‘Midnight Hammer’ Strike Stopped Iranian Nuclear Threat to Israel, President Trump Says
By Space Coast Daily // March 9, 2026
ABOVE VIDEO: Trump holds press conference as Operation Epic Fury continues
(FOX NEWS) – President Trump on Monday defended the impact of Operation Epic Fury, telling reporters in Florida that U.S. military action had dramatically reduced Iranian missile and drone launches and prevented Tehran from advancing its nuclear capabilities.
Speaking during an update on day 11 of the operation, Trump said the mission — including “Midnight Hammer” in June 2025 — was critical in stopping what he described as an imminent nuclear threat from Iran and in protecting Israel from “annihilation.”
“If we didn’t knock out Midnight Hammer, if we didn’t knock out their Iranian potential, if we didn’t do that with Midnight Hammer, they would have had a nuclear weapon,” Trump said.
“They would have used it long before now, and at a minimum, Israel would have been annihilated,” he said.
Trump also pointed to what he described as significant battlefield gains since Feb. 28.
“We could take them all out in one day, but it’s all resulting in a 90% decline in various things, but in particular, Iranian missile launches and an 83% drop in drone launches,” he said before describing how advanced systems now take down Iranian missiles.
“As soon as they sent a missile up from a launcher, we were able to knock out that launcher within a period of five minutes or less, accurately,” he said. “We’re ahead of our initial timeline by a lot,” Trump explained.
“We’re putting an end to all of this threat once and for all,” he said.
President Trump said Monday that the U.S. military operation against Iran had been “very, very powerful” and “very effective,” suggesting the conflict against the clerical regime could end “very soon.”
Speaking to reporters in Florida, Trump asserted that the Iranian clerical regime was effectively “gone,” claiming that key elements of its leadership structure had been eliminated.
“And very soon. Look, everything they have is gone, including their leadership,” Trump said of the end of the campaign. “In fact, there are two levels of leadership. And even actually, as it turns out, more than that. But two levels of leadership are gone.”
He added that key figures involved were not widely known.
“Most people have never even heard about the leaders that they’re talking about,” he said. “So, it’s obviously been very, very powerful, very effective.”
