1. US Says It Will Respond to Iran's Downing of a Drone
—Trump tweeted: "Reported by the military that Iran shot down one of our Apache helicopters on patrol over the Strait of Hormuz. Both pilots were rescued safely and unharmed. Nevertheless, the United States must respond to this attack."
2. Iranian Foreign Minister Seemingly Responds to Trump
—The Iranian Foreign Minister tweeted: "Foreign forces near Iranian territory are always at risk, whether from human error, accidents, or being drawn into a conflict. The best solution to reduce this risk is for these external forces to withdraw from the region."
3. May Participate in Iranian Reconstruction, But Wants Half the Oil
—According to US media reports, Trump hinted that if the US destroys Iranian infrastructure, it may ultimately have to participate in its reconstruction. Trump said, “Someone has to rebuild all this infrastructure. They’re saying it’ll cost a trillion dollars, maybe more. That’s why we’ll likely end up getting involved in rebuilding, helping them rebuild.” When asked if this would be similar to a “Marshall Plan” against Iran, Trump replied, “Yes.” He quickly added, “But we’ll take half their oil.”
4. Revealing conversation with Israeli Prime Minister: Doesn’t want to damage the agreement, but must make his own judgment—ABC News reporter Jonathan Karl reported that Trump stated he did directly ask Netanyahu to postpone the attack on Iran. Trump described what he said to Netanyahu at the time: “I don’t want to do anything that will damage the agreement, but I told him, ‘You have to use your own judgment.’ You do it your own way, but I don’t want the agreement to be damaged.”
5. Downplaying US helicopter crash: No big deal
—In a telephone interview with the Wall Street Journal on Tuesday, Trump said the blockade is making Iran “very poor” and that the blockade measures would continue as needed. He also downplayed the US military helicopter crash, saying it was “no big deal” and emphasizing that the pilots were all safe. 6. Emphasizes that responding to Iran is “very important”
—Trump stated, “I think it’s very important to respond. They shot down a helicopter, and we are responding.” Trump added, “I’ve always believed in responding in a strong way. We had a very good agreement, and we probably still do. This action is a response to them shooting down our helicopter last night, and I think the response should be very strong, very powerful, and this action is exactly that.”
