Trump says US would have struck Iran even if it knew Iranian forces would retaliate against Gulf countries

"It's not a question of like, 'Gee, should you have known?' And if we did know, big deal. I mean, we have to do what we have to do," Trump said during an event at the White House.

Noting that multiple Gulf nations have come under Iranian fire, he said: "Saudi Arabia, all of a sudden, Kuwait. Kuwait is getting hit. Bahrain is getting…All these countries are getting hit," adding that "there was no expert that would say that was going to happen."

Trump further argued that the US response had severely degraded Iran's military capabilities, saying: "We hit them so hard, like nobody's ever been hit" and claiming Washington had destroyed "most of their missiles" and "extinguished most of their drones."