Trump: "You could end this thing in two seconds" US president on war progress

US President Donald Trump fielded a barrage of questions on the Iran war during a White House press conference alongside Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, defending his administration’s actions and criticising NATO allies.

Opening the floor to reporters, Trump said he believed Japan would be “stepping up to the plate” on the war effort, adding “unlike NATO," Caliber.Az reports per the briefing. 

Describing Iran as “a serious threat to the world,” Trump said, “Every country agrees with me on that.”

He also referred to Kharg Island, a key Iranian oil export terminal, saying: “We can take out the island anytime we want—I call it the little island that sits there. It’s totally unprotected. We’ve taken out everything but the pipes. We left the pipes because rebuilding them would take years.”

Defending his decision to launch strikes, Trump said: “I had to do this. I had to take this little excursion and do something that no other president had the courage to do.” He added, “You could end this thing in two seconds if you wanted to.”

The president said he had urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu not to target Iranian energy infrastructure further.

“I told Netanyahu not to attack oil and gas facilities anymore, and he will not do that anymore,” Trump said.

On maritime security, Trump argued that the United States was shouldering the burden of protecting a vital global shipping route.

“We don’t use the Strait of Hormuz; we are defending it for everybody else,” he said. “NATO doesn’t want to help us defend the Strait, and they are the ones who need it.”

When asked why allies had not been informed in advance of the strikes on Iran, Trump replied: “We wanted surprise—who knows better about surprise than Japan? Why didn’t you tell me about Pearl Harbor?”

He also claimed there were growing divisions within Iran’s armed forces.

“You have a lot of military defections in Iran. I don't blame them,” he said.

At one point during the exchange, Trump added: “I know more about contractors than any human being that has ever lived.”

By Sabina Mammadli