A month into the war with Iran, President Donald Trump delivered an address from the White House on April 1. In the roughly 20-minute prepared remarks he warned the US would hit Iran “extremely hard over the next two to three weeks” and threatened to “bring them back to the Stone Ages, where they belong.” He also said American “core strategic objectives are nearing completion,” commented on the conflict’s economic effects, and — unlike many recent addresses — made no mention of NATO.
DW reviewed several of the president’s assertions and found multiple statements that were misleading or incorrect.
Iran’s “original leaders” all dead?
Claim: “Regime change was not our goal. We never said regime change, but regime change has occurred because of all of their original leaders’ death. They’re all dead,” Trump said.
DW Fact check: Misleading
Trump initially maintained regime change was not an objective at the start of the war, but later claimed regime change had happened and urged Iranians to act. The US did kill Qassem Soleimani during Trump’s first term, and in the current conflict several senior Iranian figures have been killed, according to reports. The fact-check cites the reported killing of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and notes he has been replaced by his son, Mojtaba Khamenei, which suggests continuity rather than a wholesale collapse of Iran’s ruling structure. High-level officials such as President Masoud Pezeshkian, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and Chief Justice Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei remain in office. Whether removing some top leaders constitutes full “regime change” is debatable, but it is inaccurate to say all of Iran’s original leaders are dead or that the regime no longer exists.
Is the US “totally independent” of Middle Eastern oil?
Claim: “We’re now totally independent of the Middle East, and yet we are there to help. We don’t have to be there. We don’t need their oil,” Trump claimed.
DW Fact check: False
Trump was speaking about crude oil production. The United States is the world’s largest crude producer, surpassing countries like Russia and Saudi Arabia, but it still imports oil. Industry data cited by DW show the US imports roughly 40% of its overall oil needs. In 2022, about 12% of imported crude came from the Persian Gulf; more recent figures (2025) put that share near 8.5%, equal to roughly 250 million barrels. Greater domestic production has increased energy self-sufficiency, but it has not made the US completely independent of Middle Eastern oil. Global market forces mean US fuel prices remain sensitive to international disruptions; in 2026, for example, gasoline topped $4 a gallon in the United States.
$18 trillion in investments during Trump’s second term?
Claim: Trump said the US has received more than $18 trillion in investments since he took office last year: “record setting investments coming into the United States, over $18 trillion and the highest stock market ever with 53 all-time record highs in just one year.”
DW Fact check: False
A White House tracker of domestic and foreign investment lists roughly $10.5 trillion in total commitments — far below the $18 trillion figure Trump cited. The tracker attributes very large pledges to countries such as the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, each listed as pledging over $1 trillion, figures that would exceed those nations’ economies and raise questions about feasibility. For context, the World Bank reported 2024 GDPs of about $550 billion for the UAE and $220 billion for Qatar. Trump has made varying investment claims in recent months, including $10 trillion in May 2025 and the $18 trillion figure in December 2025; the larger number is not supported by the administration’s own publicly posted tracker.
This fact check was edited by Martin Kuebler; Marcel Tenud contributed.