{"id":59448,"date":"2026-03-05T13:38:15","date_gmt":"2026-03-05T17:38:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/trump-signals-rapid-progress-in-iran-operation-dismisses-need-for-defense-production-act\/59448\/"},"modified":"2026-03-05T13:38:15","modified_gmt":"2026-03-05T17:38:15","slug":"trump-signals-rapid-progress-in-iran-operation-dismisses-need-for-defense-production-act","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/trump-signals-rapid-progress-in-iran-operation-dismisses-need-for-defense-production-act\/59448\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump Signals Rapid Progress in Iran Operation; Dismisses Need for Defense Production Act"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>Key Takeaways<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Iran has launched over 500 ballistic and cruise missiles and 2,000 drones<\/strong> since the start of the conflict, according to military sources cited by the Fars News Agency.<\/li>\n<li><strong>President <a href=\"https:\/\/thestockmarketwatch.com\/live\/trump-stock-market\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"8\" title=\"Trump\">Trump<\/a> claims the Iran operation is advancing &quot;faster than planned&quot;<\/strong> and stated the U.S. will have a significant say in the country&#39;s next leadership.<\/li>\n<li><strong>The U.S. will not invoke the Defense Production Act<\/strong>, as <a href=\"https:\/\/thestockmarketwatch.com\/live\/trump-stock-market\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"8\" title=\"Trump\">Trump<\/a> asserts the domestic defense industry is already successfully scaling production and ammunition reserves remain &quot;tremendous.&quot;<\/li>\n<li><strong>Energy markets remain stable<\/strong> with the President noting that gasoline prices have not seen significant spikes despite the conflict and ongoing concerns regarding the <strong>Strait of Hormuz<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Domestic political shifts are underway<\/strong> as the White House reportedly considers <strong>Senator Steve Daines<\/strong> to replace Homeland Security Secretary <strong>Kristi Noem<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Escalation in the Middle East and U.S. Strategy<\/h2>\n<p>The conflict between the United States and Iran has intensified significantly, with Iranian military sources reporting the deployment of <strong>more than 2,500 projectiles<\/strong>, including drones and cruise missiles, against U.S. and Israeli targets. Despite the scale of the attacks, <strong>President Donald Trump<\/strong> stated that military operations are moving ahead of schedule. He declined to provide a specific timeline for the conclusion of hostilities but emphasized that the <strong>Strait of Hormuz<\/strong> will remain &quot;open and accessible.&quot;<\/p>\n<p>The President also signaled a long-term geopolitical shift, suggesting the U.S. will influence the selection of Iran&#39;s next leader, drawing parallels to previous U.S. involvement in <strong>Venezuela<\/strong>. Trump noted that the process of choosing a successor to the current regime is in its early stages, though he expressed skepticism that Supreme Leader Khamenei\u2019s son would be a viable candidate. Furthermore, Trump expressed support for <strong>Kurdish forces<\/strong> should they choose to launch an offensive into Iranian territory, calling the prospect &quot;wonderful.&quot;<\/p>\n<h2>Defense Production and Economic Impact<\/h2>\n<p>In a move to reassure markets and the public, Trump stated that there is currently <strong>no need to invoke the Defense Production Act<\/strong>. He maintained that the U.S. possesses &quot;huge amounts of ammunition&quot; and that the private defense industry is already increasing production levels to meet demand. <em>Analysts suggest this stance is intended to project industrial strength without signaling a transition to a full-scale wartime economy.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>On the economic front, gasoline prices have remained surprisingly resilient. Trump noted that prices &quot;have not really gone up much so far&quot; despite the active war zone in a critical oil-producing region. In the financial sector, Baker Hughes (<a href=\"\/stock\/BKR\">BKR<\/a>) moved to capitalize on market conditions, pricing a <strong>EUR 3 billion debt offering<\/strong> in four parts, with maturities ranging from 4 to 20 years.<\/p>\n<h2>Domestic Policy and Housing Market Trends<\/h2>\n<p>The White House is facing internal shifts as reports surface that <strong>Senator Steve Daines<\/strong> is being considered to replace Homeland Security Secretary <strong>Kristi Noem<\/strong>. This follows Trump\u2019s public distancing from a <strong>$200 million advertisement<\/strong> featuring Noem, with the President claiming he had &quot;nothing to do with it.&quot; Additionally, Trump took a swipe at the tech sector, claiming to <em>Politico<\/em> that AI firm <strong>Anthropic<\/strong> is &quot;in trouble&quot; because he &quot;fired them.&quot;<\/p>\n<p>In the U.S. housing market, borrowing costs showed a slight uptick. According to <strong>Freddie Mac<\/strong>, the <strong>30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 6.00%<\/strong> for the week of March 5, a marginal increase from <strong>5.98%<\/strong> the previous week. <em>This stabilization around the 6% mark comes as Fitch Ratings predicts that the current Middle East disruption may last less than a month in its baseline expectation.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Key Takeaways Iran has launched over 500 ballistic and cruise missiles and 2,000 drones since the start of the conflict, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":50383,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center 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