President Donald Trump highlighted the success of a previous U.S. strike on Iranian nuclear sites during remarks to reporters on April 30, 2026, crediting American military technology for preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.
Trump specifically praised the role of the B-2 Spirit stealth bomber in the operation. “If we didn’t use this beautiful… B-2 bomber… if we didn’t go in and do what we did, we obliterated that nuclear capacity of theirs, and so they never, they didn’t get the nuclear bomb,” he said. He added that the strike should have occurred years earlier under previous administrations.
The comments referred to Operation Midnight Hammer on June 22, 2025, during the Twelve-Day War. U.S. forces used B-2 bombers to deliver GBU-57A/B Massive Ordnance Penetrators against the Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan nuclear facilities, supported by Tomahawk missiles. Trump described the facilities as “completely and totally obliterated” at the time, though a subsequent Pentagon assessment estimated the program was set back by around two years.
The B-2 Spirit, operated solely by the U.S. Air Force, is a subsonic stealth strategic bomber designed to penetrate advanced air defenses. With a range exceeding 6,900 miles unrefueled and the ability to carry large conventional or nuclear payloads, only about 19 remain in service as the fleet awaits eventual replacement by the B-21 Raider.
Trump also noted the current weakened state of Iran’s leadership, stating that first- and second-tier leaders were gone and the U.S. was now dealing with “third string” figures. He announced plans to order 25 updated versions of the B-2, all built in America.
The remarks raised questions about the need for continued operations, including the more recent Operation Epic Fury, given the claimed success of the earlier strike in dismantling Iran’s nuclear infrastructure.