Trump Says ‘Iran Wants To Make a Deal With Us Very Badly’ – Right After It Bombs Ship

President Donald Trump reiterated his claim that Iran is desperate to make a deal, doing so right after it was reported that the country struck a ship in the Strait of Hormuz.

On Thursday, U.S. and Iranian officials confirmed to The New York Times that Iran hit a cargo ship attempting to transit the vital waterway via the southern route off the coast of Oman. Iranian officials had warned ships that they must navigate the strait through its territorial waters. Trump has claimed that Iran no longer controls the passageway.

A U.S. official told the Times that Iran used a drone to hit the ship. In response, the U.N. halted its plan to evacuate sailors from ships that had been stranded in the Persian Gulf.

Iran closed the strait after the U.S. and Israel began bombing the country in February to put economic pressure on Trump to stop the campaign. The U.S. and Iran reached a temporary ceasefire agreement in April, which has been renewed multiple times, though the sides have exchanged sporadic fire.

About an hour after the latest attack was reported, Trump told a gathering of farmers that Iran is negotiating from a position of weakness. He did not mention the strike.

Iran wants to make a deal with us very badly,” the president insisted. “And we probably will, I think we will. But the strait is open.”

He added, “We knocked the hell out of them, and now we’re negotiating from a position of pure strength, pure strength. They know that. And the strait’s already open. And we’re setting records in the strait.”

The war has been broadly unpopular since the beginning.

Elsewhere in his remarks on Thursday, the president told the farmers that they will soon be able to sell their products to “the lovely country of Iran.”

Watch above via Real America’s Voice.

New: The Mediaite One-Sheet "Newsletter of Newsletters"
Your daily summary and analysis of what the many, many media newsletters are saying and reporting. Subscribe now!