President Donald Trump mentioned Saturday he’s not prepared to attain a deal with Iran to finish the war and renewed requires different international locations to ship warships to the Middle East to assist the US safe the Strait of Hormuz.
More on his feedback:
“Iran wants to make a deal, and I don’t want to make it because the terms aren’t good enough yet,” Trump told NBC News throughout a telephone interview, including that any settlement would want to be “very solid.”
When requested what these phrases would possibly embody, the president declined to present particulars. “I don’t want to say that to you,” he mentioned.
He additionally instructed NBC News the strikes on Kharg Island “totally demolished” a lot of the island however that “we may hit it a few more times just for fun.”
Trump claimed that “other countries” will likely be sending warships “in conjunction” with the US to safe the Strait of Hormuz.
It is unclear which international locations the president is speaking about and whether or not any international locations have agreed to ship ships. Trump wrote later in a prolonged post on Truth Social, “Hopefully China, France, Japan, South Korea, the UK, and others” will ship ships to the area.
In response to NCS’s requests for remark, neither China nor the UK confirmed whether or not they’re sending warships to the strait.
Trump additionally raised doubts concerning the standing of Iran’s new supreme chief, Mojtaba Khamenei, noting that he has not appeared publicly since assuming energy.
“I don’t know if he’s even alive. So far, nobody’s been able to show him,” Trump mentioned.
“I’m hearing he’s not alive, and if he is, he should do something very smart for his country, and that’s surrender,” the president added, describing reviews of Khamenei’s loss of life as “a rumor.”
NCS’s Riane Lumer, Alejandra Jaramillo, Max Saltman and Billy Stockwell contributed reporting.