President Donald Trump expressed his desire to “take the oil in Iran” on Sunday and is contemplating seizing the export hub of Kharg Island.
In a new interview with the Financial Times, Trump said his “preference would be to take the oil.”
“To be honest with you, my favorite thing is to take the oil in Iran but some stupid people back in the U.S. say: ‘Why are you doing that?’ But they’re stupid people,” he said.
This marks some of Trump’s most direct comments about his thinking on what to do with Iran’s oil.
In January, the U.S. captured Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and proceeded to take more control over the country’s oil industry.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment Sunday night.
Trump also told the Financial Times on Sunday that the U.S. has “a lot of options,” including potentially taking Kharg Island, a rare island made of hard coral off Iran.
“Maybe we take Kharg Island, maybe we don’t. We have a lot of options,” Trump said. “It would also mean we had to be there [in Kharg Island] for a while.”
Oil prices have surged around the globe as the war continues, with U.S. crude oil costing over $100 a barrel Sunday.
Over 50,000 more troops are heading to the Middle East. The USS Tripoli arrived on Saturday, joining a contingent of 3,500 troops. Despite this, Trump and his administration persist in their efforts to negotiate a 15-point proposal aimed at ending the war.
Trump declined Sunday to offer specific details about whether a ceasefire deal could be reached in the coming days to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
