wednesday, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth argued that two months into the Iran War, the biggest threat to the United States is not Iran or its allies, but “the reckless, feckless, and defeatist words of congressional Democrats.”
"President Trump, unlike other presidents, has had the courage to ensure Iran never gets a nuclear weapon, and he's ironclad in that. We have the best negotiator in the world driving that deal," Hegseth told the committee. "The biggest challenge, the biggest adversary we face at this point, are the reckless, feckless, and defeatist words of congressional Democrats and some Republicans."
"Two months in, I remind you, two months in to a conflict, lest I remind you, and my generation understands, how long we were in Iraq, how long we were in Afghanistan, how long we were in Vietnam. Two months in, on an existential fight for the safety of the American people," he continued. "Iran cannot have a nuclear bomb. We are proud of this undertaking. I am proud that President Trump had the courage to do it, and I look forward to sharing more about what our troops have accomplished. So I thank you again for the opportunity to address this committee."
Meanwhile, in a post to Truth Social, Trump slammed German Chancellor Friedrich Merz who claimed the U.S. is being "humiliated" by Iranian leadership and lacks a clear exit strategy:
The Chancellor of Germany should spend more time on ending the war with Russia/Ukraine (Where he has been totally ineffective!), and fixing his broken Country, especially Immigration and Energy, and less time on interfering with those that are getting rid of the Iran Nuclear threat, thereby making the World, including Germany, a safer place! President DJT
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