Trump told reporters this evening that he wished the U.S. delegation, led by Vice President JD Vance, luck as they departed to engage in peace talks with Iran in Pakistan.
“We’ll see how it turns out. So it’s JD and Steve and Jared. We have a good team, and they meet tomorrow. We’ll see how it all works out,” Trump said on the tarmac ahead of boarding Air Force One.
The president said that he will not allow Iran to toll the Strait of Hormuz.
“It’s international water. If they’re doing that, nobody knows if they’re doing that, but if they’re doing that, we’re not going to let that happen,” he said.
Trump added that the strait will “open up automatically,” despite the fact that limited traffic has been able to pass through the critical trade route since the temporary ceasefire was called earlier this week.
“The strait will open up. If we just left the strait, otherwise they make no money. So the strait is going to open,” Trump said. He added that the U.S. doesn’t use the strait, so “other countries” will “help out.”
“It won’t be easy. It won’t be, I would say this, we will have that open fairly soon,” the president said.
When asked if he has a backup plan if the strait does not open, he replied, “You don’t need a backup plan.”