President Donald Trump did little to assure Americans that the war with Iran will end soon, saying it will end only “when I feel it in my bones.”

It is another surprising admission that Trump and his administration have no real timetable for ending the conflict in Iran launched by the United States and Israel just two weeks ago. Speaking to News’ Brian Kilmeade on Friday, Trump said the economy “will bounce back” when the war ends.

“We had the greatest economy in history, and we still have it,” Trump said. “Oh, this will recover. When it’s over, and I don’t think it will be long, when it’s over, this will recover, real quick.”

“When are you going to know when it’s over?” Kilmeade asked about the ongoing war.

“When I’m sorry,” Trump said. “When I feel it in my bones.”

In this image taken with a slow shutter speed, President Donald Trump speaks Thursday during a women's history month event in the East Room of the White House.
In this image taken with a slow shutter speed, President Donald Trump speaks Thursday during a women’s history month event in the East Room of the White House.

via News

Trump has repeatedly said the war will end soon, despite giving no substantive updates on how that goal will be achieved. In early March, Trump claimed that the war could end in “four weeks.”

“It’s always been a four-week process,” Trump told the Daily Mail at the time. “We thought it would be about four weeks. It’s always been a four-week process, so no matter how strong it is, it’s a big country, it’s going to take four weeks, or less.”

On Monday, Trump boasted that the war with Iran was “pretty much complete.”

The next day, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth did not say the same.

“So it’s not for me to say whether it’s the beginning, the middle or the end,” Hegseth told reporters about when the war might end. “That is yours and you will continue to communicate it.”

Then on Wednesday, Trump went a step further when he claimed that Iran was “about to surrender” in a call with G7 leaders. Just one small problem:

“No one knows who the leader is, so there is no one who can announce the surrender,” Trump added.

Since the war with Iran began, 13 U.S. service members have died. Trump attended the dignified transfer of six servicemen killed in combat while wearing a white baseball cap with the word “United States” written on it. And despite Trump’s attempts to deflect blame, there is mounting evidence to suggest that it was the United States that bombed a school in Iran, killing more than 170 people.

Adding to Trump’s problems is Iran’s ability to block the Strait of Hormuz, a key artery in transporting the world’s oil supply. Trump said he will order an emergency release of strategic oil reserves to soften the blow of rising oil prices after Iran attacked two oil tankers in Iraq on Thursday.

Hegseth vowed Friday to carry out the highest volume of strikes yet against Iran.

For all his bluster about how soon the escalation of the war will end, Trump appeared to drop the veil when he spoke to a crowd of supporters in Kentucky on Thursday.

“We don’t want to leave early, do we?” -Trump asked. “We have to finish the job.”