U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday that Iran might have loaded up their weaponry “a little bit” during the two-week ceasefire, but added that the U.S. military could knock that out in about one day.
“Don’t rush me,” Trump told reporters at the White House when he was asked how long was he willing to wait for a long-term peace deal with Iran.
“Their navy is gone. Their air force is gone, their anti-aircraft is gone …maybe they loaded up a little bit during the two-week hiatus, but we’ll knock that out about one day, if they did,” said Trump, adding Iran’s leadership is in “turmoil.”
“I want to make the best deal. I could make a deal right now … but I don’t want to do that. I want to have it everlasting,” Trump said.
In an exchange with reporters in the Oval Office, Trump also pushed back against questions that the conflict is exceeding the four-to-six week timeline that he and aides previously set for the war.
“I took the country out militarily in the first four weeks. I took it out militarily,” he said. “Now all we’re doing is sitting back and seeing what deal (we make). And if they don’t want to make a deal, then I’ll finish it up militarily.”
The president appeared perturbed when asked by a reporter if he’d consider deploying nuclear weapons against the Islamic Republic.
“No, I wouldn’t. We don’t need it. Why do I need it? Why would a stupid question like that be asked?” Trump fumed.
He went on, “Why would I use a nuclear weapon, when we’ve totally, in a very conventional way, decimated them without it. No, I wouldn’t use it. A nuclear weapon should never be allowed to be used by anybody.”
Trump also reiterated that the U.S. continues to demand that Iran stop it’s backing of proxy groups in the Mideast, including Hezbollah in Lebanon, as part of any deal between Washington and Tehran to end the U.S. war on Iran.
“Yeah, they’ll have to cut that,” Trump said to a reporter’s question about aiding the militant group. “That’s a must.”