President Donald Trump said Saturday he was not prepared to reach a deal with Iran to end the war and renewed his call for other countries to send warships to the Middle East to help the United States secure the Strait of Hormuz.
Details of his comments:
“Iran wants a deal, but I don’t want to do a deal because the terms are not good enough,” Trump told NBC News in a phone interview, adding that any deal would need to be “very solid.”
Asked what those conditions might include, the president declined to provide details. “I don’t want to tell you that,” he said.
He also told NBC News that the attack on Kharg Island “completely destroyed” much of the island, but that “we might attack a few more times just for fun.”
President Trump claimed that “other countries” would send warships “in coordination” with the United States to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
It is unclear which countries the president is talking about, or whether any countries have agreed to send ships. Trump later wrote in a lengthy post on Truth Social that he hopes “China, France, Japan, South Korea, the UK, etc. will send ships to the region.”
In response to requests for comment from CNN, neither China nor Britain would confirm whether they had sent warships to the Strait.
Trump also questioned the status of Iran’s new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, noting that he has not appeared in public since taking power.
“We don’t even know if he’s alive. So far, no one has seen him,” Trump said.
The president went on to say that reports of Khamenei’s death were “rumours”, adding: “I have heard that he is not alive, but if he is, he should do something very wise for his country: surrender.”
CNN’s Leanne Loomer, Alejandra Jaramillo, Max Saltman and Billy Stockwell contributed reporting.
