Trump, who has ratcheted down his initial calls for regime change made over the weekend in favor of strategic objectives focused largely on destroying Iran’s military capabilities, also dismissed the possibility that Israel forced his hand in starting the war.
“I might have forced their hand,” Trump said, contradicting a version of events outlined on Monday by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who said Israel’s determination to attack Iran, and the likelihood of counter-attacks on U.S. assets in the region, spurred the president to order the attacks.
“Based on the way the negotiation was going, I think they were going to attack first,” Trump said of Iran. “And I didn’t want that to happen.”
The president also warned that oil prices will spike as a result of the conflict, after gasoline prices across the U.S. jumped 11 cents overnight on Tuesday.
“If we have a little high oil prices for a little while but as soon as this ends, those prices are going to drop I believe lower than even before,” Trump said, instead insisting that it was imperative that the U.S. strike Iran when it did.
The comments came at the outset of a meeting with Merz, who emphasized that he and Trump were “on the same page” about Iran — a more supportive stance than some other European leaders.
Merz, who said he looked forward to discussing the war’s endgame with Trump, referred to the rising cost of oil and gas as a result of the war “of course damaging our economies.” Growing uncertainty around energy prices, Merz continued, is “the reason why we all hope this war will come to an end as soon as possible.”
Trump, who thanked Merz for having been “very nice” on the subject of Iran, lashed out at other European allies that have been less supportive, especially Spain.
Fifteen American aircraft left two joint bases in southern Spain on Sunday after the country’s president said his government would not partake in a war it considered a violation of international law.
Trump said he told his Treasury secretary to cut off all trade with the country, even though the U.S. trades with the entirety of the European Union, not Spain as an individual member, and suggested he could have violated Spain’s sovereignty had he chosen to.
“We could just fly in and use it,” Trump said. “Nobody’s going to tell us not to use it, but we don’t have to. But they were unfriendly.”
The assertion comes as Europeans are still reeling from Trump’s threats about Greenland. The president had held open the possibility of using military force to seize Greenland from Denmark, a longtime NATO ally, before backing down amid a show of solidarity in opposition from the biggest European powers. But the episode appears to have permanently altered how Europe views its relationship with the United States, no longer the reliable ally it’s been since the end of World War II.
With Merz sitting by quietly, Trump also vented about British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who has been more critical of the Iran operation and has drawn the president’s ire by refusing to allow the U.S. to use the joint Diego Garcia base in the Chagos Islands.
“Spain has been very, very uncooperative and so has the UK. Now the second one is shocking but this is not the age of [former Prime Minister Winston] Churchill,” he said. “I will say, the UK has been very, very uncooperative with that stupid island that they have that they gave away.”