Trump Approves 'Epic Fury' Operation Against Iran: 'No Halt, Good Luck'

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump's order to strike Iran was approved at 3:38 p.m. on Friday with the message: "Epic Fury operation approved. No halt to operations. Good luck."

U.S. defense officials stated that "various forces are deployed across a vast combat space in Iran, so this will not be a short-term operation," while emphasizing "this is not the Iraq War. This is not an endless war."

Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Dan Caine held the first press conference since the Iran strikes at the Pentagon on Friday alongside Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

"At 3:38 p.m. on Friday, June 27, U.S. Central Command received the President's final order through the Secretary of Defense," Caine said. "The President instructed: 'Epic Fury operation approved. No halt to operations. Good luck.'"

Caine explained that "the initial movements were led by our Cyber Command and Space Command" to "disrupt Iran's surveillance and communications capabilities."

"The main combat operations commenced at 1:15 a.m. on the 28th (Eastern Time; 9:45 a.m. Tehran time)," he said. "Over 100 fighter jets, tankers, and airborne early warning aircraft launched from land and sea. The first attack from sea was Tomahawk missiles fired by the Navy."

Caine stated that "more than 1,000 targets were struck in the first 24 hours." He added: "Our focus was on systematically targeting Iranian military command and control infrastructure, naval forces, ballistic missile bases, and intelligence infrastructure to create chaos and confusion."

"As a result, enemy forces lost their ability to assess the situation, and we secured air superiority," he said.

Caine noted that "operations continue to expand in scale." He revealed that U.S. B-2 bombers flew 37-hour round-trip missions from the continental United States — similar to last year's "Midnight Hammer" operation — to drop precision-guided penetrating munitions on underground facilities in southern Iran and beyond.

Hegseth reiterated the war's objectives: "This is not a so-called regime change war. The regime has certainly changed." He outlined three goals: destroying Iran's offensive missiles, destroying missile production facilities, and destroying naval and other security infrastructure.

"Through this, Iran will never possess nuclear weapons," Hegseth added.

"This is not Iraq. This is not endless," Hegseth emphasized. "We don't need to deploy 200,000 troops and stay for 20 years."

However, he explained this would take longer than one-time strikes like the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. "This will not be resolved in the short term," Hegseth said. "This region has various forces deployed across a vast combat space."

On the specific timeline, he said: "We will act to achieve the objectives the President has directed. We will not disclose operational timelines to the press." Hegseth confirmed additional troops are being deployed.

Trump won election on the promise of "no more new American wars." His core MAGA supporters remain wary of the U.S. being drawn into another Middle East quagmire. They argue America should focus domestically — addressing cost-of-living burdens and domestic security — rather than fighting foreign wars that cost trillions of dollars and cause massive U.S. casualties.