President Donald Trump on Monday said he would like to “take” Iran’s oil — but that he hasn’t because Americans want to see the war brought to a close.
“If I had my choice, I’d keep the oil. But I also want to make the people of our country happy,” Trump told reporters at the annual White House Easter egg roll.
“Unfortunately the American people would like to see us come home. If it were up to me, I’d take the oil, I’d keep the oil, it would bring plenty of money. I’d also take care of the people of Iran much better than they’ve been taken care of,” he said.
He also called Americans who don’t support the war “foolish.”
A Reuters/Ipsos poll released last week showed three out of four Americans oppose deploying ground troops in Iran. More than half of those surveyed said they think the war in Iran will impact their own financial situation.
The president referred to a CNN segment from last month that touted 100 percent support for the operation in Iran among MAGA voters and defended how he’s handled the war, now entering its sixth week.
“Remember, wars last years. We’re in there for 34 days. And we’ve obliterated a very powerful country in 34 days,” Trump said.
He also doubled down on threats to attack Iran’s civilian infrastructure if the country does not move to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. His most recent deadline for action is Tuesday evening.
“They don’t want to cry, as the expression goes, uncle. But they will. And if they don’t, they’ll have no bridges, they’ll have no power plants, they’ll have no anything. I won’t go further because there are other things that are worse than those two,” he said.
He said he’s “not worried” about bombing civilian power plants being considered a war crime.
“You know what’s a war crime? Having a nuclear weapon. Allowing a sick country, with demented leadership, [to] have a nuclear weapon — that’s a war crime,” Trump said.
