Donald Trump has threatened to “bomb the s--t” out of a key ally.
The president said on Monday that if the Gulf state of Oman interferes with his war with Iran, he would drop bombs on it.
“If Oman gets in the way, we’ll bomb the s--t out of them,” the 80-year-old said in an interview with Fox News.
Longtime U.S. ally Oman has served as a backchannel intermediary during the conflict, which began in February.
Iran has closed the Strait of Hormuz since the bombs first fell, causing gas prices to rise and putting pressure on Trump, and helping to crater his public support back home.
Iran said it had been working with Oman to find a way to reopen the lane, through which one-fifth of the world’s oil and gas flows during peacetime.
Trump threatened Muscat with military action in May after it discussed regulating the flow of traffic with Iran.
“Nobody is going to control it,” Trump said during a Cabinet meeting. “It’s international waters, and Oman will behave just like everybody else, or we will have to blow them up.”
Although it’s classified as an international strait and open to international navigation, most of it lies within Iranian and Omani waters.
Little progress has been reported in reaching a peace deal since Trump signed a memorandum of peace at Versailles. That agreement set an ambitious 60-day deadline to agree a broader peace deal. Day 60 was reached on Monday with the two sides no closer to an agreement.
The U.S. has sought to regain control of the narrow waterway with a strong naval presence. However, fuel flow remains slow.
“Despite President Trump claiming total control over the strait, traffic has slowed really to a trickle,” Fox News host Bret Baier said live on air last week.
“If you look at this, before the conflict, more than 100 vessels a day were crossing. Monday, eight vessels crossed. Yesterday, 14.”
The USS Abraham Lincoln has led efforts to reopen it. The aircraft carrier has, however, become a source of pressure on the president, as she and those who serve on her endure their ninth month of a grueling deployment.
Conditions are feared to have deteriorated on board, with reports citing crews’ family members suggesting some have attempted to go overboard.
The attack on Iran has also raised concern that the U.S. is burning through its munitions stockpiles at an unsustainable rate.
Asked about this during the same interview with Fox News, Trump said, “What we’ve used is peanuts. We have a lot of mid-level weapons.”
The Center for Strategic and International Studies reported that the U.S. has enough for this war under all circumstances, but the concern is that it could create a future shortage in conflicts down the road.
