Trump on Fox News — Tuesday, April 14 (White House, taped)
Interview with Maria Bartiromo
Iran War — “Nearly Over”
Trump sat down with Bartiromo at the White House, where he declared the war with Iran was close to being finished: “I think it’s close to over, yeah. I view it as very close to over.” 
He justified launching the war by saying it was necessary to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon: “If I didn’t do that, right now, you would have Iran with a nuclear weapon, and if they had a nuclear weapon, you would be calling everybody over there ‘Sir’.” 
Iran on the ropes — deal incoming?
Trump suggested Iran’s infrastructure has been devastated: “If I pulled up stakes right now, it would take them 20 years to rebuild that country.” He added that Tehran “wants to make a deal very badly.” 
Bartiromo pushes back
Noting that Trump kept using the past tense about the conflict, Bartiromo pressed him directly: “Is this war over?” — to which Trump replied he believed it was nearly so, while acknowledging the US was “not finished.” 
A ceasefire is currently in place until April 22, though US-allied Israel has continued striking Hezbollah forces in Lebanon during the temporary truce. 
Bottom line: Trump is clearly framing the Iran conflict as a personal victory ahead of the ceasefire deadline, while leaving enough ambiguity to avoid being pinned down on an end date. Worth monitoring given your Hormuz note series — the April 22 ceasefire expiry is a key near-term catalyst.