‘We have time’: Trump defends Iran war, claims US recovered costs through Venezuela

Justifying his action against Iran and claiming that the United States (US) has managed to stop Tehran from acquiring a nuclear weapon, President Donald Trump said on Friday (local time) that Washington has ‘time’ and underlined that the conflict is not a ‘typical war’, indicating that it might could continue for a while.

The 80-yer-old Republican leader, who is in his second tenure as US president, claimed yet again that Iran wants to hold talks. He said Iran is struggling to pay its soldiers and the police, and remains in a huge trouble. 

“It’s a war, but it’s not a typical war. We’ve been there for seven months,” he told reporters at the Oval Office of the White House. “We’re spending very little money, relatively speaking. I heard somebody say, you’re spending money. I said, well, any money we spent, we’ve more than made up for in a place called Venezuela, like by 10 times.”

Trump also targeted Democrat leader Ro Khanna for questioning his administration over the rising cost of the Iran war, stressing his actions stopped Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon. Furthermore, he also defended his action against Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro earlier this year.

“And I watched this guy, Ro Khanna, who’s a lightweight. And he was saying that President Trump is spending a lot of money. Well, I spent a lot of money in order to get rid of a nuclear weapon, which we have done,” Trump said.

“But any money we’ve spent in Iran, we’ve more than made up for with what we did in Venezuela, taken in hundreds of billions of dollars many, many times. But they don’t mention these things. So that’s why I like to have news conferences I can mention when other people,” he said, without providing figures to substantiate his assertion.

The Trump administration is facing mounting pressure over the Iran war ahead of the November 3 midterm elections. Despite the pressure, Trump had earlier hinted at the possibility of resuming military strikes against Iran. However, no such action has been taken so far. It remains to be seen how the conflict unfolds, with the war continuing to pose a political challenge for the Trump administration.

ALSO READ:

US approves proposed USD 2.1 billion Patriot missile sale to Ukraine; Zelenskyy seeks immediate delivery