Trump offers Iran war naysayers an extreme endgame: ‘Let them hit us with a nuclear weapon’

President Donald Trump responded to questions about the cost of the Iran war by arguing that the worse outcome would be a nuclear strike on the United States. Speaking at the White House on Monday, where he announced a $15bn steel plant planned for Iowa, he was asked whether drivers should expect high gas prices to last through October. He said the real "turmoil" would come if Iran were allowed to "take out a city with a nuclear weapon," and he named Israel, the Middle East and the United States as possible targets. Moments later he asserted that Iran's nuclear threat had already been eliminated, according to The Independent.

The contradiction matters because the war, now more than six months old, has strained the economy and pushed fuel prices to record levels just ahead of the midterms. Nearly three in four U.S. adults say Trump has no plan to end it. A Quinnipiac poll from March found more than half of Americans doubted the stated rationale of an imminent nuclear danger. The administration has offered no evidence that Iranian facilities were being rebuilt after the February strikes, and former director of national intelligence Tulsi Gabbard testified under oath in March to the contrary.

Trump also addressed five suspects arrested on terror and explosives charges at RAF Fairford, a British base supporting the American campaign. He said he knew "everything about them" but would not discuss any Iranian ties. Police say all five are British nationals living in London, and Iran's embassy denied involvement.

Summarized by PolitiKool from The Independent’s reporting. Read the full story at The Independent →