Trump claims over 30 mine-laying ships destroyed in strait of Hormuz, but adds US unsure if any mines dropped in
Trump says the US is “hammering” Iran’s capacity to threaten commercial shipping in the strait of Hormuz.
More than 30 mine-laying ships have been destroyed, he claims, before adding that the US is unsure if any mines have been dropped into the strait.
We hit, to the best of our knowledge, all of their mine-laying ships … but we don’t know that any have even been dropped in, we’re not sure that any have been.
We don’t know that they have dropped any in, but we’ve hit all 30 of their ships.
Trump also repeats his call to other countries to help reopen shipping traffic in the strait, saying some countries told him they were on the way and others were “not that enthusiastic” about helping.
The US president wants nations to help police the strait after Iran responded to US-Israeli attacks by using drones, missiles and mines to effectively close the channel for tankers that usually transport a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas.
Some are very enthusiastic about it, and some aren’t. Some are countries that we’ve helped for many, many years. We’ve protected them from horrible outside sources, and they weren’t that enthusiastic. And the level of enthusiasm matters to me.
Key events
Jeffries announces plan to force vote to separate funding for certain DHS agencies
House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries announced that he will launch a discharge petition for a bill that would fund certain agencies within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that have been shutdown for a month – forcing many employees to work without pay. In order to force a vote on the House floor, Jeffries would need 218 signatures to proceed.
On Wednesday, the top Democrat plans to force a vote on would be legislation to fund the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema), Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (Cisa) and the Coast Guard.
Funding for the DHS remains at an impasse, as Democrats demand stronger guardrails on federal immigration enforcement in the wake of crackdowns across the country that have resulted in the fatal shootings of two US citizens. Republicans, for their part, have called many of the proposals from their colleagues non-starters. While the agencies that Jeffries seeks to fund have been affected by the shutdown, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has been spared, thanks to a billion-dollar infusion from Donald Trump’s sweeping tax-policy bill signed into law last year.
“Republicans continue to spend taxpayer dollars to fund ICE brutality against American citizens and law-abiding immigrant families,” Jeffries wrote in a letter to his Democratic colleagues. “At the same time, Donald Trump and his sycophants in Congress are spending billions to drop bombs in the Middle East, instead of restoring their cuts to Medicaid and nutritional assistance for millions of children, veterans, seniors and everyday Americans.”
Trump shuts down idea that Israel would use nuclear weapon on Iran
The president quickly shut down a reporter’s question about the possibility of Israel using a nuclear weapon on Iran if the conlict escalates. This comes after one of Donald Trump’s advisors, David Sacks, suggested the possible outcome in a recent interview
“Israel would never do that,” Trump said today. “You’ve pounded them to hell and you could just leave now, and it’ll take 10 years for them to build back not nearly what they have right now.”
During today’s press conference, Donald Trump was asked why – if the US has destroyed all of Iran’s mine-laying vessels – could he not simply reopen the strait of Hormuz for shipping. “It takes two to tango. We have to get people to take their billion-dollar ship and, you know, drive it up,” he told reporters.
“These ships are very expensive,” Trump added. “They don’t want to take a chance.”
The president claimed that some companies, as a result, were still skittish about using vital passageway. “We don’t know if they even set any mines. But the thought that they may have is enough to keep people saying, ‘we don’t need it’,” he said.
Donald Trump evaded the question about what a deal with Iran might look like in the third week of war. The president explained that he had grown frustrated with the regime’s use of video disinformation throughout the conflict.
“They showed buildings in Tel Aviv burning to the ground, high rises burning. They showed buildings in Qatar, they showed buildings in Saudi Arabia burning. And they weren’t burning. They weren’t hit,” he said.
When it comes to ongoing negotiations with the regime, the president added:
I talk to everybody because sometimes good things come out of it. But, I don’t know if they’re ready yet. They’re taking a pounding … and we don’t even know their leaders.
‘We don’t know if he’s dead or not,’ Trump says of Khamenei
On Iran’s new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, Trump says that he’s heard that Khamenei has been “disfigured” as a result of the US-Israeli attack on 28 February, or possibly lost a leg.
We don’t know if he’s dead or not. Nobody’s seen him which is unusual.
Back at Trump’s press conference, he says he spoke to French president Emmanuel Macron yesterday, who he said was willing to help unblock the strait of Hormuz.
Yeah, I mean, sure, he’s going to, I think, he’s going to help. I mean, I’ll let you know.
He then repeats that he was “not happy” with the UK, but he thought they might be involved. “But they should be involved enthusiastically,” Trump added.
Secretary of state Marco Rubio is expected to announce the names of the countries willing to aid the United States.
US oil prices could see another day of wild fluctuation as the US-Israel campaign against Iran extends into a third week, with one analyst predicting that prices at the pump might hit $3.85 per gallon today.
Petroleum prices have spiraled upward as the broadening conflict has imperiled oil and gas production infrastructure in the region. On Friday, the US conducted strikes on Kharg Island, an essential oil processing hub in Iran. Tehran, meanwhile, continues to block ships from passing through the strait of Hormuz, where a fifth of the international oil supply typically passes through.
Brent crude, the international benchmark, increased to $106 per barrel early on Monday but soon dipped to $103 a barrel. After briefly hitting $100 per barrel yesterday, US crude was down to $94 by mid-morning.
Patrick De Haan, a leading petroleum analyst, said on Monday that the average US cost of gasoline could reach $3.80 to $3.85 per gallon and that “$4 is still possible, but not just yet”. Diesel, a heavier gas used by trucks and trains, could reach from around $5.05 to $5.15 per gallon countrywide.
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Trump also just falsely claimed, again, that his pre-9/11 book warned about Osama bin Laden.
Following his comments about the strait of Hormuz, he just added:
I just want the fake news media and everybody else to remember that that was said because, when and I’ve been a big critic of all of the protecting of countries because I know that we’ll protect them. And if ever needed, if we ever needed help, they won’t be there for us.
I’ve just known that for a long period of time, just like I knew about the strait, that it would be a weapon, which I predicted a long time ago, predicted all of this stuff. You guys were very generous and that I predicted all of it. I predicted Osama bin Laden would knock out the World Trade Center. I made that prediction a year before he did it.
But Trump’s 2000 book did not warn about bin Laden at all, and his claim has been debunked repeatedly by news outlets over the years whenever he has revived the tale.
Trump claims over 30 mine-laying ships destroyed in strait of Hormuz, but adds US unsure if any mines dropped in
Trump says the US is “hammering” Iran’s capacity to threaten commercial shipping in the strait of Hormuz.
More than 30 mine-laying ships have been destroyed, he claims, before adding that the US is unsure if any mines have been dropped into the strait.
We hit, to the best of our knowledge, all of their mine-laying ships … but we don’t know that any have even been dropped in, we’re not sure that any have been.
We don’t know that they have dropped any in, but we’ve hit all 30 of their ships.
Trump also repeats his call to other countries to help reopen shipping traffic in the strait, saying some countries told him they were on the way and others were “not that enthusiastic” about helping.
The US president wants nations to help police the strait after Iran responded to US-Israeli attacks by using drones, missiles and mines to effectively close the channel for tankers that usually transport a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas.
Some are very enthusiastic about it, and some aren’t. Some are countries that we’ve helped for many, many years. We’ve protected them from horrible outside sources, and they weren’t that enthusiastic. And the level of enthusiasm matters to me.
Trump says US has struck over 7,000 ‘mostly commercial and military targets’ across Iran
Trump says the US military has struck over 7,000 targets across Iran, “mostly commercial and military targets”.
He claims the US has “achieved a 90% reduction in their ballistic missile launches and a 95% reduction in drone attacks”.
The missiles are trickling in now because they don’t have too many missiles left.
He says the US has also attacked Iran’s missile and drone manufacturing plants.
More than 100 Iranian naval vessels have been sunk or destroyed in the last week and a half, he adds.
Donald Trump holds press conference on Iran war
Trump starts by giving an update on his “powerful military campaign against the threats of the Iranian regime”.
“They have been literally obliterated,” he says, repeating his usual lines about Iran’s air force, navy, leaders etc being “gone”. “Other than that, they’re doing quite well,” he says.
Donald Trump is speaking now at a news conference before his lunch meeting with Kennedy Center board members. I’ll bring you all the main lines here.
Centcom says that attack on Kharg Island destroyed ‘more than 90’ Iranian military targets
In a video update today, Adm Brad Cooper, who leads US Central Command (Centcom), said that the large-scale strikes on Kharg Island on Friday destroyed “more than 90 Iranian military targets”, including storage bunkers for naval mines and missiles.
A reminder that Donald Trump said that the initial attacks “totally demolished” the stretch of land which is also Iran’s main oil export hub.
Cooper went on to explain that the US has “zeroed in on dismantling Iran’s decades old threat to the free flow of commerce through the strait of Hormuz through a combination of air, land and maritime capabilities”. Although he didn’t elaborate on how the US plans to reopen the waterway, he said that forces have “successfully destroyed over 100 Iranian naval vessels, and we aren’t done”.
“Our progress remains steady, and we remain vigilant against the enemy,” the admiral added. However, he didn’t offer a timeline of when he expects Operation Epic Fury to end. This comes amid the administration’s conflicting and confusing messaging on the success of the war on Iran as it enters its third week.
White House ‘wished UK had stepped up sooner and quicker’ to help open strait of Hormuz
Speaking to reporters outside the White House today, press secretary Karoline Leavitt said allied countries “are benefiting greatly” from the US-Israel war on Iran. She added that the Iranian regime’s ballistic missile capability was a “direct and imminent threat” to European allies.
“I think the president is absolutely right to call on these countries to do more to help the United States to reopen the strait of Hormuz,” she said.
The press secretary also said that Trump “wished the UK had stepped up sooner and quicker” to help unblock the crucial waterway, following the president’s demands for allies to send warships to the region.
Earlier today, prime minister Keir Starmer said the UK “will not be drawn into the wider war” when pressed by reporters about how the country plans to help reopen the strait of Hormuz.
For her part, Leavitt added that Trump “continues to speak with our allies in Europe and is calling on them for support, just as he did when he called on them to step up with respect to their defense spending in Nato. He’s calling them to do more here.”