NOW PLAYING
Former Defense Secretary Mark Esper said Monday that the Trump administration appears to be on its “back foot” strategically in the nearly six-month war with Iran, despite heavy damage inflicted on the nation by U.S. military strikes.
“Tactically, we have imposed a lot of pain on them through our U.S. military strikes against their Air Force, their Navy, their militias, their ballistic missile forces — done a lot of tactical damage,” Esper said in an interview on The Hill’s “Rising.”
The former Pentagon chief, who served during the first Trump administration, added: “But strategically, we seem to be on our back foot right now.”
His assessment comes as President Trump works to finalize a deal to end months of military operations against Iran, with Trump demanding compensation from Iran for the damages caused during the war and in past conflicts after learning Iran sought similar reparations.
“I see that Representatives of the Islamic Republic of Iran are asking for compensation for the damage done to them during the last five month Military Conflict (started because, THEY WILL NOT HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON), even though it was never mentioned in any of our negotiations or meetings!” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
Iran has leveraged its control over the Strait of Hormuz in negotiations, tying the reopening of the critical shipping route to a series of demands. Tehran confirmed that it was nearing a deal with Oman on a framework governing traffic through the strait, but warned that reopening the waterway remained contingent on other conditions.
Vice President Vance warned Saturday that the U.S. remains in the thick of the conflict despite recent diplomatic progress.
“This thing is not over. It’s obviously not at the beginning. We’re in the middle of the game,” he said in an interview with Fox News.
Esper similarly cautioned against judging the war by the damage inflicted on Iran alone, arguing that a victorious outcome will depend on the U.S.’s “strategic success.”
“And it’s too early to say,” he said. “This game is still on.”
The former defense chief added that the U.S. should respond by shifting more of its focus toward squeezing the Iranian economy rather than through brute military force alone.
“I don’t think this conflict is won through air power,” he said. “I think economics will have a far greater long-term damage against them than that would.”
“We need to multilateralize this by bringing in our allies and partners from beyond the region, and then applying pressure effectively,” Esper added. “And that will gain us, I think, more ground than the current strategy.”
Add as preferred source on Google Tags Donald Trump Mark EsperCopyright 2026 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Comments: Link copiedMore Defense News
See All
Defense Iran’s steep demands for US over Strait of Hormuz threaten to derail reopening by Ellen Mitchell 13 hours ago Defense / 13 hours ago 
