NEW YORK — President Donald Trump declared in a televised address that U.S. military objectives in its conflict with Iran would be completed "shortly" and urged American allies to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. "Thanks to the progress we've made, I can say tonight that we are on track to complete all of America's military objectives shortly, very shortly," he said, adding, "We're going to hit them extremely hard over the next two to three weeks."

The address came five weeks after the initial attack on Iran, a conflict that has killed at least 13 U.S. service members and injured hundreds more. Thousands of additional U.S. troops have converged on the region, and the Pentagon has requested $200 billion in new funding.

The Strait of Hormuz remains closed, and Trump invited U.S. allies to reopen the waterway themselves. The average price for a gallon of gasoline in the United States was $4.08 on Thursday, according to AAA. On Wednesday, Trump said gas prices would fall quickly once the war concluded but did not propose a solution for reopening the strait.

Former U.S. Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene criticized the speech. "I wanted so much for President Trump to put America First. That's what I believed he would do. All I heard from his speech tonight was WAR WAR WAR," Greene said.

According to AP-NORC polling from March, about 6 in 10 U.S. adults said the military action in Iran had "gone too far," and roughly a third approved of how Trump is handling Iran overall. About 6 in 10 adults were strongly or somewhat opposed to deploying U.S. troops on the ground to fight Iran, with about half of Republican adults also opposing ground troop deployment. Only about 1 in 10 U.S. adults favored sending ground troops. About 4 in 10 Americans approved of how Trump is handling the presidency, roughly in line with his approval rating throughout his second term.

Republican strategist Ari Fleischer said Trump has not received the polling bump in this war that President George W. Bush received after the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Bush worked to build public backing before that invasion, and his approval ratings increased and the stock market rose afterward. The Iraq War ultimately lasted more than eight years. "Ultimately, he is not going to get judged on his persuasion or his explanations or his assertions, he's going to get judged on results," Fleischer said.

The Republican Party controls all branches of the federal government, and voters across the nation will begin casting ballots in elections roughly six months from now that will decide control of Congress and key governorships. The Republican National Committee has largely avoided mention of the Iran war in talking points issued to surrogates over the last month.