The big wave hasn't even arrived. The big wave is coming soon.
Quatro dias após o início do conflito, o presidente Trump sinalizou ao mundo que o pior ainda estava por vir: os ataques contra o Irã, disse ele, mal haviam começado. Numa ligação de nove minutos com a CNN, Trump descreveu uma campanha militar em aceleração, com 49 líderes iranianos mortos e uma 'grande onda' de ofensivas ainda por chegar. Ao fundo, a relação transatlântica mostrou suas tensões — o Reino Unido cedeu à pressão americana e autorizou o uso de suas bases militares, incluindo Diego Garcia, para operações contra instalações iranianas. O conflito, que Trump esperava durar quatro semanas, parece já ter ultrapassado os limites que ele próprio havia imaginado.
- Trump avisou que os ataques mais pesados contra o Irã ainda não começaram — a 'grande onda', nas suas palavras, está a caminho.
- O conflito se alastrou para além das fronteiras previstas: o Irã passou a atacar países árabes aliados como Bahrein, Jordânia, Kuwait, Catar e Emirados Árabes Unidos.
- Trump rompeu com o protocolo presidencial americano ao não descartar o envio de tropas terrestres ao solo iraniano, caso as circunstâncias exijam.
- O primeiro-ministro britânico Starmer resistiu inicialmente à pressão de Washington, mas acabou cedendo e autorizou o uso de bases britânicas para ataques a instalações de mísseis iranianos.
- A distinção entre apoio 'defensivo' e participação direta no conflito tornou-se cada vez mais tênue, com o Reino Unido autorizando ofensivas americanas a partir de seu próprio território.
Na tarde de segunda-feira, o presidente Trump ligou para a CNN e entregou uma mensagem calculada para ecoar por toda a região: o que havia acontecido até então era apenas o começo. Ele descreveu a campanha militar contra o Irã como algo próximo de um aquecimento. A ofensiva real, sugeriu, ainda estava por vir. "A grande onda ainda não chegou", disse Trump. "Mas está chegando em breve."
O conflito havia começado quatro dias antes, no sábado. Trump afirmou que a operação estava adiantada em relação ao cronograma de quatro semanas que ele havia previsto, e declarou que 49 líderes iranianos tinham sido mortos até o momento. Sobre o futuro da liderança iraniana, fez um comentário irônico: o povo iraniano poderia ter sorte e encontrar alguém que soubesse o que estava fazendo.
Um dos elementos que Trump chamou de "maior surpresa" do conflito foi o fato de o Irã ter passado a atacar nações árabes vizinhas — Bahrein, Jordânia, Kuwait, Catar e Emirados Árabes Unidos. Segundo ele, os Estados Unidos acreditavam ter controlado a situação, mas o Irã respondeu com agressividade crescente. Em entrevista separada ao New York Post, Trump foi além e disse não ter receio de enviar tropas terrestres ao Irã se necessário — uma ruptura com a linguagem cautelosa que presidentes americanos costumam adotar.
Nas sombras da diplomacia, Trump havia pressionado o primeiro-ministro britânico Keir Starmer a autorizar o uso de bases militares britânicas para operações contra o Irã. Starmer resistiu inicialmente, mas acabou cedendo. Ele autorizou os Estados Unidos a usar instalações britânicas — incluindo o estratégico complexo de Diego Garcia, nas Ilhas Chagos — para fins que descreveu como "específicos e limitados", incluindo ataques a instalações de mísseis iranianos.
Mais tarde, Starmer realizou uma coletiva de imprensa afirmando que o Reino Unido não participaria diretamente dos ataques naquele momento. A distinção, porém, era frágil: a Grã-Bretanha havia autorizado ofensivas americanas a partir de seu próprio solo enquanto mantinha a aparência de contenção.
President Donald Trump picked up the phone with CNN's Jake Tapper on Monday afternoon and delivered a message designed to reverberate across the region: the United States was just getting started. In a nine-minute call, Trump described the military campaign against Iran as something akin to a warm-up. The real assault, he suggested, was still ahead. "We're beating them up," Trump said. "We haven't even started hitting them hard yet. The big wave hasn't even arrived. The big wave is coming soon."
The conflict itself had begun just four days earlier, on Saturday, March 28th. Trump framed the American military effort as proceeding ahead of schedule—he had initially expected the operation to last roughly four weeks, and by his accounting, the campaign was already outpacing that timeline. "I think it's going very well," he added. "We have the best military in the world and we're using it."
When asked how long he expected the fighting to continue, Trump expressed a preference for brevity. He did not want the war to drag on, he said, though his public statements suggested otherwise. He claimed that 49 Iranian leaders had been killed in the strikes so far, and he offered a backhanded comment about Iran's future leadership: the Iranian people might get lucky and find someone who actually knew what they were doing.
Trump also addressed what he called the "biggest surprise" of the conflict so far—that Iran had launched attacks against Arab nations in the region: Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates. He said the United States had believed it had resolved the matter, only to find Iran pushing back aggressively. "We told them: 'We've got this handled,' and now they want to fight," Trump recounted. "And they're fighting aggressively. They were going to be involved very little, and now they insist on being involved."
On the question of ground troops, Trump broke from the cautious language typical of recent American presidents. In a separate interview with the New York Post, he said he had no fear about deploying soldiers on Iranian soil if circumstances demanded it. "Every president says: 'There will be no ground troops.' I don't say that," he told the newspaper. "I say: 'We probably don't need them,' or 'if they were necessary.'" He also claimed to have attempted negotiations with Iran over uranium enrichment but said the talks had failed. He suggested that Iran's enriched uranium stockpile had deteriorated so severely that "the mountain basically collapsed."
Behind the scenes, Trump had been applying pressure on America's closest ally. Hours before the CNN interview aired, he told the British newspaper the Daily Telegraph that he was "very disappointed" with Prime Minister Keir Starmer's hesitation in granting the United States access to British military bases for operations against Iran. Starmer had initially resisted, but ultimately capitulated. He authorized American use of British bases for what he described as "specific and limited defensive purposes," and he confirmed that the United States could strike Iranian missile facilities from those locations. The authorization included the strategically vital military complex at Diego Garcia in the Chagos Islands.
Trump characterized Starmer's initial reluctance as unprecedented in the relationship between the two nations. "It took a long time. Too long," he said. Later that afternoon, Starmer held a press conference in which he clarified that Britain would not be joining the attacks at this moment, though it would continue its own defensive operations in the region. The distinction was thin—Britain had authorized American strikes from its soil while maintaining the fiction of restraint.
Citas Notables
We haven't even started hitting them hard yet. The big wave hasn't even arrived. The big wave is coming soon.— President Trump, in phone interview with CNN
I don't have any fear about sending ground troops. Every president says there will be no ground troops. I don't say that.— President Trump, in interview with New York Post
La Conversación del Hearth Otra perspectiva de la historia
When Trump says the 'big wave' hasn't arrived yet, what does that actually mean in military terms?
It suggests a significant escalation beyond what's already happened. He's signaling that the current strikes are preliminary—that there's a much larger operation planned or ready to execute.
But he also claimed to be ahead of schedule on a four-week timeline. How do you square that with saying the real campaign hasn't started?
It's a messaging problem. He wants to appear both dominant and restrained—in control, moving fast, but also measured. The "big wave" language is meant to deter Iran from further action while keeping domestic audiences convinced of American superiority.
Why did Starmer cave so quickly on the bases?
Political pressure from Washington is one factor, but there's also the reality that Britain's security interests are tied to American military capability in the region. Resisting looked weak; authorizing looked pragmatic, even if he had to dress it up as defensive.
The claim about 49 Iranian leaders killed—how reliable is that number?
It's Trump's assertion, not independently verified. It's the kind of figure meant to sound precise while remaining unverifiable. It serves a purpose: it makes the campaign sound effective and targeted.
What does his openness to ground troops signal?
It's a break from recent American doctrine, which has emphasized avoiding large-scale ground deployments. He's either signaling flexibility to his military commanders or preparing the public for a possibility he thinks is real.