WASHINGTON

US President Donald Trump said Monday that the war with Iran could be a “short-term excursion” while adding that US-Israeli joint attacks will continue until Iran is “totally and decisively defeated.”

“We took a little excursion because we felt we had to do that to get rid of some evil, and I think you'll see it's going to be a short term excursion,” Trump said at a Republican conference in Florida.

“If we didn't do that, they would have had a nuclear weapon within two weeks,” he added.

Trump claimed that US and Israeli forces are “crushing” Iran and that Iran’s drone and missile capabilities are being “utterly demolished.”

“The Navy is gone. It's all lying at the bottom of the ocean -- 46 ships,” he said, adding that Iranian leaders had been repeatedly targeted during the campaign.

Trump said the US would continue military operations until Iran is “totally and decisively defeated.”

His remarks came amid a series of US and Israeli strikes on Iran that began on Feb. 28, killing more than 1,200 people so far, including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, over 150 schoolgirls and senior military officials.

Iran has retaliated with barrages targeting US bases, diplomatic facilities and military personnel in the region as well as multiple Israeli cities. At least seven US service members have been killed.