President Donald Trump on Monday shrugged off the possible collapse of peace negotiations with Iran, telling CNBC, “I don’t care if they’re over, honestly.”
“I really don’t care. I couldn’t care less,” Trump told CNBC’s Eamon Javers in a phone interview midday Monday, saying he thought the protracted talks “started to get very boring.”
Trump had been asked about reporting that Iranian negotiators will stop communications with the U.S., and that Tehran will move to “completely block” the Strait of Hormuz, due to Israel’s military operations in Lebanon against the Iran-backed militia Hezbollah.
“If they’re over, they’re over … frankly, I thought they started to get very boring.”
Trump said that he was “going to ask” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “what’s going on with Lebanon.”
Trump said in a Truth Social post later Monday afternoon that he “had a very productive call” with Netanyahu. “There will be no Troops going to Beirut, and any Troops that are on their way, have already been turned back,” Trump wrote.
He said in the same post that he spoke with Hezbollah “through highly placed Representatives,” and “they agreed that all shooting will stop — That Israel will not attack them, and they will not attack Israel.”
In another post, Trump wrote, “Talks are continuing, at a rapid pace, with the Islamic Republic of Iran.”
In his call with CNBC, Trump also said he wasn’t worried about oil prices, which spiked following the report earlier Monday in Iranian state media.
“I think the oil will be dropping like a rock in the very near, you know, the very near distance,” Trump said.
But he also insisted that Americans who understand the importance of halting Iran’s nuclear ambitions will not mind higher gas prices as a result of the war.
“Once you explain that this is all about Iran having a nuclear weapon, people are willing to pay a little bit more,” he said.
Trump asserted that prices at the pump will drop “very quickly.” But he also repeatedly signaled he was in no hurry to restart the stalled negotiations with Iran.
“If they’re over, they’re over. If they’re not, you know, I think they took too much time. Frankly, I thought they started to get very boring,” Trump told CNBC.
Asked if he believed it was time to formally end the U.S.-Iran ceasefire that is nominally still in place, Trump said, “Let’s say I knew exactly what you’re asking … and I sort of do. Why would I tell you?”
He also said that the U.S.’ NATO allies “should come in and help us out” because they rely on the oil that flows through the Hormuz Strait more than the U.S. does.
“We don’t need it, we have a lot of oil,” he said.
But when asked if he has reached out to NATO to participate in reopening the strait, Trump said, “They would if I wanted them to, but I’m not sure I want them to.”
“We don’t need them. We don’t need NATO. They were very, very weak and very sad, what they said,” Trump said. “They said, ‘We’ll help you as soon as the war is over.'”
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