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President Donald Trump wondered if the U.S. “shouldn’t even be there” when answering questions about the war on Iran on Sunday, claiming that Iran’s military is already totally obliterated as the U.S. and Israel’s bombardments enter their third week with no end in sight.
A reporter asked Trump on Sunday about his demands that other countries aid him in trying to force transit through the Strait of Hormuz while it’s closed by Iran. In response, he said that other countries should “come in and protect their own territory” and “they should help us protect it.”
But, as he muddled through a response, he added that the U.S. doesn’t “need” control over the strait because the U.S. already has the oil it needs.
“You could make the case that maybe we shouldn’t even be there at all, because we don’t need it. We have a lot of oil,” Trump said. “But we do it. It’s almost like we do it for habit.”
The comment has increased scrutiny over the Trump administration’s aims for the war. The purpose for launching the war is constantly shifting, and lawmakers have repeatedly said that the administration has not laid out the purpose of the war in briefings. It’s also unclear when the war will end, with top administration officials like Special Envoy Steve Witkoff saying “I don’t know” when the end will be.
Israel said on Monday that it’s prepared for three more weeks of war, and Energy Secretary Chris Wright said on Sunday that it will end in a few weeks. However, Trump said last week that the war was “very complete” and has been claiming for days now that Iran’s military is obliterated, which is untrue.
“Militarily, we’ve — as far as I’m concerned — we’ve essentially defeated Iran. I guess they can have a little bit of fight back, but not much,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One. “We’ve taken out their navy. We’ve taken out their air defense. There’s no air defense whatsoever.”
NBC reported on Monday that Trump is presented with options to end the war regularly, but has declined to take any of them.
Still, the U.S. and Israel’s bombardments continued on Monday. Iran’s Health Ministry says 1,444 people have been killed and over 18,500 injured since February 28. Human rights group HRANA counts at least 1,330 civilians killed, including over 200 children.
These attacks, particularly the likely U.S. strike on a school in Minab, Iran, that killed scores of children, have drawn scrutiny over their compliance with international standards on civilian safety. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has drawn condemnation from legal experts and politicians after saying last week that the U.S. would show “no quarter, no mercy” for Iran.
Legal experts say that even just that order can constitute a war crime, as orders that there should be no survivors are prohibited under international law.
Meanwhile, the price tag for the war is mounting. Trump’s National Economic Council director, Kevin Hassett, said on Sunday that the U.S. had spent $12 billion on the war up until that point; and The Washington Post reported last week that the U.S. dropped $5.6 billion worth of munitions on Iran in the first two days of the war alone.
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