Trump Declares Iran Can Attack Oil Ships ‘No Matter How Badly Defeated They Are’ In Attempt at Reassuring Rant

President Donald Trump made the odd declaration that Iran can continue to assail oil tankers “no matter how badly defeated they are” — in a rant that seemed intended to reassure.

As the second week of  the Iran war comes to a close, 13 U.S. servicemembers have been killed, a preliminary military investigation has determined the US is responsible for  the strike on an elementary school that killed at least 160 children, and attacks on oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz have exacerbated surging prices and roiled the stock market.

But Trump and his administration have kept up a steady drumbeat of attacks on the media for reporting on the full effect of the war. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth complained last week that reporting on troop deaths is intended to “make the president look bad,” and this week loudly demanded positive coverage from a “patriotic press corps.”

Trump has been especially sensitive about the attacks on oil tankers, which reporters like Maggie Haberman and others have noted do not appear to have been successfully prepared for.

In a Truth Social post Saturday morning, Trump simultaneously said the attacks will continue no matter what, but also that “we will soon get the Hormuz Strait OPEN, SAFE, and FREE!”:

Many Countries, especially those who are affected by Iran’s attempted closure of the Hormuz Strait, will be sending War Ships, in conjunction with the United States of America, to keep the Strait open and safe. We have already destroyed 100% of Iran’s Military capability, but it’s easy for them to send a drone or two, drop a mine, or deliver a close range missile somewhere along, or in, this Waterway, no matter how badly defeated they are. Hopefully China, France, Japan, South Korea, the UK, and others, that are affected by this artificial constraint, will send Ships to the area so that the Hormuz Strait will no longer be a threat by a Nation that has been totally decapitated. In the meantime, the United States will be bombing the hell out of the shoreline, and continually shooting Iranian Boats and Ships out of the water. One way or the other, we will soon get the Hormuz Strait OPEN, SAFE, and FREE! President DONALD J. TRUMP

The post came amid news of attacks on the US embassy in Iraq and an oil facility in the UAE.

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