Fact Check: Did Trump say officials told him sinking Iranian ships is 'more fun' than capturing?

WASHINGTON, DC: A US Navy submarine torpedoed and sank the Iranian Navy frigate IRIS Dena in the Indian Ocean off Sri Lanka's southern coast on March 4 in a dramatic escalation of the ongoing 2026 Iran conflict.

Following this, a rumor circulated online claiming that President Donald Trump said military officials told him they had to sink Iranian ships rather than capture them because "it's more fun to sink them". But is there any truth to this claim? Let us find out below.

Claim: Trump said officials told him they sunk Iranian ships as 'it's more fun'

In early March, several social media posts shared a clip of President Trump speaking about military action against Iranian ships.

As per the posts, the POTUS said, "I said, 'Why don't we just capture the ship? We could use it. Why did we sink them?' He said, 'It's more fun to sink them.' They like sinking them better."

The claim was further shared across different social media platforms, such as X, Reddit, and Facebook.

A Facebook user shared the claim and wrote, "Addressing Republican lawmakers in Florida on Monday, US President Donald Trump boasted about US forces having 'fun' while sinking Iranian ships." 

Meanwhile, Iran has condemned the torpedo strike as an 'atrocity', while the Pentagon released footage of the Mark 48 torpedo impact, heightening tensions as the war expands far beyond the Middle East.

Fact Check: True, quote correctly attributed to Trump

The claim made in the online posts is true, as the quote about sinking Iranian ships being more fun than capturing them was correctly attributed to Donald Trump.

Trump made the statement as part of a Monday, March 9 speech, at the Republican Members Issues Conference, which was hosted by the Congressional Institute at the Trump National Doral resort in Miami.

Moreover, the White House uploaded the speech on its official YouTube account and also put the video on its website. During the 15:15 time stamp in the video, the POTUS talks about sinking Iran's ships. 

He said, "The Navy is gone. It's all lying at the bottom of the ocean, 46 ships. Can you believe it? In fact, I got a little upset with our people. I said, 'What quality of ship?' 'Excellent, sir. Top of the line.' I said, 'Why don't we just capture the ship? We could have used it. Why did we sink them?' They said, 'It's more fun to sink them.' I said [unclear]. They like sinking them better. They say it's safer to sink them. I guess it's probably true. But think of it, we knocked out 46 and actually took three and a half days."

However, Trump made the statement in a joking tone and suggested that he may not have intended it to be taken literally. His speech also drew some laughter from the Republican members of Congress in the audience.