President Donald Trump made a stunning admission to reporters late Sunday that critics said undercut his administration’s entire justification for its war against Iran — a conflict that has already cost taxpayers $65 billion and claimed the lives of at least 13 U.S. service members.
Trump has offered several justifications for his administration’s war, including destroying its missile capabilities and preventing it from developing nuclear weapons. But on Sunday while aboard Air Force One, he casually admitted that there was a case to be made that the United States “shouldn’t even be” in the Middle East at all.
“You could make the case that maybe we shouldn’t even be there at all because we don’t need [oil from the region], we have a lot of oil, we are the number-one producer anywhere in the world times two, by double – at least double, now I think it’s much higher than that,” Trump told reporters.
“But we do it. It’s almost like we do it for habit, but we also do it for some very good allies that we have in the Middle East.”
Journalist Jeet Heer, a writer for The Nation, sarcastically quipped in a social media post on X, “Yes, you could make that case,” referring to the fierce opposition to the Trump administration’s war effort.
“Sorry, what was that?” asked X user “The Maine Wonk,” a prominent political commentator with nearly 115,000 followers.
And Priyamvada Gopal, a University of Cambridge professor and political commentator, wrote in response to Trump’s admission to their more than 82,000 followers on X: “Indeed you could, Donald.”
Speculation has grown that, amid skyrocketing oil prices, Trump may be looking for a way out of the conflict he initiated. However, such an off-ramp may not exist according to one former Trump security adviser, with Iran having vowed to keep fighting in response to the United States’ initial attack and ongoing siege.
Yes, you could make that case! https://t.co/SUousFsy8Q — Jeet Heer (@HeerJeet) March 16, 2026
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