President Donald Trump said Friday that the United States is “doing very well” in Iran nearly a week after American forces coordinated with Israel on airstrikes in Tehran that killed the country’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Trump made the remarks while speaking to reporters at the end of a White House roundtable focused on college sports.

Fox News senior White House correspondent Peter Doocy asked the president what motivated him to hold the event “because there is a lot of other stuff going on in the world.”

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“That’s right,” Trump said before discussing the military campaign.

“Somebody said, ‘How would you score it from zero to 10?’ I said, ‘I’d give it a 12 to a 15.’ Their army is gone. Their navy is gone. Their communications are gone. Their leaders are gone,” Trump said. “Two sets of their leaders.”

The president described Iran’s military forces as severely damaged following the coordinated strikes.

“That’s right,” Trump said when responding to the question about current events before returning to the conflict in the Middle East. He said Iran’s air force has been “wiped out entirely.”

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“Think of it. They have 32 ships. All 32 are at the bottom of the ocean. Other than that, they’re doing very well,” Trump said.

Trump praised the performance of the U.S. armed forces and said the decision to act came after repeated attacks that he said resulted in American casualties.

“Our military is doing phenomenally,” he said.

“The situation with a very bad and very sick group of leaders who were killing a lot of people. A lot of our people were being killed or were being maimed. … And we had a choice. We could take it and go on like that for years or do something about it. And we did something about it.”

The president also said the military response has drawn international attention and praise.

“People are very impressed with our military, and they admire our military with what happened in Venezuela, what’s happening now, what’s happened with the B-2 bombers before this, where they took out the nuclear capability or potential of Iran,” Trump said.

“I think we’re, right now, we’re a country that’s more respected than we’ve ever been respected before.”

The exchange with Doocy also included a separate question earlier in the event about reports that Russia may be assisting Iran in targeting American personnel.

Doocy told the president, “It sounds like the Russians are helping Iran target and attack Americans now.”

Trump responded by dismissing the timing of the question while noting the discussion was focused on college athletics.

“That’s an easy problem compared to what we’re doing here,” Trump said, referring to the college sports discussion taking place at the roundtable.

He added that it was a “stupid question to be asking at this time. We’re talking about something else.”

The president had earlier addressed the conflict on Truth Social, where he wrote that the United States would not accept any agreement with Iran short of total capitulation.

“After that, and the selection of a GREAT & ACCEPTABLE Leader(s), we, and many of our wonderful and very brave allies and partners, will work tirelessly to bring Iran back from the brink of destruction, making it economically bigger, better, and stronger than ever before,” Trump wrote.

“IRAN WILL HAVE A GREAT FUTURE. ‘MAKE IRAN GREAT AGAIN (MIGA!).’”

The statements come after the U.S. and Israel carried out coordinated strikes against Iranian targets, including leadership and military infrastructure.

The operation resulted in the death of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and several other Iranian officials as part of the broader campaign targeting the regime’s military capabilities.

Trump said the military actions were necessary after years of conflict involving Iranian leadership and attacks that injured or killed Americans.

“And we had a choice,” Trump said.

“We could take it and go on like that for years or do something about it. And we did something about it.”

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