Speaking at the closing of the G7 summit in France, U.S. President Donald Trump expanded on the emerging agreement with Iran and argued that the world was weeks away from serious disruption. He said that if the fighting had continued, the situation would have turned into “chaos and turmoil” within about four weeks.
In response to reporters asking why he chose to end the war now, Trump said the decisive factor was the strategic and economic danger created by the shutdown of the Strait of Hormuz. He said that if bombardments had continued and the strait had remained closed, the United States would have faced a major problem because it involves “tens of millions of barrels of oil a day” and “hundreds of millions of dollars.”
Trump added that national oil reserves around the world were already being depleted. “We would have run out of national reserves in about 4 weeks,” he said, warning that “in the whole world there are national oil reserves, and everyone started to empty them.” He said that after four weeks there would have been nothing left and “people would not have been able to get fuel, nothing would come out of the pumps.”
He concluded by challenging critics of the agreement, saying that those opposed to the deal should explain their position because, in his view, they are “very wrong.”
