Trump’s Claims vs. Reality: Iran’s Military Strength After U.S. Strikes

President Donald Trump has repeatedly claimed to have crippled Iran’s military, asserting that Iran’s navy was “laying at the bottom of the sea, completely obliterated,” with only a few “fast attack ships” remaining as a potential threat. However, U.S. officials and recent reports indicate that Iran has retained far greater military capabilities than the administration has suggested.

Last week, Trump reiterated his claim, stating that Iran’s naval forces were effectively destroyed. Yet, multiple U.S. officials told CBS News on Wednesday that roughly 60% of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’s (IRGC) naval arm remains intact. The same day, Iranian gunboats attacked several ships in the Strait of Hormuz, further demonstrating the IRGC’s operational presence.

In addition to the navy’s resilience, U.S. officials told CBS News that roughly two-thirds of Iran’s air force is still believed to be operational. Nearly half of Iran’s ballistic missile stockpile and associated launch systems were also still intact as of early April, when a ceasefire was established, according to three U.S. officials.

Two weeks ago, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth declared that “Iran no longer has any sort of comprehensive air defense” capability. However, the Pentagon’s internal intelligence agency recently informed lawmakers that Iran still maintains significant military capabilities, including thousands of missiles and one-way attack drones, NBC News reported on Wednesday.

In response to CBS’s reporting, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt dismissed the findings as propaganda. In a post on X (formerly Twitter), she stated,

“The truth is that under President Trump’s leadership, the U.S. military decimated the Iranian regime’s capabilities in just 38 days.”