“We wiped out their Navy in one week, 159 ships at the bottom of the sea.”

Full Measure interview with Sharyl Attkisson (referring to alleged single-week destruction)

The U.S. military's own record contradicts "one week." On March 1, 2026, Trump announced 9 Iranian warships destroyed in Operation Epic Fury's opening; by March 4, CENTCOM confirmed just over 20. The larger ship tallies Trump cites, including his "159 ships" version in this same interview, accumulated only over weeks of sustained operations, and 159 would exceed independent estimates of Iran's entire pre-war fleet of roughly 100-plus vessels. Iran was not "done" in one week, or ten. A day after the administration announced the "neutralization" of Iran's military in late March, an Iranian missile and drone strike on Prince Sultan Air Base damaged U.S. refueling aircraft and injured at least 15 U.S. soldiers. On May 4, 2026, the UAE intercepted Iranian ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and drones, and on May 7 Iran fired on three U.S. Navy destroyers in the Strait of Hormuz, three days before this interview.

Active combat operations ran more than 70 days, from February 28 through the May 7 Hormuz exchange and beyond. An independent fact-check of this interview rated the one-week claim flatly false, while acknowledging the real underlying fact that a substantial portion of Iran's naval assets was destroyed.

"The '159 ships in one week' version told to Attkisson is not supported by any official military record." — Voice for Liberty fact-check of the Full Measure interview, May 11, 2026