Trump says 3 Navy destroyers exited Strait of Hormuz 'under fire,' will rejoin blockade

Three US Navy destroyers were able to transit through the Strait of Hormuz "under fire" without suffering any direct hits and will now rejoin the US blockade on the critical waterway, President Donald Trump said Thursday.

Trump said the ships were targeted by Iranian missiles and drones but were able to intercept the sorties.

"Three world class American destroyers just transited, very successfully, out of the Strait of Hormuz, under fire. There was no damage done to the three destroyers, but great damage done to the Iranian attackers. They were completely destroyed along with numerous small boats," he said on his Truth Social platform.

"Our three destroyers, with their wonderful crews, will now rejoin our naval blockade, which is truly a 'wall of steel,'" he added.

US Central Command earlier confirmed its forces intercepted "unprovoked" Iranian attacks and responded with "self-defense strikes" as US warships transited the Strait of Hormuz to the Gulf of Oman on Thursday.

No US assets were struck as three US Navy guided-missile destroyers transited the Strait of Hormuz, it said.

"U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) eliminated inbound threats and targeted Iranian military facilities responsible for attacking U.S. forces including missile and drone launch sites; command and control locations; and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance nodes," it added.

Trump later said in an interview with ABC News that the ceasefire with Iran remains in effect, describing the US strikes as a "love tap."

"It's just a love tap," he said. "The ceasefire is going. It's in effect."

Separately, speaking to reporters in Washington, Trump suggested that an agreement with Iran on ending the war may be imminent, adding it "might not happen, but it could happen any day."

Tehran "trifled" with the US by conducting strikes Thursday, he said, adding if the ceasefire ends, there will be "one big glow" coming out of Iran.

"They trifled with us today. We blew them away. They trifled. I call that a trifle."

He said that nobody was hurt during the exchange, adding that US firepower was a "hell of a lot stronger than theirs, and they knocked the hell out of them."

"The plan is very simple. Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon. It cannot have a nuclear bomb, and it's not going to happen," he reiterated.

Iran confirmed early Friday that it launched a large-scale missile and drone attack on US destroyers near the Strait of Hormuz.

In a statement, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Navy said the operation came after what it described as a US ceasefire violation involving a strike on an Iranian oil tanker near Jask port and the approach of US destroyers toward the strategic waterway.