Trump Says Pete Hegseth Doesn't Want To End The War In Iran: 'Just Interested In Winning'

President Donald Trump said the war in Iran could end soon but noted that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is not interested in wrapping up.

Speaking at the Oval Office during the swearing-in ceremony of Markwayne Mullin as Department of Homeland Security Secretary, Trump said he told Hegseth and Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, that "this thing is going to be settled very soon," to which they didn't react with joy.

"Pete didn't want it to be settled. These guys are doing a great job. It's a good attitude. Not interested in settlement, they were just interested in Winning," Trump said.

Trump also said Iran gave the U.S. a "very big present worth a tremendous amount of money" that is "oil and gas related" and has to do with the Strait of Hormuz. "They said they were going to do it and it happened, and they're the only ones that could have done it," Trump said, noting that the development meant that "we're dealing with the right people."

Trump has suggested that the U.S. could control the Strait of Hormuz, the key waterway in the Middle East through which a sizable portion of the world energy goes through, along with Iran.

Speaking to press on Monday, Trump was asked to elaborate on the notion. "Maybe me. Me and the Ayatollah, whoever the Ayatollah is. There'll also be a form of a very serious form of a regime change," Trump added, noting that most of Iran's top officials have been killed since the war began.

"Now in all fairness, everybody's been killed from the regime. They're really starting off. There's automatically a regime change," Trump said. He went on to claim that such a scenario represents a form of regime change, and his administration is dealing with new leaders that he finds "to be very reasonable, very solid."

However, Tehran has so far rejected all notions of ongoing talks and outlined several demands to end hostilities, including guarantees to ensure a ceasefire won't be broken and compensation for the attacks that it has sustained since February 28.