Erik Prince, CPAC board member, and Jason Redman, retired Navy SEAL, attend the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) USA 2026 at the Gaylord Texan Resort and Convention Center, in Grapevine, Texas, U.S. March 27, 2026. REUTERS/Callaghan O'Hare
Blackwater founder Erik Prince revealed that he warned President Donald Trump against going to war in Iran.
At the Conservative Political Action Conference, or CPAC, in Texas on Friday, Prince had a sobering message about Operation Epic Fury.
"I counseled as loud as possible against doing this in the first place," he explained. "We face an extremely difficult challenge. The Iranians learned their lesson from what happened to Iraq. Decapitation of the leadership structure of the Iraqi army. The Iranians have done the exact same thing. There's 31 different military districts. All clear direction given to those 31 commanders is to continue to wage war against whoever they can with whatever they can."
"The only person that can countermand that order is the supreme leader," he continued. "And we've killed the supreme leader now, his father, his wife, his sister, other family members in an ancient society — in an ancient society that understands blood oath."
"I don't share the optimism of the administration that there's going to be a peaceful stop to this."
Prince noted that Iran would "burn it down" if the U.S. tried to deploy troops in the country.
"If they try to put boots on the ground, force the Strait of Hormuz, you will see imagery of burning American warships in the next couple of weeks," he advised. "And I don't think people are really prepared for that."
"So I would, look, Iran doesn't have an independence day because they've not really been conquered since Alexander the Great," Prince added. "For all the talk of regime change, there's never been a real preparation of an armed opposition inside the country. And a lot of ways to do that from the periphery that doesn't require U.S. boots."