Trump’s timeline for attacking Iran’s critical infrastructure keeps shifting
President Donald Trump conducts a news conference in the White House briefing room about the war in Iran on Monday, April 6, 2026. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump has set several deadlines for launching massive attacks on critical Iranian infrastructure if Tehran doesn’t make a peace deal includes reopening the vital Strait of Hormuz since U.S.-Israeli military operations against Iran began in February.
Here is a timeline of Trump’s deadlines so far:
March 2
Two days after the U.S. and Israel began attacking Iran, Trump told reporters at the White House, “We projected four to five weeks, but we have capability to go far longer than that.”
March 21
Trump gave a 48-hour ultimatum in a social media post calling on Iran to open the Strait of Hormuz, which is a trading route off the country’s southern coast that facilitates the transport of a huge amount of the world’s petroleum supply.
“the United States of America will hit and obliterate their various POWER PLANTS, STARTING WITH THE BIGGEST ONE FIRST!” he wrote.
March 23
Trump posted another message on social media, in all caps, announcing a five-day extension “SUBJECT TO THE SUCCESS OF THE ONGOING MEETINGS AND DISCUSSIONS.”
March 26
Trump said in a social media post that he was “pausing the period of Energy Plant destruction by 10 Days to Monday, April 6, 2026, at 8 P.M. Eastern Time.”
“Talks are ongoing and, despite erroneous statements to the contrary by the Fake News Media, and others, they are going very well,” he wrote.
The president later said he was inclined to provide a 10-day extension because Iran had allowed some oil-carrying ships to safely pass through the Strait of Hormuz.
Iranian officials did not comment publicly on the president’s threat. The next day, an Iranian missile struck Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia.
April 4
The president went on social media around 10 a.m., claiming “time was running out.”
“48 hours before all Hell will reign down on them,” he wrote.
April 5
Trump made several statements to the press and on social media on Easter Sunday that the U.S. was setting a deadline of Tuesday, April 7 at 8 p.m. ET, which would be Wednesday, April 8, at 3:30 a.m. in Tehran.
He also posted profanity laden statement on the holiest day in the Christian calendar on social media, demanding that Iran open the strait or “Tuesday will be Power Plant Day, and Bridge Day, all wrapped up in one, in Iran.”
Trump told ABC News’ Rachel Scott that, if there was no deal in the next 48 hours, “We’re blowing up the whole country.”
April 6
The president held a news conference where he repeatedly made his threats against Iran’s leadership if they don’t come to an agreement with the U.S.
“The entire country can be taken out in one night, and that night might be tomorrow night,” he said.
April 7
The president made another threat on social media, indicating he could attack Iran in the night.
“A whole civilization will die tonight, never be brought back again. I don’t want it to happen, but it probably will,” he wrote.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt speaks during a news briefing at the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House, March 30, 2026, in Washington. Alex Wong/Getty Images
(WASHINGTON) — As oil and gas prices soar amid Iran’s stranglehold on the Strait of Hormuz, President Donald Trump and his top officials now appear to be suggesting it’s not the U.S.’s problem to solve.
Trump on Tuesday again lashed out at allies for not getting involved in the conflict, and told them: “Go get your own oil!”
“All of those countries that can’t get jet fuel because of the Strait of Hormuz, like the United Kingdom, which refused to get involved in the decapitation of Iran, I have a suggestion for you: Number 1, buy from the U.S., we have plenty, and Number 2, build up some delayed courage, go to the Strait, and just TAKE IT,” the president wrote in a post on his social media platform.
“You’ll have to start learning how to fight for yourself, the U.S.A. won’t be there to help you anymore, just like you weren’t there for us,” Trump added.
Trump reiterated that sentiment in a phone call with ABC News Chief Washington Correspondent Jonathan Karl later Tuesday.
“I’m going to let the countries that want to buy oil, they can — they can police it themselves. Why should I do it for them? They weren’t there for me,” Trump told ABC’s Karl of the Strait of Hormuz.
The statements appear to be a far cry from Trump’s threat to Iran from just days ago. On March 21, he wrote on social media that if Iran didn’t “FULLY OPEN” the strait in 48 hours, the U.S. would hit the country’s power plants. That deadline was extended twice after Trump said that negotiations were ongoing.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Tuesday echoed Trump in calling on countries around the world to “be prepared to step up.”
“It’s not just the United States Navy. Last time I checked, there was supposed to be a big, bad Royal Navy that could be prepared to do things like that as well,” Hegseth said, referring to the United Kingdom’s naval forces.
“President Trump’s been willing to do the heavy lifting on behalf of the free world to address this threat of Iran,” Hegseth said. “It’s not just our problem set going forward, even though we have done the lion’s share of preparation to ensure that that strait will be open, which is an outcome the president has been very clear on.”
Prior to the war, more than 100 ships were passing through the Strait of Hormuz each day, according to data from U.N. Trade and Development. Now, just a handful of ships are estimated to be passing through on a daily basis amid Tehran’s chokehold.
The result has been a record monthly spike in oil and gas prices. In the U.S., the average cost of a gallon of gas topped $4 on Tuesday for the first time since August 2022.
Yet, Trump administration officials have notably declined to list reopening the strait as a key objective of Operation Epic Fury.
“The objectives of Operation Epic Fury are as follows: destroying the Iranian navy; destroying their ballistic missiles; dismantling their defense industrial infrastructure that produces those weapons that have long threatened the United States and our allies; and then, of course, preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said during Monday’s press briefing.
Leavitt was pressed by a reporter whether Trump can declare victory over Iran if passage through the strait remains as hampered as it is now.
“The full reopening of the strait is something the administration is working towards, but the core objectives of the operation have been clearly defined for the American people by the commander in chief,” Leavitt replied.
Trump has said he long predicted Iran would use the strait as a weapon, and that he knew oil prices would go up if the U.S. attacked Iran. He has faced criticism for not vocalizing a clear strategy for reopening the waterway, where roughly one-fifth of the world’s oil supply is caught in the crosshairs of the conflict.
Trump earlier this month issued a public request to U.S partners in Europe and Asia to help the U.S. secure the strait. Those countries largely rebuffed his call to send warships and other kinds of assistance. Some made clear this is not their war, while others have said they would get involved in the strait — but only once hostilities end.
The cold shoulder prompted Trump to change his tune and declare, “We don’t need any help, actually.”
Trump then ramped up threats to attack Tehran’s power and desalination plants if Iran doesn’t reopen the strait.
“If for any reason a deal is not shortly reached, which it probably will be, and if the Hormuz Strait is not immediately ‘Open for Business,’ we will conclude our lovely ‘stay’ in Iran by blowing up and completely obliterating all of their Electric Generating Plants, Oil Wells and Kharg Island (and possibly all desalinization plants!),” Trump posted Monday.
Trump has paused attacks on Iran until April 6 citing ongoing negotiations with new Iranian leadership, though Tehran has publicly denied any direct talks and has pushed back on a 15-point peace plan presented by the U.S. through intermediaries.
Amid his renewed call on Tuesday for other nations to step up, Trump told CBS News he is not “yet” pulling U.S. assets from the Strait of Hormuz, but “at some point I will.”
Later, in an interview with the New York Post, Trump said he believed the strait would “automatically open” when the U.S. exits the conflict.
“I don’t think about it, to be honest,” Trump told the New York Post. “My sole function was to make sure that they don’t have a nuclear weapon. They’re not going to have a nuclear weapon. When we leave, the strait will automatically open.”
Three minutes and two seconds before the first shot is fired, Alex Pretti holds a phone before a federal officer on Nicollet Ave in Minnesota. Obtained by (ABC News)
(MINNEAPOLIS) — The interaction that ended in the death of Alex Pretti in Minneapolis on Saturday morning began at least three minutes earlier when Pretti appeared to be using his phone to record CBP officers, according to videos reviewed and verified by ABC News.
Minutes later, Pretti was pinned on the street by multiple federal agents — visibly being hit by one of them — when one of the officers can be seen leaving the struggle with what appears to be a gun.
Those videos appear to contradict, at least in part, claims by federal officials that Pretti “approached U.S. Border Patrol officers with a 9mm semi-automatic handgun” and “attacked” officers carrying out immigration duties.
During a news conference Saturday, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said Pretti “arrived at the scene to inflict maximum damage on individuals and to kill law enforcement.”
Videos verified by ABC News show that Pretti appeared to be using his phone to record the agents before he was shoved by a federal officer. Seconds later, a federal officer repeatedly pepper-sprayed Pretti and then appeared to pull him into the street.
While Pretti seems to have been pinned on the street by officers, one of the agents is seen in multiple verified videos emerging from the scrum with a handgun that appears to match the weapon federal officials say Pretti was carrying. Before the first shot is fired, another agent can be seen drawing his own handgun, while another repeatedly hits Pretti.
In total, 10 shots were fired in less than five seconds, according to a forensic audio analysis of the videos. Pretti was declared dead on the scene.
“What the videos depict is that this guy did not walk up to anybody from CBP in a threatening manner,” said former acting DHS undersecretary for intelligence John Cohen, a police trainer and ABC News contributor. “For [DHS] to construe that he arrived at that location with the intent to shoot those border patrol officers, there’s nothing in the video evidence that we’ve seen thus far that would support that.”
This is a timeline based on five different verified videos of the incident.
8:58:11 a.m. — Three minutes and two seconds before the first shot is fired, Alex Pretti holds a phone before a federal officer on Nicollet Ave. in Minnesota, in what appears to be an apparent attempt to record a nearby detention by immigration authorities.
8:58:22 a.m.— A second federal officer carrying a canister of pepper spray approaches Pretti, who continues to hold up his phone.
8:58:29 a.m. — One federal officer appears to push Pretti towards the sidewalk.
8:59:08 a.m. — Another eyewitness begins recording the incident, showing Pretti continuing to lift his phone towards officers, as they appear to detain someone in the street.
8:59:24 a.m.— Pretti is seen lifting a phone towards the officers as they move a detainee into a nearby vehicle.
9:00:12 a.m. — Pretti continues to lift his phone towards nearby federal officers as they interact with two unidentified individuals, one with an orange backpack and another in a parka.
9:00:21 a.m. — The two individuals, who were later pepper-sprayed alongside Pretti, speak with a federal agent. Several people honk and whistle. “Watch out for that car,” the officer says as a car passes the group.
9:00:41 a.m. — Three different cameras capture the next interaction. The officer shouts at one of the civilians, “Do not push them into traffic,” and pushes them towards Pretti. Pretti continues to raise his phone towards the officers.
9:00:44 a.m. — The individual who was pushed appears to hold onto Pretti as the federal officer approaches them.
9:00:45 a.m. — The federal officer appears to push Pretti.
9:00:47 a.m. — The officer is seen pushing the individual with the orange backpack.
9:00:50 a.m. — The officer uses pepper spray on Pretti, and Pretti appears to raise his hand towards the officer to get between the officer and the person with the backpack, but the officer immediately pepper-sprays him. According to ABC News contributor and former acting DHS undersecretary Cohen, it appears Pretti used his hand in an attempt to signal that he was not a threat to officers.
9:00:53 a.m. — The officer pepper-sprays the other two civilians again.
9:00:54 a.m.— After being sprayed, Pretti appears to fall into the person with the backpack and possibly grab that person to stabilize himself.
9:00:56 a.m. — The federal officer appears to pull Pretti into the street, appearing to tug him by the hood of his coat.
9:01:02 a.m.— Three officers hold down Pretti, while another group of officers surrounds Pretti. According to ABC News contributor and former acting DHS undersecretary Cohen, the officers do not appear to be following the tactical steps to control and arrest Pretti. “This just seemed to be a free-for-all, and they didn’t seem to have any understanding from a tactical perspective on how to gain control of that individual,” he said.
9:01:05 a.m. — A nearby woman can be heard screaming, “That is police brutality. They are hitting an observer. They’re kicking them in the face.” At one point, at least five officers are on top of Pretti, pinning him down.
9:04:11 a.m. — One of the agents appears to hit Pretti, swinging his hand to repeatedly punch Pretti.
9:01:12 a.m. — One of the officers appears to draw a handgun.
9:01:13 a.m.— One of the federal officers appears to remove a gun from Pretti’s waist that seems to match the handgun federal officials said he was carrying.
9:01:14 a.m. — Another video shows the officer in the grey jacket emerging from the scrum, holding a firearm that appears to match Pretti’s weapon. The video of the officer entering the scrum did not show the agent carrying a weapon. Three cameras capture the moment.
9:01:14 a.m. — First shot is fired. At least one officer immediately steps away from Pretti.
9:01:16 a.m. — One second after the first shot, three additional shots are fired. Pretti appears to go limp and fall to the ground.
9:01:19 a.m.— Within three seconds, six more shots are fired. The six agents have stepped back from Pretti’s body.
9:01:45 a.m. — Twenty-nine seconds after the first shot, an officer approaches Pretti. According to a sworn affidavit from a doctor who says they treated Pretti at the scene, Pretti had at least three bullet wounds in his back, an additional wound on his upper chest, and another possible wound on his neck.
09:02:28 a.m. — Seventy-four seconds after the first shot is fired, the officer in a grey jacket is heard saying, “I got the gun. I got the gun,” and walks towards the officers surrounding Pretti.
An analysis conducted by Robert Maher, a professor at Montana State University specializing in audio forensics, concluded that 10 shots were fired in less than 5 seconds.
Former Special Counsel Jack Smith (C) arrives to testify during a closed-door deposition before the House Judiciary Committee in the Rayburn House Office Building on Capitol Hill on December 17, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — Former special counsel Jack Smith, who charged President Donald Trump with crimes in Florida and Washington, D.C., is set to testify in public before the House Judiciary Committee on Thursday.
Smith was tasked with investigating Trump’s alleged interference in the 2020 election and alleged mishandling of classified documents — and his alleged refusal to turn them back over to the government.
Smith asked the judge overseeing the election interference case to dismiss it after Trump’s election in 2024 due to a long-standing Justice Department policy that bars the prosecution of a sitting president. And he filed a motion to dismiss the appeal of the classified documents case for the same reason.
Trump has denied wrongdoing in both cases.
This will mark Smith’s second time before the committee — he appeared behind closed doors last month. It is customary for former special counsels to appear before Congress publicly to discuss their findings.
Chairman Jim Jordan told ABC News that the committee always intended to have Smith appear in public.
“He’ll be there in a public setting so the country can see that this was no different than all the other lawfare weaponization of government going after President Trump,” Jordan said. “Jack Smith is sort of the culmination of that whole effort to stop President Trump from getting to the White House. But thank goodness it didn’t work and the American people saw through it.”
Smith, according to his team, is voluntarily appearing before the committee and will utilize his experience as a nonpartisan prosecutor.
He will also say that the facts of Trump’s cases would lead to a prosecution of anyone, whether they were a Democrat or Republican, his team said.
In his closed-door testimony, Smith defended his decision to twice bring charges against Trump — telling lawmakers his team “had proof beyond reasonable doubt in both cases” that Trump was guilty of the charges in the 2020 election interference and classified documents cases, according to a transcript of the hearing.
And Smith fervently denied that there was any political influence behind his decision — contrary to allegations of Republicans on the Judiciary Committee, who requested the testimony — such as pressure from then-President Joe Biden or then-Attorney General Merrick Garland, the transcripts shows.
“No,” Smith responded continuously to those allegations, according to the transcript.
Just over an hour before his testimony on Dec. 17, the Department of Justice sent an email to Smith’s lawyers preventing him from discussing the classified documents case, according to the 255-page transcript of the deposition, released last year by the Judiciary Committee along with a video of the hearing.
This meant Smith was unable to answer most questions on that case and the deposition — intended to ask questions about the alleged weaponization of the DOJ against Trump and his allies — mainly focused on the 2020 election case instead.
His team also said Smith will comply with Judge Aileen Cannon’s order that blocked the release of the second volume of his report.
Smith’s counsel said the DOJ also refused to send a lawyer to advise Smith on whether his statements were in line with their determination of what he could or could not say regarding the cases, according to the deposition. Smith did say, however, that Trump “tried to obstruct justice” in the classified documents investigation “to conceal his continued retention of those documents.
