President Donald Trump at a press conference on Monday said that the war against Iran will end “very soon,” and also said that oil prices will drop.
Trump’s rosy prediction came after a weekend that saw the price of oil skyrocket to above $100 per barrel, roiling global financial markets.
“We’re achieving major strides toward completing our military objective,” said Trump, who launched the war on Iran with Israel on Feb. 28.
“And some people could say they’re pretty well complete. We’ve wiped every single force in Iran out, very completely,” the president said at his Trump National Doral club near Miami, where he touted the destruction of more than 50 Iranian naval ships, and decimation of its Air Force and anti-aircraft defenses.
“They have no leadership. It’s all been blown up.”
Earlier Monday, an Iranian official suggested that any oil tanker transiting the Strait of Hormuz, a key chokepoint for crude oil shipments, risked attack by Iran.
Trump said that oil supplies will be more secure for the world in the long run because of the war, and threatened to hit Iran even harder if it withholds crude from markets.
He also said that the war would be over when Iran no longer had the capacity to use weapons against the U.S., Israel and other allies for a long time.
Asked by a reporter to explain the difference between his prediction of a quick end to the war, and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s recent comment that the war is just beginning, Trump said both could be true.
“It’s the beginning of building a new country,” Trump said.
Trump earlier Monday spoke with Russian leader Vladimir Putin, who reportedly shared proposals about the U.S. quickly ending the war.
At his press conference, Trump said that Putin “was very impressed with what he saw” the U.S. do in Iran.
“This is an excursion a lot of other people wouldn’t have done,” Trump said. “This was a military success, the likes of which people haven’t seen.”
