President Donald Trump dismissed the possibility of peace talks with Iran collapsing on Monday, telling CNBC, “Honestly, I don’t care if they end.”
“I really don’t care. I can’t really care,” Trump told CNBC’s Eamon Javers in a phone interview at noon Monday, adding that he thought the drawn-out talks were “starting to get very boring.”
President Trump was asked about reports that Iranian negotiators have suspended communications with the United States and that Iran is moving to “completely close” the Strait of Hormuz because of Israel’s military operation against the Iranian-backed militia Hezbollah in Lebanon.
“When it’s over, it’s over… To be honest, I thought it was getting really boring.”
“I’m going to ask Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu what’s going on in Lebanon,” Trump said.
President Trump said in a post on Truth Social late Monday afternoon that he had a “very productive phone conversation” with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. “There are no troops heading to Beirut, and those that are are already turning back,” Trump wrote.
In the same post, he said he had spoken to Hezbollah “through high-ranking representatives” and “agreed that all shooting would stop, meaning Israel would not attack them and they would not attack Israel.”
In another post, President Trump said, “Negotiations with the Islamic Republic of Iran continue at a rapid pace.”
In a phone call with CNBC, President Trump also said he was not worried about the spike in oil prices following Iranian state media reports early Monday.
“Oil will be falling like rocks very soon, very close,” Trump said.
But he also argued that Americans, who understand the importance of thwarting Iran’s nuclear ambitions, would not care about rising gas prices as a result of the war.
“If you explain that all this means that Iran has nuclear weapons, people will be willing to pay a little bit more money,” he said.
President Trump claimed pump prices would come down “very quickly.” But he also repeatedly signaled that he was in no hurry to restart stalled negotiations with Iran.
“When it’s over, it’s over. If it wasn’t, I think it took too long. Frankly, I thought it started to get very boring,” Trump told CNBC.
Asked if he thought it was time to officially end the ceasefire between the United States and Iran, which is still nominally in place, Trump said, “Let’s say I knew exactly what you wanted…and somehow I know. Why would I tell you?”
He also said that America’s NATO allies “should step in and support us” because they are more dependent on oil flowing through the Strait of Hormuz than the United States.
“We don’t need it. We have plenty of oil,” he said.
But when asked if he had approached NATO to join in reopening the strait, Trump said: “They would do it if I wanted, but I don’t know if that’s what I want.”
“We don’t need them. We don’t need NATO. Their rhetoric was very weak and very sad,” Trump said. “They said, ‘We’ll help you as soon as the war is over.'”
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