President Donald J. Trump listens during a meeting on Fentanyl and the opioid epidemic in the Oval Office at the White House on Tuesday, June 25, 2019 in Washington, DC.
Jabin Botsford | The Washington Post | Getty Images
President Donald Trump said Wednesday “I hope we don’t” have a war with Iran, but it “would not last very long.”
In an interview with Fox Business Network, Trump also explained his decision to call off military strikes on Iran in retaliation for its downing of a U.S military surveillance drone last week.
“I decided not to kill a lot of Iranians,” said. “I like Iranians.”
Asked about the possibility of war with Iran. Trump said: “I can tell you that, it would not last very long.”
“We’re in a very strong position,” he added.
Trump suggested that he would not deploy U.S. troops to fight Iran if there were a conflict.
“I’m not talking boots on the ground,” he said.
Trump on Tuesday warned on Twitter that any Iranian attack on Americans would be met with “great and overwhelming force” and “obliteration.”
“Iran leadership doesn’t understand the words ‘nice’ or ‘compassion,’ they never have,” Trump wrote.
“Sadly, the thing they do understand is Strength and Power, and the USA is by far the most powerful Military Force in the world, with 1.5 Trillion Dollars invested over the last two years alone.”
Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Tuesday that he does not need an “exit strategy” on the dispute with Iran.
“We would love to be able to negotiate a deal if they want to. If they don’t want to, that’s fine, too,” Trump said.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Tuesday called new sanctions slapped on the Islamic Republic by Trump “outrageous and idiotic” and said the White House was suffering from a “mental illness.”
