No, Donald Trump did not claim the U.S. destroyed 95% of Iran’s missiles on the first day of Operation Epic Fury. Instead, U.S. officials reported significant reductions in Iranian attacks over time, with drone assaults down 95% and ballistic missile attacks down 90% after about two weeks, not on the first day.
On March 13, 2026, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth stated that Iranian one-way attack drones were down 95% and missile launches down 90% compared to earlier levels, reflecting cumulative effects rather than first-day results.
Trump made broader claims, such as having "destroyed 100% of Iran’s military capability," but these were fact-checked and contradicted by intelligence assessments.
Exclusive reports from Reuters and The Guardian indicate U.S. intelligence can only confirm about a third of Iran’s missile arsenal destroyed, far below 95%.
Trump acknowledged that even a small remaining capability (e.g., 1%) poses a serious threat, especially to shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.
PolitiFact
politifact.com › article › 2026 › mar › 17 › iran-war-us-destroyed-military-capability
PolitiFact | Has the US ‘destroyed 100% of Iran’s military capability’? Fact-checking President Donald Trump
2 weeks ago - President Donald Trump said the U.S. “destroyed 100% of Iran's military capability.” However, Iran continues to fire drones and missiles.
Newsweek
newsweek.com › home
Iran War: Trump Is Prepared to 'Unleash Hell' as Operation Advances - Newsweek
5 days ago - Speaking from the White House podium, ... According to Leavitt, U.S. operations have destroyed more than 9,000 Iranian targets, cutting ballistic‑missile and drone launches by roughly 90 percent....
Reuters
reuters.com › world › middle-east › us-can-only-confirm-about-third-irans-missile-arsenal-destroyed-sources-say-2026-03-27
Exclusive: U.S. can only confirm about a third of Iran's missile arsenal destroyed, sources say | Reuters
3 days ago - The U.S. military's Central Command "has also damaged or destroyed over 66% of Iranian missile, drone, and naval production facilities and shipyards," the official added. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Guardian
theguardian.com › world › 2026 › mar › 28 › us-destroyed-third-iran-missiles-intelligence-suggests-trump
US has destroyed only a third of Iran’s missiles, intelligence suggests | Iran | The Guardian
2 days ago - Houthi forces enter Iran conflict with missile attacks on Israeli military sites ... That contradicts Donald Trump’s statement on Thursday that Tehran had “very few rockets left” and statements from other US officials that the war has eliminated its ballistic missile capabilities.
White House
whitehouse.gov › home › news › releases › peace through strength: president trump launches operation epic fury to crush iranian regime, end nuclear threat
Peace Through Strength: President Trump Launches Operation Epic Fury to Crush Iranian Regime, End Nuclear Threat – The White House
1 month ago - In a bold and necessary exercise ... to eliminate the imminent nuclear threat posed by the Iranian regime, destroy its ballistic missile arsenal, degrade its proxy terror networks, and cripple its naval forces....
DefenseScoop
defensescoop.com › home › iran’s drone assaults ‘down 95%’ as hegseth declares operation epic fury is still ‘ramping up’
Iran’s drone assaults ‘down 95%’ as Hegseth declares Operation Epic Fury is still ‘ramping up’ | DefenseScoop
2 weeks ago - “Their missile volume is down 90%. Their one-way attack drones, yesterday, down 95%.” ... Initiated by President Donald Trump on Feb. 28, Epic Fury is billed as a U.S.-led, Israel-coordinated military campaign to destroy Iran’s leadership, ...
Fox News
foxnews.com › live-news › us-iran-israel-war-latest-march-6
Live Updates: Trump touts US action as CENTCOM says troops are working to destroy Iranian Navy | Fox News Digital
3 weeks ago - President Donald Trump said Thursday that U.S. forces and Israeli partners "continue to totally demolish" Iranian forces as Operation Epic Fury continues. Trump made the remarks at the White House during an event hosting Inter Miami CF to ...
NYTimes
nytimes.com › u.s. › politics
In Choosing ‘Epic Fury,’ Trump Names a War and Defines His Presidency - The New York Times
2 weeks ago - For a military operation name, Epic Fury sounds like a video game, which may be apt because that’s the way the Trump White House is marketing this war. Online videos circulated by the administration have portrayed the assault on Iran as if it were the latest installment of “Call of Duty.” · A White House official said that in choosing the name, Mr. Trump was focused less on anger than on American strength. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe the president’s thinking, said Mr. Trump believes he was elected on a platform of restoring the country’s standing on the world stage and the name reflects that. For generations, military operation names were picked somewhat at random. But during the Korean War, Lt. Gen. Matthew Ridgway tried to bolster his demoralized troops by giving aggressive names to operations, including Thunderbolt, Killer, Courageous and Audacious, as Gregory C.
Axios
axios.com › 2026 › 03 › 04 › trump-iran-epic-fury-missiles
New weapons and war power worries emerge in Iran conflict
1 month ago - Trump said American forces sank nine Iranian warships and are working to finish off the rest of its navy. CENTCOM called specific attention to a foundering corvette in the Gulf of Oman.
Daily Mail
dailymail.co.uk › news › article-15606605 › Inside-Operation-Epic-Fury-Minute-minute-account-Trumps-order-sparked-37-hour-B-2-bomber-sprint-Iran-100-US-fighter-jets-Tomahawk-storm.html
Inside Operation Epic Fury: Minute-by-minute account after Trump's 'go' order sparked 37-hour B-2 bomber sprint to Iran with 100 US fighter jets and Tomahawk storm | Daily Mail Online
1 month ago - The nuclear watchdog of the United Nations said Monday there was no indication the US-Israeli joint strikes have struck any of Iran's nuclear facilities. Caine said Trump's mission was 'to protect and defend ourselves, and together with our ...
FactCheck.org
factcheck.org › home › assessing trump’s claims on iran’s nuclear and missile capabilities
Assessing Trump's Claims on Iran's Nuclear and Missile Capabilities - FactCheck.org
1 month ago - Days later, the U.S. bombed three Iranian nuclear facilities. In his Feb. 28 remarks, Trump repeated his claim that those military strikes had “obliterated the regime’s nuclear program” at those sites. (As we’ve written, experts and a classified U.S. intelligence report said the sites were damaged and the enrichment program set back — but the sites and nuclear capabilities weren’t completely destroyed.)
PBS NewsHour
pbs.org › newshour › politics › fact-checking-trumps-claim-that-iran-has-tomahawk-missiles
Fact-checking Trump's claim that Iran has Tomahawk missiles | PBS News
3 weeks ago - Reporter: "Mr. President, you just suggested that Iran somehow got its hands on a Tomahawk and bombed its own elementary school on the first day of the war. But you're the only person in your government saying this.
Firstpost
firstpost.com › home › explainers › why has trump gone to war against iran? the many shifts in explanations
Trump’s Iran War: The many reasons the US has given to start the conflict in West Asia – Firstpost
2 weeks ago - He claimed that Iran’s military infrastructure had been largely neutralised, stating at one point, saying, “I think the war is very complete, pretty much — they have no navy, no communications, they’ve got no air force, their missiles are down to a scatter, their drones are being blown up all over the place including their manufacturing of drones — if you look, they have nothing left.” · In other remarks, he suggested that there was “practically nothing left to target,” reinforcing the narrative of near-total destruction. ... Although regime change was not formally listed among the initial objectives of Operation Epic Fury, it has been a recurring element of Trump’s rhetoric.
The Tribune
tribuneindia.com › the tribune › united states › trump says us has already won war with iran claims damage to iranian navy missile capability cut to 9
Trump says US has "already won" war with Iran, claims damage to Iranian navy, missile capability cut to 9% - The Tribune
4 days ago - We have totally won the war," Trump ... Iran's naval and air force assets, including dozens of ships, and significantly degraded Iranian missile forces....
The New Yorker
newyorker.com › news › iran › donald trump launches a war of “epic fury” on iran
Donald Trump Launches a War of “Epic Fury” on Iran | The New Yorker
1 month ago - The U.S. and Israeli operations have reportedly targeted Iran’s leadership, including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and struck at least nine cities, from the northern mountains to the southern desert, and a port on the Persian Gulf. According to multiple news outlets, Israeli officials have said that Khamenei was killed. The war—dubbed Operation Epic Fury by the U.S. and Roaring Lion by Israel—has escalated quickly, sucking in seven other countries as Iran responded by firing on Israeli and American interests in Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, and Kuwait. U.S. officials have indicated that the war is likely to continue for days, even weeks. Trump acknowledged there may be American casualties as the conflict unfolds. Recent polls have shown that Trump does not have broad support for this war, which arrives at a time when Americans are focussed most on their own economic woes.
The Guardian
theguardian.com › world › 2026 › mar › 27 › how-trump-bombed-us-into-worse-position-iran-strategic-failure
A war of regression: how Trump bombed the US into a worse position with Iran | US-Israel war on Iran | The Guardian
3 days ago - Steve Witkoff, Trump’s special envoy to the Middle East, reiterated the US’s key demands laid out in his updated 15-point plan: no domestic uranium enrichment, no stockpiles, removal of enriched uranium from Iran, restrictions on missile capability and reopening the strait of Hormuz. Witkoff claimed there were strong signs that the Iranians knew after their 27-day pummelling that they were at an inflection point.
Center for Strategic and International Studies
csis.org › analysis › operation-epic-fury-and-remnants-irans-nuclear-program
Operation Epic Fury and the Remnants of Iran’s Nuclear Program | CSIS
1 month ago - Trump’s statement, by contrast, explicitly claims no responsibility for targeting Iranian leadership, instead issuing a direct ultimatum to Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) personnel to surrender or “face certain death.” This doesn’t ...
The Independent
the-independent.com › us
Trump’s Operation Epic Fury was staggeringly arrogant – a nuclear strike would be armageddon | The Independent
2 weeks ago - We have heard Trump demand “unconditional surrender”, call upon the Iranian people to rise up and topple the regime, and he has variously told us that the war is about destroying Iran’s nuclear capability (that same capability he told us had been “obliterated” last June) and its military capability. In the last two weeks, the US and its ally Israel have been engaged in the systematic industrial destruction of Iran’s military. There are reports of desertions by soldiers manning Iranian missiles; smoke rises above the rubble in Iranian cities and civilian casualties mount, including at least 170 massacred at a girls’ school by an American Tomahawk missile launched under the aegis of Pete Hegseth, the thoroughly objectionable so-called US “secretary of war”, who may yet live to regret his pronouncement of rules of engagement as “stupid”.
Fox News
foxnews.com › media › trumps-middle-east-envoy-reveals-what-led-breakdown-iran-talks-before-operation-epic-fury
Trump’s Middle East envoy reveals what led to breakdown in Iran talks before Operation Epic Fury
(U.S. Navy/Handout via Reuters) Witkoff maintained that the country's three main enrichment and conversion centers were, in fact, destroyed, but Tehran has not publicly acknowledged such destruction.
Published 3 weeks ago