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Trump claims Iran ‘started the war’ with US, calls ceasefire ‘waste of time’
US President Donald Trump has defended the war on Iran, claiming Tehran was responsible for starting it and dismissing an earlier ceasefire as a “waste of time”.
Speaking at a campaign rally in Corinth, Mississippi, Trump echoed a Republican lawmaker’s claim that “we didn’t start the war with Iran. Iran started the war with us”.
Trump also defended the economic consequences of the military campaign, saying he had expected oil prices to rise much higher.
“I was fully prepared to do it because we really had no choice. Should’ve been done a long time ago,” he said.
Referring to an earlier ceasefire, Trump said he had never liked the arrangement.
“We did a little ceasefire, which I never liked very much,” he said. “We wanna be nice, but it was just a waste of time as far as I’m concerned.”
Trump also claimed Iran had developed missiles capable of reaching Europe and could target American cities.
“They’d hit San Diego, they’d hit Los Angeles, they’d hit our cities too,” he said.
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[…] The economic argument was the other half of the rally pitch. Trump defended the consequences of the campaign head-on: “I expected the price of oil to go much, much higher, and I was fully prepared to do it,” he said, adding that the action “should have been done by other presidents a long time ago” (Clarion Ledger). “I was fully prepared to do it because we really had no choice. Should’ve been done a long time ago,” he said (Rifnote). […]