Secretary of State Marco Rubio criticized ABC News host George Stephanopoulos for continuing to push the narrative that Operation Epic Fury lacks clear objectives, as the administration works to maintain public support for the war.
As rumors of “unclear objectives” spread, concerns have grown that the conflict with Iran could mirror Iraq or Afghanistan, prolonged wars marked by years of fighting, heavy casualties, and the deployment of ground troops without a decisive endgame.
🚨 JUST IN: Sec. Marco Rubio just DESTROYED Fake News George Stephanopoulos and the liberals who keep whining "we don't have clear objectives!"
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) March 30, 2026
"Here, you should WRITE THEM DOWN!"
"I'll repeat them to you now because I hear a lot of talk about we don't know what the clear… pic.twitter.com/XX0C01IAsj
"This operation, okay, and that's what this is. It's about very specific objectives. The president laid them out on the first night of the operation," Rubio said. "I'll repeat them to you now because I hear a lot of talk about: we don't know what the clear objectives are. Here they are. You should write them down."
"Number one, the destruction of their Air Force. Number two, the destruction of their Navy. Number three, the severe diminishing of their missile launching capability. And number four, the destruction of their factory so they can't make more missiles and more drones to threaten us in the future."
"All of this so that they can never hide behind it to acquire a nuclear weapon," Rubio added. "That was our objective from the beginning. That remains our objective now. We are on pace and, in fact, ahead of schedule on some of those things, and we are going to achieve those things in a number of weeks, not in a number of months."
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This comes as President Trump has signaled that Operation Epic Fury is not only ahead of schedule but may be nearing its end, revealing that his administration is in talks with what remains of the Iranian regime and that all parties are seeking an off-ramp.
.@POTUS: "We're ahead of schedule with Iran. We're weeks ahead of schedule... and we have a group, it's really a new regime. It's a new group of people — people that we've never dealt with before, that are acting very reasonable." pic.twitter.com/fcTLiAKnNx
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) March 30, 2026
BOMBSHELL: Trump just CONFIRMED that Operation Epic Fury has been such a success that we are going to be completing it in the "VERY NEAR FUTURE."
— Gunther Eagleman™ (@GuntherEagleman) March 17, 2026
"Look, if we— if we left right now, it would take 10 years for them to rebuild. But we're not ready to leave yet."
"But we will be… pic.twitter.com/dHDisbNvE9
Editor's Note: For decades, former presidents have been all talk and no action. Now, Donald Trump is eliminating the threat from Iran once and for all.
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