President Trump intensified his threats to devastate Iranian bridges and power plants if the country did not agree to a cease-fire before Tuesday evening, but he offered few details on what such a deal would achieve beyond restoring oil shipping out of the Persian Gulf — which was open before Mr. Trump’s war began.
“We have to have a deal that’s acceptable to me,” Mr. Trump told reporters at the White House on Monday. “And part of that deal is going to be we want free traffic of oil and everything else.”
Mr. Trump divulged little about any ongoing cease-fire negotiations, which he said involved Vice President JD Vance. He closed out the news conference with a warning to Europe: “We want Greenland. They don’t want to give it to us.”
Trump intensified his threats.
Mr. Trump made his threats to attack Iran’s civilian infrastructure more explicit, but said he was still open to an agreement with the country’s leaders.
“Every power plant in Iran will be out of business, burning, exploding and never to be used again,” Mr. Trump said. He added: “We don’t want that to happen. We may even get involved with helping them rebuild their nation.”
Mr. Trump set a deadline of 8 p.m. Tuesday, Washington time, for Iran to agree to a cease-fire. He said Iran “would like to be able to make a deal,” but “I can’t say any more than that.”
He dismissed questions about war crimes.
Mr. Trump brushed off a question about whether he was worried that bombing bridges and power plants could constitute war crimes. International law prohibits attacks on civilian objects.
“I hope I don’t have to do it,” Mr. Trump said.
He then launched into a familiar criticism of his predecessors having been “weak, ineffective and afraid” of Iran.
He has ‘a concept’ for the Strait of Hormuz.
Mr. Trump has gone back and forth about whether Iran must reopen the Strait of Hormuz as part of any deal, underscoring the strategic quandary for the president as he struggles to restore global oil markets to their prewar status quo.
Responding to a question about whether he would be willing to end the conflict even if Iran is charging tolls for passage through the strait, Mr. Trump laid out a new ambition: having the United States control the artery out of the Persian Gulf.
He did not explain how that could happen, since the United States does not control the strait.
“We have a concept where we’ll charge tolls,” he said.
He highlighted a daring rescue operation.
Mr. Trump’s news conference was called ostensibly to highlight the U.S. military’s daring rescue of an Air Force colonel whose fighter jet had been shot down.
At a time when many Americans are expressing uncertainty about the future of the war and concern about fuel prices at home, Mr. Trump described the rescue in dramatic, and even cinematic, terms.
“You would call it central casting if you were doing a movie for location,” he said of the part of Iran where the airman was stranded, adding, “Those pilots came in so fast and so quick and got out of there.”
The president asked Gen. Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, to reveal more details, including how many people were sent on the rescue mission.
“I’d love to keep that a secret,” General Caine responded.
Turning back to the press, Mr. Trump said that “it was hundreds.”
He threatened to jail a reporter.
During the news conference, the president became angry with a member of his staff who he claimed had leaked a story about the downed airman to the news media. He threatened to jail a reporter, whom he did not identify, unless the journalist turned over the identity of the source.
“We’re going to find out,” Mr. Trump said, adding, “The person that did the story will go to jail if he doesn’t say.”
Mr. Trump has long pushed for the jailing of reporters who publish leaked information. Mr. Trump himself was charged federally with mishandling classified documents he kept upon leaving office. That case was later dismissed.
He wants to claim Iran’s oil.
Mr. Trump continued to make Venezuela the model for his vision of how to deal with Iran, particularly his seizure of some of the country’s oil.
“To the victor belong the spoils,” he said, then suggested he would like to return to a world order of centuries past where conquering nations seized resources from the countries they defeated. “We haven’t heard that in, I think, maybe hundreds of years.”
Anton Troianovski writes about American foreign policy and national security for The Times from Washington. He was previously a foreign correspondent based in Moscow and Berlin.
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