President Donald Trump is declaring victory — at least for now — in the scuffle between the United States and Iran that began last week when a U.S. airstrike killed Iranian terrorist military leader Qassem Soleimani.

"Iran appears to be standing down," Trump said in an address to the nation following Iran's retaliatory missile strikes Tuesday on U.S. facilities in Iraq.

The president confirmed the news that Tuesday's attacks resulted in minimal damage to U.S. assets and no casualties among U.S. or Iraqi military personnel.

"The American people should be extremely grateful and happy," Trump said. "No Americans were harmed in last night's attack by the Iranian regime."

POTUS Iran address takeaways:



Says Iran appears to be standing down,

Notes no US casualties in strikes, minimal damage

Affirms commitment to nuke-free Iran

Harsher sanctions on Iran

Asks for more NATO involvement in ME

Urges other countries to break away from Iran deal remnants

— Nate Madden (@NateOnTheHill) January 8, 2020

Trump also maintained a hardline posture toward the Iranian regime, vowing to deter Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon as long as he remains the president.

"As long as I am president of the United States, Iran will never be allowed to have a nuclear weapon," Trump declared as he opened the address.

He then announced additional sanctions on the Iranian regime, called on increased NATO involvement in the Middle East, and urged other countries such as the United Kingdom and Germany to formally break away from the Iran nuclear agreement instituted during the Obama administration.

In fact, Trump argued, it was money given to Iran via the nuclear agreement that, in large part, has funded the regime's terrorist activities since 2013.

Initial response to the address has been positive, with even some Trump critics admitting that the outcome, at this point, looks like a win for the president and his administration's foreign policy objectives.



I'm far from a Trump supporter.



But impossible not to call Iran outcome a win for US president and a big opportunity going forward.

— ian bremmer (@ianbremmer) January 8, 2020

You can watch the full address here: