“I’m their banker”: Trump turns Iran’s financial squeeze into a warning

U.S. President Donald Trump said Iran's economic situation was “not sustainable” and defended his strategy of applying pressure on Tehran amid an apparent negotiating stalemate over the Strait of Hormuz.

In a pre-taped interview with right-wing media outlet Real America's Voice, Trump said Iran was facing severe economic difficulties and suggested the United States could impose further pressure.

“Just bop along and look how bad they're doing, because they've got 300% inflation, they have no value. Their currency has almost no value. They're not paying their soldiers. Their soldiers are leaving,” Trump said.

“So just keep that going because that's not sustainable,” Trump said, adding that the United States could “hit them really really hard.”

Trump also said Washington had control over Iranian financial resources.

“So economically, they are a mess. They can't borrow money. We control their money, what they had, which is a lot. They had a lot, and we have total control of it. I'm their banker,” Trump said.

Trump also rejected concerns that the United States was facing shortages of missile munitions, saying: “We're fine” and “we're building them like crazy.” He nevertheless pointed to former President Joe Biden's military aid packages to Ukraine as a factor behind concerns over U.S. ammunition stocks.

Trump dismissed concerns about inflation stemming from the war, saying oil prices and inflation would fall “as soon as it ends.”

He also claimed that without the war that began in February, Iran might now possess a nuclear weapon. Iranian officials have repeatedly denied that Tehran intends to develop nuclear arms.

By Aghakazim Guliyev