Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Air Force Gen. Dan “Raisin’” Caine discussed the progress American forces made against the country of Iran over the past month after President Donald Trump ordered the U.S. military to begin a campaign against the Islamic Republic to destroy its nuclear capabilities.
Caine spoke at a press conference on Wednesday morning after the U.S. and Iran struck a two-week cease-fire deal that is being roundly criticized by several analysts and throughout the political spectrum.
“We assess that we’ve sunk more than 90 percent of their regular fleet, including all major surface combatants. 150 ships are at the bottom of the ocean, along with half of the IRGC Navy’s small attack boats. Joint fires projected from the land, sea, and air executed more than 700 strikes against naval mine targets, and we assess that we destroyed more than 95 percent of their naval mines. And perhaps most importantly, we’ve destroyed Iran’s defense industrial base and their ability to reconstitute those capabilities for years to come,” he said.
“Since the beginning of major combat operations, the United States Joint Forces struck more than 13,000 targets — including…more than 4,000 dynamic targets that emerged on the battlefield and were immediately addressed,” the Joint Chiefs chairman continued.
“CENTCOM forces destroyed approximately 80 percent of Iran’s air defense systems, striking more than 1,500 air defense targets, more than 450 ballistic missile storage facilities, and 800 one-way attack drone storage facilities,” he added.
All of these systems are gone. We have devastated Iran’s command and control and logistical networks, destroying more than 2,000 command-and-control nodes and degrading their ability to target U.S. and friendly forces,” Caine said.
President Trump told reporters during a press conference on Monday that he gave the order to destroy a newly constructed bridge in Iran after the country’s negotiators reneged on a previous deal to end the conflict.
U.S. forces carried out a strike last Thursday targeting the newly constructed B1 Bridge in the Iranian city of Karaj, according to reports.
The bridge, described as one of the largest infrastructure projects in West Asia and slated to open later this year, was destroyed in the attack. Iranian sources said civilians were gathered nearby marking the final day of Nowruz when the strike occurred.
Initial reports indicated at least eight people were killed and approximately 100 others were injured. Independent verification of casualty figures and details surrounding the incident has been limited, however.
During his press conference, the president said “we were very close to a deal” when he heard from the U.S. negotiating team, led by Vice President JD Vance, that the Iranians “were breaking it.” He said, Tell them, that’s okay. Don’t worry about it. But tell them to look out their window and watch.”
“Within 45 minutes, I gave the order to knock out the biggest bridge…and within 10 minutes after I gave that order, that bridge was over,” said Trump.
Trump also shared a video of the strike on his Truth Social platform, writing: “The biggest bridge in Iran comes tumbling down, never to be used again — Much more to follow! IT IS TIME FOR IRAN TO MAKE A DEAL BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE, AND THERE IS NOTHING LEFT OF WHAT STILL COULD BECOME A GREAT COUNTRY!”
U.S. military officials say the bridge was a legitimate military target because it would have allowed Iran to transport weapons and other war-making capabilities to the western portion of the country. Democrats and left-wing media, however, claim Trump has committed a “war crime” under provisions of international law and the Geneva Convention, which prohibit the deliberate targeting of civilian infrastructure.
Earlier in the day, Trump claimed victory in the US-Israeli strikes, asserting that U.S. military action had destroyed Tehran’s military capabilities and would “finish the job” soon. He added that “core strategic objectives nearing completion.”
Rep. Jasmine Crockett, who declared her intent to run for the U.S. Senate against incumbent Texas Republican Sen. John Cornyn this week, had to defend previous racially charged remarks she made about Latino voters who cast ballots for President Donald Trump in the Lone Star State during the 2024 election.
During a Tuesday segment, CNN’s Jake Tapper challenged Crockett by quoting her remarks from an interview last year with Vanity Fair magazine, where she implied that “Latinos” who voted for the president had a “slave mentality.”
“Now, about the time that that was published last year, around 1 million Latino voters in Texas were voting for Trump. Do they all have slave mentality?” Tapper asked.
“No, and that‘s not what that said at all, to be clear. It did not say that every Latino has that type of mentality,” she began.
“No, no, but the ones that vote for people that believe in strong or Trump‘s immigration policy,” Tapper interjected.
“So I don‘t believe that the people that voted for Trump believe in what they‘re actually getting. That is number one,” Crockett responded. “What Trump said is that he was going to kick out the bad guys. And that‘s what I was talking about.”
While Trump did run on a platform of deporting “the worst” illegal alien criminals, he also ran on the issue of “mass deportation” of anyone in the country illegally, which led to a record number of Hispanic votes.
“I‘ve been down to the border. I‘ve been down to south Texas. I‘ve campaigned down there and so I am talking about exactly what was going on when I was down there on behalf of the Beto [O’Rourke] campaign. In fact, when he was running for governor I was sent as a surrogate, and I said, talk to me about what is going on. Why is it that they believe that they can win Latinos down here?” Crockett continued.
“Like, I don‘t understand what‘s happening. And there were people that were saying that they had fought and they had done everything the right way and that there were bad people that were coming that were doing it the wrong way. And so, they were saying, no, we left,” she said, without directly addressing her prior remarks.
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Meanwhile, a report from earlier this week said that Crockett has had an unpaid lien of more than $3,000 on her luxury condo in Dallas for more than a year.
A notice of a lien filed on April 11, 2024, and available to the public on the Dallas County Clerk’s website, says that Crockett owes the Westside Condominium Association $3,047.79, according to county records Fox News Digital reviewed.
The notice said that Crockett “is in default of her duty to pay assessments and has failed and refused and continues to fail and refuse, despite demand upon her, to pay the Association assessments and related charges properly levied against the Property.”
The lien gives the Westside Condominium Association in Dallas a legal claim on the unit. This means that Crockett can’t sell or transfer the property until the debt is paid.
Fox News Digital got confirmation from the Dallas County Clerk’s Office on Tuesday night that there is no record of the lien being released. This means that Crockett has not yet paid the overdue amount.
According to a Homes.com listing for Westside Condominiums, the complex is a gated community that offers residents a “refreshing retreat” and “comfort and convenience in a secure setting.” The complex is complete with a pool, clubhouse, sleek kitchens and bathrooms “designed with spa-like features.”
“The more we learn about Jasmine Crockett, the more clear it is that she’s the worst possible candidate to run for Senate in Texas,” a longtime Democratic strategist who has worked with campaigns across the country, told Fox News. “Recent weeks have shown she’s just not ready for primetime.”