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DORAL, Fla. — President Donald Trump described the war in Iran as “short term” Monday — suggesting the 10-day conflict that has roiled the Middle East could be nearing its end while also warning of intensifying strikes if a key oil route is restricted.

“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. “How good is our military, right? Amazing. How good? Short term. Short term.”

Trump spoke to House Republicans and donors at his eponymous resort outside Miami. Republicans are gathering here for the next three days to discuss their legislative agenda and campaign strategy for the November midterm elections, which have been upended by the war in Iran.

“This was just an excursion into something that had to be done. We’re getting very close to finishing that,” Trump said.

He appeared before Republicans a day after crude oil prices soared to above $100 a barrel for the first time since July 2022. AAA said a gallon of regular gas now costs $3.48, up from $2.90 a month ago.

“It’s going to be ended soon,” Trump said later at a news conference. Steve Witkoff, the U.S. special envoy to the Middle East, stood by his side.

Trump did not put a timeline on the end of the war, though, when he was pressed for details. Asked how he squared saying that the war would end “soon” with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s remarks that the attacks are “only just the beginning” during a “60 Minutes” interview taped Friday, Trump said, “I think you could say both.”

“We could call it a tremendous success right now — as we leave here, I could call it — or we could go further, and we’re going to go further,” he said.

Asked about Iran’s restricting ships in the Strait of Hormuz, Trump warned that the U.S. would retaliate with immense force if the Iranians attacked ships in the passage.

“So the Strait of Hormuz is going to remain safe. We have a lot of Navy ships there. We have best equipment in the world. Again, most of their ships are down at the bottom of the sea,” Trump told reporters. “But we will hit them so hard it will not be possible for them or anybody else helping them ever recover that section of the world … do anything.”

Trump doubled down on those threats in a Truth Social post later in the evening, vowing that Iran would be hit “twenty times harder” if it does anything to inhibit the flow of oil in the strait.

“We will take out easily destroyable targets that will make it virtually impossible for Iran to ever be built back, as a Nation, again — Death, Fire, and Fury will reign upon them — But I hope, and pray, that it does not happen!” Trump wrote. “This is a gift from the United States of America to China, and all of those Nations that heavily use the Hormuz Strait. Hopefully, it is a gesture that will be greatly appreciated.”

Trump was also asked about a new video that appears to show a U.S. Tomahawk missile hitting an area where a strike killed more than 170 people at a girls school in Iran. He said he hadn’t seen the video and suggested, without offering any evidence, that the Tomahawk could have been fired by Iran, which is not known to have any Tomahawk missiles.

“I will say that the Tomahawk, which is one of the most powerful weapons around … is sold and used by other countries. And whether it’s Iran, who also has some Tomahawks, I wish they had more. But whether it’s Iran or somebody else, the fact that a Tomahawk, a Tomahawk, is very generic,” Trump told reporters.

“It’s sold to other countries, but that’s being investigated right now,” he said.

The Defense Department has said it is still investigating the strike that hit the school.

“Whatever the report shows, I’m willing to live with that report,” Trump said.

Asked whether there was any daylight between him and Vice President JD Vance on the Iran war, Trump said at the news conference that Vance had been “philosophically a little different” from him on whether the U.S. should strike Iran.

“We get along very well on this. He was, I would say, philosophically a little bit different than me. I think he was maybe less enthusiastic, but he was quite enthusiastic. I felt it was something we had to do,” Trump said.

So far, seven U.S. service members have been killed in the war; an eighth died in the region after having suffered a medical incident. Asked how many U.S. casualties he was willing to withstand, Trump talked about the message he received from the families of the fallen soldiers.

“When you have conflicts like this, you always have death. And I was at Dover [Delaware] yesterday. I met the parents, and they were unbelievable people. They were unbelievable people, but they all had one thing in common. They said to me one thing, every single one: ‘Finish the job, sir, please finish the job.'”