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White House Holds Press Briefing with Iran War in 11th Day; Pentagon: About 140 Service Members Injured, 8 Severely, in War So Far. Aired 2:30-3p ET
Aired March 10, 2026 - 14:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[14:30:00]
KAROLINE LEAVITT, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: ... Iran is in a place of unconditional surrender. He's not claiming the Iranian regime is going to come out and say that themselves. What the president means is that Iran's threats will no longer be backed by a ballistic missile arsenal that protects them from building a nuclear bomb in their country.
I could make an empty threat, but if I have no actions to back it up, then it's an empty threat. And so President Trump will determine when Iran is in a place of unconditional surrender, when they no longer pose a credible and direct threat to the United States of America and our allies.
Adriana.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Can you explain why the Energy Secretary posted and then appeared to have deleted a post on X saying that the U.S. Navy escorted an oil tanker through the Strait of Hormuz?
LEAVITT: Yes, I was made aware of this post. I haven't had a chance to talk to the Energy Secretary about it directly. However, I know the post was taken down pretty quickly, and I can confirm that the U.S. Navy has not escorted a tanker or a vessel at this time, though, of course, that's an option the president has said he will absolutely utilize if and when necessary, at the appropriate time.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And if this was something that was posted erroneously, could it be because of a staffer or what, you know, what, I guess, will there be any consequences for this? I know you still have to consult, but just generally speaking.
LEAVITT: Again, I would defer you to the Department of Energy to answer that question.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And if I could just follow up really quickly. In terms of oil sanctions, the president said that there would be some sanctions. What that will be lifted?
Would those be on Venezuela, Russia? Could you give some specifics there and then timing for that as well?
LEAVITT: Sure. I know it's something that the Treasury Department and the president's energy team continue to discuss, and they will ultimately consult with the president before decisions are made.
I don't have any announcements on new sanctions or the lifting of new sanctions for you today -- Alex.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you. Reuters has reported that about 150 U.S. service members have been injured so far. Can you confirm that number and elaborate on that?
LEAVITT: I can't confirm the exact number. I know it's within that ballpark, but I would defer you to the Pentagon for a specific number of wounded or injured thus far.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And then secondly, if I can, I wanted to ask about -- there was a briefing on the Capitol Hill today, and some senators came out and said they were more convinced than ever that there were the U.S. boots on the ground. Senator Blumenthal said that, in fact. Your reaction to that and any update on President Trump's thinking about it?
LEAVITT: Look, I would say that Democrats on Capitol Hill are clearly being quite disingenuous. Three years ago, not a single Democrat voted against the resolution condemning Iran as the world's leading state sponsor of terror. Yet now, with President Trump as commander in chief finally taking the action that so many Democrats have called on the commander in chief to do for many, many years, to wipe out the threat of a rogue Iranian terrorist regime.
Now, all of a sudden, Democrats are playing politics with this longstanding bipartisan policy of the United States. And 53 of them in the House recently voted against the resolution condemning Iran as the world's state sponsor of terror. So I wouldn't take Democrats at their word.
As for boots on the ground, the president has talked about this repeatedly, wisely. He does not rule options out as commander in chief. So, again, I would hesitate to confirm anything that a Democrat on Capitol Hill says right now about the president's thinking.
Garrett.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Karoline, you outlined to Steve the military components of what would be involved in ending this war, but it seems like there's a political component, too. The president said to Fox earlier today that he doesn't believe the new Ayatollah can live in peace. He made a variety of comments suggesting that he should be involved in picking the new Iranian leader.
Is the ending of this war also contingent on Iran selecting a leader that the president finds acceptable? And if so, how is that not the definition of a regime change war?
LEAVITT: Look, as President Trump has blatantly and frankly stated, it's obviously within the best interest of the United States and the West to no longer have a radical terrorist in charge of Iran, especially as we see their reaction to Operation Epic Fury. They had their missiles turned towards our Gulf and Arab partners in the region. Again, this was a regime that chanted or still chants death to America.
We look at the way that they are holding the entire world hostage with the restricting of the free flow of energy through the Strait of Hormuz. So the president, I think, is making quite an obvious comment. Again, as for the timeline of the military operations with respect to Iran, we have objectives that we have laid out that the commander in chief wants to see achieved.
When they are achieved, then it will ultimately be up to the president to end this operation.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK, so I think you're not exactly addressing my question, though. Is that political objective also necessary for the president to decide to end this war?
LEAVITT: Look, again, I just told you the objectives of Operation Epic Fury.
[14:35:00]
When those objectives are met, the president will dictate the end of these operations when he deems that Iran no longer poses a credible threat to the United States of America. And again, it goes back to what is that unconditional surrender look like?
Iran can talk all they want, and their words will be very empty when we've completely annihilated their navy, as we are doing, when we've taken out the threat of their ballistic missile capability, when we can firmly, finally ensure that they can no longer make a nuclear bomb to threaten the United States and our allies and our troops in the region. And that's what President Trump is ultimately seeking to do with respect to this operation.
Jennifer.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There was a shooting outside of a synagogue in Baltimore. Do you know if the president has been briefed on that? And do you have any more details on what happened?
LEAVITT: I don't, but we certainly will get you more details, Jennifer. And I don't know if the president has briefed, but I'll check on that when I get back to the Oval Office after this. Nancy.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thanks, Caroline. The president said yesterday for the first time that he had to strike Iran because he believes that Iran was going to strike U.S. targets within seven days. And then he then bumped that down later to three days.
Where is he getting that?
LEAVITT: Well, that's not the first time the president has said that he chose to launch Operation Epic Fury because he felt as though Iran was going to strike the United States and our assets in region first. Again, I addressed this in the last briefing. This was a feeling the president had based on facts, facts provided to him by his top negotiators who had been engaged with the Iranian regime in a good faith effort.
The Iranian regime was lying, deceiving the United States of America, clearly trying to continue their nuclear program to create a bomb that would, of course, threaten the United States of America. Again, their ballistic missile arsenal, they were rapidly and aggressively increasing that by the month to a place where they would essentially build immunity for themselves, where a future president or President Trump would not be able to launch this incredibly successful operation. And so the president, again, as I have reiterated and he has said, was not going to sit back and allow the Iranian regime to threaten or to attack the United States of America any longer.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But there are no U.S. leaders or Israeli leaders who are making those same claims. So is he making this up to justify his decision to go to war now?
LEAVITT: The president is not making anything up, Nancy. He is looking at this every single day based on intelligence, based on facts, and based on intelligence that he himself and his negotiators have consumed based on their, again, negotiations with the rogue Iranian regime over the past year. And the president and his team tried in a good faith way to reach a diplomatic deal through peaceful means with the Iranian regime.
And Iran chose this path to death and destruction. Iran wanted to attack the United States of America, and the president was not going to sit back and allow that to happen. He was not going to sit back and allow that to happen, and everyone in this room should be grateful for it.
John.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thanks a lot, Karoline. Two questions for you. One has to do with a follow-up to your statement that you made at the beginning of the briefing regarding the Save America Act.
LEAVITT: Sure.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yesterday, the Senate Majority Leader John Thune spoke on the effort to potentially have a filibuster broken, the rules for the filibuster broken. He said the votes aren't there, one, to mute the filibuster, and the votes aren't there for a talking filibuster. He says that's the reality.
What's your reaction to what Senator Thune said?
LEAVITT: Look, I think, President Trump, the urgency behind his need to pass the Save America Act and his desire to get this country-saving legislation passed has been made quite clear. He wants all options on the table, and he wants the Senate to move as quickly as possible through whatever means necessary.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And then, secondly, just regarding the president's trip tomorrow, looking ahead, why Ohio and why Northern Kentucky?
LEAVITT: Well, why not? These are two great states with great Americans.
[Speaker 7] I just wanted to know why they were chosen.
LEAVITT: Great states with great Americans. The president will be joined by lawmakers from both states who he greatly admires and respects and supports, and he'll be meeting with business owners in both these places and talking about the economy, which is, of course, the utmost importance to him.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Karoline.
LEAVITT: In the back.
Thank you. Last week, the Energy Secretary issued a waiver for India to get oil, Russian oils, during this energy crisis.
LEAVITT: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Have you spoken to the president about it? What's the idea behind this?
LEAVITT: Have I spoken to the president about it?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
LEAVITT: Yes, I have spoken to the president about it. And the president and the Secretary of Treasury and the whole national security team came to this decision because our allies in India, as you know, Lalit, have been good actors and have previously stopped buying sanctioned Russian oil. So as we work to appease this temporary gap of oil supply around the world because of the Iranians, we have temporarily permitted them to accept that Russian oil.
And this Russian oil was already at sea. It was already out on the water. So this short-term measure, we don't believe it will provide significant financial benefit to the Russian government at this time.
[14:40:00]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have one more question about Pakistan. You know Pakistan is a neighbor of Iran, and Pakistan is also an ally of the U.S. The president has been praising a lot about him, Field Marshal. Is Pakistan providing any kind of support in this war against Iran?
LEAVITT: That I will have to check on with the Pentagon and get back to you.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thanks, Karoline. The president said yesterday that President Putin told him he wanted to be helpful in the Middle East. The Kremlin put out a statement where Putin said quote, "I would like to reaffirm our unwavering support for Tehran and our solidarity with Iranian friends." How does the president think that Russia could be helpful if not helping Iran?
And did the president push Putin on Russia sharing intelligence with Iran in this war?
LEAVITT: The president and his special envoy, Witkoff, have both said that, of course, they've sent a message to Russia that if that was taking place, it's not something they would be happy with, and they hope that it is not taking place. As for further details about the discussions between these two leaders, I'll leave it to the president to divulge any more of that conversation. But he did confirm it yesterday and provided you with a little bit of the background and his view and his perspective, as he always does.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Regarding the missile strike on the Iranian school, how long does the administration expect that investigation to take? And will the White House or the Department of Defense release a full report of its findings once the investigation is completed?
LEAVITT: The Department of War will do that. The investigation continues. And as the president said yesterday at his press conference, he will accept the conclusion of that investigation, whatever it may be.
We'll go to the back row for some love. Sure, in the back, with the glasses.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Regarding the shield of the American --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Karoline, is there a --
LEAVITT: And then you can go but go first.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK, thank you, Karoline. Is there an update regarding the --
LEAVITT: You have rough real estate back there, so I'm trying to give you some love.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- regarding Cuba, and also, is an economic deal imminent?
LEAVITT: Sure, I don't have any updates on Cuba for you today. Obviously, this is something the administration is actively dealing with. The president's made it quite clear.
It's his belief, based on fact, that the Cuban regime is bound to fall. The country is obviously in a very weak place, economically speaking. The people are crying out for help.
And the president believes and knows that the Cuban regime wants a deal. So, as you know, Secretary of State Rubio has been engaged in those conversations, as directed by the president. I don't have any updates for you today, though.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you, Karoline. Regarding the Shield of the Americas, the initiative by President Trump this weekend, big names, a lot of countries, but some notable absences. For instance, Colombia, which is a key ally with the United States in terms of counter narcotics. And President Gustavo Petro was here at the White House, and he met with President Trump. Why wasn't Colombia invited to the Shield of the Americas?
LEAVITT: I don't think we're seeing the level of cooperation we quite want to see yet from the Colombian government to invite them to the Shield of Americas event in pact. But we certainly hope that this newfound organization will expand and we can continue to invite additional member countries. But there was quite a few countries there.
I believe there were 17 countries represented, 12 heads of state with the president over the weekend. They signed a defense agreement with all of our militaries to emphasize the need to combat drug cartels through Latin America in the Western Hemisphere. And ultimately, of course, to curb the illegal trafficking of drugs to the United States, which is the president's utmost priority in all of this.
So it was a great event on Saturday, and we look forward to the coalition expanding.
Kelly in the back.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Karoline, thank you. Good to see you. I want to get back to another question that was asked earlier. It talked about the political aspects, but there's also the ideological and the spiritual aspects of what Iran has said for 47 years, death to America, death to Israel. And we've just finished talking about the fact that terror has been around the world. Iran has been the nexus of that in so many ways.
Has the president stated clearly to the American people why this is such an imminent threat in order for Democrats on Capitol Hill and Republicans and the American people to understand how imminent the threat was?
LEAVITT: I think he has, Kelly. I mean, you've heard from the president on an almost daily basis over the course of the past 10 days. You've heard it from me at this podium.
You've heard it from the Secretary of War, the Secretary of State, the Vice President of the United States. The president's top cabinet and his officials have been repeatedly explaining to the American public the threat that Iran has posed to our country in this moment, but, of course, over the course of the past 47 years. And their words, again, chanting death to America, speak for themselves.
Go ahead. You can follow up.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why the division within the American people? I realize that we have the people talking about the War Powers Act. They're talking about all kinds of issues.
But have people forgotten just how imminent that threat was? If they keep saying death to America and death to Israel, they mean it.
[14:45:00]
LEAVITT: Look, I don't think the American people have forgotten, but I think Democrats on Capitol Hill, they have not forgotten, but they are just so plagued with this resistance to President Trump on everything that they do, that, again, they can't even rally behind the common- sense, bipartisan, longstanding principle of the United States of America, that Iran absolutely poses a threat to the United States, that Iran is the world's leading state sponsor of terrorism. And I think that's reflected, again, in their voting pattern.
In 2023, every single member of the House of Representatives, with the exception of one, I believe the final vote was 412-1 in 2023 for a resolution condemning Iran as the world's state leading sponsor of terror. And now in 20 -- in this year, under this president, in 2026, 53 Democrats voted against that exact same resolution with the exact same language.
I don't think that's a change in the threat that Iran has posed to the United States. I think it's a change in the Democrat Party's thinking and their vicious hatred for President Trump.
Danny.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thanks, Karoline.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Following on Kelly. What's the national threat level right now because of this death to America, death to Israel issue?
LEAVITT: I believe the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI have repeatedly and continuously provided updates on the threat level to the homeland. I don't want to speak on it out of turn from up here. But, of course, the federal government is continuing to coordinate and partner with local law enforcement agencies across the ground to thwart potential threats to the homeland.
This is something the administration obviously takes very seriously. We are thwarting threats that, frankly, most Americans don't know about because they never make headlines. But that's the great work that the Department of Homeland Security is doing.
And it emphasizes and underscores the point of why Democrats need to fund and reopen fully the Department of Homeland Security right now.
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: All right, we've been listening to White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, as she is, again, reiterating that anything Iran does to stop oil in the Strait of Hormuz, they're going to be hit by the U.S., although right now there isn't really oil going through the strait. So that is something that is obviously of note.
We're going to get in a quick break. We're going to continue to monitor this briefing. We'll be right back.
[14:50:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: The press briefing at the White House just wrapped up moments ago with Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt saying a number of headline-worthy things. First, that President Trump, in a conversation with Russia's leader Vladimir Putin, said that he hoped that intelligence sharing between the Kremlin and Tehran was not happening, despite reporting and indications that it, in fact, is happening. Beyond that, Leavitt sort of trying to play around with some of what the president has previously said, suggesting that when the president insisted on unconditional surrender with Iran, it didn't mean that Tehran actually had to surrender, just that they were incapable of actually threatening the United States.
And further, despite President Trump saying that he must have a role in determining Iran's new leader, Leavitt saying that having a new leader that Trump picked was not a prerequisite to ending the war.
KEILAR: Yes, very interesting points. We have Colonel Cedric Leighton and Beth Sanner with us. And, Colonel, I also want to talk to you about sort of the nexus of some reporting we're getting out of the Pentagon that is matching what Reuters has reported here, which is that 140 service members -- American service members, have now been injured in this war.
Eight severely. We know, of course, that seven have died in hostilities, another because of a medical emergency. But I'm wondering what questions that's raising for you, because that is a very high number compared to what we knew.
And this all comes, I think, on a backdrop of an administration that has, you know, the President has at times downplayed injuries historically, even in his first term. And we heard what Secretary Hegseth said about how the media was covering casualties the other day.
COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Yes, that's right, Brianna. And, you know, it does raise a lot of questions. So one of them is, you know, was there an intelligence failure here?
And by the way, at which location or locations did these wounds occur? So we have 140 service members being wounded, of which 108, according to the reporting from CNN from Haley Britzky that I've seen, have been returned to duties. That's what, about a 77 percent rate of return.
So that's good, means most injuries were minor. But how did this happen? How vulnerable were our facilities to Iranian drone attacks and missile attacks?
And exactly what kind of weapons were used against the U.S. in this particular case? Was it just the Shahed drones, or was it, you know, missiles as well? And, you know, to what extent there is also damage to the facilities.
We know about some things. We know about, of course, what happened at Kuwait, where most of the seven service members were killed. We know a little bit about what happened at Prince Sultan Air Base. We don't know if there were any casualties as a result of what happened at the Naval facility in Bahrain, where the Fifth Fleet is headquartered, just as an example.
[14:55:00]
So this raises a lot of questions, and it seems as if there was an effort to minimize the casualty rates and the casualty reports from the Middle East.
SANCHEZ: Beth, I'm just curious to get your thoughts on the U.S. essentially saying they're going to take Vladimir Putin at his word when he says that the Kremlin hasn't aided Tehran in any way, despite U.S. intelligence saying the opposite.
BETH SANNER, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Yes, I think she said that the president hoped that it was the U.S. intelligence saying the opposite. I think she said that the U.S. intelligence wasn't true. And I don't really understand why we would not be absolutely apoplectic about this and making threats to Russia about, you know, you must stop or else, and that they would be penalized.
But again, I think that Russia is walking away as the big winner in this war. The sanctions relief on the oil to India does not release any significant more volume of oil on the market. The only thing it does is put more money in Russia's pockets, right?
Russia's getting away with continuing their whatever they're doing with Iran, including potentially from those reports, targeting Americans so Iran can be more lethal. And maybe some of that 140 people are actually injured as a result of that. That's stunning.
We should put these stories together. These have consequences. And now, you know, we don't really care about the Russia-Ukraine war, it seems to me.
And let's not forget that Ukraine provided a PowerPoint to the Pentagon, to the United States administration last year, saying we could give you counter drone capabilities to better protect your troops and your bases in the Gulf. And that was rejected, at least according to that news report. And I think that that again, you know, kind of shows that we're not really balancing our alliances and who's our friends and who are our enemies here.
KEILAR: Yes, Beth, Cedric, thank you so much to both of you. We will be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
END
