What did Trump say about Iran’s infrastructure and oil prices in a call with PBS News

On Monday, White House correspondent Liz Landers spoke by phone with President Trump while he attended what he described as a “very important meeting” regarding the Iran war.

Jeff Bennett:

This morning, our White House correspondent Liz Landers spoke by phone with President Trump as the president attended what he described as a very important meeting on the Iran war.

Liz joins us now.

So, Liz, how did that phone call go, and what did you ask the president about?

Liz Landers:

Well, Jeff, we’ve been talking about how the president has had very unconventional messaging in the last few weeks since this conflict started, and he would pick up the phone when reporters called him and asked questions about Iran.

I called him around 8:00 AM this morning. We only talked for three minutes. It was a very quick call. He said when he picked up that he was in a very important meeting, but he made some comments and I was able to ask him some follow-up questions.

He repeated to me that he believed the Iranian military had been eliminated. The Iranians want to make a deal, he said, “but they are not ready to make a deal, in my opinion.” He talked a little more about the military strike that took place last weekend on Kharg Island.

This is a large Iranian oil terminal. It is their main hub for oil exports. For example, 90 percent of their oil exports go through this location, so it’s a very strategic location. That’s out of service now, except for the pipelines, he said, saying the United States in those military strikes left some of the oil infrastructure there.

But he threatened to strike Kharg Island again and said he would destroy it if Iran did not cooperate moving forward. He also spoke about Tehran’s infrastructure, saying that currently, that city, the United States, has not had access to power plants there. He said he could destroy the power plants, but that would require years of rebuilding and shocks as well.

So, he said – quote – “I’m trying to put off that kind of thing now.”

Jeff Bennett:

I also asked him about the rise in oil prices? What did he say?

Liz Landers:

Yes, well, yesterday, we saw Secretary Wright, the Secretary of Energy, on the Sunday programs talking about this.

Americans are seeing this at the gas pump now. So I asked the president about the rise in oil prices. He said this was – quote – “a very small price to pay” for what he described as more than four decades of terrorism by the regime.

But he predicted that oil prices would drop like a rock once the war ended. “I don’t think it’s going to take that long,” he said, so he’s giving sort of an update on the timeline there.

My last question to him was about the American forces on the ground. He has been repeatedly asked whether the United States will send troops to the region. And last week, we heard from Democratic Senator Dick Blumenthal of Connecticut, who came out of that conference sounding alarm bells that he believes the administration is preparing to put boots on the ground.

The President did not want to discuss this with me. When I asked him if his thinking on the subject had changed at all in the past few days, he said, “No. I just don’t want to talk about strategy with a reporter,” Jeff said.

Jeff Bennett:

Well, Liz Landers, great reporting. Thank you.

Liz Landers:

Thanks.