President Donald Trump stunned reporters in the Oval Office by declaring that rising inflation and stock market losses linked to the conflict with Iran were a price worth paying to prevent Tehran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. The 79-year-old president made the remarks on Wednesday when questioned about inflation reaching a three-year high of 4.2 per cent last month as energy prices climbed during the war. Rather than expressing concern, Trump insisted he was pleased with the figures and argued that the economic impact formed part of a broader strategy behind the military action. "No, I love it – the numbers were great," Trump told reporters. "You know what I really love? I love the inflation." The extraordinary comments came as Trump claimed the United States had been quietly removing millions of barrels of oil from the market through military action against Iran. According to the president, those operations helped drive oil prices to $85 a barrel. Trump said: "Because as soon as this war is over, you know, I can say it now, something you didn't know." "You know, we've been taking out millions of barrels of oil, nobody knows it." He went on to claim that Iran itself had been unaware of the operations until his remarks. "You know who doesn't know about it? Iran, until right now we took out the other night 22 ships late at night with no lights because they don't have any radar because we blasted the crap out of it." "We took out, that's why oil is $85 a barrel." The president also revealed details of discussions he said took place before the military operation that launched the conflict. According to Trump, he gathered key members of his administration to discuss the potential consequences of attacking Iran. Among those he named were Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Attorney General Todd Blanche. Trump said he warned officials that military action could damage what he described as a booming economy. "I mean, you take a look – remember when I did this?" he said. "I said, look, the one bad thing will be we hit the best economy we've ever hit." The president claimed the United States had recently achieved record stock market levels and record 401(k) retirement account values before the attack. "We had just hit the highest stock market in history, highest 401ks in history," Trump said. "Everything was going well." Despite those concerns, Trump said he concluded that action against Iran was necessary because he believed the country was close to obtaining a nuclear weapon. "I said, I hate to do this to you guys, but Iran's going to have a nuclear weapon very soon." "We have to go and attack." Trump said the operation involved B-2 bombers and described the mission as a success. "So we hit him with the B-2 bombers, which took a lot of courage," he said. "It was totally successful." The president claimed the strikes had effectively buried their target and made it extremely difficult to access. He also acknowledged that experts had predicted a significant market reaction following the attack. According to Trump, some forecasts suggested stocks could fall by as much as 25 per cent. However, he insisted that any economic pain was justified. "I said, you know, the bad part is the stock market will go down by little bit – a lot, based on predictions of experts, like 25 percent, and it was worth it to me." "It was worth it not to have a nuclear weapon." The remarks are likely to intensify debate over the economic consequences of the conflict and the administration's handling of inflation, energy prices and market performance. For now, Trump remains unapologetic, arguing that any financial fallout from the war was outweighed by what he described as the need to prevent Iran from becoming a nuclear power. Trump claims he tanked economy on purpose
Create an account or sign in to comment