US President Donald Trump declares that the US will strike Iran hard tonight and tomorrow, as the conflict over control of the Strait of Hormuz appears to spiral out of control.
“We’re going to hit them very hard tonight and we’re going to hit them hard tomorrow — and there’s not a damn thing they can do about it,” he says in an interview with conservative talk show host Hugh Hewitt. “They have nothing. They have nothing going other than they have big mouths.”
Trump downplays the importance of the memorandum of understanding that he signed last month with Iran to permanently end the war between the two countries, saying it was just a “test” which did not mean very much because the US is dealing with dishonorable “sleaze bags” who did not adhere to its terms. Tehran lodges the same accusation at the US, arguing that the MOU did acknowledge its control over the Strait of Hormuz, legitimizing its demand that ships crossing through the channel follow its rules.
Asked about his pledges to help Iranian anti-regime protesters and whether they should return to the streets, Trump cautions against the idea, given that the unarmed demonstrators are no match for the regime gunmen cracking down against them.
He claims that he never thought a popular uprising against the regime was possible, even though he declared in a speech on the first day of the war that Iran’s people should take over their government once the bombing subsides.
Asked to respond to claims by Israeli journalists that he has thrown Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu under the bus through the MOU, the terms of which have sparked profound concern in Israel, Trump insists that is not the case, claiming that he gets along with the Israeli premier very well.
“Sometimes I disagree with him, and I let it be known, and I’ve been right,” Trump says, before reiterating that Netanyahu has done a good job as a “wartime prime minister” and that Israel would not exist today if the two of them were not in power.
Asked, with Israeli elections approaching, whether someone in Israel could do a better job than Netanyahu, Trump says he does not know most of the alternatives, but that he has a good relationship with Netanyahu.
Pressed on whether he should greenlight resumed Israeli conflicts Hamas and Hezbollah, Trump claims the US has made a “lot of progress” toward getting Hamas to disarm and again touts the terror group for helping recover the bodies of slain Israeli hostages.
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