ANKARA, Turkey — President Trump said Wednesday that he believes his memorandum of understanding with Iran is dead after he ordered overnight airstrikes on 80 targets in response to Iranian attacks on commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz.
“I don’t like them at all. And frankly, I think we wasted a lot of time with them, I think we should just do our business,” Trump said in his first public remarks after ordering the airstrikes.
When asked by a reporter if the preliminary peace deal, which Trump signed at the Palace of Versailles in France June 17, was dead, the president replied: “To me, I think it’s over. I don’t want to deal with them anymore. They’re scum.”
“They’re vicious, violent people… so far as I’m concerned, it’s over,” Trump added.
“So far as I’m concerned, it’s just a waste of time dealing with them. They’re liars… They’re liars, they’re cheats, they’re sick people.
“Frankly, I don’t want to waste my time with them,” the president went on. “Now I’ll let our wonderful negotiators keep talking if they want, but I don’t see it.”
Trump’s comments caused the benchmark Brent crude oil price to jump nearly two full dollars in pre-market trading early Wednesday, with the rate eventually settling at around $76.50. Stock futures also plunged ahead of the opening bell, with the Dow Jones Industral Average slumping nearly 600 points while the S&P 500 lost nearly a full percentage point of value.
Iran’s lead negotiator, Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, defiantly said in a morning statement that “the era of bullying and extortion is over. It leads nowhere. We don’t fold.”
The 14-point memorandum of understanding called for a 60-day window to reopen the Strait of Hormuz as the two sides negotiated the final status of Iran’s nuclear program, the destruction of which was Trump’s core war aim, along with potential sanctions relief and unfreezing of Iran assets.
Iran attacked three commercial ships in the strait on Monday and Tuesday after insisting that all vessels use a Tehran-approved sea route, rather than a different route along the Omani coast preferred by the US and its allies.
Although there have been similar flare-ups over the status of the strait since the memorandum was signed, Trump’s response Wednesday was more emphatic and turned personal when he noted past Iranian plots to assassinate him.
“They want to take out the US leader, me. I’m on every list,” he said.
“I saw a thing this morning, I’m on every single one of their lists. And so far, I guess I’ve been a little bit lucky. But that maybe doesn’t last very long.”
Trump added, “These are evil, sick people and we have to rid their cancer.”
Iran has sought to assert new control, including imposing shipping fees, over the Strait of Hormuz, through which about a fifth of oil exports transit each year.
