Trump Threatens Iran’s Decimation by Midnight Tues. If No Deal (Full Presser)

Video Description

President Donald Trump ramped up his threats ahead of a deadline he’s imposed for Iran to re-open the Strait of Hormuz or face further attacks on civilian infrastructure, while Tehran rejected a ceasefire proposal. “The entire country can be taken out in one night, and that night might be tomorrow night,” Trump said in a press conference Monday at the White House, in an apparent reference to his ultimatum to Iran that expires at 8 p.m. on Tuesday.“Every bridge in Iran will be decimated, by 12 o’clock tomorrow night,” Trump said. “Every power plant in Iran will be out of business, burning, exploding and never to be used again,” he added, noting that “it’ll happen over a period of four hours, if we wanted to. We don’t want that to happen.”  Trump spoke to reporters at the White House. President Donald Trump insisted that freedom of navigation through the Strait of Hormuz be part of any deal and escalated threats to obliterate key Iranian infrastructure if his terms aren’t met before a Tuesday deadline.  Trump said Monday that talks with Iran are “going well,” even though he listed reopening the strait as “a very big priority.” The president in recent weeks has said that wasn’t among his core prerequisites for ending the conflict.  “We have to have a deal that’s acceptable to me, and part of that deal is going to be we want free traffic of oil and everything,” he said at a White House news conference. Trump laid bare the consequences Iran would face if it doesn’t reach a deal by his Tuesday 8 p.m. cut-off, saying the US military could destroy “every bridge in Iran by 12 o’clock tomorrow night.” Power plants would be rendered “burning, exploding and never to be used again,” he said.  Attacking civilian infrastructure is barred by the Geneva Conventions, but Trump said he was “not at all” concerned about committing war crimes.  “I mean complete demolition by 12 o’clock, and it will happen over a period of four hours, if we wanted to,” he said. “We don’t want that to happen.”  Trump’s self-imposed deadline marks the latest pivotal moment in the war, now in its second month, which has killed thousands of people and triggered the largest-ever disruption to the global oil market. The president has struggled to find an off-ramp to the conflict — increasingly unpopular with Americans who are seeing average gasoline prices above $4 a gallon. Iran has warned that it would respond to the kind of strikes Trump is threatening against civilian targets by ramping up its own attacks on energy infrastructure in the Gulf — a move that could heighten the global fuel squeeze and amplify damage to the world economy. The president’s comments on the strait also appeared to be at odds with past remarks from his administration about whether he’d be willing to end the war with the strait still closed. Last week, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt didn’t list reopening Hormuz as a core US military objective when asked if Trump would declare victory even if passage through the strait remained slow. Oil prices rose as Trump threatened more strikes on Iran, renewing traders’ fears that flows through the crucial Strait of Hormuz would remain curtailed for longer. Both benchmarks rose in choppy trading with Brent crude ending the session above $109 a barrel while US crude rose nearly 1% to settle near $112 a barrel. Equities held small gains in a volatile session. Bonds and the dollar barely budged. -------- Watch Bloomberg Radio LIVE on YouTube Weekdays 7am-6pm ET WATCH HERE: http://bit.ly/3vTiACF Follow us on X: https://twitter.com/BloombergRadio Subscribe to our Podcasts: Bloomberg Daybreak: http://bit.ly/3DWYoAN Bloomberg Surveillance: http://bit.ly/3OPtReI Bloomberg Intelligence: http://bit.ly/3YrBfOi Balance of Power: http://bit.ly/3OO8eLC Bloomberg Businessweek: http://bit.ly/3IPl60i Listen on Apple CarPlay and Android Auto with the Bloomberg Business app: Apple CarPlay: https://apple.co/486mghI Android Auto: https://bit.ly/49benZy Visit our YouTube channels: Bloomberg Podcasts: https://www.youtube.com/bloombergpodcasts Bloomberg Television: https://www.youtube.com/@markets Bloomberg Originals: https://www.youtube.com/bloomberg Quicktake: https://www.youtube.com/@BloombergQuicktake